He didn’t know where the raw meat that he had often eaten had come from, but he knew how to identify edible greens and fruit from trees. He grabbed whatever he could get his hands on and chewed, continuing to walk toward the unknown.
This was an escape. Tired, yes, and in pain, but he was free. Which was why even though he didn’t know where he was going, he rushed toward it.
Never did he want to be caught again. That must not happen. Going back to the darkness of the cave would mean It would finally kill him. Of that he was certain.
V
When he reached a village, the villagers stared at him, frozen in place.
Seeing his naked body, the mothers covered the eyes of their children, but once they glimpsed the scars on his back, their mouths that had been opening to speak clamped shut. No one approached him. All they did was stare with eyes filled with fear. No one tried to help him, but on the other hand, no one ran away, cursed him, or tried to banish him. In the almost shockingly stark silence, they stared wide-eyed at him.
The last time he had met another person was a very long time ago. And even back then, he had never met so many people at once. And the sight of so many people concentrating on him was something he never could have imagined before. Their stony faces and wide-open eyes and the mysterious silence that ruled over it all suppressed his courage.
As he awkwardly stood there and stared around him, the villagers turned away one by one and disappeared into their homes. After a while, there were only a few left, who continued to keep their distance while silently staring before they, too, disappeared. Soon enough, he was alone at the edge of the village.
He was truly at a loss as to what to do. At first there had been too many people and now there were none. It was too bright. No rock wall that had defined the boundaries of his world, no chain on a stake driven into the ground. He thought about how after being catapulted through the icy air and tossed into cold water, the cave he had been thrown back into had felt safe. For a brief moment, he missed the familiar darkness of that place.
Then suddenly, people were crowding around him again. Maintaining their distance like before, they appeared in ones and twos, staring at him.
This time, the people were quietly conversing amongst themselves. He had a hard time reading their expressions, and their sheer number continued to overwhelm him, making him uncertain of what to do.
A voice was heard over the low rumblings of the crowd.
“All right, it’s all right! Get out of the way, will you? Ah, here we go, there he is.”
The loud voice had come from a bald, middle-aged man. Led by a young man through the crowd, he kept blustering and shouting as he approached. The bald man, when he approached the edge of the crowd nearest to the youth from the cave, whispered something to the young companion, who turned and disappeared back in the crowd. The older man, however, kept shouting things like “It’s all right!” or “Ah, here we go!” as he came up to the youth.
When he extended his hand, the youth took a step back in surprise. But the bald man, smiling gamely, took another step and slipped his hand onto the chain dangling from the youth’s manacles. He gently pulled.
“All right, then, here we go. Nothing more to see. Go about your business everyone, we’re all good to go.”
It had been so long since he had heard the sound of another person’s voice that it wasn’t heartening, it was merely strange. He couldn’t understand half the words the bald man was saying. But just as he had cowered instinctively in the cave when stretching out his arms and legs and the chains had pulled them back, he cowered now when the man pulled lightly at his chain.
With a friendly smile on his face, the man held onto the chain as he approached the youth and placed his hand on his shoulder. The white and plump hand disappeared into the tangles of the youth’s hair, which had grown as wild as a bush. As if already familiar with his body, the hand crept to the scar on his neck bone where It had ripped into and sucked, and the man pressed down hard.
The youth froze. The fear when It had pierced his vertebrae, the absolute terror that he may die, and the pain—it all came flooding back.
“All right, all right. Look, nothing more to see here. Everybody go about your day now. Hey, step aside will you …” The bald man kept speaking in his loud voice as he led the youth by the chain, his hand still on the youth's neck. Unable to suppress or swallow the scream that burst from him, the youth was dragged away by the man.
VI
The man gave him water, food, and clothing.
Having known only raw meat and greens as sustenance, the smell of cooked food was strange to him. But once he put it in his mouth, he couldn’t stop until he had devoured it all. He had filled his stomach and nodded off when the sound of clanging woke him up with a start. As he saw the bald man approaching his wrists with a large tool, he screamed and struggled against the hands of the other men who held him down, helpless.