The first thing that came to Sara's senses was the burn. This burning sensation that wrapped around her wrist. Slowly her eyes fluttered open. The blurry vision of what looked like two mud plastered legs laying on the ground came into view. Were these her legs? Sara focused on her body to move and the legs gave a small twitch. Yes her legs. Her head pounded at the masculine sound of men yelling some unknown language. When she tried to cradle her head an unrelenting force kept her hands in place
Sara tilted her head up towards the sky. But there was no sky to be seen. It was covered by the leaves and branches of the thick jungle around them. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. The bars of thick bamboo logs came into focus above her. Tilting her head back farther she followed the logs as the made a wall of bars behind her. Her wrist came into view, bound by rope, attached to one of the logs. The rope gave no slack as she tugged. Little lines of blood dripped down her arms from the cuts of her tender wrist.
Sara let out a puff of air, blowing her dirty blond hair out of her face, in defeat. She was too exhausted to even comprehend why this was all happening. She dropped her head to the side and examined her surroundings. A few rough looking men were walking around the cages while they used their large guns to direct people inside. The only words she could understand were move, shut up, and a few curses that came from their mouths. Sara concentrated now on the inside of the cage. That's when she first noticed the man tied up next to her in the same position. He was hunched over, half dead, with blood covering his shirt. There were a couple of people tied up across from her. One of them was another man, about the same age as Sara, who was frantically looking around trying to figure out what was happening. He was just as lost as her. Beside him a frail looking old woman was staring at the ground in serious concentration.
Hey" Sara whispered trying to get the old woman's attention. The old woman glared up and met Sara's eyes. She held the gaze for a few moments before dropping it back to the ground. "No help there." She scoffed and continued to look around.
Another man, this one in his mid forty's, who was extremely tan and muscular for his age. He was obviously overcompensating for some kind of midlife crisis in the real world. He was flailing around in his restraint kicking and screaming for attention. His very presence was irritating to the people around him. He didn't seem to care that he was disturbing the only bit of calm they had to hold on to in this place. This man would be a problem.
"Shut up." Sara forced the words pass her lips. The man paid her no mind as he continued to kick and scream.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP" She screamed causing everyone but the unconscious man to look up at her.
'Finally a second to think.' Sara sighed as she turned to the last person on the side of the cage.
This small form was hunched over unconscious. Arms, tied up like all the others, were hanging lifeless from the pole. The woman's side bangs were sticking to her face from the blood that trickled down from the gash on her head. This poor thing was completely helpless while evil circled around her. There was something familiar about this creature. Sara leaned in as far as her restraints would allow. She stared at the top of the figure's head trying to place it. What was it that drew her to this person? Her gaze traveled down to the woman's slowly rising chest. There was a tiny mark right above the left breast. It reminded Sara of the spontaneous decision her sisters and she made to get matching tattoos. They all got an infinity symbol with the word sister intertwined. A gesture to stay connected no matter where fate would take them.
'SISTER' The word screamed in her mind. Sara's head shot back up to the unconscious woman's head
"Mindy" She muttered as she struggled to stand. Sara pulled herself to her feet.
"MINDY" She yanked at the restraints trying to get to her sister. The rope dug deep into her skin as she forced her body away from the bars. The pain paled in comparison to the goal of being by her sister's side.
"What is all the ruckus?" A voice called from outside the cage. A tall, muscular man came into view. His head was shaved, except for the mohawk that ran down the back of his skull. The only features that set him apart were the scars that covered his body. One predominate scar traveled from the back of his head to his left eyebrow.
Sara didn't noticed as he came up to her cage. "Hey there honey, What the FUCK do you think you are doing?" She was completely oblivious of his presence as she bit down on the rope like a wild animal. "Even if you somehow escape your only choice is to run into the jungle and die."
Lifting her leg, she placed her foot on her hand and kicked off the wall. There was no sense of pain, no feeling at all, as flesh tore from muscle. She forced one hand pass the rope. Quickly the other hand was free with the excess slack.
Vaas headed to the door waiting for her failed escape. In an unexpected turn, Sara ran farther into the cage. He watched in curiosity as the event unfolded.
Sara fell to her knees in front of her sister. "Mindy wake up." She lifted Mindy's head searching for life. It felt heavy in her hands. "Come On Wake Up." She gave her sister a few quick taps on the cheek. "GOD DAMNIT WAKE UP." She slapped her sister with all her strength. Mindy's head fell back with no avail.
Vaas slithered to the back of the cage and watched in amusement at Sara's persistence. Sara looked around the cage for anything to aid her. Right outside of the bamboo prison, an open bottle of water caught her eye. She lunged towards it and snatched it up pulling it to her. She didn't notice the gun shot that hit the ground mere inches from her arm.
"You know, chica, it's rude to take things that don't belong to you." Vaas rested the gun on his chin and gave a cheeky smile.
She hadn't heard his threats as she lifted the bottle to her sister's lips. Rubbing Mindy's throat, Sara forced the liquid down. A small cough, a sign of hope, came out.
"There you go baby girl." Sara cooed as she poured water over Mindy's head to revive her. "You're alright."
Mindy opened her eyes. A she looked around fear took over. Her breath quickened in panic as she began kicking and struggling under her older sister's touch.
"No no no." Sara covered her sister's mouth to muffle the cry. She forced Mindy's head in her direction. "I got you." As their eyes locked Sara's heart broke into a million pieces. It was in those eyes that Sara saw a despair that should never be there. She pulled her younger sister to her chest, shielding her from the evil around them. "Nothing to fear here." She placed tiny kisses on top of Mindy's head to comfort her. "I'll protect you." She tried to gently rock them. But Mindy's bindings restrained their movement.
"Well well well what do we have here?" Sara turned to the voice with her sister pressed against her chest. Vaas, clipboard in hand, walked into the cage looking down at it's contents and pulled up an identification card. "Mindy Moore" He flicked the card to the floor and picked up another. "and Sara Moore." He held the card up and looked down at the girls. "You two related or something?" Vaas chuckled at his little joke.
Sara only glared up at him as he towered over them.
'Now that you've had your little reunion" Vaas looked down at them with a wicked smile. "I think time to back to your spot." Grabbing Sara by the shoulder he pulled her away and back to her side of the wall
"No" Sara cried as she instantly scurried back to her sister's side. "My sister, she's-"
Listen here bitch" Vaas pulled her up by her hair. Sara reached out using Vaas' shoulders to balance as her legs buckled under her own weight. "You're in the world of Vaas now." He pulled her in close, their noses almost touching. "In this jungle I am king. You will do as I FUCKING say." He tossed her aside. Sara's back hit the bamboo log. She slowly slide down into the dirt in defeat. "You'll see soon enough hermana, as of now you are only property." Vaas lifted her arms above her head. Sara fought against his grip. Her actions were met with a quick slap to the face. "Property to do with as I see fit." Vaas tightened the rope and leaned back to look at her. Lifting her face up by the chin, they're eyes lock. He could see the rage spilling out of those emerald green orbs. Vaas grinned ear to ear at the sight. "You will learn this sooner or later." He rubbed his thumb against her chin, wiping away a line of blood. "For your sake, chica, I hope you're a fast leaner."