The Capture

It was already three months since I survive the onslaught of the burning estate, but our living conditions had yet to improve. My wound had healed leaving a scar, there was nothing we could do about that having to attend to it ourselves and if I complained, it would just make it seem as if I was being ungrateful when I honestly wasn’t, but no one liked to see ugly scars on their person. Then again, I hadn’t a clue what I looked like for most of my life, it really shouldn’t matter.

And I guess having an unsightly scar was better than losing a leg.

My eyes darted again to the left as I stood guarding as the lookout. Thomas and the others were inside the building gathering what they could. These days we can get closer to where the monsters were, or bloodsuckers as Thomas called them. Security has been tight around these parts. Well over the last few weeks, they had increased almost tenfold. We had to move about five times. Most times, we didn’t even bother to leave hiding, but then Thomas would be forced to if and when I seemed to be coming down with something or started to lack colour. I burdened the lot of them so much, all I could think about for the past couple days and hours that we came here, was finding my sister and getting them out.

Things were getting very ugly, people died, they made those who didn’t accept their principles a public display and they died in the most gruesome ways. Like today. I had watched in the silent crowd as they hung an older man, his screams of betrayal and waring wilting in the quiet air around us, before his life was snuffed out and legs stopped kicking.

Thomas had hurriedly ushered me away, berating me partly about what I was thinking being that close to the crowd. I knew I would stand out like a sore thumb beside those immaculately dressed citizens. But I couldn't pass up another opportunity of seeing what the comotion was about. The boys never spoke a word of it around me, spuing about me having a soft constitution. Which was the other reason for his lecture. He claimed I was a rather delicate girl.

As if!

I sighed heavily, I didn’t see us living through a few more years, they’d kill us all, a little at a time until we became less than a memory.

My eyes went up to see two of the boys jumping down from a broken wall of one of the buildings, talking with his friend.

“We did well this time” One comments.

“Yeah, we got enough supplies to last a while” the other replied, “Hey Yuuki, you on duty today?”

I smiled and nodded.

“Anything we should be worried about?”

I shook my head and as they passed, he ruffled my hair.

“The other’s will be out in a little while” he said. “They should hurry though, I hear they’re planning to do some tour to estimate the destruction”

I waited eagerly for them to arrive keeping my ears still peeled for any sound. I knew what to do if they took me unaware-run, but I didn’t want to leave them behind. Not at this stage. I didn’t want them to be captured, worse killed or tortured. And Thomas was a stubborn one, he’d rather death than submission and I had to protect the idiot at all costs.

A loud chiming bang startles me, pushing myself back from the wall as one of the other boys appeared, panting, out of breath and frightened. He hurled himself from the building rolling next to me before running off again, everything tumbling from his hands, but he still sped off.

Thomas? Where was Thomas?

Within minutes he appeared throwing everything out to me before jumping down.

“Run, Yuuki! ”

I wasn’t even able to process everything when one of the men appeared and I felt myself hauled off by Thomas. We ran without any sense of direction, having meeting dead ends and having to turn back.

Were we going to die today?

“Thomas!” I shouted at him

“I know” he replied looking back seeing the horde behind us.

But they weren’t what I was hinting at. My leg hurt, it hurt like hell having slammed into a wall not too long ago and I was sure I was bleeding somewhere. I stumbled a little as he held onto my hand.

“Just a little further Yuuki, bear with me, come on”

I nodded, biting back the pain, then, he stopped, and I slammed into his back.

I felt him stand straight and the tears stream down my face.

“Yuuki” he said his voice barely above a whisper.

I didn’t answer, just sobbed against him.

“Run, I’ll be behind you, don’t worry”

I shook my head. How could he expect me to leave him? My hands trembled holding onto his shirt.

“I don’t want to, please let me stay”

“Yuuki” he said again more sternly this time. “You need to run before the others meet up with us. Go!”

I ran off in the direction of the ally just left to us and heard their shouts for me to stop. Tears burned my eyes and blurred my vision as I ran, I wasn’t going to see him again, I wasn’t going to, and it was all my fault. If he hadn’t gotten up to get us food, if I was just a little faster, if I’d just been more vigilant, we wouldn’t have been in this situation, he wouldn’t have been caught.

I bumped into something hard, metals stumbling everywhere as I scrubbed at my face to clear the tears, I stood still my body fixated to the spot as I felt a presence approach.

There was no one there, I was just imagining things, no one was following me. They wouldn’t have known where I went.

I didn’t even know where I went. Still I turned my head to find a suit standing there muscular and tall and yes, his sights were on me. His expression was like all the others, blank and grim. No sympathy, we were just orders being carried out.

Finding the strength because I couldn’t get caught now, not when Thomas had to find me. He said he would, I had to believe in that shred of hope even though with every step of his resounding behind me, it was slipping from my hand.

“Stop, runt!” he shouted. “you’re only making this worse for yourself”

Right, because me dying is so much better!

I scooted under a small opening leaving him behind, sitting in the dark panting for my life. Everywhere ached, everywhere. My head throbbed so much I felt dizzy. Gripping the side of the wall I stood up, my feet trembling, buckling unable to keep up. We hadn’t eaten all morning and I was in no condition to go any further. I stopped short in my tracks as I rounded another corner hearing the chatter of men and heavy footsteps, I stood still for a moment then attempted to turn back coming face to face with another. The same one I’d been running from and he wasn’t happy, I bolted back into the other direction I only moments ago disregarded when a pain tore through my lower back, feeling almost as if my spine was about to be ripped out or my head popped off as I his hands gripped the root of my hair.

“Let me go!” I screamed tearing at his hands

“Shut up!” he snapped. “I’m so damn tired of this”

“You caught her?” asked another as I made out shadows approaching.

A hand gripped my face roughly and I fought for them to let me go, my feet failing to stay upright.

“She does look like her” he said.

“Stop let me go, I have rights!”

They laughed as I felt something soft over my nose and everything started to spin.

“Let’s round them up. Put this one in the car, he’ll be able to tell if she’s her or not”

My body felt limp, my vision blurring every few seconds as everything spun around me, I wasn’t walking, I knew that much. I faintly made out a group of people catching a glimpse of Thomas before everything went black.

. . . . . . . . . . . . ∞

“Get them cleaned up” Avoice orders. “Okay what have we here now Michael?”

“Some rebels, Garnett claimed she might be in this group. ”

“Really now, they really went looking for the dead? Fine I suppose. Anything to appease his grieving heart. ”

My eyes slowly opened revealing a bright light and suddenly I realised I was laying somewhere cold. I was on the floor of somewhere. I was still dazed, but my head didn’t spin as much, and I was weak. Something stinged at my thigh and I sat up immediately meeting the eye of one of the suits. I hadn’t gotten away, shit!

Then it came back slowly, they’d caught me. He stared at me emotionless as I sat there gazing back at him. I didn’t know what they did once they caught you before they took you out for public display, no one knew. They all died. Before us.

“Get up” he said gruffly. “And follow me” as he retreated in his footsteps.

A door opened leading to a large room where a man with long hair sat with other suits around him at a desk with many papers. He was dressed in a silver shirt, that’s all I could make of him. He looked up, then smiled for some reason I hadn’t a clue. It was just creepy. I swallowed shifting from foot to foot as he viewed me in silence, then glanced at the man beside him.

“They do have a slight resemblance. ”

The man nodded.

“Much skinnier though, must be rough out there” he continued returning his attention back to me. “Why would Belle leave here to look like that?”

The man shrugged.

Wait Belle? They knew of Belle? Was she here?

Was my sister here?

Wait no, he said something about her leaving. I glanced over the interior of the building. It was large and spacious, antique vessels stood at every column, an expensive chandelier hung in the centre of the room, while stairs spiralled left and right. There was a large glass door to our left, a pristine landscape laid beyond with fresh cut grass and blossoming roses. Something like my recently extinct home. My eyes went back to the matter at hand finding the man’s eyes fixated at a rather inappropriate area of my body and I moved my hand covering my bust looking away.

Damn pervert!

“There were rumours of quite a few things, but now that she’s dead they’ve vanished. ”

Belle was dead! My eyes went wide with shock. I almost slumped to the floor hearing such a news, my only hope of ever surviving and it was dashed in a few seconds.

“Those Chancey’s were never up to the agreement in the first place” the man around the desk replied. “I’m sure they planned this entire thing. He was just too sympathetic with them”

He went back to his book scribbling something passing it on to the man beside him then glanced up at me. The smile completely gone.

“Name” he said curtly as if I was the source of his problem.

I glanced at him not sure what to say. They didn’t know that the Chancey’s had another daughter and with their bitterness towards my family for some form of betrayal, I couldn’t risk them finding out.

“Victoria”

I gave them my mother’s name instead. It was a very popular name, there’s no way they could link it back to them.

He stared at me.

“The Chancey wife’s name was Victoria, you wouldn’t have any relationship with her, would you?”

I hated the look he had to his face, as if he knew I was about to fib.

I shook my head instead, just in case my mouth couldn’t mimic the resilience of my mind.

He continued to stare as if not believing a word.

“Last name”

Damn!

“Thomas”

After a while and stares back and forth between the both of us, he scribbled again into his book sighing heavily before closing it.

“Why don’t we give her as a present for brother, she’d be a good distraction don’t you think?” he asked smiling at his companion.

I grimaced. Present for his brother? What was this place?

“She’s slightly lean on the feeding side” the man responded looking me over and I darted my eyes feeling rather uncomfortable with them.

“Yes well, a few vitamins and we could have her….” he looked me up and down again. “Somewhat better than she is. He hasn’t eaten in a while”

Why are they making it seem as if they plan on placing me in a pot with sauce?

“I’m skinny” I interjected not at all pleased with the line of conversation or the fact that they were talking as if I wasn’t there. Were they cannibals of some sort? we still had those in this day and age? “I don’t think I’d make a good meal”

Both men looked at me as if asking why I was talking.

The man in the silver nodded. “entertainment then”

“I can’t sing or dance”

He got up glaring at me while I responded with the same tone. I wasn’t going to be pressured into something inappropriate and cruel, I had rights!

“You will be whatever my brother needs you to be. Food, entertainment” his eyes slowly glided over my form, raising a challenging brow. “Whatever pleases his appetite within the moment”

I clenched my teeth seething. He must be joking.

“I have rights, you can’t make me do this!”

He started to laugh.

“Rights? You have no rights. Not in this house. You will do whatever we say whenever we say”

“I won’t you can’t just pick people off the street and do this!”

He gripped my chin tightly staring into my eyes and I swore I saw his pupils change to a different colour. The wind became chilly immediately sweeping through the room, and tears fell as I felt as if my jaw was being crushed from his firm grip. It was only then I realised why they were both so surprised that I responded back. He was scary and I didn’t know it.

“You’re a rebel, you should be dead but by some chance you survive and if you want to survive a little longer” his features softened. “you’ll be quiet and be a doll”

He threw me to the floor without effort walking off.

“Luke take her to the room” he spoke up. “She’s giving me a headache”