Night Thirteen #7

Inis went back to her room and laid down finally able to rest her body.

She felt more peaceful and relaxed as she started to drift off to sleep.

Just as she was feeling comfortable enough to drift off further, she picked up on some small noises nearby which caused her to instinctively snap out of her current state.

Her eyes snapped back open as she forcefully woke herself up and then closed them again for a moment.

She lay there listening to the nearby noises that continued to grow closer until they finally got close enough to be identified as being close enough to have entered the room.

Inis lay there defenceless as she looked like she was sleeping but one hand was positioned behind her head underneath what she had been using as a pillow made from animal pelts.

Her hand had already gripped onto a smaller blade as she was readying herself to strike if she needed to.

A voice nearby had spoke up just as Inis was making her preparations just in case she was about to be attacked in her bed. "Um.. Inis?"

Noises were created again as the footsteps got closer and the soft voice spoke again. "Inis?"

The grip on the blade loosened up and Inis sat up opening her magenta eyes to look towards the person who had entered. "Xeni? What have you come here for so late at night?"

Xeni lowered her head and looked a little flustered. "Um.."

Inis was quite tired already so she was feeling far less patient. "Hurry and speak. I am listening."

Xeni raised her head but still looked a little hesitant and uneasy as she began to speak up. "Inis.. can I stay in here? With you? Can you.. keep me with you?"

Inis was quite confused why Xeni would ask such a thing so suddenly especially since she had already established their current relationship boundaries early on. "Uh.. why? What do you mean?"

Xeni began to tighten her grip on her clothes as she began to explain. "I cannot stand it any longer. I feel uneasy being on my own like this especially on times like today. You were gone so long and.. if you let me stay by your side.. I will do anything you want. Even if it is.. since I am comfortable with you."

Seeing Xeni being on the verge of crying and making more desperate bargains for what she wanted, Inis was still having difficulty understanding completely the reasoning behind her words. "Can you explain properly?"

Xeni sat down opposite Inis as she started to go into what had happened earlier when Inis was away along with other times when Xeni was left alone.

It was not long after Inis had left and Xeni was left alone with the Gremlins that were all around her.

They were mischievous and made a mess when Inis was not around but that was not the problem.

They were harmless to Xeni due to them being instructed that she was one of their group and should not be harmed unless they wanted to face the wrath of Inis who was their one and only ruler.

They did not harm her according to those instructions but that did not stop them from messing with her at times in a playful way like pulling the odd pranks.

It was all harmless fun to them and was already considered as very tame considering their chaotic and violent natures.

That was never a big issue but the main problem kept appearing anyways.

Xeni did not know when it began but she had been feeling more panicked and less stable when she was left alone or was surrounded by the other Gremlins.

She did not know the cause for it completely but even she could figure out enough of it to guess that it had something to do with the trauma she had experienced.

Xeni continued to explain how she suffered greatly along with the other females at the mercy of the goblins.

There were many times when she almost gave up on hope and had even given up hope on living.

The only people around her were other victims who were either broken mentally, were on the verge of being broken or who were in the middle of experiencing despair again and again as their hopes for escape or rescue were crushed each day that passed.

Xeni found some comfort in her environment by being someone who could use her innate abilities to keep the goblins attention on her to provide others a moments rest but there were many times when it was not enough.

Those she tried to keep alive had died during childbirth, from illness, from a lack of care or had been killed by the goblins that were too rough or violent.

Some of her closest sisters who she shared hellish times with had already died and were replaced with other fresh faces that soon turned to despair.

She tried to lessen their suffering at the cost of herself no matter what tribe or race they came from since that was her way of keeping her will to live still going.

It was all she could focus on during that time in order to not fully fall into complete despair or depravity but there were many times when she felt like her efforts were futile in the end since no matter how much she tried, there would be another death of someone she had come to know.

The ugly green faces with small bodies cackling as they caused much harm and suffering remained etched in her mind.

It was difficult to remove such memories and they kept coming back to her even after she was saved.

Somehow she felt comfortable with Inis but she did not feel too good around the other Gremlins.

It seemed like being alone with them had helped to trigger her unpleasant memories and feelings causing her to not be in a very good state.

Even the slightest interactions with the other Gremlins was very difficult for Xeni especially when Inis was the only one among they she could talk to properly and the other Gremlins had continued to mess around when near her further triggering her to feel bad.

It was the same during nights when she was all alone since she felt very vulnerable and unsafe like something bad was about to happen at any moment.

It brought her back to the times back at the cave where she had a moment to rest but she was constantly alert to her surroundings since there could be any time that a new batch of goblins came into the area she and the other captives were being held.