Nine

John

We failed, simple as that. I failed them. I failed everyone. Maybe if I had made everyone train a little harder and not allowed Nine and Madeleine to leave, we could have won. So many "if"'s ran through my mind as I sat with everyone else in our dingy little cell, yet I didn't bother to think about what was next to come. I forgot about the future, because I was too busy focused on the past.

Sam was sobbing as Six held him in her arms, and I couldn't blame him. He had just lost his father for the second time in his life, but this time, it was permanent. We all saw the building fall with Adam and Malcolm trapped inside. Adam might have had a better chance of survival than Malcolm did, but nevertheless, both of their chances was slim to none.

Marina and Ella sat on my right side holding each others hands. Both of them had the same pissed off vibe about them, but the exhaustion under their eyes was undeniable. I listened as Marina leaned close to Ella and said,

"Everything's going to be okay. We'll find a way. We always do."

All of us had taken a brutal beating. We had fought our hardest. Hell, I had probably scorched everything in my path before I was finally overtaken. Marina had tried numerous times to create ice blockades over any entrances to keep out the Mogs, but their sheer numbers were enough to shatter them like glass. Six had summoned a storm and blew many of them away. Ella was using her telekinesis and hand-to-hand combat skills to try to keep them out as well, but our battle seemed to be short lived. They just kept coming, There was no telling how many Mogadorians we killed before they finally got the better of us.

They grabbed Sam first, which distracted Six and Malcolm. The Mogs pounced on each of them immediately, and once Six and Marina were both out of the fight, it was basically over. Ella and I were backed into corners and snatched.

They shackled our arms and legs before tossing us into a Skimmer. When they pulled away from the smoking building without Malcolm or Adam, we all started freaking out. That's when they began to beat us. I was popped in the face multiple times with the butt of a gun until everyone quieted down.

And that's when we heard the gun fire all around us. We watched out the tiny peephole windows as the John Hancock Center fell. I expected a scream or two. I expected a few arguments and bursts of defiance against our captures.

But there was silence. Sam was in shock. He wordlessly stared out the windows as the Skimmer pulled away and parked inside the underbelly of another much-larger ship. We stayed there for hours until they finally blindfolded us and led us off of the ships and into our prison cell. Then they unshackled us and tossed us inside. Collectively, we tossed our blind folds into the corner.

Now, here we are. Battered. Bruised. But still kicking.

I scooted on my tail over to Sam. He sat up off of Six's shoulder sniffling. He had finally lost his shock, and the real pain was now setting in. I reached forward and took hold of his lanky shoulders.

"Sam," I said quietly. "They aren't getting away with it. None of it."

"What are we going to do? We're stuck in here." I could hear his voice break as he spoke.

"They didn't get Nine or Madeleine. They'll get us out of here. I know they will."

Suddenly from down the hall, we heard a scream pierce through the air. We all turned towards the door and listened.

"No!" the woman screamed. "Stop it! If she's here, you show her to me right this instant!"

Next came marching down the hall. In their sinister language, we listened as two Mogadorians conversed outside of our door quietly before they jerked it open. The one in the front, with her pale chin held high and her black braids pulled into a ponytail, was a tall slender woman. The male behind her was as thick as a tank with a hungry look in his eyes.

The woman pointed at Ella. "You. Come, now."

I stood up and flared at them, putting a protective arm over Ella's chest as she stood as well. "What do you want with her? Where are you taking her?" I demanded.

"That is none of your concern, boy," she spat, reaching around me and grabbing Ella by the arm. Ella pulled against her. The man in the back pointed his rife at her to try to force her into submission, but once again, I stepped between them.

"It is my concern."

Marina scrambled to her feet, moving to the other side of Ella. The male Mog pointed the barrel of his gun at each of us in turn, unsure of who would be his biggest threat. Marina reached out with her hand and made a fist. The crown of the barrel began to ice over, but then it suddenly stopped. She thrust her hand out again, but nothing happened. I watched in horror as she panicked, opening and closing her fist.

"It isn't working!"

Six frowned harshly, but before we could warn her, she threw her hand out to try to swipe the gun out of the monster's hand with her telekinesis. The gun budged ever so slightly but didn't fly off in the way Six expected. She tried again, and with the same problem as Marina, her legacies had failed to work.

The female Mog laughed as she reached around us and snatched Ella. She grabbed a knife from her boot and brought it to my friends throat as she held her in a choke hold.

"Please keep using your powers," she said with and evil sweetness dripping from her lips. "It would make my leader's day to have even more of your pathetic legacies under his belt."

I rushed forwards to grab Ella, but the Mog pressed the knife deeper into her neck. I froze when I saw the trickle of blood trailing down to her collarbone. Ella gasped in pain.

"Don't you come any closer, Sparky, or you might just make me do something I'll regret." She clicked her tongue as she pulled Ella out with her. The male slammed the door closed, causing the cement walls around us to shudder. Sam ran his hands through his hair.

"What are they going to do with her?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but honestly, I didn't know. Marina continued to try to harness her ice legacy in any way she could for a few moments before Six reached over and pushed her hands down by her side.

"It isn't going to work right now, Marina. Stop it."

"Where did they go?!"

"I don't know, but stop trying! I don't know what's going on here!"

I balled up my fists before turning sharply and punching the wall beside me harshly. I just wanted to get out of here and do something. I hated being locked up like a caged animal. I tried to listen just in case we could hear Ella again, or whoever that woman was again, but to no avail. There was absolute silence from that point on.

We slept in shifts as we tried to keep our strength up. Everyone tried to work out in order to keep their body fit just in case the opportunity to break out showed up. Our captors would give us food twice a day on flimsy plastic trays, but all of it was barely edible. Sam refused to eat until we convinced him to try to keep his strength up. After protesting for a few hours, he began to nibble on his food, but he never finished his plates. We anxiously waited for them to bring Ella back to us, but after what felt like days of waiting, I wasn't sure she was going to.

On what I think was the fifth night during my shift, I sat down in front of the door and listened. I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination, but I could have sworn I heard scratching coming from down the hall. It sounded like long, strong nails scraping against the blocks that made our prison walls. The sounded persisted for a few minutes, and then I heard the low sobbing.

I leaned my head back against the door as I sighed. There was more prisoners besides us.
Adam had mentioned that he had spoken briefly to some other Loric who were being held prisoner on the inside. They had just been transferred over to Plum Island, the research facility taken over by the Mogs, when Adam was about to leave. I wasn't sure who the other Loric were, but I did know that we were just outside of New York. However, I kept this information to myself as I realized that the US government was casually hiding the Mog's hostages away for personal gain. They were supposed to be protecting the people, not... whatever this was.

What had the Mogadorian's told them about us? How were we going to get out of this mess?