Home. Heart. Hero.

Matters of the Heart

"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart."
-Robert Green Ingersoll

Katie had just come to the brutal realization that as she sat there in the middle of nowhere, she was totally and completely on her own. She stared down to the black screen of her phone that died right as she was talking to Oliver. There was a noise and she quickly pressed her back up against the tree she was hiding behind. Her eyes closed and she slowed her breaths as the series of events that lead her to this moment played in her head.

The car came to a sudden stop sending Katie flying off of her seat. She threw her hands out to stop the impact, but it still hurt like a bitch. Without waiting she scrambled back up into her seat, turning on her back before sending her high heeled feet into the window. She heard a door closing, but she wasn't going to stop. The window cracked suddenly, and with one more jerk of her feet it shattered. Her ankles got the worst of the shards and she hissed as she slid back up about to climb out when the driver appeared outside the door.

"That wasn't smart." he said before pulling open the door and grabbing her arm and pulling her out the car. The moment she was out, Katie saw the opened trunk as he pushed her closer. Without really giving herself the chance to over think it, she sent her elbow into his stomach. He grunted in pain, his grasp loosening, allowing her to get free. The moment she did, he took a step forward to grab her, but she kicked a leg up right into his chest sending him stumbling back. She kicked off her shoes, before turning and running away.

She thinks she was in a park of some kind, but from the looks of it, trash on the ground, graffiti all over the place, she knew she had to still be in the Glades.

"Where are you little bitch!" a voice called and Katie didn't move and say a word. "When I find you I'm going to make you pay for that little stunt back there." the sound of sirens suddenly echoed around them. "Shit!" she heard leaves on the ground crackling under his feet as he moved. "This isn't over!" those were the last words he said before she heard his heavy footsteps getting farther and farther away.

Katie simply slid down, wrapping her arms around her knees and her head falls to her chest.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Katie asked looking down to the wooden stick the man had handed her. After her meal she had to admit that it did give her a sense of renewed energy. She was still weak, but given the chance she thinks she could probably make a run for it. But now he made her stand in the middle of this strange room and just gave her this stick.

"Not die" he said before suddenly taking a quick step forward and whipping his stick toward her, but she jumped out of the way.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"You're fast. That's good." he said before whipping the stick once again and Katie rolled out of the impact. "That's what you're going to use." he spun around her and Katie quickly stood back to her feet. "You need to watch me. Everything I do. Everything I'm going to do."

"That doesn't make any-" he swung his stick again and this time Katie threw up her own to block him. "What the fuck is this!?" she snapped before throwing the stick on the floor and backing away. " I just want to go home. I just want out of here." he looked at her and she could've sworn the look on his face was annoyance. He took a few steps forward before reaching down and picking up her stick and handing it out to her. "I don't want that. I don't want any of this."

"What you want no longer matters!" he snapped, his voice loud causing a chill to run down Katie's back. "What matters is this. Right now. Take the stick and if you throw it down again, then I will not take it easy on you anymore." he held out the stick and she looked down to his hand with hesitation. "Take the damn stick or you will never get home." she met his eyes to see the seriousness. She clenched her jaw before taking a firm step forward and snatching the stick from his hand. "Now as I was say-" she whipped the stick at him, and he threw up his own to block her.