Chapter One
The humming noise began to become clearer; it was a clicking noise far away, and the floor seemed to vibrate. ‘Why am I on the floor?’ Elizabeth asked herself. Her head ached, she decided, it pounded in rhythm with her heart. She wanted to open her eyes, but they weren’t responding, it was like they were glued shut. She tried to suck in a breath of air but found that impossible also, something was covering her face, a mask, a hard plastic mask. She remembered now, just a flash, others screaming as the masks were pulled down, soft, hot, burning and molded to a face. They left a small hole where her mouth should be. To keep the captive alive, alive long enough to suffer the end of the sentence.
Trying her hands and feet, she already knew they were tied together, no chains, they had used chains on her because they were afraid of her, afraid she would wake sooner than the others and remove the ropes. She had the ability to do that, with ropes, but these shackles would present a bigger challenge. Trying to decide now how much time she had left Elizabeth knew she had to find a way to break free. She didn’t remember being put on this train; she had heard rumors about them. But the vibrations she felt matched a train, not a truck, or bus.
Her sentence for treason was death, and the Realm was going to make it as painfully horrible as they could. Thinking back, she would have done it all over again, no hierarchy had the right to decide which children were allowed to live and which would be sent to the furnaces. She had voiced her opinion loudly that instead of wasting resources on killing off living beings they should be building tunnels into the wasteland, exploring, creating artificial environments. Population control was a heinous way to solve the issues of resources. She had decided that all of the leaders were brainless idiots and she had hidden away the twelve children they had selected.
Time, time she reminded herself, how far this bullet train went she had no clue. Where did it go? Did it stop or just crash somewhere? Did it have a limited amount of fuel and just run out and slow down? That would certainly be a painful death, starvation, inside this plastic casing. So far, the train didn’t seem to be slowing at all, in fact it may have increased speed, was their less resistance in the wasteland? In her mind Elizabeth envisioned a huge pile of wreckage at the end of the line, filled with bodies of the undesirables. That was her an undesirable, had been from the day they discovered her powers.
Her mother had hidden her away for twelve years. She was smart enough to pass all the tests they used on children, tests to decide who was allowed to grow up. Her anger seethed and the shackles heated up and the plastic around them melted away. It would have burned a normal human, but it was her body creating the heat. Ah, that might work, cold, if she froze the plastic, it would become brittle, and she could break it away from her face. She concentrated on ice, her temperature dropped on her skin, her breathing, already at a minimum slowed dangerously low. She held it for several long minutes and then using the remaining energy she bounced her head once on the floor, the plastic shattered like thin glass.
It took another ten minutes to bring her temperature back up. Opening her eyes, she saw nothing. It was pitch black, inky black, a darkness that could steal your sanity in minutes. She rolled and was pleasantly surprised to feel the cuffs on her hands break, the plastic had shattered but soon became pliable again, it crackled like leaves. Elizabeth felt the cuffs on her on her wrists loosen, she smiled grimly, the pin inside was small and when it froze the tension snapped it. If they had put the cuffs on loose it would not have had enough tension to snap. She shook them off, but still had her feet in shackles. She lay still for a moment to determine if the speed of the train had slowed, it hadn’t, if anything it had increased. Slowly she rolled onto her front and placed her hands on the floor, nearly all the plastic she had been encased in had fallen away.
Just as she pushed her chest off the floor the train lurched left and made a sharp left turn. With no warning and not balanced on her hands and knees Elizabeth toppled over and rolled to the side of the car. To her horror she landed up against another body, the person grunted, it sounded male. Now Elizabeth was scared, she had been raised away from the males. Twenty-two years old and on her own for five of them she had kept her distance from males, unless they were under the age of ten.
Panic set in until she remembered he was bound and encased just like she had been. Slowly she pulled away and sat up. Then she had a silent argument with herself, she was scared witless and yet her vow to help anyone in need finally overcame her fear. “I – I um . . . I can help you.” She mumbled. He grunted again.
Swallowing her fear, Elizabeth slowly, hesitantly reached out to where she knew his face was, her pulse raced, and the waves of nausea had her stomach in knots. Men hurt girls, and women, her mother had drilled that into her head until it had become the only real fear she had. They use you and throw you away and that is why there are so many unclaimed children in this wretched society. Steeling herself as though putting her hand in a viper’s nest Elizabeth’s fingers made contact with his face. She trembled but determined to help she called on her inner strength. “Ice,” she whispered, she forced herself to concentrate and spread her fingers until she had covered both sides of his face, “ice” she whispered and held on. He groaned and she jerked away, he was human, she had to be careful.
Chase jerked back at the bite of the ice on his skin, he banged his head and didn’t even know how, before he was immobile, now the plastic shattered. When Elizabeth had let go, she hadn’t realized she had pulled his him up above the floor, when the plastic shattered, she withdrew. “H – How did you do that?” Chase gasped. He couldn’t see her, but he heard her whisper, now he smelled her essence as he drew in a deep cleansing breath. “Can you – can you remove the rest?” His voice was soft, smooth and not at all threatening, but her mother had told her some men come softly.
The train hummed louder as she hesitated. Drawing her feet up she remembered that she still wore the shackles. She nodded and fought again in her mind she was going against everything her mother had taught her. She forgot he couldn’t see her, then making a decision she leaned in. As tiny droplets of frozen tears spilled from her eyes she ran her hands over his body, freezing the plastic, he was large she knew that much. She tapped his chest and the plastic shattered, soon she had him free. “I have to – to wait a moment.” Slowly she envisioned her normal temperature.
She heard him struggle to sit up, he grunted, and she knew his hands cuffed behind his back hindered him. “Just a moment,” she said softly, he heard the fear in her voice and didn’t understand why. Finally summoning her courage, she reached out and groped until she found his shoulder, she slid her hand down his arm, shivering now in stark fear knowing she was releasing him her fingers found the center of the handcuffs and she concentrated on it, they were taut like hers had been, and the pin broke just like hers, and his hands were loose. She scooted away, clear back against the other side of the car.
“Thank you, my name is Chase.” He hesitated. When she remained quiet, he continued, “I am guessing you haven’t figured out the shackles yet. I am not even sure how you did what you did but thank you.” She still didn’t answer. “Are you afraid . . . of me? I won’t hurt you. I really am pretty tame.” He rubbed his wrists they were cold and sore from the cuffs. “I’m in here because I jumped some of the collectors, they tried to take my little brother. He got away, so it was worth it.” Chase leaned back against the side of the train. “Not sure we will survive wherever it is they are sending us, but we can be friends until then.” Chase pulled one of the necklaces loose from inside the collar of his shirt, he cracked it and twisted, it began to glow.
Looking across the car he finally got a glimpse of his companion, her eyes were as big as saucers, he couldn’t tell their color or the color of her hair, it was pulled back and wound around the crown of her head. At least they hadn’t shaved it like they did most women, then he remembered her ability, they had somehow bested her and likely moved quickly to encase her. Probably hit her with a dart like they had him, the cowards.
The train began lurching and pitching as frightened as she was of the man, this frightened her more and she slid across the train car and up against her companion. “I don’t want to die.” She managed to say. He quickly pulled her into his arms and held on. Elizabeth Scarlett lost herself and buried her face in this man’s chest and held on. The car lurched again and then tipped, it rolled, over and over, he never let go, protecting her from the tumbling car. Elizabeth lost consciousness just before the train car settled on its side.
About the Creator
Gayle
Grammy and just love to write here in sunny Florida.
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