Taiana heard voices all around her. She struggled to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt like they had been dipped in cement. She tried harder and finally saw a pinprick of light, which widened until she had her eyes all the way open. Everything was fuzzy at first, but she blinked a couple of times and her vision cleared. Jessie was standing over her.
"Hey, she's awake," she called. Suddenly ten other faces appeared above her.
"Give her room to breathe," she heard Laura say. All the faces disappeared except Jessie's and was replaced by Laura's. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah," Taiana assured, "my head hurts a little, but other than that, I'm great." She sat up slowly. She was surrounded on three sides by stone walls. On the fourth side was a wall of bars, each an inch thick.
"Where are we?" Taiana asked.
"Prison," Jessie answered.
"The monsters brought us here and locked us up," Laura explained.
"What are we gonna do?" Taiana asked.
"I don't know," Laura told her. She looked around the cell. "It's late, we should get some sleep. We'll be able to think clearer in the morning." She left Taiana's side and laid down next to two of the small children, who were already asleep. Taiana decided this was a good idea, so she laid down too. Jessie laid down next to her.
"Are we ever gonna get out of here?" Jessie whispered.
"Of course," Taiana comforted, "now get some sleep, it's late." Jessie closed her eyes and a few minutes later she was asleep. Taiana's sleep was not so easy to come by, but a few minutes later she was asleep too.
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The next morning, Taiana was awakened by a harsh yelling.
"Wake up slaves!" a monster yelled, "Queen Chrysoberyl needs work done!" Taiana got up slowly. "Move it!" The rest of the children in the cell got up too.
"Tai, what's gonna happen?"
Taiana looked down at Jessie. She grabbed her hand. "I don't know," she answered. Another monster joined the one already outside their cell and whispered something to it. The first monster unlocked the cell door and turned to Taiana and Jessie.
"You two, go with him," the monster pointed to the other monster, "the rest of you, come with me." Taiana and Jessie did as they were told, Jessie still clutching Taiana's hand. The monster led them outside to where a group of people were standing. Their feet were shackled and a chain hooked everyone together.
"To the back," the monster ordered. Taiana and Jessie lined up behind the last person, Jessie first, Taiana last. The monster then produced two pairs of shackles and locked their feet together. Then it laced the chain through their shackles. As it bent to hook the chain, a small key fell from somewhere in its clothes. Taiana tried not to look at it for fear the monster would catch her staring and pick up the key. The monster almost saw the key, but then it stood up and walked to the front of the line of people. Taiana bent down and picked up the key. She tucked it carefully into the pocket of her pants.
"Let's go," the monster called. The chain began to move and Taiana fell into step with the others. They walked for about five minutes and then stopped in front of a mound of bags. "Everybody grab a bag." the monster said. Everyone did as it said. The monster bent down and unhooked the chain from everybody's shackles.
"Take the bags and pour them into that bin." They lined up behind the bin and struggled to open their bags. Taiana noticed that there was a small space between a building and a pile of pipes.
Jessie's turn came and she dumped the contents of her bag into the bin. She stepped aside and waited while Taiana dumped her bag. She finished and they started walking towards the bags again. Taiana checked over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching. Then she grabbed Jessie and ducked into the space she had seen earlier.
"Tai, what...?" Jessie started.
"Sssh!" Taiana hushed, "Listen Jess, I have to go away for a while."
"What?" Jessie asked confused.
"I have to leave," she repeated.
"Why?"
"So I can help you and the others," Taiana informed.
"Taiana, please don't leave me alone," Jessie pleaded, tears forming in her eyes.
"Jessie, I have to," Taiana told her, "I'll come back, you know I will."
"Can't I go with you?" Jessie questioned.
"No, it's too dangerous," Taiana said, "Do me a favor, will you Jessie?"
"What?"
"Tell Laura and the other kids that I'm okay."
"I will," Jessie promised. Taiana looked out of the crevice they were in. No one was paying any attention to their hiding place.
"Alright, go," Taiana said. Jessie started to leave, then turned back to Taiana.
"Be careful," Jessie said, sounding older than her seven years.
"I will," Taiana smiled. Jessie smiled back and then went back and joined the other slaves. Taiana slipped the key out of her pocket and stuck it into the keyhole in the shackles. She twisted it and they popped free. She took them off quickly, glanced around one more time to see if anyone had spotted her, then crawled the whole length of the pipe and emerged on the other side of the mounds of bags. She crept along, then when she was sure she was safe, she stood up and took off running in the direction of the orphanage.
She had only gone two blocks when she heard voices coming towards her. She ducked behind a pile of debris just as two Nega-dweebs walked by, complete with upside-down black crescent moons.
"So Amethyst, what does Queen Chrysoberyl plan to do with this planet after all the resources are gone?" the male Nega-nerd asked.
"Vaporize it," the one named Amethyst answered, twisting her purple hair. Taiana gasped.
"Did you hear that?" the male asked, "sounded like someone gasped."
"Oh Rhodonite, you're hearing things. You know Queen Chrysoberyl has everyone on this miserable planet in prison," Amethyst assured.
Taiana relaxed as the voices drifted away. She realized she was holding her breath and released it with a sigh. She started to stand up when a hand clamped onto her shoulder.