A Web of Questions

Mayra woke up suddenly, her mind a foggy blur. The last thing she remembered was Mother's disappointed gaze, and now as she looked around she found herself in an unfamiliar setting that raised goosebumps on her arms. Where was she? A cold wooden floor full of splints, a patched-up roof, rudimentary beds made of straw, and a chilliness that permeated every fiber of her small 7-year old body. Was this a dream? If so, it was a far cry from her usual ones, full of wonder, valiant princes, and talking animals. She simply did not do nightmares. Those were for the less fortunate and Mayra Abernathy was anything but. The only child of High End's power-couple Melania and Joseph, she was doted upon since birth. A porcelain princess for whom "No" was a foreign word, used only on the lessers. Her parents were self-made people, who built their real-estate empire from scratch, hard-working individuals who hadn't meant to spoil their daughter to such extremes, but misguided love can sometimes have terrible results.

With a shuddering breath, Mayra raises from the floor, utterly confused. She wasn't even on a straw bed, but between two empty ones. In the far left corner, under a massive canopy of spiderwebs, she glimpsed two other cots, this time occupied. One held the figure of a rail-thin boy significantly older than her and the other a pudgy girl whose face was obscured by the position she was sleeping in. Everything was bizarre in the extreme. But there were no answers found in silence, so remembering who she was, Mayra got up, raising her chin in a trademark fashion.

"Aham, excuse me," she said, approaching the two figures.

"Ex-cuse me!" more forcefully this time.

At this, the girl turns suddenly and raises her head, while the boy just cracks an eye open.

"Wha, what is this? Who are you?" answered the older girl, patting her bulging belly in a subconscious manner.

"I'm Mayra Abernathy, pleased to make your acquaintance. Who are you? You must be the reason for our being in this awful place. Or Sleepy over there," Mayra replied haughtily.

"'Beg your pardon? I didn't do anything. I was... I was... Aha!" she uttered triumphantly. "I was enjoying the most delicious slice of chocolate cake and next thing you know, you woke me up. Where exactly are we?"

"Oh, bother. I was hoping you'd know. Hey, you there. What's your story," Mayra asked the inobtrusive boy.

"Who, me? Dunno, why should I," answered the boy stifling a yawn.

"Because you're also here, hellooo? What is the matter with you?!"

Mayra was starting to lose her already depleted patience with this person who didn't seem to care one way or another. Didn't he have a home? Oh, maybe this was his home - he was one of those, a poor soul living in a run-down barn - abducting girls for ransom. Papa would pay any sum, of course, surely enough to get her out of this. And maybe he would spare some change for the other girl as well, judging from her clothes she must be underprivileged too. Curious how someone poor can have a big belly, how does it get filled? No matter, it was time to take charge and get some answers.

"Look here. I do not intend to stay in this place a minute longer. So we need to find out what happened. If you're not the reason, that is."

"Come on, this ain't so bad. Not that different from the cottage back home, although the bed is lumpier," the boy replied patting the hay.

"Aha, so you did bring us here!"

"What? Don't be silly. I don't know where here is, I was just stating that it's kinda alright," he replied before turning his back to the mystified girl and settling back on the straw. "Wake me up when you find something to eat."

"The nerve of some people! I will not... Hellooo?"

But he was already asleep, snoring gently.

"Umm, Mayra, is it? Food actually sounds really good. It's been ages since my last meal. I guess," the older girl said sheepishly.

Counting to 10 as her mother taught her, Mayra manages to respond without too much tartness.

"Then be my guest and search the place. I'll wait for you here."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because I'm 7 and you're..."

"13."

"Exactly. You wouldn't expect a little girl to do the heavy lifting, do you? Now, good luck!" Mayra said with finality.

***

Two hours later, the search proved unsatisfactory. Hay, hay, and more hay, along with more tapestries of spiderwebs, a few empty crates, and absolutely no way out. Beth, the older girl, spent minutes on end banging on the rickety doors that proved to be surprisingly resilient. After concluding the situation was indeed dire, she started chattering like a magpie. All kinds of nonsense, from her name, favorite foods, sickly younger brother, absent father, and recurrent nightmare of drowning in jello. It was quite a bore for Mayra, especially when she started moaning about hunger pangs. Meanwhile, Sleepy was still under, having woken just once to ask them if they found some kind of blanket. They didn't.

The lack of activity made Mayra's thoughts wander, turning to her last interaction with mother. A childhood friend of hers visited, along with her 5-year old daughter and Mayra refused to share her toys. How could she do such a thing? The picture-perfect dollhouse was meant to be looked upon, not soiled by dirty little hands. And if she decided that the dolls should never be bothered even by her, how did her mother expect her to let anyone else play with them?

The self-righteous musings were interrupted by a loud bang coming from the two beds she woke up next to. With a nod toward Beth, she silently encouraged the older girl to take the lead, with her closely behind. From a big cloud of dust, two other shapes appeared, revealing twin boys. Although not identical, the connection was undeniable. Curly black hair, crooked noses, eyes of molten honey like Nanny used to put in her evening milk. But that's where the similarities ended. One was tall and extremely thin, a bit like Sleepy (who was unbothered by the commotion), the other shorter but bulky, resembling an angry bull.

"What's the meaning of this," asked the latter, picking himself up from the floor with surprising agility.

"Would you stop flexing your muscles? You're scaring the ladies. Hello there! I'm William and this lovely brute is my brother Rian. Who might you be?"

Before Mayra could utter a single word, Beth barrelled to the brothers, knocking over an empty create and raising more dust in the process.

"Hi! Sorry about that. I'm Beth and this is Mayra. Do you have any food?"

"Umm, I don't think so. Would you mind telling me where we are," said William between coughs.

Finally able to make her presence properly known, Mayra joins the conversation.

"Good day! Pardon me for skipping additional pleasantries, but do you have any idea how you ended up here or why?"

"Of course not, what an asinine question!" Rian is quick to respond.

"Brother, behave! We honestly don't know. The last thing I remember is watching Rian's training regimen. I can't partake, you know, due to my condition. My heart isn't working as it should due to a genetic disorder. But that doesn't stop me from cheering from the sidelines," William explained.

"Cheering, alright."

"That's enough, Rian," snaped William, before rearranging his facial features. "No, we don't know how we got here and why. I gather that neither do you."

"Unfortunately, no. There's another boy beside us, but he hasn't been much of a help. All he does is sleep or play with a string he had in his pocket. Beth has searched the place up and down and all doors are barred, but maybe you gentlemen would be able to find a way."

"Certainly. We just turned 16, so we're basically men. Worry not. Rian, come on. Excuse us, ladies."

On that note, the twins departed.

***

After three hours even they had to admit defeat. The raging bull - as Mayra called him - was soaking wet after all the effort he put into pushing the doors. Between grunts and heaves, he tried everything, but nothing worked. Smooth-talker William found a crowbar at one point, but that proved to be useless too. By the time they joined the girls at Cyd's cot (he woke up long enough to inquire about food and managed to string together a few words before going back to his play) they exuded so much tension that Beth moved a little to the side, putting some distance between them.

"This is such a heaving pile of horse manure! Those damn doors have no give. Nothing!"

"Unfortunately, my brother is correct. There doesn't seem to be any way out. Or water. Food is one thing, but we'll soon be in bad shape without water," said William, lowering himself slowly on Beth's adjacent empty cot and noticing Cyd for the first time.

"Hello there! Nice to meet you. I'm..."

"Yes, yes. The girls told me. So no water, eh? That's not good. But I'm sure you'll work something out."

Rian's outraged cry was muffled by William's quick hand.

"A, I don't mean to pry, but perhaps you have an idea, let's all brainstorm and see what comes of it," tried William with a forced smile.

"Nope, nada. You guys will figure it out, no doubt," replied Cyd before turning his back to them and resuming his rest.

Even Smooth-talker William seemed at a loss, his eyes shooting daggers at Sleepy.

Surprisingly, Beth was the one who broke the silence.

"Umm, William, Rian, why don't you two rest for a bit? Recuperate and then we'll regroup."

"I'm fine," snapped Rian, but one look at his brother's haggard appearance deflated some of the pent-up anger. "But some shut-eye could prove helpful."

With this, he got up and left, leaving a weary William to trail behind him.

Mayra was getting more frustrated by the second, but Smooth-talker really looked like death, so she commandereed Beth's cot - there were only four in the barn - leaving her on the floor, lulled to sleep by the older girl's growling stomach.

***

"No-no, stop! Stop that, you're hurting me! Stop!!! Please!"

It couldn't have been more than a few minutes when peace was disturbed by William's whimpering.

To be continued

What is the old barn? Who brought the children here? What connects them? All will be revealed in the next installment, stay tuned!

In the meantime, you can read more of my work here.