Page 23 of The General’s Captive (The Rift #1)

T he second I heard this whispered in my mind I looked back over my shoulder just as the General forced open the gates.

He then stepped inside, his eyes homing in on me before I saw the white glow in them.

After this my head whipped back to the enormous beasts standing in my way of escaping, but then as if it had been commanded by the General the mighty Gryphon rose taking flight in front of me.

I stood frozen in shock as I looked back to the man who had seemingly just helped me escape him, his tall figure now striding towards the floor where I had landed. I frowned before crying out in horror as my gaze snapped to the satchel at my side, feeling the usual weight of it gone.

My journal.

The journal I had forgotten to leave in my room meaning it must have fallen out when I fell, the very one he was now lowering a knee in order to pick it up.

His creatures now all running in around him flooding into the base and soon attacking the others.

The darker ones each falling before their deaths created a burst of darkness to float to the sky and disappear.

Had I been in my right mind I would have asked myself why, but right in the moment the horror of what he now held had me gripped in his icy grasp.

So, with no other choice I ran through the base trying not to focus on all my dead comrades that scattered the ground.

Trying not to look for faces I knew as my sole purpose was to escape this hell.

Because had I looked I just knew my strength to continue would have crumbled.

So, I ran. I ran as fast as I could hoping to find them still at the back of the building waiting for me.

Praying to find Riley on the other side of this madness.

But as the back gate came into view my heart started to sink at the sight of the dust on the road in the distance telling me all I needed to know. As the last of the vehicles drove out of sight I couldn’t help but cry out in a hopeless way.

They had all left me.

Part of me was glad, knowing that it meant those last few fighting would have survived and that Riley was them.

The other part of me made me wonder if he thought I was dead and there had been no other choice.

I hated how conflicted it made me feel, hated how I had no choice but to keep running for my life as the battle continued behind me.

As forces I would have no hope to ever fight against now waged war among themselves.

So, I ran.

Even with the pain from my hard landing pulsing through my hip, I ran like the world was ending behind me. Or should I say like my world was ending once again.

I didn’t have any weapons and the fear and confusion from what had just happened had made me run without thinking, doing so before the General could change his mind.

But why had he let me go? It didn’t make any sense because I knew he could have reached me.

He could have had that Gryphon of his, the one with its golden fur and white feathers, swoop down and scoop me up and carry me off to his fortress or wherever he ruled over.

He could have had me dropped at his feet and killed me instantly.

So why hadn’t he?

And why had he reacted that way to my scars?

The General who I had been fearing for so long, yet he had ended up saving some of us with his creatures giving the last few time to escape. Was it some sick game he was playing? Like releasing foxes into the wild and then letting his pack of monsters hunt us.

I didn’t understand it at all, but for now that was something I would have to put to the back of my mind as I figured out how I would get to the Train Yard alive. It was around five hours on foot and that wasn’t taking my injury into account and a limp that was getting worse.

It didn’t help that night was falling fast and with no light pollution making the sky glow from the town of Jerome, it meant that soon I wouldn’t be able to see my hand in front of my face.

No, I needed to find somewhere to sleep until morning broke, I needed to hide because I knew that I had walked long enough already and anymore would be foolish.

With still hours to go I needed to find somewhere before I lost all light.

But then my legs buckled and I fell to the hard floor, my knees jarring on the dirt road I was trying to follow. The adrenaline hit had left me long ago now leaving me feeling exhausted. As if him touching my scar had zapped me of all energy, taking away what he had given me for that short time.

I tried with all the strength I could muster to get back up and failed.

Of course, I knew what I had to do. That I needed to continue to try and find shelter.

That I didn’t have a chance in hell at surviving this if I continued wandering the dark in the middle of the road.

I looked around me and tears pricked my eyes as fear welled up inside me.

No chance at all, not in this vast open space as the monsters could get me from all sides.

My teeth ached from my clenched jaw, angry at myself for not taking in my surroundings as I fled.

Then as I sat there on the cold dusty ground completely exposed to the horrors lurking in the darkness, I felt my mind go back there.

Go back to the image of him picking up my journal, one that felt like the past three years of my life were now held within his grasp.

I felt exposed like never before.

Fuck but it even had pictures of him in it! I groaned as I hated the idea that he knew I had thought of him. That I had remembered his face in so much detail. And it wasn’t like he wouldn’t know it was mine, as it had my fucking name in it for Christ’s sake!

Which was when it hit me… he had known my name.

But how?

I tried to stand again hoping this last quarter of an hour or so had been enough for me to get going again, but exhaustion turned my legs to jelly and not only that but the pain now felt like a knife straight through my hip.

The blood long ago dried where that fucking goblin had stabbed the tip of his weapon in my thigh but that was nothing to the pain of everything else.

The way that my whole body seemed to ache as it screamed at me to stop.

The agony indicated that my fall had been worse than I anticipated.

Hopefully it just needed rest to heal so I pushed myself up again, teeth grinding through the effort, but the pain came hard and this time with a vengeance. Which meant that before I knew what was happening the night swallowed me whole and everything went black.

**************************

“Alexandra.” I didn’t know what roused me first the sound of my name being whispered or the feel of gentle fingertips stroking down my cheek. I let out a groan of pain as I moved, my lids feeling too heavy to open.

“Time to get up Little Warrior.” I questioned why the moment I heard his voice it didn’t make me flinch like it should.

The feel of his touch one I leaned into as if I craved it, his voice now one that I felt I knew more intimately after we had met.

Why was I still drawn to him this way? Was it because I knew it was safe as this was just a dream?

“I can’t.” I told him, making him scoff a sound of disbelief.

“You can and you will as you are too strong to give up now. So, come now open your pretty eyes for me.” I released a shuddered breath, letting his words wash over me like a soothing balm for a fragile mind.

Then I did what he asked half surprised to find he wasn’t standing over me like I expected.

Like that secret shameful part of me had wanted .

Nor was I in a bed like I had hoped, although if I had been then it would have been the crummiest bed in existence as it was solid dirt beneath me, because I was still in the middle of the road.

My teeth chattering so loud I felt like they could have shattered.

So, with a painful groan I did what he asked and no longer caring that the order had come from the enemy.

I would use it all the same as motivation to move.

To get to my feet and force myself to carry on.

Because he had been right, I was stronger than this and all those nights I had survived before arriving at the base were no different.

Nights that I forced myself to carry on, to find shelter no matter the cost to my body.

The pain just reminding me that I was still alive and that was better than the alternative.

I had never given up before and I wanted to survive this hell, wanted to make it to the other side but for that to happen I had to do whatever it took.

So, I started walking.

I forced myself down the dark road, telling myself over and over not long now.

Fooling myself until it no longer was a lie as the second I saw a large shadow that turned out to be a building I nearly cried out in relief, especially when seeing it was an abandoned house.

My strength returning for the last stretch of this torturous journey wandering alone in the dark.

The steps creaked as I hobbled up them, my hip protesting with the movement. But still, I dragged myself up each step before checking the door, blessed to find it unlocked. It had no doubt already been looted but as long as there was somewhere to lie down I didn’t give a shit at this point.

But then I looked at the staircase in front of me and knew I would never make it up there. So, despite knowing it would be safer up there I looked to the sitting room to my left, my eyes scanning the sofa instantly.

My body screamed out for me to use it now but training wouldn’t allow me to be so foolish just yet.

So despite the pain, I limped through the downstairs of the house finding no signs of life…

nor of death which was even better. I stumbled to the kitchen and rummaged through the draws, elated when I found a flashlight that actually worked, this meant no more stumbling around in the dark as I continued exploring.

I found some musty blankets in the laundry room that could keep me warm at least as I was freezing.

My breath one I could see as I huffed back towards the front door.

They had a chain on the door so I latched it and then struggled to move a corner shelf to the front of it.

The pottery and knickknacks all shaking as I put it in place.

It wouldn’t stop a Myth but it would cause enough noise to alert me if anyone entered.

I then limped back to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife I could find before finally making my way back to the sofa where I had dumped the blankets.

After this, I tucked the knife under the sofa cushions and lay down letting exhaustion take over.

The sound of my name coming from his lips was the last thing my mind lingered on before I fell asleep.

Not Alex.

But Alexandra.

************************

I opened my eyes, and this time to the sun peeking out behind a cloud which burned my retina’s as it shone down on me through the window.

I was laid on my back looking up through the glass at the sky above thanks to the sofa being against the frame.

Now taking a moment to bask in the fact I wasn’t dead I frowned as I heard something that sounded familiar.

What was that?

I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I saw the dust kicking up down the road. Which was when my heart started hammering in my chest, asking myself could it be?!

I launched up forgetting my injuries and cried out, even as I pushed through the pain forcing my feet to move. I tossed the shelf to the side, the sound of pottery and glass smashing as I unlatched the door and limped out as quickly as I could. Then I heard it again, louder this time.

I bit my lip to stop from screaming out in agony as I practically threw myself down the steps. The familiar feel of stabbing knives coursed through my hip like the claws of a Harpy but nothing else mattered when I saw that beautiful fucking truck headed my way!

Riley’s truck.

Which was why the second I saw it skidding to a stop before me I lost the last of all strength as I crumbled to my knees. Like all my prayers had been answered as he was out of the truck and running to me. The vision growing blurry as tears filled my eyes.

“Alex!” he called my name and before I knew it he was on his knees and wrapping his arms around me.

The sound of my name being whispered in my hair as he cradled my face to his chest. Soothing sounds that mixed with the sound of my sobbing.

My tears of utter relieve that we had both made it out alive.

But mostly because…

He had come back for me.