I woke up in a room full of people. All teenagers, like me, all miserable in their own way, and all bound in pairs by barbed wire. The place stunk of sweat and filth. I craned my neck to see if Portin was here. Then I turned my head around to see me and him were bound together, the barbed wire forming new scars on our wrists and arms, and now even our legs. It was probably the most miserable part of being here. But at least he was safe. As safe as he could be when he was in here, of course. That's all I cared about right now, was that me and Portin were safe. Suddenly I heard his voice; I suppose he had woken up too.

"Agraina?" He called.

"I'm here." I replied.

"Do you think we're going to be ok?" He sounded very scared, but very brave.

"I don't know; let's just focus on getting out of here. Try and talk to the others. See what they know."

We tried making conversation with the other prisoners, but they wouldn't speak. They kept on shaking their heads, saying no speak, no speak. It was almost as if they had been brainwashed. They weren't scared, and they weren't talking to each other either. In fact, a lot of them were asleep. The place was completely quiet except for the sounds of breathing and me Portin talking. I wanted to get out of here more than anything. The problem was that I simply didn't know how to get out, and if I did, I wouldn't know where to go. There were multiple doors, probably all leading to different places. Lord knew which one might have led directly out, but whichever one did, I wanted to find it. There were lots of other people in the room, and there were a couple guards stationed by each door. As I looked over at them, they caught my glance and started to walk over to me. But as they made their way towards the area where me and Portin sat, they were interrupted by another guard. They walked back over to their station, arguing amongst themselves. They seemed irritated; like someone had told them they weren't allowed to go outside and play. I thought we'd be fine, until they walked over to me and injected me with some sort of sleeping draft.

I don't remember much from then on, until I awoke with a start to find I was in a different room. This time I was chained by my ankles to a wall, and this time, I was alone. I started to panic. Where was Portin? Where was I? I didn't even know where I was, although, I had gotten used to that. I got up and looked through the cell window, frantically trying to get out, frantically trying to find Portin. But he was nowhere, and there were no doors as far as I could see. I wanted out, that's all. Just out. I think I was starting to go mad. I couldn't function, and my vision suddenly worsened. It was at that point that I fell over and collapsed completely.

I awoke to the sound of crying and screaming, and when I opened my eyes I saw people getting dragged out of their cells by the hair, their screams echoing throughout the cell block. Before I knew it there was a hand on my blond hair and I was being dragged away. I didn't know what to do, I wanted to kick whoever was carrying me, but I couldn't lift my leg without pain shooting through my scalp. So I let them drag me.

I was pulled into a large, round room where all I could see was one light, in the middle of the room. Just a candle, and there was a round table on which it stood. I walked in, only to hear chains rattling. There were about 7 other girls, like me, who were being led in. There were about 20 chained to the wall. If the girls could reach the meal placed on the table, they could eat and live on here with proper food and clothing. If they did not, they would be put back in their cell and starved to death. I was attached to one of those chains. I reached my head as far as I could, but I still could not reach the food. I craned my neck, rubbed my hand raw against the chains, but still to no avail. I collapsed, only momentarily, for I was shoved up by one of the guards. I reached again, still not being able to reach the bread. But it was then that I realized I could reach the plate. If I could do that, maybe I could get the food. I pulled myself as far as I could, bit the plate and pulled it towards me. It slid off the table, and shattered as it hit the ground. I grabbed the bread with my teeth, and held it up for the guards to see.

When they unchained me, I ran through the doors screaming Portin's name. Evidently you can choose one other person to be with you. Of course, I'd choose him. I went up to the guard and asked for Portin. He just stared at me blankly.

"You think I know who he is? We have hundreds of you. Some of you go to testing, some of you go to fighting, and some of you play the food game. "When he explained this to me, my entire body nearly shut down. I ran through the rooms, following the signs until they brought me to the room that I was assigned. I opened the door, shot in, and shut it. But as I was gasping for breath, I was startled by a familiar voice. It was Portin's.

"I thought you'd be here soon," he said, with a rasp in his voice. I looked over at him and he was covered in blood, cuts and bruises all up and down his legs, and his face was cut very deeply across his cheek.

"Oh my gosh! What happened to you?" I screamed in horror at the sight of his injury.

"I was beaten, only a little," he replied. "Besides, it doesn't hurt much."

I ran to his side. "Not much? Portin, you're very badly injured. There must be something in this room that can help clean the wounds. I went through the bedroom, then the kitchen, then the bathroom. There were some towels in the bathroom, so I grabbed them and brought them out, along with a rinse cup of water. I found some plastic that had been covering the furniture, laid it on the ground, and helped Portin onto it. I then began to cleanse the wounds he had on him, and not surprisingly put him through a lot of pain. The poor boy, he must have gone through so many traumas. Maybe it wasn't even the wounds that hurt; maybe it was the memories. He almost screamed, but I had to quiet him, because if someone knew I was hiding him, I might get in trouble. Of course, technically I wasn't; they said I could take someone with me. Still, I felt nervous about having him here. I suppose if we lay low, nothing would happen to us.

I ripped off what was left of my jacket and tied it around his legs, so that the bleeding would stop. Then I found a small band-aid in the bathroom for his cheek.

"Why are you helping me, anyway?" Portin inquired. "I'm really not all that special, and we've just met."

I almost started to cry. "I don't know where I am, I don't know why I'm here, and you're the only other person that I can talk to who feels the same way. We're going to get out of here. Together. I promise."

I held his hand for a little bit, feeling its warmth; and then the two of us drifted off to sleep.

We awoke to the sound of knocking on the door.

I heard a voice through the door. "Room service!"

Were my ears defying me? I guess this place was some sort of hotel. A hotel that kidnaps people, which was the interesting bit. I got Portin hidden away in the bedroom, and then went to answer the door. The man at the door didn't appear phased by the fact that I was dirty and bruised, in fact, if my eyes didn't deceive me, there was a big first-aid kit on the bottom shelf of the cart. He pushed it in, left it in the middle of the room, and then walked out. I walked over to the cart and took a look at it. There was enough food for one fat person, but seeing as me and Portin were both starving, this was enough food for an army. I called him in, and we ate the breakfast provided; pancakes with maple syrup and bacon, little coffee cakes with orange juice and milk, and fresh fruit to go along. We ate every last crumb, and after being satisfied, I took a look in the wardrobe, to see what I could wear. There were many things, all of them very pretty, but before I put one on, I told Portin I was getting in the shower. I found some clothes for him, too, and then finally washed my body. The moment I turned on the water I knew for a fact that I was in pure heaven. But there was no way this heaven could last forever.

I tried on a pair of shorts I'd found in the closet, and, pleased to know they fit, kept them on. I also found a pretty satin shirt, loose and comfortable, and pink, the color that I always thought looked best on me. Then I blow-dried my hair, and put it in a French braid in the back of my head. There were earrings, too, but not only did I not want to be bothered with them, but if my ears had been pierced, I've been here so long that the holes have closed up. I came in the living room to find that Portin was already showered and dressed. I guess it took a much longer time for me. His wounds looked a lot cleaner, and so did the rest of him.

"How was your shower?" I asked.

He took a deep, relaxed breath. "Wonderful. Seriously the best thing I've felt in months."

"Well I'm glad you think so," I replied. "Let's see what's going on in the world, shall we?"

I turned on the TV, and all over the news were broadcasts about children going missing everywhere. The reporter seemed terrified. Suddenly my face was on the screen; my parents must have sent a picture in!

"That's you, Agraina!" Portin pointed at the screen.

"I know," I replied. "We really need to get out of here. Maybe there's a phone where we can call my parents. I still remember their phone number, I think."

I rummaged through the place, but there was no phone.

I was disappointed. "Ah, I see, we live here but at a price, no communication. Too bad I won't put up with that."

Portin looked concerned. "You can't just fight off a huge army of people! They'll kill you before you have a chance to do anything!"

"Well that's a risk I'm willing to take," I said. "Come on, we need to make plans."

I pulled out a long sheet of paper that I'd found in the bedroom. I drew out all the places we'd been and where they led to. I drew the weaponry, and the torture rooms, even the one we were in then. Yet it still was random and I didn't know how I would figure out how to use these rooms to get anywhere. Then Portin came up with an idea.

"I'm really good at hacking computers," he explained. "If we could hack through to the cameras, we could see all the rooms, and then figure out how to get out of here."

I laughed. "That's a great plan, Portin, however, we're not just going to get out of here anymore. We're going to help all the people who are being treated just like us. But go ahead and use the computer. Maybe we can hack security and email our parents, let them know we're safe."

Portin grabbed the computer that the hotel provided and got to work. It was a little difficult for him to get past the firewall at first, mainly because the only thing you could really get into was the hotel website, but he did it. Once we were in, we saw all the cameras. There were a few outside the building, which was great because then we could see what it looked like. It wasn't as big as I thought it'd be, and actually, there was something really strange about it.

"Hold on," I took control of the touch pad. "I've seen this building before. It's only a few blocks away from where I live!"

"What?" Now Portin looked really scared. "How can it be? I remember being blindfolded on the drive up. It took me hours to get here!"

I stared at him. "Oh my gosh, you were conscious? I just remember getting here, I was at home, and then I was here. But you probably live farther away than me, right?"

"That must have been terrible, but I think being conscious is worse. They torture you and taunt you. But yeah, I probably do."

"That must have been worse," I replied, concerned.

"It was, but right now we need to focus on some things that are more important."

"You're right. Ok, so, where are there guards stationed?"

We talked it over, watching the cameras and looking at entrances and exits. And for the first time in a long time, I was legitimately having fun. I know it seems strange, making plan to escape a place you don't even know how you got into, but I was laughing happily, and I was shoving Portin around (carefully of course, I didn't want to hurt him), and I was talking. Soon, we ended up lying on the floor, just relaxing. Maybe we didn't have to leave. Maybe we could just stay here, only for a little while. After all, they wouldn't harm us, would they?

"Portin?" my voice sounded loud in the quiet we now had. "Do you know what?"

"What?" he replied.

"I'm having the best time ever."

I wrapped my arms around him, and we just sat there, in a warm embrace. I was so glad to have him as a friend, and I didn't think there was any possible way things could get any better. Although, they could get worse.