Chapter 1: The Crack Down

The blindfold was pulled off of my face to reveal a dark room with a bare, unlit light bulb hanging loosely from the cracked ceiling. My lip had started to bleed again from the punch I had received about an hour before. I tried loosening the strong hold of the plastic handcuffs that tied my hands together but to no avail. A bulky, male figure stood in front of me, taking the form of a mere shadow. It was unbelievably dark, the kind of dark that when you put your hand in front of your face, your fingers feel like they've disappeared. I tried to make a noise any noise. The figure shuffled forward sensing my movement.

"Have you thought about what I said?" He asked. I nodded once.

"Are you willing to cooperate?" At this I stayed still. The figure sighed, his large structure heaving. Finally he reached forward and unbound the cloth that gagged my mouth.

"You're bleeding again. You know we don't want to have to do this to you. If you would just listen and cooperate-"

"Where are my parents?" My voice was a hoarse whisper but still clear.

"Your parents are not to be spoken of right now."

"Tell me or I won't help." I replied. The man shrugged.

"Sorry." He said simply. Something broke out in the back of my mind, anger, astonishment.

"It's amazing how much the U.S. government could be the biggest traitor to its own people!" I spat. I struggled harder and felt the plastic handcuffs loosening. The figure moved forward again to rebound the gag cloth. I needed to stall.

"How could you? My parents were good people!" The man paused, then after a moment began to move forward again.

"I'm sorry. Until we can get your full cooperation, we are not addressed to talk further." He said as he drew nearer. The cuffs loosened still and I thought desperately.

"Wait!" I yelled. The man stopped, his hand poised to bring the cloth above my head. I swallowed and allowed a plan to form.

"In about thirty seconds you'll be lying on the ground, unconscious." I said. The man chuckled, sorrow hidden beneath his laugh. He walked the full length, leaving only a foot of space between us and that was exactly what I needed. I ducked confusing him for a second then brought my legs under the chair, causing it to fly over my body and hit the man squarely in the face. He yelped, dropped the cloth and clutched at his face. In the chaos the plastic bands snapped away, freeing my hands. I knew the blow hadn't been enough to make him unconscious so I began to think of something else. The man was recovering quickly, blinking back his sight. I kicked the chair away and knelt to the floor and brought one leg around. Catching him in the back of his knee, I brought him tumbling down. He fell with a thud somewhere in front of me. I felt around the floor for his body and when I found it, I brought all my weight down as I sat atop his back. The man groaned and struggled under me.

"What did you do to my parents?" My voice shook.

"Tell me!" I yelled crazily but the man only struggled harder. Suddenly, the door to the room which stood behind me swung open. There was a yell, then the voice of a woman.

"Turn on the lights for god sakes! She's terrified!" And then the voice was close to my ear.

"Kara, honey let the man go." But I couldn't, everything that was happening was unreal. My parents, where I was now, the strange buzzing in my head. So I held on tighter to the man's shirt as if somehow it would help. The light flashed on overhead.

"Kara, let go. It's ok, you can let go." My brain took a moment to let in the light, to process what was happening. Finally, I let go and listened to the voice, listened to what it said about everything being ok. There was something about it, the sureness of it, and the confidence. So I turned to see who the sure, confident person was and gasped.

"Mom?"