Distant Lands

All I’m thinking about is getting away from this crazy alien lady. I run down the driveway and reach the road. I look back, and she comes out of the house. She starts to jog toward me. It seems she’s taking her time.

I continue running, but there’s nowhere to run to. These roads are long, and there are only open fields with trees everywhere. I go into a field, trying to find areas where I could hide. I see a farm up ahead and run towards it.

I find a barn. This must be a neighbor’s farm. I run, sneaking around, hiding behind trees and bushes. I reach the barn, and I unlatch the door. I go inside and quickly close the door. There are stables with horses in them. The horse near me snorts when he sees me.

“Shh.”

I find an empty horse stall, squat down, and hide in the corner, just listening. I hear the door unlock, footsteps hit the ground, and get nearer. Oh no, I think she found me.

I hear a horse walking, a horse’s head comes into view at the top of the stall door, and the door opens. A lady sees me suddenly, and she screams as if she’s seen a mouse. Her shriek scared the hell out of me, “I’m sorry!” I get up and run out of the barn.

I run towards the back of the barn and into an open field. The lady talks to someone outside the barn. I turn and look back. Emerald is standing with the lady, and the lady is pointing in my direction.

Emerald is now running towards me at full force. She is unbelievably fast. I turn to face the field again, and I continue running. I know she will catch up to me in seconds, but I don’t care.

She catches up to me, and I feel her presence right behind me. She continues running, and she passes me, now she is in front of me, I start to slow down, and she suddenly turns towards me, facing me, and with her right hand, she hits my chest, pushing me back and down to the ground. My back slams hard on the ground, knocking the wind completely out of me.

I can’t breathe nor speak, and I only feel unbearable pain. She stands there looking down at me. I fear I might pass out from not breathing until finally, I gasp loudly, taking a breath, and I twist and moan in pain.

“So, you like to run, huh?” she asks.

I keep whispering something to her over and over. She kneels to be able to hear what I’m saying. I swing my arm up and slap her on her face. It infuriates her. She flips me over on my stomach and puts a knee on my back. Her weight and knee digging into my back, I cry out in pain. She grabs my wrists and puts them behind my back, putting handcuffs on me.

“Bitch!” I yell.

She yanks me up and stands me up. She holds on to me and starts walking me forward. We pass by her neighbor; the lady has a hand over her mouth, watching us pass by. I can’t believe she’s arresting me. I feel like a damn criminal walking to the police car. How dare she treat me like this?

We walk silently back up the road. I know I should remain silent, but I am pisst, and I can’t help it.

“You are going to regret this,” I say. She stays silent and only keeps walking forward.

“I should never have come here. I’m going back to the Ranch.” We walk up the driveway, getting closer to the house.

“Release me, you bitch,” I say. She squeezes my arm and yanks me a little. That was painful.

“This is inhumane treatment. You probably don’t even know what that word means. It means assault, treating a person like an animal, like you!”

She grabs the back of my neck and pushes me forward, and she trips me; the side of my face smashes on the dirt ground.

“You bitch,” I mutter. She picks me back up, breathing hard.

“I hate you. I wish you weren’t my alien stepmother!” I try to hurt her feelings.

Ethan’s car is approaching. He powers off the car and gets out. He comes towards us, just looking at us, confused.

“Ethan! Help me. She just tried to kill me! You said she was intense. She’s a crazy bitch!”

Ethan looks at us in shock. Emerald squeezes my arm again, and I grimace. Ethan gets closer.

“I’ll take her,” he says.

Emerald looks at me with fury in her eyes and lets go of me. She walks silently back inside the house. Ethan looks at me with disappointment and rubs his temple. He puts an arm on my back and leads me inside the house. He walks me to a door near the kitchen, he opens the door, and the stairs go down.

I look at him, “The basement?”

He nods. I walk down the stairs, and the lights automatically turn on. I reach the bottom of the stairs. I see a small bed, a side table, and two chairs. Ethan comes behind me and takes the cuffs off.

“I’m sorry, Elizabeth, but you need to agree to participate.”

I turn to look at him in shock, “Participate in what?”

“In training, didn’t Emerald tell you?” he asks.

“No, she didn’t mention any training. Training for what?”

He looks at me like he wants to explain what is going on but hesitates to speak.

I can’t believe this. What are they not telling me? “After what Emerald did to me, I refuse to train with Emerald.”

“You don’t understand what is going on right now, but we will explain later.” He turns to leave. I run and hold his arm.

“No, please don’t leave me down here.”

“I’m sorry.” he hugs me, then walks up the stairs. My heart sinks, realizing how much control they have over me and my future.