Kagome
I awoke groggy and confused for the second time in a dimly lit, smelly, damp room. Whispers echoed through from the next room as I did my best to sit up. My hands were tied behind my back and a gag was stuffed in my mouth. How did I even end up in this situation? I leaned back against the wall trying my best to listen to what my captors were saying.
"So the auction is set up for tomorrow," A new female voice hissed.
"I don't like this idea boss. Too many of our people in one place is bound to cause suspicion from the normies."
"Then we'll just kill them. What's the point of having these powers if we don't use them?"
Powers? Auction? I vaguely remembered them saying something about selling me. Would a 15 year old high school girl really sell for anything? I stopped that train of thought before it lead me somewhere I didn't want to go. No, instead I should be focusing on a way to get out this predicament. My eyes scanned the room as I did my best to tune my captor's voices out. I found nothing useful by the time the door was shoved open and a woman walked into my room. Even in this dim light I could tell something was off about this woman. As she walked towards me I thought for a few seconds her shadow had six arms!
"Well how is our little time traveler this morning?" She asked with a sneer in her voice. I tried focusing on her but my vision was still a little bit blurry. "Oh I'm sorry, I must have forgotten," She leaned down and my eyes grew wide as her six arms became much clearer. One set of them untied the gag as the others began pouring a glass of water and adjusting some papers on a table too high for me to see. "You must be very scared after waking from such a long nap," her tone was condescending, but I did my best to ignore it. My mother once told me it wasn't polite to stare at people who were different, but my eyes wouldn't leave her arms.
"What happened to you?" I blurted out before I had any control over my voice. The words were as rough as they felt cascading from my mouth.
One of her hands struck light lightning, leaving my cheek feeling like it was on fire.
"I'm sure at some point in history girls were taught not to be so rude with their words." The woman crossed her arms, or at least two sets of them as the lowest pair was resting on her hips.
"I'm sorry I just…"
"Enough," she said, sitting on a chair in front of me, looking very menacing. "Now you're only safe because I've got a lot of stones riding on you being bought at the auction tomorrow. A girl like you with no deformities or ailments will sell for quite a lot as a bride or slave. I don't care which, so long as I get paid." Her words were so cold and callous that I couldn't help but be scared. I didn't even know what happened to my family…
Tears began blurring my vision as they spilled from my eyes. I couldn't have stopped them if I wanted to.
"Oh hells now you're crying. Listen I will do you one favor and answer any questions you have until I get bored with you." She leaned back in her chair and rested a pair of her arms in her lap as the rest remained crossed. "I'll even start you off with a free answer, my name is Centipede and for the moment you belong to me." There was no real emotion in her statement, but I committed her name to memory.
"Do you know how long I've been in that Cryogenic tank?" I asked weakly as the tears kept spilling.
"I don't know exactly, but I know 'The End' began over 150 years again with a nuclear war between countries called United States and Korea. I never cared much for the details, but I know that their war ruined the world." She blew a stray hair out of her face.
I sat in silence for a moment letting that sink in. 150 years ago I was running to school to tell Hojo that I thought I was in love with him while completely ignoring my family. My mother and Brother Sota could have died, or worse spent their last remaining days looking for me, never to find me at all. "A lot of people didn't make it. But some people did, braving the radioactive fallout to scavenge for food to survive. They suffered from radiation poisoning in different ways, some became mutated monsters that still held shreds of human DNA, and others passed the radiation onto their children. You're lucky nowadays if you're born looking like you. Normies we call you. They usually have weird gifts though like making fireballs or reading minds. You can never really tell with them. Then there are others that they call 'demons'." Centipede smiled for a moment. "Demons are people like me and my gang who wear our mutations like skin. In some cases it's very literal. There are people like us all over the islands, doing our best to keep to the shadows so normies don't have to look at us so closely. But I sure do hope that changes soon." Centipede wasn't so much talking to me as to herself.
"That sounds terrible. You shouldn't have to feel like less than them just because you look different. You didn't ask for this." I don't know what kind of reaction I was expecting but getting slapped wasn't it.
"Idiot girl. We will never be less than them!" She yelled, but there was something soft in her eyes. I stayed quiet after that. Simply biding my time until she left. Centipede stared at me for a long time. She was beautiful, even with six arms. Her eyes were like black holes, sucking all of the light in around them, and her skin was the color of cream. I wasn't sure how things were going to work in this new world, but it looks like skin care is still really important. Her clothes had be modified to fit her body well. It was a red material that clung to her skin, but it couldn't have been too tight since she seemed to move easily in it.
"I wonder what kind of mutation you'll gain once you make real contact with the outside world. Most of the radiation has dissipated, but some still clings to lowlands and large bodies of water. Maybe you'll end up a demon like us." Centipede spat the last part as she stood up and strode out of the room. I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to shut out the world around me. I was surely dead, none of this could be real. There were mutants and people that could throw fire. These were the kinds of things you read in comic books or watched on T.V.
Sometime into my contemplating a knock came to the door and a large man covered in black feathers walked into the room.
"Centipede says that outfit is no good for the auction." He squawked at me. I did my best not to scream as he approached me and placed a pile of clothes on the bed. I stared at him for what felt like an eternity before he spoke again. "I'll untie you, but any funny business and I'll have you right back down on that floor, you understand?" His voice was high pitched and grated at my nerves, but I did my best to stay calm. I wasn't really enjoying my spot here on the floor, so any chance I had at being able to stretch my legs was a good one. My body was still sore from all of those years in hibernation and I needed to get what little strength I had in my muscles back. I might not be able to fight these guys but maybe I would be able to run.
His feathered hand grabbed my arm as he pulled me up. I whimpered as he spun me around to undo the knot holding my hands together.
"If you behave we won't have to tie you back up, so just do as Mistress Centipede says and your stay here won't be too terrible." The Giant mass of feathers walked out of the room. After the door clicked shut I heard a deadbolt slide into place. I sat on the bed and resisted the urge to cry. Tears wouldn't do much good here. I sifted through the stack of clothes finding a light blue dress made out of silk. The fabric was old and worn, but still in good shape. Slowly I forced my body to stand as I took inventory of my stiff limbs. Nothing was injured, but nothing really wanted to move like I needed it to. Pulling off my sweater was a workout all its own. Slowly I shed my clothing and did my best to pull on the blue dress. It required being tied in the back, but I couldn't get my fingers to cooperate with me so the fabric hung loosely off of my body. Was this what is was going to be like for the rest of my life?
How long would I even live in this world?
I had never been strong before.
My parents never pushed me towards sports other than track so I didn't know the first thing about really working out. This world use to be a place where the strong conquered the weak, and if I didn't figure out a way to become one of the strong I had a feeling I was going to end up dead.
"Go get the girl" Centipede spat loud enough for me to easily hear." I took a deep breath as the deadbolt slid out of place and the door began to open. The large feathered man walked in and grabbed my arm once again to lead me out of the small room.
The next room wasn't much bigger, with few pieces of furniture and trash scattered across the floor. It was mostly paper from what I could tell in the dim lighting. The only big difference to this room was that there was a window. Feathers dragged me past it and I almost screamed at what was outside.
There was nothing but a barren wasteland, with charred trees dotting the land. Everything was black or brown. I could feel the world outside rotting away. How could this have happened to our planet? It had once been so vibrant and full of life. I was forced down into a chair as I continued to stare outside of the window. Mumblings reached my ears, but that's all they were as my mind tried to wrap itself around what had happened. It was bad enough hearing Centipede tell me about it, but what was worse was seeing it with my own eyes.
I felt Centipede's hand smack against my skin, but the sting didn't follow. I had become numb as tears threatened to spill from my eyes, but never quite reached the brim. She was yelling now, I could faintly make out the sound of her voice telling me to eat or starve. Food was placed in front of me, and like a robot I did as was told. Taste never registered as I slowly finished the food.
I was lead back to my room sometimes after the food had been finished. Other people had been at the table, some were different, like feather man, others were dirty and scared looking. I didn't really pay attention to anyone's faces. More people for auction I guess. Vaguely I wondered how long Centipede had been selling off people to make money, but I couldn't find it in me to truly ponder the question.
Everything was gone.
I was never going back.
