"And that should do it," I said, having just finished sending the contract to corporate. Stretching, I heard the familiar pop and sighed in relief. "Damn slave driver, can't even let me enjoy my vacation," I said with faux annoyance, letting myself relax in the seat.
The rhythmic clatter of the train's wheels against the tracks soothed my exhausted body. Through the window, the ever-changing German landscape brought a sense of calm, making me lose focus of the world around me and simply enjoy the view—a rare moment where I didn't feel the compulsive need to keep my mind busy.
Eventually, I heard the train horn, which broke me from my trance. I blinked when I noticed that it was already night and it had started raining. "Wasn't it just midday?" I muttered while grabbing my smartphone and checking the time, frowning at it already being close to eight p.m.
I wondered if I had fallen asleep without noticing. I felt my phone vibrate and saw I was receiving a call; checking the caller ID made me frown.
"What?" I asked, annoyed.
"Where are you?" the caller, a man, demanded, expecting me to answer—something that irritated me to no end.
Gritting my teeth, I said, "Germany," while opening my laptop to check for any notifications.
The line went quiet for a second, which felt like an eternity. "I thought I told you that you were forbidden from going to Central Europe," the man sternly said, chastising my actions—something that I was aware would eventually happen when he found out.
I laughed mockingly, clenching my hand and feeling my knuckles pop. "Oh, I remember." And it was the truth; the man had constantly reinforced the fact that I was forbidden from going anywhere near the central and northern parts of Europe for all of my life. "And I also remember that you never told me the reason why I couldn't go to Europe."
The man grunted and seethed, which brought me a sense of satisfaction that I could barely describe. "Boy, don't test me. You are to return to Boston immediately," the man commanded, expecting me to act like one of his stupid pet ravens and obey. I mean, seriously, who keeps ravens as pets? "It's still not too late, so you will turn around immediately."
"Why?" I asked between gritted teeth. "Why? Why? Why?" I asked desperately, feeling all of the negative emotions that I had been bottling up rising to the surface. "Grím, please tell me why? Why can't I travel to Europe? Why can't I go to any city? Why am I forced to live in a cabin in the woods? Why must I be forced to live in some sort of exile? Why can't you just let me live?" I ranted, using my emotions as fuel, while I felt tears coming from my eyes. For eighteen years I have been alive, and in that time, I felt more like a prisoner than a person.
The line remained silent while I breathed out heavily, trying to catch my breath from my rant.
"Turn around, Arthur."
Hearing what he said, I started chuckling, finally realizing that he won't ever care about what I feel. I remained silent and rubbed my forearms, looking at both of the ravens tattooed there—tattoos that Grím had forced me to get—and rubbed one of them.
"You know, ever since I was five, I always knew we weren't related. Despite this, I never ran away, even when you treated me like I was less than human, because a small piece of me couldn't help but feel like you always had my best interests at heart. I didn't know how to hunt, so you taught me. I didn't know how to defend myself, so you taught me how to fight—granted, I still have no idea why you taught me how to fight with blades and spears, but I always found pleasure when using them. When I didn't know anything about the world, you taught me everything you knew, even if I still don't understand half of it," I whispered while the memories of growing up came to the forefront of my mind, a mixture of happy memories and bad ones.
"Still, it was only recently that I finally understood why you would always push me so hard, expecting me to be able to do anything you could." I stopped while my gaze returned to the window. "You never once saw me as a fellow man; instead, all you saw was another you. No, that's not right—what you saw was simply an extension of yourself, a perfect copy." I noticed the outline of my reflection and saw my expression, which made me wonder when the last time was that I had looked so defeated. "I won't be returning, Gramps. Still, thanks for raising me and teaching me everything you could, but I need to spread my wings."
"Art…" I heard, but I ended the call, feeling a weight that I had never known I was carrying leave my back.
I allowed myself to smile while I felt a tear roll down my cheek.
Drip, drip, drip.
"Two more minutes," I groggily said, rolling around on the cool stone.
Wait a minute, I thought, opening my eyes and seeing that I seemed to be inside some sort of cave. I tried to get up but felt my left knee fail, making me almost fall and wince in pain. I looked at my knee and felt like I had sprained it. Readjusting my weight as I got up, I looked around and only saw two possible ways to go. Frowning, I noticed some sort of doorknob on the ground with some string attached to it.
Knowing that I didn't have many options, I started to follow the string while struggling to walk and keep my balance. I continued to walk through the cave and wondered why I was in this place. The last thing I remembered was deciding to sleep before waking up here… wait, was I kidnapped?
The first thing I did was touch my stomach and feel around for any pain akin to a surgical opening. I could see in this darkness—I would simply look—but I was practically blind. I let out a breath of relief when I didn't feel any pain, meaning I should still have both of my kidneys, yet that only added further questions.
Could it be this was some sort of prank? Because if so, it was not funny, I thought, while still holding on to the piece of string.
Eventually, I reached the point where it started—or maybe ended—and I still wasn't anywhere close to the exit. Still, the only option I had was to keep going. I blinked when a thought passed through my mind: What if I used my phone signal as a compass? I mean, since I am underground, the closer I get to the surface, the stronger the signal should be.
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I felt that the screen was cracked. I clicked the unlock button and saw the screen light up, showing the familiar background photo of me sitting on the porch of my cabin. I checked the signal icon and saw that it was switching constantly between two bars and one bar, which was a good indication that I was on the right track.
Continuing my exploration for what felt like hours, I was starting to feel thirsty, but not having water to drink, all I could do was ignore it. Beyond that, I checked my phone and saw that the signal hadn't changed.
I was starting to lose hope, but then I heard the sound of the wind, which meant I should be close to an exit. This made me increase my pace, despite the fact that my knee still hurt like hell. As I walked, I felt the path starting to become smaller and the incline greater. I used the wall as support to continue. After a while, I saw the environment around me becoming brighter, and eventually, I saw the exit.
As I got closer to the exit, I started hearing voices. When I crossed the threshold, I was momentarily blinded by the light before my eyes reacclimatized, and I froze at the amount of people in front of the entrance to the cave.
Looking around, the first thing that came to my mind was watching one of those episodes of a criminal investigation show. I was speechless. Could it be they were here searching for me? And if so, was I the only one who had been kidnapped?
Whatever the reason, it wasn't something that I would be able to ask one of the officers, because I felt the exhaustion hit me, making me lose my strength and fall toward the ground as the people finally noticed me.