Earthers

My eyes fluttered open, turning into slits because of the bright sun beaming down. That’s exactly how it happens in the movies. You have a little spill and that group always collects you from the ground and either helps you, or tortures you for being on their sacred ground. Well that’s great. Blobs form over my head, staring. I jolt up, scaring the people around me as they jump back.

“Get back, I don’t know any of you!” I screech, extend my arms, and take in my surroundings. “Stay back!” One man, who seems to be the leader or has some form of authority, comes forward and chuckles.

“We aren’t here to hurt you. We are your friends. We are the Earthers.” He stopped there but I gave such a shocked and dumbfounded look, he picked up on it and continued on. “We believe in Mother Nature. We believe in the things that she can provide, the things that she has. You haven't looked at your gash. Pretty much healed, right?”

I look down to my leg and I see that my gash is almost healed. I’m sure it was much bigger before, I didn’t get a good look at it but I passed out from the pain. “What did you do to me?” I almost yell and the other Earthers move back a little.

They start to erupt into little remarks and comments.

“She’s unhinged!”

“Oh my, she’s acting like a savage.”

“Maybe she needs to become one of us.”

I’m sure they said other stupid things about me but I was focused on my leg. How? Why?

If this isn’t dangerous then why don’t they share this with the entire world? Why not help people? This is the last time I’m going to Europe alone.

“Okay, stop! Where the hell am I? In a hut,” I raised my voice before he could speak, “With weird medical supplies. Yea, I got that. Where in Europe am I? Am I still in Scotland?”

The man sighs. He looks tired. “Yes, I can tell you that much. I’m not going to tell you where in Scotland. Only because I see you have a lot of pent up anger, and we can help you release it. Stay with us for at minimum a week and tell us how you feel after, then we will release you.”

Did this man really tell me I have just about no choice but to stay here?

“What?” That’s all I can get out because I’m stunned.

The man smiles from ear to ear, showing white, strong teeth. It’s honestly kind of scary. “I will go and get Clementine, the leader. She knows you’re here but she’s been quite busy. She will explain further. Just rest easy for a few minutes.” The man turns around and stops at the entrance. He forces a coughs and everyone succuries after him through the door. I’m just sitting there staring, thinking about how this all happened.

After about five minutes of staring and the woman comes through the tent with others following. She has fiery orange hair and big green eyes. She has freckles all over her face and full lips. She has a detailed wooden stick in her hand that goes above her head and it has a glowing green orb encased in wood at the top, swirling around it. It seems as if she was wearing a leaf dress, woven beautifully, trailing behind her.

“Hello, I am Clementine. Come to think of it you never told us your name. Care to share?” Her eyes bore into mine. Not telling any story, not showing any emotion, although her face is plastered with a huge smile. I looks sort of fake and I can’t help but wonder if it is.

“My name is Anika.” As I say my name, one of the Earthers that came in scribbles something down and jerks their head back to me and watches me with a blank expression.

Drawing my attention from the Earther, she speaks again. “Wonderful! You will stay in the fancy cubicles in the trees. I would love to show you around!” She grabs my arm and pulls me off the medical bed. I wonder how they have one of those.

She shows me around and it's beautiful. There are birds chirping, beautiful trees and flowers. We walk up to a castle, but it’s much smaller than a normal one and made beautifully out of leaves, flowers, and trees.

We go to the dungeon first, I’m guessing it’s because it’s one of the first doors near the entrance when we walk in.

“This is the dungeon, it’s beautiful for one right?”

I nod.

I see people in wood cages, and behind wood bars. They probably can't break through because the people look so weak. I see one man and he looks like he is on the brink of death, from being here and from old age.

He grabs my arm. “Don’t listen… Sacrifice… They are evil…” He nods and I look at him with a stupid look on my face. What the hell?

Clementine turns around when she notices I’m not walking with her anymore and takes her stick and knocks the man back in his confinement. Hard. “Don’t listen to whatever he said. The people here are delusional.”

I nod not knowing whether to trust her and I eye her up and down. I shake it off and we explore the rest of the castle. I guess I didn’t shake it off well enough because the man’s words kept invading my thoughts. When we got to the entrance of the castle so we could leave, Clementine grabbed my shoulders and turned me around gently facing her.

“Okay, what’s going on? It seems to me that you believe the man. I don’t blame you. I would have been scared if someone said that to me, my first time being somewhere I’m not familiar with.” It seems as if she plasters a forced smile on her face and she rubs my shoulders.

“So you aren’t going to explain?” I question. She throws her head back as if she just realized it was implied.

“We sacrifice people for Mother Nature, that’s the only way she will provide for us. You are going to help us with that. I wanted to wait just a. while longer before we told you, but the old man spilled our secrets a little bit too early,” She rolls her eyes, smiles and shrugs nonchalantly, digs in her satchel, and takes out a decent sized rock. It looks like there is dried paint, or berries, or... blood. Before I can protest and retreat, she takes the rock and hits it forcefully on my head. Black spots danced around my vision before everything went completely black.

Before I went out completely she bent over and got close to my ear, and in such a monotone voice, she said "We'd do anything for Mother Nature."