Taken and Run

Chapter 4
Part 1 - Taken

One of the bodyguards left immediately after putting the siblings in their cell. He went out of the basement, eventually disappearing in the dark. I assume the door is open, since I didn’t hear it lock. It sounded like he was heading far.
Sitting at the stool next to the cell, one remained. After an hour or two listening to yawns and wet sneezes, I could hear him start to snore.
The time to act.

Sneaking, basically crawling down the stairs to the basement. My legs are shaking like twigs. Holding my breath I slowly grab the door handle and slide the door open. Inside, it’s dark—just a hallway straight down, with light coming out of a room at the far left. The snore is bouncing off the walls, so is the sound of crackling fire. Crouching along the wall I move toward the room. Peeking in, I see the bodyguard sleeping, keys hanging off his hip.

My hands tremble as I try to unhinge the keyring. Finally I get it and pull it out of his beltline. I let out a soft breath through my nose, relaxing my body a bit. I think for the first time since heading down the stairs. When I put the key into the keyhole, it makes a small metallic noise. I swallow what little saliva I have left, opening the squeaky door. The boy is sleeping upright, while the girl is slouched down, snoring. I go to the boy first.



As I grab his wrist to unlock the shackles, suddenly he grabs mine back. Looking up I see his purple eyes looking into mine. He opens his lips… before he screams, I shut his mouth.

“Shhhh” I hush with my other hand.

I release my hand after he stops tensing, he intensely whispers:

“What are you doing man? You're gonna get us killed!”

“Wh… what?” Is my only response.

“You’re gonna get us all ki…” he repeats before I interrupt:

“No! I mean… I just thought… On stage, you wer…”

He interrupts this time:
“Acting, dumbass... I just don’t want to be sold, man!”

“Wha… Oh… I see.” I whisper with a dumb look.

In realization, I turn against the girl and whisper:
“So you guys wer…”

Before I can finish, I see the girl awake. We lock eyes. She gnaws on her chains, drool dripping…

“Ohh…” I let out.

The boy sighs.

Luckily the keys on the ring work for their shackles. After freeing them, we all stand and watch the bodyguard snore.

“So… what are your names?” I ask to break the tension.

“I’m Dima and that’s my sister Elda” he answered and nodded toward his sister.

“Yup,” Elda said.
Once again, quiet.

“We gotta get out of here, now. Or we will be dogfood soon.” Dima said urgently.

“Yup” I say, while we all turn to walk out.

Just then, we all hear the door to the basement open. Locked in place, we stare at the opening to the hallway. Footsteps getting closer and a burp from the bodyguard.

“Your shift is over Neva…” The bodyguard starts to say in a sleepy voice, only freezing when he sees us stand between him and his colleague.

Time stood still. Even the sound seemed to slow. My pupils dilated, taking in the bodyguards green eyes. There are three things moving. The cup that the guard dropped, Dima ducking and Elda… Hunched down like a beast, she had already launched forward. My legs are heating up, acting before me.

As the cup gets closer to the ground, the bodyguard is shaping his hand into a cutting shape. It is moving forward as if to slice the air. Elda, only halfway there.

Acting on its own, pure instinct, maybe newborn experience. My legs kicked me off the ground heading toward Elda.

The bodyguard's hand is halfway through the air—something green, surrounded by distorted air, rushes toward us. I grab Elda's head and duck down.

Over our heads, it slices the white hair tops of the other bodyguard, slashing the walls deep. There’s no time to understand; his hand is already raised, about to slice down.
Warmer, I act, throwing myself forward. Faster than I’ve ever moved, I grab his raised hand and punch through his abdomen. With my glowing arm through him, blood spills from his mouth. I look into his emerald-green eyes.

Turning my neck as I pull out my glowing arm. Dima is kicking in the waking bodyguard's face, Elda leaping towards them. The bodyguard drops to the ground, the other one soon follows.

I stand motionless. Dima runs past screaming. I can’t hear what he's saying. Elda grabs my hand and pulls me out.

Part 2 - Run

“Stop!” A city guard screams in chase.

“In there!” Dima says, pointing Elda and me into an alley.

We run in, jump over crates and planks, then climb the small wall at the end.

“Wait! Halt!” We hear muffled through the wall.

Definitely not waiting, we keep running. I’m breathing heavily, still shaking, tears streaming after what just happened. I start to lag behind the others.
Elda looks back, turning around towards me.

Teary-eyed, she says, “Stop being such a wuss!” and kicks me forward.

“We are almost at the wall now!” Dima says breathing heavily.

Heading down a small street, three white haired city guards suddenly come around a corner. One of them claps their hands together sending a gush of wind at us. Sharply turning into another alley, the wind pushes past behind. Small creatures cluck as we run between them.

“There!” Dima yells as we spot the city wall.

Rushing with more and more city guards in tow, we are getting closer.

“Where do we get up?” Dima asks while gasping for air.

“Huh, what do you mean?? Just climb it nerd!” Elda says in disbelief while I look at Dima surprised.

“I can’t! Sorry I’m not a freaking monkey like you guys!!” Dima says, mad and stressed.

The wall is getting really close and Dima cries out, tears streaming:

“I don’t want to die!”

I change direction toward him, lift him up in my arms like a princess. With a running start, I dash up the wall, barely making it. We all slide down into the fields. Sprinting towards the forest, the screams of guards fade behind us. Dima has a discouraged look on his face, staring at me. Elda, with her neck turned to us, chuckles.

Arriving at the forest, we all collapse on the ground, panting. Dima’s the worst off, but he still speaks:

“We have to… (huff huff) Keep. Moving. They will come after us. Only so far. Eventually they will give up. Not worth risking their life for a couple Avi, or to avenge mercenary Mir scum.”

“What is Mir?” I ask.

“Shut up just run dude” Elda says, before we start running again.

“Uhhh” Elda moans while falling to the ground.

Dima is crouched down leaning against a tree, gasping for air. I’m standing next to a small pool of water we arrived at. The morning sun is reflecting on its surface. Glued to light, the tears have stopped. My emotions dry. My body is so tired, limbs aching and throat burning. I ask the others:

“They were bad people, right? You know, the guys we…”

“The slavers? Yeah, pretty bad,” Dima answers while lifting his head.

“That’s good. Better. I don't know…” I say, clenching my fist, looking down.

Elda stands up, walking towards me, angrily, grabbing my face with her hands. Yells while squashing my cheeks together:
“Listen pretty boy, did you save us just to act like some shitty hero?? They deserved what came to them… Caging us up like animals, beating us senseless, sometimes for no reason. For months they dragged us around, displaying us in each town, like meat.”

Her eyes tear up beneath her scowling face…

“If you're gonna regret what you did, then why did you even bother, huh??” She releases my face, squatting down with her head tucked between her knees.

After a moment of silence, Dima jokes:
“You kinda did fit the cage look…”

“Shut up nerd,” Elda replies, muffled from under her arms.

I watch them both, exhausted physically and mentally. I go to Elda, reaching my hand out to her, I ask:
“Have you ever thrown a spear?” Grabbing my hand, I lift her up.