Lucas did not want to open his eyes again. It seemed that each time he did, there would always be some threat, some uninvited creature, person, or thing. This time around, his arms were tied around a tree and his legs were bound together. He heard incomprehensible murmuring. His brain had told him so, and he didn’t want to listen.

He did not even attempt to acknowledge that this would be the end. He felt no sense of dread, or feelings of spite. Just a calmness that circulated within him. Opening his eyes would be an acknowledgement that this was the reality he was faced with.

At least until he felt something prod at him. It was gentle, so he ignored it at first. But the prodding was incessant, becoming much firmer until something within him snapped.

“OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE, GIVE A MAN SOME PEACE IN HIS LAST MOMENTS WILL YOU?” His eyes bulged as he glared at the source of the prodding. A young boy, in shock. He started pouting and soon began to sniffle. Lucas panicked.

“Shoot! I’m so sorry little guy. I didn’t mean t-”

But it was too late. The boy had already begun to cry and wail uncontrollably. Lucas tried comforting the child to no avail. He soon ran off, leaving Lucas alone.

He sighed. Yet another reason to curse at that purple-haired lady. Come to think of it though, where was she? She couldn’t have forgotten about him, so maybe she was out collecting seasoning and spices, or preparing the cooking medium. Could he escape in time? How long would she take? Would he get a last meal? Each question just spawned two more questions, like a hydra.

Lucas’ focus shifted to his stomach. It was eating away at itself, having been almost an eternity since he had anything to eat. He had been too distracted by everything else, but now, it was incredibly apparent how hungry he was. He sat there, in the shadow of the tree he was tied to and looked up, attempting to ignore his grumbling stomach.

Suddenly, he heard a yelp and a thud. It was the boy from before, having fallen over from his now exposed hiding spot, just around the corner of the house in front of Lucas. His eyes were red and puffy, which did nothing to hide the great curiosity burning behind them. The boy gawked at Lucas, and Lucas glanced at him, not wanting to say or do anything that would startle the child again.

Lucas wondered if he could talk to him. Then again, would anyone understand him? At the very least, no one seemed to be trying to eat him. He tilted his head slightly, attempting to smile and the boy imitated the movement. He gingerly walked forward, his fuzzy, dark mahogany hair shining in the sun. Lucas maintained his friendly expression, at least until his stomach decided to emit a noisy and highly unflattering rumble. The boy’s eyes widened and he stepped back, before retreating behind the house. Great. Lucas silently cursed at himself.

But then, the boy came back, this time with a man following behind. He had a thin smile and a weary expression but perked up once he saw Lucas. He gestured to the boy to run off and moved towards Lucas. He flashed a grin, which revealed a set of white, straightened teeth.

The man towered over Lucas, tilting his head to further inspect him. Lucas’ eyes were drawn to his rich pine-green hair. Its intensity put him in a trance-like state until he was snapped out by a deep voice.

“Who are you?”

He speaks English! Lucas felt ecstatic at the revelation.

“I-I’m Lucas. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

The man raised his eyebrow, amused. “But then you wouldn’t be tied to a tree, would you?”

Lucas scowled. “I’m telling you, I didn’t do anything. I was just-” Lucas paused. “Wait by ‘she’, do you perhaps mean a purple-haired lady?”

The man chuckled to himself. “Ah, so that’s why you’re tired up. Hah, she’s quite the feisty one, that Mika.”

Mika. A foreign name. Unfamiliar people, unfamiliar creatures, unfamiliar landscape. Sorrow and sentiment filled him as he thought of his own home, now long gone.

Oblivious to Lucas’ forlorn expression, the man continued. “I wonder where she is though. She’s always out, here and there. Bringing back peculiar things. Although-” He smirked. ”-I’ve never seen something as strange as you before.” The man could not conceal his excitement as he outstretched a hand towards Lucas.

“RHETO!” An authoritative female voice yelled at the man. The child was back again, this time holding a basket filled with fruits and standing next to a woman.

“Who are you causing trouble for, now?” She said, glaring daggers at him.

The man, Rheto, hummed and stood up. He had a smug expression and put his hands up.

“Alright, alright, I surrender, you caught me.” He said, snickering.

She rolled her eyes and pushed him aside, the child following close behind.

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“Is this another one of your stunts? Were you planning to put him on public display?” She turned back to Rheto and glowered at him.

“Hey, hey I’d never go this far, alright? And, I’m not the one who tied him up, Mika was.” He retorted.

The woman froze as she heard the name ‘Mika’ and she shook her head. “Right.” She said, exasperated. “Of course it was.”

She carefully knelt down in front of Lucas, bringing herself to be level with him.

Lucas made a bleak attempt to lift his head with little success. He gave a truncated grunt and stared blankly at the ground. Although it was true that he did feel rather dizzy from the lack of food, he felt dramatising it would garner him more sympathy. Then he might finally be untied from this goddamned tree. His back and arms were aching after being held in an uncomfortable position for so long.

“Can you untie me?” His voice was scratchy and quiet.

She nodded and first untied the rope around his ankles. Lucas brought his knees up and winced as the all-too-familiar sensation of pins and needles shot up his legs. Soon after, his wrists were freed and he relished the fact that his arms were no longer being dug into by the coarse bark.

She had agreed to that very easily. Too easily.

He shook his arms and tried standing up, but failed miserably as his numb legs gave way, making him collapse back onto the ground. The woman made no acknowledgement of his embarrassing state, instead silently offering her hand, which he promptly grabbed. Her eyes widened slightly, but she did not comment. Her palm was callused and firm, and he was forcefully pulled up.

She immediately let go once he was standing, dusting her trousers off afterwards.

Lucas stared at her as she did, fidgeting his thumbs. “Hey, so uh, I didn’t catch your name.”

She stopped in her movement and looked up, scrutinising him with an indecipherable expression. “Leta,” she replied curtly.

“Oh, well… thanks, Leta. I’m Lucas.”

A scoff came from behind the two, causing the corner of her eye to twitch. Rheto had decided to linger, treating the pair’s interactions as some sort of show.

Leta did not respond, instead turning to Korro and taking one portion of fruit out of his basket. She ruffled his hair and muttered something to him, causing the young boy to give her a smile, take the basket, and skip away.

She turned back to Lucas, handing him the fruit. It was soft and fuzzy, looking exactly like a peach. He did not see anything wrong with it after close inspection, but he chose not to consume it, despite his hunger. After everything he’d been through, he was not about to take an avoidable risk and lose it all.

Leta smiled, but her eyes remained steel-cold. Her hair was an unusual colour, just like everyone else. It was a lighter shade than the others, though, a captivating rose pink that glimmered in the sun. She too had a white, long-sleeved shirt, similar to the intruder’s, and just above her chest was an embroidered orchid, the same shade as her hair. She was dangerously alluring.

“Follow me, unless you want to stay here.” She began to take off at a fast pace. “Though, I don’t think you want to find out what happens if you do.” Lucas hesitated for a second but soon caught up to her, deciding that she was probably right.

~~~

The path that they took was a strange one, full of twists and turns, weaving between buildings. From what Lucas had seen so far, he could determine that he was in a town. The buildings were primarily built with bricks and were mostly one to two stories tall.

Not once had Lucas seen another person, and he was sure that Leta had done this deliberately. Perhaps the residents were why she had recommended him to not stay there. What would they do to him, though? Or maybe Leta was deceiving him, using kindness as a ploy.

He could turn tail and run, but there was nowhere to go. False benevolence was a poison, but a slow-acting one. Surely he could come up with a plan and escape, or else he would succumb to the toxins. He grasped the peach in his hand. One wrong move and that was that.

Leta stopped after a little while. They had reached the back door of a small house. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a key, unlocking it, and pushing it open with a creak.

The inside was well-maintained. It was much more expansive than the cabin Lucas had stayed in, had two rooms on the side, a kitchen and a living room. He thought back to the purple-haired intruder. What did they call her again? Mika? His brain was fuzzy from the lack of food.

She gestured for Lucas to sit down at the table, which he did. She went over to the kitchen area and filled up a canteen with water from a tap. Then, from the kitchen counter, she took two medium slices of something pie shaped and placed them on a plate, setting them down in front of Lucas. Afterwards, she brought over a fork. He did not touch anything.

She sighed and brought another fork over, breaking off a section of the pie with it and putting it in her mouth. “Eat or don’t, that’s not my problem. I’m going out, so stay here.”

She grabbed the peach from him and took a bite out of it, before leaving out the back door, locking it with a click.

Lucas weakly picked up the fork after she was gone, slicing a portion with the side of it. It was a golden yellow, smelling of cheese and other vegetables. Some meat was littered throughout, looking somewhat like beef. He brought it to his mouth and his senses exploded. It was not an extraordinary meal, but with his hunger and all those years of eating the same, instant meals over and over, this was heaven for his tastebuds. He couldn’t control himself, shovelling it into his mouth until it was all gone. He then picked up the canteen and drank from it, the fog in his brain dissipating.

He stood up. This seemed to be a regular home, well-used. Most of the furniture was built with polished wood and there was no apparent living room space, just an open area with a small table to the side. There was a front door up ahead.

Lucas went over to the back door and tried the handle, but to no surprise, it was locked. He searched for something, anything on the door that would unlock it. But there was nothing. He furrowed his brow.

Who would design house doors that couldn’t be unlocked from the inside? Was this place deliberately made to keep people in?

He decided to walk over to the front door before he made a judgement. It felt obvious that she would have locked this door as well, but he might as well try. He reached towards the handle and to his surprise, it turned. Was Leta just careless? No, surely not. But he couldn’t understand why this door wasn’t locked when it was so obviously in sight.

Lucas was about the push the door open when he heard a voice behind him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”