Hare of Misfortune

Fiona shivered within her little fake rock, peeking out at the bright, massive room beyond her glass prison. Giants moved beyond, their thunderous footsteps traveling through the wooden table and into the fish tank she was trapped in.

Every muscle in her body sent a dull burn to her brain, her stomach snarling at her; they only gave her a tiny amount of sugar to sustain her life until they needed her. She tried to swallow, yet the lump in her throat wouldn’t go away, nor the scratching behind her tongue.

How did it get like this? We only went out to get some doll clothes for me... Please, be okay, Erika.

Her silver eyes lifted to the warped corner of the tank as the door opened for a new giant to enter; well, they were giants to her since she was less than 10 cm tall as a mythickin fairy. She’d been so caught up in her size that she hadn’t even been able to explore her abilities, and now she was just too weak. So far, her captors knew she could enchant people with elemental powers, and that was all they wanted her to do.

To Fiona’s surprise, most of the gangsters around the room left, and the pretty white-haired woman who had just entered moved to her cage.

”Aye, chica, you in there?”

Curling tighter into a ball for a moment, a tear came to Fiona’s eye as she remembered what would happen if she didn’t come out. She tried not to whimper from the sandpaper-induced raw wounds on her arms and back on her way out.

”W-What do you want from me now?” she cried. ”I—ack...did everything you wanted me to—huh?”

”Aye!” The woman took one look at her and shouted at Ben, the only other guard left in the room.

Ben shifted his gun comfortably as he moved forward. ”What, Maria? Look, I’m just doing—ugh!”

Fiona couldn’t believe her eyes as the woman promptly marched over and started to beat the living snot out of the guy; his machine gun was yanked off, yet she seemed to prefer her fists because soon her fists were splattered with crimson.

”S-Shit—stop, Maria, I...I didn’t do it...”

”The hell you think you did to that lil’ niña, huh? Bastard! Lyin’ ta me?” she growled, clearly having some enhanced strength as she kicked him two meters into the wall. ”Hehehe. Ya feel powerful now, right?”

”P-Please...” he begged, nose broken, blood pooling down his front and face, already begging to look more than a little ugly. ”Orders...”

”¿Como dice?!” Maria huffed, picking the trembling man up by his shirt to throw him into a corner. ”I don’t give a shit what some bitch told ya ta do! Get out of that corner, and I might just break every bone in your body, Ben. ¿Comprende? Don’t tempt me, follador de burros!”

”Got it...” he wept. ”I got it...”

Tears filled Fiona’s eyes as the woman’s face softened and moved closer. Compassion in her soft voice as a brilliant horn flared to life, all the pain washing away in a warm embrace.

”Aye, you okay, lil niña? Hey, let me get ya out of this. You’re with me now. ’ight? I won’t let these bastards hurt you anymore.”

Fire shot up Fiona’s throat and nose, but this time, it wasn’t because of pain as she moved to collapse onto the angelic woman’s hand. ”T-Thank you. I-I... My friend—I don’t know what to do...”

”Shhh. It’s okay. I got you. Shit, they’re coming back,” she hissed. ”Here, stay in here, and don’t make any noise. Understand?”

Darkness took Fiona with a comforting warmth as the woman pulled up on her tank top and nestled her safely between her breasts. Her words vibrated through Fiona’s body as she snarled at Ben.

”You breathe a word; you ain’t ever forgettin’ my fists! You know who I run with, puta.”

”I-I know! I won’t! I won’t!”

The door opened, and muffled words followed. ”Hey, where did the fairy go?”

”S-She got away... I-I’m sorry!”

”The hell, Ben?! Hey, where’s that damn ghost when you need him? Agh! Terrell’s gonna have my balls. Search the room. Let’s go!”

Maria posted up by the wall beside Ben. It was probably to remind him she was there, the woman remaining silent as the men went crazy looking for her.

”Maria, you seen anything?”

Her hero just snorted, barely giving them a look.

”C’mon, don’t just ignore me! Ugh... Never mind. Hey, go get Luis! We’re all dead if we can’t find her. Look, we don’t want beef with Miguel or TNS. Maria, please, just don’t go anywhere.”

Fiona was speechless at how they were treating this woman. These guys were the cruelest people she’d ever met, but Maria made them quiver in their boots.

”Get the hell outta my face then. You seen what happen to Ben, huh?”

By the sound of things, he held up his hands and backed away at the sight of the bloodied man, holding his ribs and unable to look at anyone.

”No one’s gonna touch ya, Queenie. I’ll, uh, get Eliza and Margaret to, eh, welcome you.”

Fiona shivered at the names of the elf and panther woman; these guys were afraid of her unicorn savior, but those two definitely wouldn’t be. They were running on borrowed time.

”Tch. Ah, no-no, Ben, ya ain’t goin’ anywhere,” she said with a vicious chuckle as the man tried to leave. ”I ain’t done with you.”

He whimpered, but the other men didn’t seem to want any trouble from the angelic woman as they looked around the floor and sent people into the hallway.

”Dammit! Check the vents... Is that a crack in the back wall? Shit!”

Fiona wanted to cry but held it in; she had thought she would die here.

Thank you... But we need to find a way out of here before Margaret and Eliza show up.

Fiona’s thumping heart began to settle as the agitated gangsters kept a distance from Maria. They took off vents, ripped out couches, and scanned every inch for where she might be. It was fairly obvious that they suspected the unicorn had set her free, but it said a lot that no one confronted her about it.

One of the nervous men stayed with Maria since she wasn’t allowing Ben to get off the couch; she could practically see his bloodied face from the occasional sniffs and pained groans he gave. It served them right for the torment they’d inflicted on Erika and her.

She expected the unicorn’s immunity to only last so long, yet no one so much as pointed the finger at her, and the warmth she radiated felt just like the comforting rays of a bright summer day. On the plus side, the woman’s bust was large enough to give her plenty of room to settle at the bottom of her bra band. She could even see in the dim space since the woman’s skin had a star-like shimmer to it.

After a while, she realized the pulse of Maria’s heartbeat against her ear wasn’t like a normal one. It could have just been her tiny 7 cm size that gave her that impression, but the throbbing hum it radiated gave her a sense of relief.

Despite the unicorn’s crass mouth and attitude, her presence alleviated the horror the last three days had been, settling her frantic emotions. Just thinking about the raw sensation of sandpaper against her tiny frame, the debased threats against Erika to keep her in line, and the experiments made her body shake every so often.

Fire, tasers, the freezer, boiling water, and even blasting music seemed to have little to no effect on her, but her body was so delicate and weak that the slightest bump could bruise her. She rubbed her shoulders, trying to get the bitter memories out of her head.

Never in her life could she believe people could be so cruel; it was as if they weren’t even human. Still, at least she’d saved Erika from the pain, and that was enough to get her through each punishment.

Learning more about the woman protecting her helped to pull her thoughts away from a downward spiral; she couldn’t believe they would make it out of this alive, and she feared what they might do to Maria when she was finally discovered.

However, Peter, this group’s supervisor, only seemed to make nervous small talk with the unicorn while waiting for his panther beastkin boss, Luis. Fiona trembled at the security gradually setting in.

She didn’t want hope to be betrayed. Not again, not after one man tried to rescue her, only for her to be forced to watch them torture him to death. She couldn’t be weak.

///SMENote///

How about a Power Stone Goal?

Every 200 Power Stones this week = +1 Extra Chapter

We could have the normal 2 Daily Chapters... Or +2 Extra Chapters Every Day. The power is in your hands! Or should I say Stones?