Chapter 1: Prison

A mild breeze strokes your face; the salty smell of sea is tickling your nostrils. You have no idea where you are or what has happened to you – all you know is that you have sand in awkward places. Still with your eyelids closed, you can see the warm light surround you, and feel the sun on your face. That's odd, you think – it shouldn't be warm in February. You sigh in satisfaction; you've missed the beach… the summer… the sun…

A gush of cold water brutally awakes you from your serenity. You cough and gasp for air, sit up and rub water out of your eyes. You look up in confusion – and meet the eyes of a peculiar looking fellow with an empty bucket in his hands. His pale eyes scrutinize you coldly. Then you see them. The ears. Long, pointy ears, sticking horizontally out of his head.

"AH!" you exclaim in terror, before you swiftly get to your feet and step away from him. He raises an eyebrow.

"Really, McKenzie, I hadn't expected jumpiness from you."

You blink. He knows your name? Wow! Then you recognize him.

"Boss?? Your body…!"

"I know."

"Your face -"

"I know."

"Your ears!"

"I know."

"What happened?"

"I don't know."

He sighs and adjusts his spectacles. A thought strikes you, one that makes your heart skip a beat. If he is like that…? What about you…? You raise your arms slowly to your head. Nikita snorts.

"Yes. You have them too."

You lower your arms, feeling bewildered. Nikita flings the bucket as far away as he can manage. You look around, in awe – you are on some sort of a beach, that's for sure. You frown slightly when you see some odd constructions next to the brown mountain walls. And windmill-like contraptions in the water. On the other side is a incredibly tall, sturdy-looking wall, stretching for as long as your eyes can see. Nikita strolls towards it, seeming as untouched as ever. You go after him, and see what he is heading for. A gate in the wall. Nikita tries to open it, but seems confused. You tilt your head curiously.

"What's this, Boss?"

"The way off this beach, I hope. I went exploring a little and saw some really mean-looking creatures… I've never seen anything like that before. I want to get out of here before they find us."

You pucker your brows. "Went exploring? Why didn't you wake me up? I could have gone with you."

Nikita's eyes narrows. "I tried, but I had to give up after a while. You get very sinister when you're asleep. I eventually found that bucket I woke you up with by this door. Speaking of which, are you going to help me or what?"

You shrug and try to help him in his efforts to open the door, but no matter how many times you yell at it, call it names, and nearly ruin your toes while kicking it, it just won't open. Nikita pouts in frustration.

"Wonderful. Now what?"

"Now you two come with me," a cold voice behind you spits. You spin around in surprise, and open your mouth when you stare right at a dozen soldiers dressed in red armor, having you at gunpoint. They had pointy ears too, and tattoos all over their faces. The leader is a skinny fellow, dressed in a yellow and blue bodysuit of some kind, leaving very little to your imagination. His eyes are a brownish, amber color and his hair is orange, like yours. Unlike yours, he looks like he has gotten quite a nasty electrical shock, or used four bottles of hair gel to make it stand up like that. You step protectively in front of your boss.

"See, Burnan?" the leader says to one of the soldiers behind him. "Looks like our patrol got a little exciting after all."

He eyeballs both of you with a raised brow. "What on earth are you two wearing?"

"We were about to ask you the same," Nikita answers dryly. "What is going on around here?"

"You are not in the position to ask questions," the leader spits angrily at him. "You know damned well there is a death penalty for moving outside the city!"

"Can't say we do. We're not from around here."

"Are you trying to be funny, or what?"

"I'm certainly not laughing, am I?"

"There are no other cities left but Haven on this earth!"

"Obviously you are wrong, because we are not from 'Haven'."

The soldiers look insecurely at each other. The leader seems taken aback by this. Nikita sighs, though for a split second, it seems as though a shade of worry crosses his face before it disappears.

"Well, then. I see we are not welcome here. Why don't you tell your men to put away those things before hurting anyone, and let us leave?"

The leader snorts in contempt.

"The hell we are. Seize them!"

A soldier storms towards your boss, and you instantly strike at his chin. The protective gear covering his face makes sure you suffer more damage than he does, but at least you swept him off his feet. Unfortunately you don't see the soldier coming for you, and a moment later a weapon slams into your head and render you unconscious.

Not again…

----

You have a pounding headache. Ouch. Pound. Pound. Pound. It really hurts. You open your eyes, and lift your head. The room you're in is painted completely white, and painfully bright lights are aimed at your face. You narrow your eyes. Are they trying to blind you? The chair you are sitting in is hard and uncomfortable, the chains tying you to it gnaw at your skin. This isn't fun.

A tall, brawny man walks slowly into the room with heavy footsteps. He acts surprised to see you.

"Ah! You're awake! That's good. Then you might answer some questions."

He walks up to you, and stands seven feet from the floor. You try to see his face, but the light overshadows it. Wow. You thought you were fairly athletic, this guy can't be doing anything else than pumping iron, taking dumps and drink steroid-cocktails.

"These are the rules; I ask you questions. You answer them, and you don't lie. You never lie. If you lie, I get angry. You don't want to see me angry. And you don't want to smart-mouth me, because that REALLY ticks me off. You address me as sir. Is that clear?"

You don't answer, just stare at him in awe. He grabs your jaw, and force your face inches away from his.

"IS THAT CLEAR?"

His fingers digs deeply into your jaw, it feels like he is trying to break it. With great effort, you barely manage to utter:

"Y-yes, sir."

"Good!"

He releases his iron grip on you. Now you're starting to get worried. This guy can cause you some serious harm. And where is Boss?

"What have you done to my Boss?" you ask before you manage to stop yourself. You swallow, and add: "Sir."

He laughs, a sound that sends chills down your spine.

"Your boss, eh? Tell me, what is your occupation exactly?"

"I'm his bodyguard. Sir."

"Bodyguard? What's that?"

You blink in puzzlement. How can he not know?

"A bodyguard is someone who protects a person, usually famous, wealthy or politically important from assault, kidnapping, assassination and other threats. Sir."

"Ah… so that's why you hit Burnan. Can't blame you there, I feel like hitting him too sometimes."

He laughs at his own joke. You force yourself to laugh with him, and start to fidget with your handcuffs. There is no way you can sit here while some grunt beats the living daylight out of Boss. Suddenly, the interrogator lifts his fist and strike you with such force you almost black out. Stars fly in front of your eyes, and you get an unpleasant metallic taste in your mouth. Then the pain comes. Jolting, pounding, red-hot pain that spreads through your face, your skull, even your neck. It feels like you have been hit by a train. Blood drips from the corner of your mouth as you groan.

"Stop that," the man growls irately. "There's no way you're going to get out of here. Don't even bother to try. Now… what's the name of the city you come from?"

You try to answer, but the pain is overwhelming. After a few attempts, you barely manage to utter the name of the city. Sweet, sweet home. Sweet couch. What wouldn't you give to be there right now…

"And what's your name?"

"El… i… jah…. M … Mh…"

"... Elijah? That's an odd name. A pretty one, though. What about your boss?"

You grit your teeth and start meddling with the handcuffs again, more discretely this time. Your face is suddenly jerked up, in a fierce grip from the interrogator. He glares narrow-eyed at you.

"You are one stupid kid. What part of 'stop that' was hard to understand for you? You can squirm and squeal all you like, but you're staying here, like it or not. And you break my heart when you do that, because then I'm the one who's going to have to penalize you for it."

He lifts his fist again and strike.

"McKenzie? Are you all right? Are you awake? You look awful."

Boss is standing next to the bed you're lying on. You can barely see him through your blurred vision, but he appears to be unharmed. You grumble something in reply and try to sit up, but he gruffly pushes you back and holds you down.

"Don't bother, kid. You look like you've been hit by a bus. Just stay down, you're only making things worse for yourself."

Boy? Kid? I'm thirty-five!

"Wh… what ha-happ… ened… to you…?"

"Some redheaded woman asked me questions. Millions of them. I think she is some sort of Government official. But she didn't touch me once. You poor thing. I should give you a raise when we get back, what do you say?"

"G..gre… great… sir…"

"If only I could contact that damned Bob… but don't worry. Just rest."

You lift a shivering hand to your face. Barely touching your skin sends powerful jolts of pain through your skull. Man, this sucks. You hope you don't end up looking atrociously deformed by the beating, the ladies and gents won't appreciate that.

"Food!" a crusty, male voice shouts and you hear a metallic clank. You're starving, but you don't think you can eat at the moment. Besides, Boss is probably starving too.

"Are you hungry, McKenzie?"

"No. Take it," you whisper raucously in reply.

"All right… urgh, this looks nasty. Like they've collected the hairballs of their cats and made a stew out of it. Smells like it too… won't kill me to try though… I hope…"

You hear slurping sounds and then someone gags.

"URGH, GROSS! No way I'm eating this."

You try to smile, but it hurts too much. A sudden clank startles you.

"Pssst! You guys in there!" comes an unfamiliar, female voice. You open your eyes as much as you can manage, and see Nikita crouching down by his bed and talking to someone.

"Who are you?" Boss asks suspiciously.

"I'm the prisoner in the cell next to ya. You the foreigners?"

"Possibly. What do you want?"

"Why, I'm runnin' a business here! I can give ya everthin' you need. For a price."

"How generous of you, however, we are not interested."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. Really."

"Not even… your freedom?"

A moment of silence.

"Go on…"

"We'll be bustin' outta this joint tomorrow, at noon. Big Chief thinks you're interestin' enough to take with us. If you agree to everythin' he says, that is."

"Well… any place is better than here. We'll come with you."

"Good! Anythin' else you need, darlin'?"

"A medical kit for my bodyguard would be nice."

"Here you go. Be good now!"

Boss rises to his feet and goes towards you. He has opened a box he is holding in his hands, and glances indifferently down at you.

"This might hurt…"