Chapter 1
Jake / Sandstorm
My name is Jake, and before today, I was living the
life of a bachelor. At one time, I was married, which
basically means I have an ex-wife and son. Though I
haven't seen either of them in a very long time. I was young
and dumb when I left them. My parents didn't approve, so
after our son was born, I panicked and fled. I said
something to her that still plagues me to this day. Though I
know, I can never take those words back. Have you ever
said something that so bad that you never want to repeat
those words again? That's how I feel every single day of my
life.
Still, I moved on with my life... I had another child with
another woman, or so I thought until I was taken from my
home one night while lying in bed with my newest fling. I
remember waking up to the feeling of something being
pressed against my mouth and a strong chemical smell.
After that, nothing.
Well, until now. Coming around, I could feel myself
being dragged down a hallway. Two men were dragging me
by the arms. My shoulders and underarms were burning
from the weight of my body hanging limply beneath them. I
couldn't breathe. There was something covering my head
and my vision was obscured. It felt like a cloth bag of some
sort. I couldn't call out. The words wouldn't leave my throat.
It felt as if I had swallowed sandpaper. I heard the footfalls
of a third person somewhere in front of me. I stumbled
forward and lost my balance only to be jerked off my feet
again. The thought of not knowing where I am and where Iwas going made my stomach turn... I felt as though I were
going to be sick.
Will these people kill me? What have I done to
deserve this? Frantically searching my memories, I couldn't
find a reason someone would abduct me from my home.
The only thing these men said to me is that someone very
powerful wants me and they want me alive. Otherwise, I'd
already be dead.
I would have never imagined that my ex-wife would
have been the one to organize my abduction. Her name is
Luna Decorus. Of all the people to wish I were dead. You
would think she would be the one to make that happen.
Especially after the way I had treated her in the past. This
was not the case. She was the one trying to save my life.
Finally, the men who had been dragging me came to
a sudden stop. One of them spoke, his voice a deep sound
which penetrated my frightened consciousness, "Here is
where you will stay until you are needed." Without further
warning, I felt myself being shoved hard from behind. I fell
to my hands and knees, almost prostrate, and put my feet
underneath me using my momentum to quickly right
myself. As I stood up, I felt for the canvas bag covering my
face and pulled it aside, my arms tensing for an inevitable
confrontation. He stood before me on the opposite side of a
thick door, inches of ballistic glass shielding his 6'2" frame
from me. His dark brown hair barely hid his eyes, which
were piercing and almost a cold glacier blue. His gazed past
me, lost in thought, as if I were irrelevant and infantile.
It felt like this man's eyes were piercing my soul and
gauging my very existence. He spoke again, "If for some
reason, you feel the need to make an ass out of yourself. If you want to hurt yourself or another in some way? Be it
physically, mentally, or spiritually, you will suffer the same
fate as the already deceased members of your family."
I spoke without thinking, "What do you mean my
family? What happened to them? I swear if you have done
something to my family, I will kill you myself you
worthless bastard!"
My words were cut off by the blue-eyed man once
again, "Your family has indeed been killed, but not by me
or any of the people here. Your mother, father, sister, and
your brothers. This happened before we knew what was
going on. We took you from your home before the same
could happen to you. Shortly after taking you, the woman
who was asleep in your bed was killed, and so was the
woman you were fighting in court. You should know our
team has ruled you out as the father of her child. The child
you thought was yours is safe but is not here." He looked
down at the ground both out of respect and empathy.
"I am sorry for your loss. We will return to you when
your presence is needed. Now get some sleep." With that,
he turned and walked away. As my very world began
crumbling around me, I watched him walk away down a
hallway where the lights in the ceiling dimmed with his
retreat, and I kept watching as the man who had just given
me the worst news in the world, the man who just
orchestrated my abduction, faded away into a hallway that
looked just as grim and ominous as the news I'd been given.
I wasn't sure where the other two men had gone, and
I didn't care. I hadn't realized I had fallen to my knees and
tears were streaming down my eyes until the brown-haired
man reappeared outside my door. I don't know how long I'd been sitting there. I just looked at the man. His words
sounded far away, or maybe it was my mind that was far
away because I was trying to cope with the fact that my
entire family was now gone. Finally, his words became
clear, "Now is not the time. You must rest now. There is a
bed over there. All will be explained to you shortly." With
that, the man disappeared back down the hall and left me
sitting there, voluntarily immobile and silently sobbing to
myself.