The brilliant, golden sun of autumn casts its warm rays across the land, wishing all life a final goodbye as it made its journey beneath the horizon. The light reflects off of two pairs of eyes that belong to two young girls who stood a top a hill, watching the sun set.
"Today was fun, Ali. Can we do it again tomorrow?" The five year old asks, sparkling, brown eyes looking up through her golden curls at the darker haired girl next to her. Eight year old Alima pushed some of her darker, ash blonde hair behind her ear and smiled down at the little girl with gleaming sea green eyes.
"Of course, we can, Linny. We can come here as many times as you like. But, right now, we better get home before Mama and Papa start to worry."
"Okie-dokie!" Linda grabbed Alima's hand in excitement at the thought of coming back and playing in their secret hideout. It made her so giddy that she didn't notice that she was practically pulling her older sister down the hill a little too quickly.
"Linny, slow down! I'm losing my...woah!" Alima cried out as she felt herself fall head first. Quickly, she pulled the younger child into her arms and held tight as they rolled down the hill. They landed at the foot of the hill with Alima on her back and Linda on her chest, both staring into the other's eyes in surprise. Linda started to giggle, which got Alima snickering and soon, both were laughing so hard tears fell from their eyes.
"That was fun! Let's do again!" Linda exclaimed, jumping to her feet and clapping her hands with glee. Alima just sat up, giving her sister that look that said 'are you kidding me?'.
"While I will admit that was quite the rush," she got to her feet. "There is absolutely no way I'm doing that again." Linda pouted at the stern tone in Alima's voice. "At least, not without a sled." That caught the little one's attention and she looked up to see the mischievous smirk. "Sled race here this winter?"
"Really?" Linda's smile, if possible, got bigger and she threw herself into her sister's arms with a squeal of joy. "Yes, that would be fun!" A growl interrupted the excited chatter.
"Sounds like someone's hungry." Alima laughed at her sister's embarrassment. Linda pouted and crossed her arms. She didn't like being laughed at. "Aw, Linny, I'm sorry. I wasn't laughing at you, honest. I thought you were going to laugh at your tummy rumbling and I wanted to laugh along with you. Forgive me?" Alima gave her best puppy pout, hoping to get her sister to laugh. It worked. Linda found her sister's face so funny, she fell in a fit of giggles.
"Forgiven, sissy." She giggled as she curled up near Alima's chest, exhausted from all the excitement. "Sing special song, please?" Alima smiled gently at the sleepy child and ran a hand lovingly through the golden curls.
"Sure thing, sweetheart." She turned and began the soft tune as she made her way down the forest trail that would lead back to their home and to the loving parents waiting for them there.
"You must go where I cannot"
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Six year old Linda runs down the hallway to her sister's room, clutching the little, white cat she had found last autumn to her chest. Little Crystal meowed up at her, desperate to get free as she did not like the bumpy ride. But Linda simply held the squirming kitten closer before opening the door and letting Crystal free to run into Alima's room. Closing the door behind her, she turned to see her sister laying on her bed, reading a book. Crystal had already gone and hidden herself amongst her stuff animal collection, posing as one of them. Linda giggled softly at this before heading over to Alima's desk and opening the middle drawer. Reaching in, she pulled out Alima's prized gem collection, everything from diamonds and sapphires to Jaspers and onyx were in there. Linda knew this was only a portion of the collection, Alima had more strings of them in her closet. Sitting in the chair in front of the desk, Linda set down the collection and pulled out her sister's jewelry making supplies. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Alima was still reading her book, about gemstones, go figure, and had a pair of headsets on. Linda smiled. Alima loved music. She couldn't go a minute without humming a tune, having the radio on or listening to her favorite CDs. And she did everything with music. Washing the dishes, doing her schoolwork, making jewelry, and, like she was doing now, reading a book while listening to music.
And while it annoyed their parents that Alima "had her head in the clouds", Linda knew otherwise. Alima's passion for music came from the fact that she could express herself through it. Alima was not exactly verbal when it came to family and new people. But to Linda and several close friends, she was a chatterbox. And music reflected her moods. Linda paused in her work and tilted her head to listen to the music coming from Alima's headsets. It was a vocal tune, no words and it had this dreamy, calm feel to it. Alima was relaxed today and simply enjoying herself. Smiling, Linda turned her attention back to the half done necklace. Alima had taught her the basics of jewelry making and, with Alima's birthday coming up, she wanted to make something for her to show how much she's learned and how much she appreciates her. Using her knowledge of color combination and her eye for detail, she managed to make a choker that looked like it was on fire with the yellows, oranges and reds beautifully intermingled. As she put the finishing touches on it, she sighed sadly to herself. As great as she made it, she knew it was no where as great as Alima's creations.
As if sensing her sister's distress, Alima began to sing the song she was listening to. The sound startled Linda a bit and she quickly hide the finished necklace before turning to see her sister singing with her eyes closed, a foot tapping to the melody. Alima cracked open an eye and looked at Linda to see her smiling at her over the back of her chair. This made Alima smile and put more effort into the song. As long as Linda was smiling, Alima was happy.
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"Help me!" The terrified screams shattered the air of the quiet park like a gunshot. Two men in black dragged a struggling seven year old girl towards a waiting van, unhindered by the desperate thrashing as their hostage struggled to see through her now ash blonde hair.
"No! Let me go! Help!" She screamed again, tears streaming down her face as she tried to free herself from their iron grasp.
"Shut up, you little twit!" One of her captors snarled and slapped her across the face, causing her to cry out. She was rewarded by an angry voice that sounded like it came from everywhere and nowhere.
"LET HER GO!"
A blur of brown and red made contact with the group and soon both men were knocked out cold. "How DARE you touch her!" Alima stood over the downed men, lips drawn back in a feral snarl. Linda looked up in relief at her sister before spotting something behind her.
"Alima, look out!" But her warning came to late as a third thug hit Alima in the shoulder, knocking her out. "Alima!" Linda screamed before feeling a sharp pain in her neck and her vision went black
Linda awoke to find herself lying on the floor of a large, cold cage that looked like something from a Medieval dungeon. It was large and spacious, it seemed like it could easily fit a thousand perplexed comfortably. And judging from the mountain of skeletons piled in the far corner, it had at one point. Turning away from the terrifying sight, she began to look for any sign of her sister. "Alima?" She called in a whispered shout. "Alima!" And low groan to her left caught her attention and she whirled around to see her sister laying face down on the ground, with a pair of metal cuffs that were connected to chains that hung from the wall behind her. "Alima!" She hurried over to her and knelt down beside her. Taking hold of her shoulders, she began to shake her sister. "Alima? Sis, wake up!"
"Mmm, what?"
Linda let out a sigh of relief as she watched Alima's eyes open. She moved a way a bit, giving Alima room to sit up.
"What happened?" Alima asked, looking at the cuffs on her arms, still in a bit of a daze. Suddenly, her gaze sharpened and she looked up. "Where are we?" She asked as she got to feet. Linda got up to stand near her.
"I don't know. A dungeon of some sort, but I just woke up. I haven't looked around that much." When Alima didn't answer, Linda looked up to see what was the matter. Alima was staring at the pile of human bones that Linda had seen earlier. As if in a trance, Alima began to walk towards them, stopping only when the chain halted her progress. Linda nervously walked over to her sister but kept her gaze averted.
"108."
Linda blinked in confusion and looked up at Alima to see a tear roll down her face. "Huh?"
"108." Alima repeated. "At least, that's how many I can see. Who knows how many more are buried in that pile. It's hard to tell in this light." Linda's eyes widened in horror. 'A hundred and eight people?! She thought. But what happened to them? And are we going to end up like them as well?' Trembling at the thought, Linda moved closer to her sister, seeking comfort. Immediately, Alima wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to her side. Linda gladly buried her face in her sister's jacket and closed her eyes to shut out the frightful image only to snap them open again when she felt Alima's grip tighten painfully. She squirmed a bit and was about to asked Alima to let go when a growl that rumbled from deep within her sister's chest stopped her. Alima only growled like that when something or someone she deemed as a threat was nearby. Hesitantly, Linda turned to look over her shoulder and instinctively clung tighter to her sister. Standing in the shadows just outside the cage was a tall, dark figure that seemed human, and yet not human at the same time. The only thing Linda could clearly see was that the person had glowing, red eyes and some type of mask on his face.
Alima's snarls increased in volume. "Who are you and what do you want with us?!" The being simply gazed back at the two girls wordlessly before turning to walk away, leaving them, once again, alone in the dark. "Creep." Alima growled before easing her grip. Linda stepped away from her sister and rubbed her bruised shoulder, catching Alima's attention. "Sorry about that, sis." Alima apologized as she walked over to inspect the chains in the wall. Linda sent a reassuring smile at her back.
"It's okay, Ali." She chuckled. "You just went into your lioness mode." Alima chuckles at that as she grabs a chain in each hand and starts to tug on them. "I'll take that as a compliment." She grunted between breaths.
"It was a compliment." Linda muttered softly, turning her attention to the bars to see if there were any weaknesses that she could use to their advantage. Sadly, there was none that she could see. Shaking the bars showed no signs of give or weakness anywhere so the idea of breaking the bars down was out of the question. The spaces between the bars were very tight so squeezing through to get out was a bust as well. Lightly frustrated, Linda walked back and sat against the wall near Alima with a huff.
"Problem, Linny?" Alima chuckled softly, inspecting her wrist bindings. Linda glared a bit at her before looking down at the floor between her feet.
"No dice with the bars. There's no wiggle room anywhere and the floor is solid concrete. Even if we did get those chains off of you, we're not getting out of here anytime soon."
"Don't be so sure, little sister." The words were muttered so low that Linda wasn't sure she had heard correctly. But before she could ask what she meant, the sound of clanking metal drew her attention the the entrance of the prison. A tall man, dressed in black, entered and walked over to the girls in a way that was supposed to be menacing. He stopped in front of Linda, sneering down at her.
"The doctor will see you now." He jeered, bending down to grab hold of her arm. But before he could touch her arm, he was knocked to the side by a punch to the jaw. He stumbled to the side a bit to regain his balance, holding his jaw in surprise which quickly turned to anger.
"Why you...!" He snarled, turning to the one who punched him in time to receive a series of punches to the face and body. Furious, he tried to grab the little girl that danced around him,taunting him. He made several more attempts to land a punch but a round house kick to the chest that sent him flying into the wall hard, knocking him out.
Linda grinned victoriously as she straightened from the kick, brushing her hands off her clothes.
"Good thing you took those martial arts classes with me."
Turning around to see her sister watching her from the open entrance, she blinked in confusion. "How did you...?" Linda glanced over at the now limp chains that held nothing but Alima's jacket.
"You weren't bad yourself, Linny." Alima chuckled at the flabbergasted expression on her sister's face. "Now let's get out of here."
"Right." With a nod, Linda raced out of the cell and followed Alima down the corridors, both looking for a way to get out. As they passed the entrance to a different hallway, Linda stopped.
"Linda?" Alima called, coming back after noticing her sister was no longer following. "What's up?"
"Did you hear that?" Linda asked, her voice in a whisper.
Alima tilted her head a bit in question but whatever question she was about to ask died on her lips when she heard it. A frightened cry of not one but several children. It was a bit muffled, but it was most definitely there. Alima's eyes widened in shock a faction of a second before Linda shot off down the hall towards the sound, Alima keeping pace with her. If there were surviving victims down there, they will free them, all of them.
A/N Hi, everyone. Many apologies for being late in posting my chapters. Life kept me busy with other things. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I will try to get the next one out as soon as I'm able.
Parts of Aisling's song from The Secret of Kells do not belong to me.
Also, please pray for Biomarvel740's cat, Delilah, who is very sick and dying. Thank you.