Chapter 2
It had started with an accident.
A horrible, tragic accident.
Our pursuers, oh, they had been smart; so much smarter than I. They need not lie in wait out in the elements. No, all they had to do was set a trap and wait for their prey—me—to go to them. And then, then it would all be over. See, food was a scarce resource and, sooner or later, I would find myself wandering to market to steal something in order to keep myself alive.
They had blended into the crowd and downed normal clothing: faded shirts, ripped jeans, worn shoes—the clothing of the poor, the destitute, the needy.
The trap had been set, and I blundered right into it.
I emerged from the forest and hid in the shadows. Icy rain bit at my exposed face and hands and I shivered into the shadows, hugging close to the walls in order to hide from the rain and the people.
Eyeing the baker's goods I slipped forward carefully. I didn't see the man in black watching me from the other end of the alley nor did I see his small knowing smirk as he proceeded to watch the nightmare unfold. Drawing up alongside the cart, I slowed. A moment later, three rolls disappeared from among the bread and made an appearance in my pocket. Next, I snagged four apples, and then a small wheel of cheese.
And nobody even noticed! The great bandit, once again, is victorious!
Or…so I had thought.
The shadows were then alive with the glowing phasers. Rubble cracked violently from the walls of the buildings all around me and dozens hit the ground, dead. The voices of panicked people, young and old alike, screamed terror as they raced in all directions only to get mowed down.
A small voice in my head screamed for me to freeze but a still louder one roared for me to run. My feet moved without my consent and soon red and green lights were blurring past. I ran like a jackrabbit after downing three energy drinks in rapid succession, but not even that was fast enough.
BAM!
A blast hits me square in the chest and throws me painfully back against a wall. My legs fly out in front of me and my back cracks, hard, into the stone wall behind me, keeping me in a sitting position. Slowly, my eyes slip close and my ears rang loudly. The darkness slowly wrapped around me to gently pull me into oblivion.
A foot prods my side and my eyes crack open ever so slightly.
"Did you really think you could get away, rat?" A smiling face says down at me. "You people never learn do you?"
I blink slowly as my mind tries to figure out who he is. He is an enemy, yes, but which one?
Which…one…?
"I'm going to enjoy watching them break you." My eyes close and he fists my hair painfully. "Nightie, night, freak."
And then I'm gone. Falling, falling, falling.
The man in black slinks from the shadows.
…
"And where they be taken?" He asks as he prods the lifeless body of the woman who had been thrown into the wall.
"Oh, them?" The man looks at the others lazily and shrugs. "To the auction house, to be sold."
"And this on." He looks down at her and frowns.
"Same, but whoever gets her should keep their guard up: she's a wild a one and will kill first chance she gets. She has no attachments and will stop at nothing to escape."
"Hm." Khan nods slowly.
She was…intriguing to say the least.
He needed a new worker anyway to work the fields. Besides, it was time his security systems were checked. Who better to test them than an escaping slave with nothing to lose…? Yes. She will be his. He will dissect her mind and learn what he can. At the very least, she'll help him pull in a good harvest. Besides, if she got too irritating or started to bore him, he could always make her into plant compost…