• Ella looked at the boy skeptically. There was no way out of here. If there ever had been she would've found it a long time ago. Then again, she couldn't entirely remember the last time she had tried. It didn't matter though, she knew it was impossible. Without saying anything, she turned and walked away, thinking that if she ignored this suicidal idiot, he would just go away.

    As it happened, however, she heard the young man come from behind her, and grabbed her arm. Painful memories flashed through her head: powerful arms forcing her close, hot drunken breath on her neck. She flinched and yanked out of the boy's grip, the memory disolving. She stopped herself from trembling, but it was already clear he had sensed her fear. His smug smile made her want to stab him. "Not used to remembering? You've been here awhile, I can tell."

    She glared at him. He didn't look like he had been here long. She could tell he had had several good meals. He had the muscles of someone who could fend for himself, but his clothing didn't seem to be that of someone who had been stranded here for more than two or three weeks. "Leafe...me...a..lone. Wh....Who arre y-you?"

    The boy smiled. "Still not used to talking, I see. My name is Derk," he said, his dark eyes dancing in the pale light. There was mostly darkness here, but there was always some kind of light, just barely enough to see by. Or maybe it was just because her eyes had adjusted to the pale gloom. "And as for leaving you alone, don't you want to get out of here? Get back to your family? At the very least, don't you want to stop being afraid of all the creatures and monsters that could kill you, to know you'll live to the next day?"

    Ella looked away. Seeing that he had made an impression, he continued, "Don't tell me you've given up all hope.."

    That got a laugh from her. "Hope....Hope....Hope is....Hope is for chumps." She had given up on escape. There was no way out and she was destined to die here, probably at a young age. It didn't matter to her anymore. What matter was survival, not that there was much of a point in that.

    Derk looked at her calmly. "Well, you might as well try it anyway. FOr now, we'll need to go somewhere and talk. Where do you live?"

    "Any..where." Ella didn't want to have him by any of her temporary homes. She didn't want the knowledge to be used against her later. She couldn't remember why, but she had a deep-seeded distrust of men..

    She shook her head to clear it as memory surged, pushing it away. She tried to hide the fact that she was frightened by Derk, but it was as if he could sense it. Even in the gloom she could see the smile that crossed his face. "Well, we need to go someplace where we won't get attacked. C'mon, I think I know a place." He tried to grab onto her arm to lead her, but Ella pulled back fast, intinctively disgusted be by his touch.

    He merely shrugged and then continued going, looking back occainsionally to make sure she was still following, which she did hesistantly.