Taken

The room was dark. I reached my arms out as far as they could stretch searching for a weapon with zero luck. The floor beneath me felt hard and rough; almost like a basement flooring. My screams only came out muffled and something had been wrapped tightly around my legs that just hurt anytime I would try and move them. Where was I? The room smelled kind of funky; almost as if someone had died just days before in this very room. Panic began to fill my insides. I had a sudden urge to scream but I just couldn’t seem to let it escape my lips.

Soon enough, the heavy patter of footsteps began stomping it’s way into the room. The way the sound echoed helped me realize I was probably inside an empty room somewhere. A hand grabbed a chunk of my hair and yanked me up onto my feet, but the pain from whatever had been wrapped my ankles cut off the pain from the hair pulling.

“Let’s go sweetheart.” A deepened voice sounded as I was pulled my way through the dark room towards a very bright light. “I knew you were a prize,” The voice sounded again, “Someone is already interested in a buyout.”

I tried fighting against his grip, only for it to result in the person pulling me even harder towards wherever it was that we were heading towards. Just when I had thought that we stopped so that I could catch my breath and regain use of my limbs once again, I felt my body lift off the ground just before being flung into a hard surface. The sound of an engine confirmed that I had been placed inside a vehicle somewhere. I began stretching my arms out to try and find a sense of where I was only to find myself getting smacked across the face.

“Don’t you even dare.” The same voice from before grumbled.

“Leave her alone, James.” A slightly lower voice sounded from the front of the vehicle, “She’s probably just scared.”

“Shut up.” The deeper voice responded.

“How would you feel if you had just been thrown into some random area with no sense of direction?” The lower voice replied. I had sensed a fight about to come on and a small part of me was a teensy bit disappointed that I couldn’t see the smackdown happen with my own eyes; I’ve always loved a good argument.. when I wasn’t the one in the argument, of course.

“Wh- Where am I?” I spoke out softly to not alarm the voices of the ones I’ve been hearing go back and forth.

“Don’t worry about that, baby girl.” Deep voice answered. Although I don’t think I ever knew the man before now, I just know he’s definitely the cocky type who can’t even satisfy a girl on his own. I felt a smile creep onto my face to that thought but quickly frowned to not alert the attention of the others.

“You said someone was interested in a buyout?” I kept asking. I read somewhere that if you annoy your kidnappers enough, they’ll get so annoyed that they’d leave you stranded. Of course that’ll probably never happen but it was worth a shot to at least try.

“Dumbass.” Lower voice chuckled.

“I just want to know what the hell is happening out there,” I responded, “I literally cannot see for myself.”

“How ‘bout you just shut the fuck up and sit back there quietly?” Deep voice replied.

“I’m just trying to keep myself infor-”

“Shut the fuck up before I make sure you cannot speak out again.” Deep voice threatened.

I really wanted to contradict him and try to catch his bluff but that’s the problem with being blindfolded. You have no way to see if a person is actually bluffing or if they are being completely serious. I felt my body shift from side to side the way it would when you’re unbuckled in a moving vehicle as I awaited what was to happen next. The silent ride really did not help my nerves at all; my thoughts just kept trying to predict what was about to happen once they opened the doors to let me out. Where were we going? Who did those voices belong to? Who were they? Why was one of them talking about how they already had a buyout from somebody? About me? What was it about me that made me such a prize? A million thoughts began racing around in my head, trying to pound their way out. Oh how I wish someone, or something, would make a sound right now. I couldn’t handle this silence. Not now. Not while it’s pitch black as I’m being driven to a random location. All I was trying to do was buy my younger sister a present for her tenth birthday. That’s all I wanted to do today. All I was supposed to do was run down to the mall real quick to buy one item before going home and just laying down in my bed. That’s all. She was just so excited to be hitting double digits that I just wanted a few minutes alone to myself. A few minutes. My heart began to race. Oh god. All I wanted was a few minutes to myself, and now I’ll probably never get to see her again. No. That cannot be. It can’t. I want to be able to see my younger sister again. I want to see the smile on my moms face the morning of her birthday, knowing her youngest daughter is hitting those double digits in age. The way she looked on my tenth birthday. A tear ran down my cheek. How will she be able to smile at her youngest turning a year older when her oldest daughter never comes back home? How is Tabitha going to be proud to turn ten when her sister isn’t even around for her birthday party? No. I can’t let them get hurt. Not now. I have to get out of here. I began reaching down my legs towards my ankles, pulling at the tape wrapped around them, trying to break free. I have to get home.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Deep voice asked me.

Remaining silent, I just kept trying to pick at the tape tightly bound around my ankles. Just when I thought I had gotten free, a hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward.

“When I told you to shut up, I meant for you to sit still also.” Coffee breath hit my face with every word he spoke. I’m sure to other girls, the breath might have been intimidating, but it reminded me of how my mother was never able to concentrate without her hourly cup of coffee. No matter how many times I’d tell her how bad it was to have coffee that frequently, she never wanted to hear it. Coffee was her vice, she would always tell me. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of my mother’s words.

“Wipe that smile off your mouth.” Deep voice said sternly, tossing me back. Not being able to catch my fall, my head smacked against the back door, confirming that we were, indeed, inside some type of van. Hitting the door did kind of help the thoughts that were pounding around inside my head, almost like hitting my head helped some of the thoughts escape out, but as soon as the silence came back- so were the thoughts.

The door slammed open and a pair of hands yanked at my ankles, pulling me forward. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll remove the blindfold soon.” Lower voice spoke out.

“Why not no-”

“Shush.” Lower voice whispered to me as he removed the tape from my legs before yanking me out of the vehicle; almost as if someone had been watching, making sure he remained rough while handling me. “I got her,” Lower voice spoke out, probably to the deep voice, “Where do you want her?”

Want me? What did he mean by where did he want me? Do they have multiple places to stash away random girls they find? Where were we? What were they planning to do with me?

“Put her with the others.” Deep voice answered, “Thaila’s coming soon to pick out the chosen ones.”

Thalia? Who’s Thalia? A pair of hands began to shove me forward until I had a face full of fence. The blindfold was then snatched off my head to reveal the sea of girls sitting in a small fenced area in the back of some old, abandoned warehouse. The girls inside the cage were probably around the ages of eighteen to twenty.

“Get in.” Lower voice, a pale faced young man with bright red hair, said to me. He opened up the door that led inside the caged room. “Don’t make me say it twice.” Before I could take a step further, the redheaded man pushed me in before slamming the gate shut.

“Listen up,” Deep voice, an older gentleman with curly, brown hair, announced to the group of girls who had been slumped all over the floor. Some of the girls in here looked as if they had been here for weeks, others looked as if they had been here for months.. or even years. I felt a lump hard in my throat at the thought of being locked up inside here for years. Not being able to see my mom, or Tabitha, or even being able to see the open world again. “Thalia will be here real soon so let’s get to the point,” said the brown haired gent, “How many of you inside here are virgins? Don’t lie either. Punishment will come to those who try and lie.” A few hands shot up from girls who looked the freshest, but the other girls just remained slumped in their spots on the floor. “New girl?” Brown hair looked at me. I raised my hand, causing a smile to appear across his face, almost as if he had been turned on by my answer. I cringed at his response. “Now,” Brown hair spoke aloud, “How many of you are of age?” Every girl raised their hand now. I did a mental sigh of relief as I raised my hand. If I even saw one hand not get raised, I would’ve probably been so angry.. although after what I had just gone through, nothing would’ve surprised me. “Excellent.” Brown hair was smiling now, “You girls are quite lucky. You are the chosen ones.”

Lucky? I’d say we were the opposite of lucky. Being locked up behind a cage while strangers decided our fates was not lucky. I definitely did not feel like a chosen one.

“When Thalia comes, she will lessen the amount of girls inside here so it’ll be less cramped.” Red hair spoke up. Lessen? How will she lessen us? I looked around at all the girls surrounding the area. Are they going to allow some of us to be set free or do they just have another location they send us once we start to become used up?

“Don’t worry freshies. You won’t be going anywhere unless Thalia really likes you.” Red hair smirked, almost proud to have us surrounding him.. almost as if we were the audience he had always dreamt of having. I had no idea if his words relieved me or terrified me. Of course I didn’t want to go anywhere else; I just got here. It was already bad enough that I had to be confused about what was going on while in this dump, but the idea of going further away.. further away from my mother, my younger sister.. that terrified me so much more. I was already away from them God knows where and to think they could just pick up and take me even further away; I cannot allow that to happen. I will not allow that to happen. No matter what. Even if it meant I had to fight my way out of this place; even if I have to risk my own life just to figure out a way to escape. I am going to find my way back to them, no matter what. I’m not allowing my younger sister’s tenth birthday to be destroyed all because some assholes decided to take her sister away.

***

The click-clack sound of a pair of bright red heels sounded throughout the nearly empty building as a woman of confidence walked her way up towards the gate. She wore her jet black hair straight down with one strand pushed back behind her left ear, and a bright red barrette kept her bangs clipped nicely to the side of her hair in an effort to keep them out of her eyes. She wore a pantsuit that was so black that you could barely see it at all in this dim lighting they had equipped for the building we were currently in. Something about her appearance reminded me of a teacher I had in school; Mrs. Haplita. Even the way this woman stood up straight, clipboard in hand as she gazed through the girls inside, reminded me of that teacher. It had to just be a coincidence. Mrs. Haplita adored me. She was always there for me when I needed someone to talk to. There is no way she would ever do this to me.

“Ladies.” She spoke towards us with confidence in her voice, “I know you are currently scared. I know. There are still some adjustments to be made but we are managing quite well.” A smile spread across her face like she was proud of what she has overcome. “We could not have done any of this without all of you.” She continued with a smile plastered across her face.

Did she want a round of applause? I looked around at all the other girls. In the short time I had been here, nobody said a single word. Nothing. It would’ve been dead silent if it wasn’t for those two dimwits outside the gate talking amongst each other as if nothing was happening on this side of the fence. Some girls looked terrified, like me. They probably had just arrived recently as well and were just as confused as I am to what’s going to happen or why we were all brought to this place in the first place. What made us so special? Other girls looked exhausted. What have they been through that made them look so worn out? They all looked like they all lost that one ounce of hope they ever had of getting out of this hellhole.. like they just completely accepted to being trapped here for the remainder of their lives. They all looked as if they were already awaiting death to come take them away. My eyes shifted back to the woman standing outside the gate. Her eyes wandered around; almost as if they were observing every single one of us.

“I don’t know if those men told any of you my name,” She smiled, “but I am Thalia. The one who comes to take those who have completed their good deeds over to complete their next task for their mission.”

Mission? What mission? Without even thinking twice, I found myself raising my hand.

“Yes?” She pointed towards me.

“What’s our mission?”

She cleared her throat before completely disregarding my question, “If any of you girls have any problems or issues in the future, I will be available to help. Do not be afraid to come to me for anything.” She let off a smile as if it was supposed to help us calm down and relax. With the way she was treating this, you’d think we all had chosen to be in this room right now.

“You girls are very lucky that you have her,” Brown hair said, placing his hands on her shoulders, “She understands all of you better than we ever could.”

What? Was she also held captive by you guys? That had to be the only conclusion to how she could understand us at all. Or was it because she was a woman? Just knowing those two men for the short time I have, that wouldn’t even surprise me one bit. I observed closely at her actions around brown hair; the way she would carefully look back at him before brushing his hands off her, the way she looked around before she would speak her next line.. everything suddenly began to feel staged. It’s almost as if we were currently in some movie, and brown hair was the director. Was this Thalia woman really the one in charge, or was she just brown hair’s little puppet?

“Okay girls,” Thalia took a step forward before looking back at us with confidence, “If I say your name, please come stand over by me.”

Brown hair opened up the gate before glaring at all of us, “If you try and escape, the punishment will be much worse than what’s to come.” His voice sounded a lot less scarier once I got to see his face. He just looked like your average white boy; almost like the freshman you’d find hitting on all the popular seniors that were way out of his league. He was that guy. Red hair was standing in the distance, almost as if he was afraid to face any of us. Was he? He showed a whole different exterior than brown hair and Thalia. He looked almost sweet.. too sweet. He seemed like the quiet kid who just got dragged along on his best friend’s journey and stayed till it was too late to get out. There was just something about red hair that made me feel bad about him.. I just didn’t know what it exactly was.

“Talia.” A girl with a short brown bob got up and walked over towards Thalia.

“Courtney.” A girl with messy blonde hair, almost as if someone just took a scissor to it and chopped down, walked over towards her.

“Maxie.” A girl with bright green hair stood up and walked over. Her shirt was completely torn over her shoulder; I couldn’t seem to figure out if it was supposed to be like that or if someone had done it purposely.

As Thalia said the names, I began to wonder if they were really those girls’ names or if they just gave us all new names as a way to change us into new people. Would I have to have my own name changed? That thought just couldn’t sit right with me. I was always fond of the name Gabriella; when Tabitha was just starting to talk, she couldn’t pronounce my name correctly and just called me Gabella until it stuck completely. Even my mom had gotten in on the action from time to time. To my friends, I was Gabi; to my family, I was Gabella; to these people, I was just some weakling that fell into their trap.

By the time Thalia was finished counting out the names of girls to step forward, she had about ten of us standing by her side. As she walked away, the girls who followed were beginning to look more worried than they had inside this cage. What if they were all being taken to the slaughter? Morbid, I know, but being locked up inside this thing has put the absolute worse thoughts into my head. Why did we have to be locked up inside here while everyone else got to just wander around freely? My own thoughts were battling around inside my head the way they had been inside the van before. Pounding and pounding for a way to get out.

What did these people want with us?

What was it about us that intrigued them in some way?