My eyes drifted open but it was pitch black. It took time for my eyes to adjust to the dark room. And I saw the kids strapped in metal chains to one another. Some of them were beaten up and unconscious lying down next to each other. A little girl in one corner sniffled softly, her head bowed down to the ground.
It was the girl from yesterday. I knew it. I looked down at my hands and they were also bonded tightly together with my legs. I looked around the room. There weren't any windows, just the main door at the entrance.
I didn't know what to do. If it was me some months ago I would be cowering in fear and thinking it was the end. Instead, now I sat calmly on the ground accessing the situation.
I looked back at the girl sniffling to herself. "Are you okay little one?" I mimicked the calm tone Lucian always used to talk to me.