I still had the handcuffs on. They were attached to a handrail-like pole that was lined against the walls of where I was seated by the guard. I was in the back of a van—or perhaps it was truck. It was some sort of large vehicle, at any rate, not that it mattered to any of us. It had metal walls that were plain but shiny, and light grey in colour. There were about 20 others of varying ages sitting with me, including the old lady that was taken first. We were seated on the metal of the floor as there weren't any chairs. It was cold and made me shiver slightly as the material of my skirt and blouse weren't very thick.
There were two small windows, each on one side of the large box we were sitting in. Each of the windows were small and had 4 metal rods stretching vertically from the top of the window to the bottom. Presumably, they were there to stop anyone from getting out if they could get up that high in the first place. I know I couldn't have, especially with my arms locked behind my back. That would make for a painful fall if I did happen to sneak through the poles. I shuddered at the thought.
In one corner of the vehicle, there was a girl only a little younger than I was. I remember her from school. Her name was Caniara. I didn't know why she was in here and I wasn't about to ask to find out, but I felt sorry for her as I watched a tear roll down her cheek. I felt bad for everyone here. Even me. I didn't know what our fate was, I just knew it wasn't good though. King Taelman wasn't especially fond of non-humans, which was surprising considering he came from a family of them. I wouldn't be able to tell you what type they were, but I knew they were. Media digs deep.
Sitting down for so long made me bored. Being bored made me tired. My body wanted me to sleep but my head told it not to. I couldn't risk missing anything that went on. I doubt I would have been able to sleep anyway. The adrenaline was pumping inside me. I could feel my heart race a mile a minute. I was terrified in this situation but was glad I could hold it in so well.
I watched through the window in the silence. The sky had slowly been turning darker as we rode on. The long ride had made my arms hanging above me on the pole ache. I wanted to get out but at the same time wanted to stay in, fearing the consequences once we were all finally taken out of here. I set my head back on the wall, closed my eyes and sighed.
✯ ✯ ✯
When I felt the vehicle finally stop my heart raced even faster if that was even possible. It took a few minutes before I heard the door being toyed with. A man opened it. He wasn't any of the men I saw in the hall. The man was muscular like the others, had short hair which might've been light brown or blonde—it was hard to tell due to minimal light, and he had a black t-shirt on.
When he jumped up onto the metal platform we were seated on, he moved to the girl in the corner, Caniara, and went to help her from the metal pole she was attached to.
"Don't touch me," she whispered with a shaky voice. He ignored her and continued to move towards her. "Don't touch me!" She yelled, fussing around and kicking her legs.
"A little help here," the man said, rolling his eyes at her disruptive behaviour. Due to his command, a second man made his way around to the entrance of the vehicle. His man was a bit shorter—maybe by 5 centimetres, had the same colour hair, and was slightly paler.
The new man held her kicking legs in place. "Settle down!" he yelled as the other man unlocked her from the bar. They lifted her up and put her hands behind her back again. "You are keeping these on," the first man said, referencing to the handcuffs. He turned to us, "To anyone who wants any kind of freedom: don't put up a fight. There will be far worse consequences for misbehaviour. You can trust me on that one." The tone of voice he spoke with was filled with annoyance. He shoved her out the door and led her somewhere that I couldn't see.
"Why are you doing this to us?" A woman from the back yelled at the other man still standing with us. She was young, perhaps mid-thirties. I might've known her children from around town.
He rolled his eyes. "This is my job."
The woman looked at him with glowing red eyes that just darkened and darkened until they reached almost black in colour. Her eyes looked like a plasma globe, which is something I had never imagined comparing an eye to. It was black, but the red was still there and seemed to be bolting around like lightning from place to place. Suddenly, this redness, whatever it was, came out of her eye and hit the man in the chest. It knocked him from the platform, but he caught his balance on the ground. "You're lucky my hands are tied back. That would've been much worse for you, sir."
He grumbled and left. But soon reappeared with the first man, and two others. The other two had very dark hair and were each dressed in a grassy green colour. The had tags on their clothes, so I identified them as "N. Severi" and "D. Cloe." They took three elderly people out of the vehicle. They didn't put up a fight so they managed them all very quickly.
The left side—which I faced—had been fully cleared of people. They were starting to empty the right side. Since I was one of the first put in here, I was closer to the back which meant I would likely be taken out near to last if they went front to back as they did with the other side. That's okay though. It gave me more time to think, more time to plan.
After emptying the vehicle up until me and the last few sitting beside me, they made their way to get me out. "You'll be a good girl, won't you? Just like the last girl? We won't even need the handcuffs if you promise you'll be good for us." the man surnamed Severi said. I didn't move or say a word and he must've taken that as my way of showing my obedience to him.
He undid my hands from where they were linked around the pole and stood me up. He led me to the exit. "You'll have to jump here. My partner's there. Jump to him and he'll take you inside." He instructed.
I jumped onto the ground, my whole body free from any restraints which includes any man gripping my arm. When I got down, the first man I met was waiting for me. As he reached out to take my arm, I swiftly pulled my leg up and into his groin and took off running.