Standing in the fields were the missing children easily numbering up to fifty. In front of them were several men all dressed in overcoats and had a mark on their necks. The last to arrive was the group which had the two boys with them.
"We're all here?" The only one with a mask on and a hat covering his head asked. To the side was a female seated comfortably on the ground resting by a tree. Every child there was extremely scared but could not move their bodies. They could react to nothing except what the men told them to.
"We are," They responded.
"Good then, let's move."
One by one, the children were being put in a vehicle ready to be transported.
"Alfred! Malakai!"
These names were called surprising the lot that were there. "You fools were followed?!" The man with a mask said in disappointment.
There was no response for everyone there could have sworn they went unnoticed.
"Malakai! Alfred! Where are you?!"
Hearing the voices of their fathers both boys immediately looked back but they still couldn't go anywhere. Tears had already formed in their eyes. The men had began putting everyone in even faster.
"What on earth is happening here?!" Jack said looking at the number of children standing in the midst of unknown men. "Where are you going with those children?!"
Malakai's father already sent out a signal to the village's security and their location through his watch. "Malakai? Alfred?" He called out.
"Let them go!" Jack shouted and stretched forth his arm.
"This is rather annoying." The masked man sighed.
"We'll handle them." One of his men said but he disallowed it.
"Focus on getting them into the vehicle." He said and they nodded. He turned to look at the men only to see a spear made of flames come in his direction. It was quite surprising but he was fast enough to avoid it. "This one is, he's a supernatural?"
"Didn't think we'll find one because it's a village?" The lady by the tree asked.
"Indeed, I didn't." He responded watching the man attack his men and the vehicle even. Doing so very carefully so he doesn't hurt the children.
The masked man moved every time and attack would miss him, hitting his men. He watched as some of them got reduced to ashes. They would have fought back but he gave an order 'get them in the vehicle' and that is all they would do. The masked man also wanted them to get punished for making such a mistake.
Malakai's father inched closer with every attack taking out most of the men, and still not even by mistake did hit the children. The men that were at least thirty remained only fifteen, the masked man included.
"Get them in, I'll handle these two." The lady yawned and stretched her limbs. The masked man did as she said while she moved forward. As Malakai's father was about to go on the attack again, he was hit by what felt like a rock crashing into his gut yet nothing visible had hit him.
"Windham!" Jack shouted watching his friend fly back to his side.
********
"Why is it taking them so long?" Matilda wondered sitting outside her home. Since both homes were close to each other, they both sat outside together waiting for their children or husbands to show up, even better, they all show up at once. But, no one has come, they had received no news.
"They are probably still searching or who knows they might have found them and are on their way back." Malakai's mother tried to pacify her friend's worries when she herself was on the verge of breaking. She could feel it, her husband was using something he had quit, which meant something was very wrong.
"Oh please, bring them back safely." She looked up and held onto the locket around her neck with her eyes closed. She wiped the single tear that fell from her eye.
********
"Calm down, everyone be calm." Behind a desk, a man in a uniform and a badge tried to clam the worried civilians in front of him. He was a tall, well built man and the village's chief of security.
"What do you mean calm down? Our children are missing!" A woman retorted.
At first he would have taken it as a result of the large number of people moving about causing a child or two to go missing and would have calmly carried out a little search around the village. But the number of people in his office was alarming. The worse part was more of them kept coming. Some of them already had tears in their eyes imagining the worst.
Just then he received an emergency signal. One that he hadn't gotten in his ten years of office. "What is going on this night?" He wondered stroking his goatie in weary and confusion.
"Sir! We have received a message from a Jack Sylvester. The children are found." A colleague of his pushed through the crowd and informed him in a quiet tone so as to not alert the parents.
"Oh no." After setting eyes on the message, he immediately sprung up from his seat. "Get every man in this station, we move immediately!"
"Right away Sir."
********
"Windham, are you okay?" Jack bent over his friend who coughed up blood.
"I'm fine." He replied and rose to his feet. "We, we have to get our sons."
Jack deeply wanted to help, but unlike his friend, he wasn't a supernatural. Windham wasn't even a strong one, and now they were facing someone who was hurting them with attacks they couldn't even see.
The boys stared at their fathers with tears in their eyes. Doing their very best to move. They wanted to run towards them, but they couldn't.
"Father, father please save us." They could only say in their heads. The boys seeing what was happening and how beaten they already were even though the lady was only toying with them were beginning to lose hope.
"Come here." One of the men pulled on their arms taking them with him.
"No, stop! Malakai! Alfred!" Windham shouted and sprinted forward covering himself and the area around him with flames.
"You are nothing but a bore." The lady yawned and swung her arm sending all of his flames back and again hitting him with an invisible force sending him flying off but was caught by Jack stopping him from advancing further.
"Father? Father!" Malakai screamed. He still could not move but he now could speak.
"What the?" The masked man and even the lady was surprised that he was talking after placing the pin on him.
"Father help me! I don't want to be taken away. Father!" He continued to yelled.
"Shut up!" One of the men hit him across the face and covered his mouth taking him into the vehicle.
"M, m-my son." Windham called out trying to get back on his feet. Jack as well ran forward. He didn't know what he would do, he doubted he would even get a hit in. But, he wasn't letting his son go just like that.
"Oh, poor thing." The lady faked empathy towards the two boys who were crying incessantly.
"Father! Father!" Malakai called out even louder.
"Time to say goodbye," The lady said with a grin. As soon as Windham sent out his flames again, she stretched forth her arm and instead of an attack, she waited for the right moment and then sent back the flames to both men covering them up in am instant.
The flames immediately swallowed up Jack, burning him to death. While Windham remained unhurt and was only stunned for a while. Alfred witnessing his father's slow and painful demise, fainted. Windham got up and kept going which she expected. He was about to make one more move but got bashed in the head by the same invisible force. No one could see what hit him, but they could clearly hear bones breaking. Windham fell to the floor unmoving with blood gushing out of his head.
"F-f-f-father?" Malakai stuttered seeing his father laying in what was slowly becoming a crimson pool with more of it oozing out of Windham's head.
"No witnesses." The masked man said and moved forward. He moved both his hands and opened his palms in their direction. The image of a dragon appeared and as he closed his palms, it chomped down on both men and their bodies disappeared along with the dragon.
Malakai felt his heart drop instantly. He did the only thing he could and that was cry his eyes out while being carried away from his home to a place where death is most likely the next stop.
____________
Hello, author here, participating in my first WPC. Giving the world of revenge a try, so here's a story about secrecy, greed, power, bloodshed, gods and demons, and a young man who finds himself between them all.
I hope you enjoy reading.