"Don't let him hear you saying that." She said very seriously, moving away from the bed and towards the gaggle of girls gathered on the floor. I could recognize one of the girls, her name was Tetra and she had been the youngest to be kidnapped. She was 23, the same age as me. The news said she was walking home from a late night party when a group of people saw her being pulled into a car. Of course, on the news they said there were no witnesses. No one would risk their own skin for a girl they hardly knew. The other girls were 24, going to turn 25 within the year. The odd thing was that none of the girls were ever heard or seen again. No body, no murmurs of their disappearance in the underground; nothing. It was as though they didn't exist. The room looked like a fucked up boarding school dorm room made for ten girls. Six of the beds were taken and the bed sheets looked to be about forty years old. What was forty years when you were basically age less?
"Stella." One girl said standing up and running over to me. I felt her arms close around my waist and her head nestle into my shoulder. I broke apart from her and looked at her; it was Jaz. A close friend who had gone missing; I had completely looked over her when I was pushed into the room. She was 23 when she was kidnapped but it had been 6 months since she was last seen.
"Jaz." I said grabbing both of her arms with mine and smiling at her. It was a relief to know she had been alive but sad to know that she was in the same rotten situation as herself.
"Stell, you have to watch what you say." She said looking towards the door before lowering her voice and whispering in my ear. "I tried to escape, and they took me on a clock run with them. They threatened to kill my entire family if I tried it again."
I gasped and pulled her back into a hug before she led me over to sit with the other girls who were staring at the door as though one of the minute men would walk in at any second. I was still in shock at the current situation I was placed in. Kidnapped, and in two years' time I would be robbed of my life.
"Ok well, let me tell you about some things that will keep you alive here." The girl who had talked to Stella first looked directly at her and continued on. "Don't make a lot of noise. Don't try to escape and most certainly don't go against Fortis."
"I'm going to escape; it's just a matter of when. I'm not going to go without you guys." Estella said defiantly. The girl gave a tiny giggle and shook her head in a 'You will learn' sort of way. The door flew open and Fortis was standing in the door way. He looked as though he had just ran a marathon and was exhilarated.
"I'm going to take Stella here and have a chat." He yanked me from the floor and threw me out into the hallway. I regained my balance and grabbed the wall, looking back at him. "Into that room…now."
I pushed the door open and saw a rather large and handsome desk with a chair in front of it and behind. There were time capsules on the desk, some used…some not. Fortis swept over the entrance to the door and shut it quickly. The room was large, and a picture window overlooked the shallow water that flowed through the ghetto. I sat down in the chair and looked at anywhere besides the desk he was sitting behind.
"Now come on, we can be good friends . You have two years here until your time runs out." He said raising an eyebrow deceitfully. "At which time you, immediately when you turn 25 your time will be mine."
"So you're going to keep me alive for two years for a year of time?" I said looking back at him and trying to act as though I wasn't scared. Truth was, I was utterly frightened and it was taking all my strength not to shake.
"Oh don't look at it like that. Look at it as a business deal." He said leaning forward placing a hand on the desk, twirling a pen in his hand.
"A business deal, fuck you!" I scoffed, taken back at his sheer lack of tact. He was planning to kill me and couldn't even have the decency to say he was doing something wrong.
"Well if you must." He placed both hands behind his head.
"You are the utter definition of arrogance and you disgust me." I crossed my arms and leaned back in the chair, hearing it creak.
"Don't you wonder why we picked you?" He was walking around the desk, sitting on the edge closest to me and placing his hand on his chin. I looked at the door through the corner of my eye and decided to make a break for it. My hand was on the knob but he had me around the waist and threw me back down onto the floor. "WHAT do I need to do to teach you to listen?"
I grabbed my head, feeling a small lump forming on the back of it. He was pacing the room, before stopping in front of the door and looking down at me. It was quickly getting very dark, and dreary.
"Get up…now." He pulled out his gun, pointing it at me while I stood up. He grabbed my shoulder with one hand, and the gun at my side. He flung the door open and walked me towards the stairs. Something bad was going to happen, whether or not it was me was yet to be determined. The stepped squeaked as we walked down them, the three other minutemen standing at the bottom.
"Well, looks like we have a guest accompanying us on our rounds tonight." Fortis said motioning towards me. I pulled away from the gun, but he quickly tightened his grip on my shoulder and steered me towards the door.
"I think we will pay a visit to an old friend of yours Stella." Fortis said ducking my head into the back seat and sitting beside me. "Kieran, am I right boys?"
My stomach dropped, and my mouth immediately dropped open. He knew how to play this game, and play it well. Kieran was my best friend; we had known each other since I could remember. Our fathers worked together when we were younger and our mothers took us out on play dates. Kieran was two years older, but we were always close. He watched over me as if I was his little sister.
"No." I said turning to him. "Please, no. I'll listen, I swear." I said starting to cry again.
"You see, you said that a few hours ago too. The time for deals has come and gone, I warned you." He said looked towards the road as we pulled out from the yard in front of the house. I buried my face in my hands and tried not to cry. Maybe Kieran wouldn't be able to be found and they would turn around. Better yet, maybe someone will notice her and call someone. Both situations were very unlikely. Most people knew that Kieran gave out extra time at this time of night on the corner of Fourth Street. The car slowly pulled to a stop and before anyone could notice, three minutemen were out of the car. They had the crowd up against the fence, and to my disappointment…Kieran was one of them. He had his hands up in the air and was looking towards the car. Fortis grabbed my arm and led me out of the car. There were three people, not including Kieran and they all looked dead scared.
"Stella!" Kieran said rushing forward, but was stopped by Liuti and pushed back onto the fence. "Stell, are you ok?"
I looked towards the ground, avoiding his question. Fortis stepped forward and raised the gun to the three people standing around Kieran.
"One word of any of this and I will find each one of you and take your clock before you can even think twice. Go." They all scattered, leaving nothing but dust behind. "Now, we are left with the happy couple and sadly, …we have quite the dilemma. It seems your friend here, cannot for the life of her take direction. I gave me many chances but she tried to escape one time too many. Now you see, we have a use for her. The problem is, we don't have one for you."
Kieran looked at me and swallowed before blinking slowly. He clearly was very confused, but he knew that I had been missing. His fingers were grasping at the fence behind him and he most definitely wanted to hug me.
"Please. Don't. Kill me instead, please. Leave Kieran." I said turning to face Fortis and for the first I realized the magnanimity of the situation. I was a dead girl walking, two years and I'd be gone. I couldn't let him take Kieran. He had nothing to do with this situation.
He raised his hand to my face, causing me to flinch but he just pulled it towards his mouth so I could hear his whispered voice.
"I warned you. Once when you let your rat of a sister go, the second time when you tried to break free in the alley way and the final straw was the episode in the room at the house. Now shut your mouth before I'm forced to do it." The dark haired minute men stepped forward grabbing Kierans arm. Kieran was pleading with him, begging him not to.
"NO, PLEASE." I ran forward but it didn't matter, I was far too weak. Fortis pulled me back, laughing and twirling a piece of my hair between his fingers.
"Clear it." He said simply before holding my face forward, forcing me to watch one of my best friends be killed. I cringed when I saw the clock hit zero and Kieran fall to the ground, life less. Fortis waited till all the other minute men had gotten in the car before turning to me. He was clearly mad, and wasn't in a joking mood.
"One more time and I will kill your mother and sister in front of you. Hear me?" I nodded my head, looking at Kieran on the ground. He pushed me back into the car and we headed back towards the house.