262Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! It means so much to me :) I would love it if people gave me constructive criticism. I really want to get better at writing.
~This chapter is dedicated to my mom, who accepted me into her family like I was her own daughter. Annabeth would be one lucky girl if her new family was as great as mine~
Malcolm
The Forest
From behind the thick wall of trees, the young boy watched, crouching by the bushes, as the fires slowly died down, leaving an empty and charred version of the village it once. Inside, the boy was now just as empty and charred.
At that time yesterday, the streets were crowded with people. Now, all the life in the village had disappeared. He assumed that those who were still alive were hidden, as he was. Everyone else was gone. Dead.
He knew was pointless to wait for his dad and step-mom now. If they were alive, they would have been captured by the pirates. If not... he was alone. And for this, he blamed himself. "I should have kept a stronger grip on my sister," he whispered. "I should have convinced her to stay with me. And when I saw the pirate sneaking up on her, I could have warned her, saved her, anything to help." Of course, he didn't do any of this. Instead, he ran. He ran away to the refuge of the forest, as he was told to do, and he waited. This killed him the most. His sister was selfless enough to help their family. She was brave. He was a coward.
In the distance, he could see the ship starting to leave. Lights glowed from the ship and he could hear loud shouts, celebrating the newly captured slaves. The young boy prayed his sister was dead, killed by the pirate. It was better than getting captured.
I was curled up in the corner, fingering the silver owl. The detail on it was incredible. Each individual feather was carved on, and its wings were spread out, as if the owl was soaring through the sky. The eyes made the owl seem almost alive.
"Annabeth?" a small voice whispered. "Are you awake?"
I hadn't been able to sleep, despite how late it was. Or early. I had no way of telling whether it was night or day. I turned to see Kallie's blue eyes watching me.
"Yeah, I'm awake," I said. "What is it?"
"I… I want my mommy," she whispered, "and my daddy…" At that point, she burst into tears. My breath hitched as a pang of longing hit my chest. I should have been home right now, sleeping in my own bed with my family sleeping in the rooms next to mine, but that's never going to happen again. Shaking my head, I scurried over and wrapped my arms around her. I had to be the responsible one. I had to be the strong one.
"Don't cry Kallie," I murmured over and over, trying to sooth her. I rubbed my hand against her shaking back and let her place her head on my shoulder.
Slowly, the crying started to stop. Rubbing the tears from her eyes, she smiled slightly. Not a big smile or a particularly happy smile, but a smile nonetheless. "My mommy used to hold me when I cried too. She would always make me feel better." I nodded, unsure of how to act or what to say. I didn't have many "mommy stories" to share.
"Don't you miss your mommy and daddy too?" she asked.
"Yeah, I do," I admitted. I decided not to tell her I don't even know my mommy. "But Kallie, we can't cry over what happened. We're two strong girls, and we're going to be brave about this."
"But what if we can't be brave?"
"We'll have each other. We'll keep each other brave."
Kallie nodded. "As long as I'm not alone," she said softly. I had no idea how long we just sat there, arms around each other. Eventually, we both fell asleep.
"Get up!" a gruff voice shouted, slamming the door open, causing both Kallie and me to wake. The man that had taken us to the ship stood at the door, and shoved each of us a stale loaf of bread and a cup of water.
He stayed at the door, not leaving until we ate. I hesitantly grabbed the cup and drank, surprised when I felt how dry my throat was. I coughed, choking on the water. Kallie stared hungrily at her food and nearly inhaled the bread and water, but I watched the man warily as I ate. I didn't want to turn my back on him and give him an opportunity to hurt us.
Finally, when both of us had finished eating, he said, "Now, we're getting closer and closer to the city of Athens every minute. When we get there, you'll do exactly as I say, or I'm using my whip. You cry out, I'm using my whip. You even whimper, I'm using my whip. Until then, go make yourselves useful." He grabbed us by our shoulders and dragged us out of the small cabin, saying, "Now, before you go and make your escape plan, remember I'll be watching." He released his grip on our shoulders, and I winced. The man probably left a bruise there.
Kallie and I were both given a bucket of soapy water and a rag, and were told to scrub the deck. I went right to work. I was used to scrubbing the floors every day back home. Kallie hesitated slightly, but joined in when she saw that I had already started working. After an hour of scrubbing, I had cleaned the entire area around our cabin, while Kallie was scrubbing furiously at a black stain on the ground, unable to get it out.
Eventually, Kallie grew frustrated. She threw her rag down and pouted. "I don't want to do this. Why do we have to scrub the deck? I'm going back to the cabin." She stood up to leave.
The man was there in an instant. He picked her up by her shirt, causing both of us to gasp. Kallie's short stubby legs dangled above the ground. The man spoke low, almost like an animal's growl. "You aren't going anywhere until this deck is spotless."
Kallie was whimpering, but her eyes remained locked to him. I froze. Don't try to be brave, I willed, knowing she couldn't hear me, but still trying. I thought I would faint when Kallie screamed back to him, "I'm not your servant!"
A grin grew on the man's face. "Do you remember what I said earlier? What did I say would happen if you don't listen to orders?"
He dropped Kallie, who stumbled and fell backwards. He shouted, "Stand up! Turn around!" Kallie, who had lost every ounce of the bravery she had before, did as he said.
As long as I live, I would never be able to forget what happened next. As the whipped lashed at her back, Kallie let out a strangled scream. Her eyes opened wide with pain and shock and tears streamed down her face. The man whipped her again, causing Kallie to scream even louder. "What did I tell you before?" the man asked, but saying it more as a statement than a question. "What happens when you cry?" He brought the whip back down on her back again.
The noise had caused a crowd to gather, and men started cheering. "Again! Again! Harder this time!" they yelled. The man's dark eyes grew even darker until they looked back. A smile stretched across his face as he continued the whipping. He was enjoying this. I stood clamped to the ground, shocked. I couldn't even breathe. I barely noticed the crowd around us. My eyes were on Kallie's back. I couldn't see a bit of skin because it was completely covered by blood.
"Stop!" I screamed. Everyone turned to see what had interrupted the whipping. "She'll behave! She promises! Right, Kallie?" Kallie, eyes squeezed shut in pain, nodded.
The man scowled. "Let that be a warning to both of you. Next time this happens, it will be worse." I let out the breath I had been holding all this time. I grabbed Kallie's hand, leading her back to where we had been scrubbing.
We worked the whole day without saying a word to each other. The entire time, the man sat on a crate with a handful of food, watching us lazily. His plate had fruit and cheese, stacked so high that I wondered how he carried it without everything toppling over. The man was practically rubbing it in our faces that he had a feast while we got their leftovers. My stomach growled, and I realized I was nearly drooling. It took all of my effort, and some help from Kallie, to restrain from punching the life out of him. By the time we finished, both our faces were red and burnt from being in the sun all day.
"My arms feel like they're going to fall off and my back hurts!" Kallie whined, once we were back in our cabin that night. She slumped down onto the ground, lying on her stomach. "I want to go back home!"
I ripped a piece of my shirt off and began wrapping it around her, trying to bandage her wound. "Hold still," I said when she started to struggle. She was whimpering and her eyes were watering from the pain, but she managed to contain her tears.
"There," I said, tightening the bandage one last time. "I'm done."
"When will it stop hurting?" Kallie asked. I wasn't sure how to answer her. The wound was deep and still bleeding, not to mention I had nothing to clean it with. Though I was no doctor, I knew it would take a long time to heal. Thankfully, she quickly forgot about her previous question, distracted by my necklace. "What's this?" Kallie grabbed the silver owl.
"It's a necklace. My daddy gave it to me. He said it would protect me."
Kallie thought about this for a bit. "If I'm with you, will it protect me too?" Without waiting for my answer, she wrapped her arms around my neck and said, "I'll always stay with you. Then both of us can always be safe!"
I hugged her back and smiled. "I won't ever leave you Kallie."
The next day, I woke up early. I found the bread and water someone had left while I was asleep and used the water to wash Kallie's wound. Kallie whimpered softly in her sleep, but she didn't move. I ripped off another strip from my shirt and changed her bandage. The bleeding had stopped, but Kallie would probably be left with scars on her back. I gulped down the rest of my water slowly, not wanting to choke on it like yesterday.
Gently, I woke her up. "Good morning Annabeth," Kallie said softly, smiling at me while rubbing her eyes with her hand.
"Good morning to you too." I handed her both slices of bread and watched while she ate. Again, the food was gone five seconds later, not surprising considering we were only given one meal a day.
Once she was finished, she asked, "Do we have to work again today? My arms still hurt from yesterday."
I was about to say something back, but the ship suddenly jerked forward. Both of us fell over, and Kallie let out a cry of pain from landing on her back. "Annabeth!" she cried out.
"I'm right here!" I stood up quickly to get to her, and nearly fell over again. Then, the door slammed wide open. At first, I was afraid the man from yesterday had come, but I turned to see our kidnapper standing at the door. I wasn't sure who I would have preferred.
"Don't bother trying to run away. We've reached an island, and the king wants to buy a slave. A young girl who works hard and stays out of trouble. You," he said, looking at me, "would be perfect."
He strode across the tiny cabin and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder. My breath caught in my throat. In my shock, I did absolutely nothing to resist.
"No!" Kallie screamed, snapping me out of my stupor. "Annabeth, no!" Kallie had attached herself to the man's leg, shrieking and crying. I kicked and screamed, punching the man's back. It didn't do any good.
"Get off!" the man shouted at Kallie. He shook his leg and Kallie went flying to the other side of the cabin, slamming into the wall.
The man walked out of the cabin and locked the door shut. Kallie immediately started pounding at the door, screaming hysterically. "Annabeth! Don't leave me! Annabeth!"
Fear and panic pulsed through my body, filling me from head to toe. Kallie and I barely knew each other, we were hardly close. She cried a lot and gave up too easily. I never would have been friends with her back on the island, but now? She was the only person I had from home. She was the only one here on my side. I couldn't lose her. I grabbed onto the doorknob, holding onto it like it was the only thing that could save me. I could feel myself losing my grip on it as the man tried to pull me off, so I quickly yelled, "Kallie! Behave and they won't hurt you. You'll be okay, I'll come and find you!"
I finally lost my grip. As I started getting dragged off the ship, I screamed one last time, "You're not alone! I promise I'll find you Kallie, I promise!"
As we got further away, I slumped down on his shoulder, feeling defeated. Now there was one more addition to the list of people that I lost and might not ever see again. Realizing what I was doing, I mentally slapped myself. This self-pitying isn't me. I'm supposed to be strong and believe that I can find my family again. I'm also supposed to be realistic. Shaking that thought out of my head, I looked up to see where we were going. The island looked similar to my own home, which made sense considering we haven't travelled very far. However, the houses were slightly bigger and the clothes people wore were slightly more vibrant. These people were clearly wealthier than we were.
Once we were off the ship, the man got a rope out and tied it around my neck. "If you run away," he said, "the rope will tighten, and you'll die. Got that?" I nodded, causing the rope to scratch against my neck. He started dragging me to a castle on the hill. "Hurry up!" he shouted. I ran so that I could keep up with his longer strides.
I blinked back the tears that were forming in my eyes. Whatever I do, I couldn't let the man see me cry. Remember Kallie, I told myself. Stay strong, so you can keep your promise to her.
Soon enough, we were at the castle gates. The man and the guard exchanged a few words, and we were let in.
We were met by a man in a bright red tunic. He had long brown hair and extremely bushy eyebrows. He beamed down at me and said, "Well, this must be the new slave! I am Chiron. I'm in charge of all the royal slaves."
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out an old brown bag. "This is for you," he said, putting the bag in the hands of my kidnapper. He opened the bag to show the pile of golden drachmas inside. "63 drachmas, just like you said," Chiron added. 63 drachmas. I cost 63 drachmas. My entire life, everything that I ever worked for, is worth 63 drachmas.
"Well, I should be getting back to the ship now," he said to Chiron. He untied the rope around my neck and left.
Chiron put his hand on my shoulders. He was gentle, but the bruise left by the man on the ship made me wince away in pain. He didn't say anything about this, leading me inside instead. He said, "Your responsibilities here will be simple. You will clean all the rooms in the top floor. There will be another girl to help, of course. All the cleaning supplies will be in your room. Tell me if you need me to replace anything."
I stood up straight and held my head up high, refusing to show any sign of weakness. This was my job now. This was my life. I could tell that I had gotten lucky, in a way. If I had remained on the boat, I would have most likely been sold to a poor farmer, and have to sleep in the barn. I should feel lucky that I was a royal slave, but I didn't. I felt empty. "Where is my room?" I asked him.
"I'll show you there right now," Chiron said. He smiled and added, "You'll like it here. All the slaves here are like family."
He led me up the stairs and down a long hallway. He pushed open a door near the end and gestured for me to go inside. My room was small and plain. There was a bed and in the corner, there was a broom, dustpan, and brush.
"I'll leave you here to get settled," Chiron said. "There are two uniforms on your bed. You can meet the other slaves tonight, and you'll start your work tomorrow."
As soon as he left, I slumped down on my bed. I lay there for at least an hour, just curled up in a ball and fingering the silver owl. It was the one thing I had left of my family. At that moment, I swore that as long as I live, and ever after, I would never take the necklace off. I would always keep a part of my family and Kallie with me.
There was a knock on the door. I sighed, then got up to meet my new family.
Just telling you guys, Annabeth is only going to be seven for one or two more chapters. I'd much rather write about older Annabeth. Thanks to everyone who left a review! I'm glad you guys like this story.