[CHAPTER 14] — Taken

I woke up in the back of a truck, with no idea where I was or how I’d gotten there. The last thing I remembered was watching Greg stare off into space in front of the mine while I conducted geological surveys on the mountain. I had gone to the crate of supplies to get a new pencil when I felt a sharp burning sensation on my back before everything had gone fuzzy and dark. Now I was clearly in the bed of a truck along a bumpy road, sore from head to toe but not so much that I couldn’t move.

I lifted my head up off the bed of the truck and I was greeted with a throbbing in my head like I’ve never experienced, before a violent bump threw my head back against the truck bed and I was reeling, trying not to lose consciousness. I must have let out a groan when my head hit the hard bed because I could hear voices through the rear window as my ears rang a deafening tone. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but I heard my name and looked towards the face glaring at me from the small window. My eyes were blurring and my vision was doubled, and it was several long moments before I could make out their face or hear what they were saying; when I realized who it was, my blood ran cold.

“Hey there little Katerina. Remember me?” James said when he realized I knew who he was. “I got a little present for you. Now, be a good girl and sit tight. We’re almost home.”

I tried to sit up but realized that he had hog-tied me, my feet and hands bound together behind my back- with an added bonus just for me; the rope was also tied in a noose around my neck so the more I struggled, the tighter the noose got. For now, I was at their mercy; I could feel that my weapons had been taken off me, so there were no knives to slide out and use to cut the ropes. The only thing I could do was wait until they reached the destination and I was untied; then I could find a way to escape. I didn’t wait long, moments later the truck had parked and the tailgate thrown open. I was grabbed roughly by a pair of hands which then cut the rope so I could stand up straight and walk.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I swung my elbow around to connect with the man’s ribcage. He dropped to the ground with a grunt and I heard footsteps coming up behind me and I swung my leg around for a roundhouse kick to my opponent. James had been the one approaching me and he had been ready for my attack; he grabbed my leg and wrestled me to the ground, getting me into a submissive position and laying his full weight on my back while other men scrambled to bring shackles.

“It’s time for your surprise, little Katerina.” James breathed the words into her ear with a hot wetness that made me want to cringe, but I stood my ground. He continued, “Ever wonder what happened to that sweet little baby of yours?”

My heart raced as James shoved me towards a guard who looked familiar; he nodded and grabbed me roughly, leading me down a short corridor to a set of doors. My forehead began to bead with sweat as the heavy doors of the base creaked open, revealing a stark, sterile environment that felt more like a prison than a sanctuary. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting an eerie glow on the concrete walls. I was escorted through a maze of corridors, my mind racing with questions and fears. Where was I? What had they done to my daughter?

As they approached a reinforced door, my breath hitched in my throat. The guard paused, glancing back at me with a mixture of intensity and curiosity. With a swift motion, he unlocked the door and pushed it open. The sight that met my eyes was both a balm and a dagger to my heart.

There, in a small, brightly lit room, sat my daughter, Everlea. The girl was drawing, her small hands moving quickly across the paper, oblivious to the world around her. Though I had never seen her past her first few moments of life, but I could tell immediately. Her mop of curly black hair was so much like my own, and her skin was as porcelain as my own. My heart swelled with love and relief, but it was quickly overshadowed by the reality of our situation. I rushed forward, kneeling beside Everlea, my voice trembling. "Sweetheart, are you okay?"

Everlea looked up; her big blue eyes wide with surprise. "Mommy! I knew you would find me. I knew I would meet you one day. Momma Meg will be so excited to see you!" she exclaimed, dropping her crayons and throwing her arms around my neck. The warmth of my daughter's embrace was a fleeting moment of joy in a sea of despair. I held her tightly, unable to truly believe I was finally holding her in my arms. As I held her, I fumed; vowing silently to protect her at all costs.

The moment was short-lived. The guard cleared his throat, reminding me of the urgency of our predicament. I pulled back, forcing myself to focus. "We need to get out of here, Everlea. Can you be brave for me?"

“Katerina, we have to bring Everlea to get Meg before we get you out of here.” The guard said, drawing her full attention to him for the first time. He was an aging man with striking teal eyes and a familiar face that she just couldn’t place. “James is going to want to see how you react to having Everlea back before he kills you and makes her his slave. We have to make it to Meg and get you all out of here before he decides to join us.”

“Who are you?” I asked the man, feeling my heart jump into my throat and race faster and faster as I awaited his reply. I was getting flashes of the man’s face in front of me but much younger, but all this time I had though he was dead.

“I’m Henry, your father. I wish I had time to explain everything, but we don’t. We need to get you two out of here now.”

With a nod, Everlea wiped her tears, determination shining in her eyes. I quickly grabbed her hand and she gave it a squeeze, looking at me with an innocent and encouraging look. I looked at my father, newly reincarnated from the dead as far as I was concerned, and nodded curtly. We set out from the room without another word.

He led us out and into the hall, taking one turn and then another until we were standing in front of another door that looked almost identical to the first door I had been led to- the one behind which sat my daughter, innocently coloring as if she weren’t in dire straits. Henry opened the door quickly and ushered us in, closing the door behind us.

“I’ll be right here; it just has to look good in case anyone comes by. Be quick, we don’t want to set around too long.”

I scanned the room, taking in the simple but clean room around me before a small redhaired woman came in from the back room.

“Evee! Oh, thank goodness. I know we should trust your grandfather but I get so worried when I can’t see you.” Meg gushed as she rushed over to the girl and looked her over before wrapping her in a warm hug.

“Momma Meg, we found her. This is my mother, Katerina.” Everlea pulled me over to her, and I immediately was wrapped in the same embrace; suddenly semi-supporting a crying Meg as she hugged me.

“Oh, you poor child. I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am. I didn’t want to take your child, but I couldn’t risk what they’d do to her. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” I exclaimed, unable to put into words how grateful I was to find that my child was alive and well. “I can only thank you. You’ve not only kept her safe, but she clearly knows who I am. You’ve been kind and selfless and I couldn’t ever repay you or thank you enough.”

A knock came at the door, and Henry poked his head in. “Josh is coming. He’s on our side. Hurry along, we have to get going.”

“Josh Thorne?! You’ll have to explain that one to me later.” I said to him as he closed the door. I turned to Meg, the feelings of gratitude and kinship surging through me in a way that puzzled me; she had raised my child for years in my stead, but she clearly made sure she knew who she was, for t he most part. That was a selfless and no doubt difficult sacrifice that Meg had made for me, a young girl she didn’t even know. “We’re getting out of here. Gather whatever you need as quickly as you can; James is coming for us.”

Meg gave Everlea a quick hug and placed her hand lovingly on my cheek before disappearing for a few moments into the back room. When she came back, she had a stuffed phoenix and a backpack on her shoulder. She grabbed up the few snacks that were in the front room and packed those into the bag before slinging it onto her shoulder. As Meg joined us, she held the stuffed bird out to Everlea who took it and gave it a hug before tucking her into her sweatshirt for safekeeping.

"Stay close to me," I whispered, leading Everlea and Meg toward the door. As we stepped out, my heart pounded in my chest as my father was joined by a man, I had thought dead and many times had wished was dead. Somehow, Josh was on our side; but I decided to be wary of him for the time being. We had to move quickly. I could hear the distant sounds of guards patrolling the base, their footsteps echoing ominously.

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“Boy it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that face. You look good, Katerina.” Josh said to me as he came to my side. “I know you’re not going to trust me yet, at least not if I did my job right, but Cal understood what I did and I hope you can too.”

“Do you have any idea how hurt Cal was when you betrayed everyone and joined the Cult? You were his idol; he looked up to you and you abandoned him.” My words were angrier and more truthful than I had intended, but it has already been a long day and I’m not in the mood to mince words.

“I get it, I explained that to him and now I’m trying to get us out of here while taking down the Cult so I can spend the rest of my life making it up to him. But we have to make it out of here alive first.”

I rolled my eyes and walked over to my father, signaling to him that we were ready to go. He led us once again through the corridors; we reached a room that had several men and Josh took them down silently. I looked at him with an arched eyebrow, then looked at Everlea to see how she was and found her face pressed into Meg’s shoulder; Meg had grabbed her the moment she knew something violent was going to happen and protected her from seeing it.

We raced through the corridors, my mind focused solely on getting my daughter to safety. When we encountered any guards, my training kicked in; I fought fiercely, my adrenaline surging as I took them down one by one. Each victory brought us closer to freedom.

But as they stepped outside, Katerina's heart sank. The base was rigged to explode, a last-ditch effort to erase any evidence of the Cult’s operations. She turned to Everlea, her voice steady despite the chaos around them. "You have to go, sweetheart. You have to run!"

"No, Mom! I can't leave you! You just found me." Everlea’s voice trembled, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I knelt, cupping my daughter's face in her hands. "You have to be brave for me. You have to live. Promise me you'll run and never look back."

With a heavy heart, I pushed Everlea away, urging her to flee. Meg grabbed her by the shoulder, giving me a nod and gazing for a long moment with a forlorn look. Josh came over and pressed a small paper into my hand, and looking at it I saw it had all the sequencing codes for the base printed on it. I nodded my head at him and he stepped back, joining the others. The ground shook beneath us as the countdown began. I turned back to the base, knowing I had to buy my daughter time. I activated the final sequence, sealing the doors behind me.

I turned to face my fate, and my eyes landed on a demon; James stood before me, chest heaving and eyes wild. With his hands clenched in fists so tight he was probably cutting into his palms; he started stomping towards me. There was no doubt in my mind that he meant to kill me and stop the sequence, and I was not about to let that happen. The Cult of Seedbearers was going to finally be destroyed; right here, right now.

James was two arm’s length away now, and he suddenly lunged at me, making a move to grip my throat and strangle me to death. Before he could get a grip on my throat, I swung my arms up and out, knocking his hands off course and causing him to grip nothing but air on either side of my head while I slammed my head into his face. He let out a scream that was a cross between a dying cat and a wounded bear as he stumbled back before tripping on a pipe wrench that had been left on the floor. He growled once more, scooping the pipe wrench up and he stood back up to administer another attack.

He began his attack once more, swinging the wrench as quickly as he could. He made connections with my shoulder and collarbone, and I felt my socket fall out of place and roll in towards my clavicle. I screamed out in pain and held my arm, not daring to take my eyes off James to look at the extent of the damage. I rolled over the railing beside me, gripping the top rail as I went over.

I held the pole as hard as I could and wrenched my shoulder further away from the joint and twisted it back in, pushing hard as I twisted the best I could. I didn’t get it in there perfectly, but it was better than a fight to the death with it dislocated. I managed to jump back just in time to miss James’ latest swing of the wrench, rolling my newly conjoined ball and socket as I stepped back as quickly as I could. It hurt like hell but at least it was useable.

James once again bounded forward, wrench raised and ready for an attack. I knelt down and grabbed up some dirt from the earthen floor, effectively dodging the first swing; as I rose and spun to meet him, I let fly the handful of debris into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. I roundhouse kicked the pipe wrench out of his hand as he feverishly rubbed at his dirt-filled eyes; it skidded far out of reach as it thumped across the dirt floor. I grasped my hands behind my back as I paced slowly round him, waiting for him to be ready to finish the fight.

Just then, I heard bootsteps behind me and whirled around to find James’ adopted brother, Sean, standing close behind me. He swung his fist and connected with the left side of my jaw; a blow I’ve taken many times but was now seeing stars. Sean was a lot stronger than he looked with his five feet ten-inch frame and a smaller build with low muscle tone. I stepped back a moment before my vision started clearing up, hoping it would clear fast enough for my next move.

Once I could see well enough to find what I needed, I ran over to the pipe wrench. As I neared it, I slid on the floor and grabbed it up; Sean’s heavy footsteps not far behind me. I popped up on my knees swung my body around while swinging the wrench and connected with Sean’s man meat. He doubled over in pain, bringing his head down to the perfect position for me to pummel him in the head again and again; falling on top of him as he fell over and continued to bash the wrench into his head, creating a sizeable crater in his skull.

I dropped the wrench once more and looked for James, who was nowhere to be found, of course. I walked towards the door and the timer; this bomb was taking ages to detonate and I needed this to be over. I reached the terminal and checked the timer- forty- two seconds left. I heaved a sigh and leaned my bottom against the terminal. At that moment, James stepped out from behind a stack of pallets.

I stepped forward, readying myself into a fighting stance as I waited for his attack when my shoulder hit something metal hanging from the ceiling. I reached up to grab at the chains I had bumped into, brought one up into my hands and began swinging it over my head. As the chain reached its momentum, I flung my hand out and threw the chain at James. It wrapped itself around his neck and the tail end came up to smack him in the face. James grabbed at the chains in a desperate attempt to free himself.

I hurled myself at him, wrapping the chain around his hands as they continued their futile task; I wrapped it around his neck until there was no chain left to pull, and I waited; watching his face turn redder until it turned purple and his lips were blue. I watched as his eyes popped out of his head as he was slowly suffocated to death, knowing that he couldn’t speak any last words if he wanted to.

“You know, James; all of this is your fault. I knew Bruce wasn’t the mastermind behind the Cult of Seedbearers, but the little lap dog that was glued to his side? It was so obvious it was you from the jump. I’m sure you’ve thought you were so smart and powerful, but look at you now. Face like a beet and snot coming out of your nose like a toddler. You don’t seem very powerful to me. You dragged so many people down with your evil ways, but soon that won’t be a problem.”

James kicked his legs out towards me, trying to kick my shins as he grew angrier. He missed, and I chuckled at him as I looked at the timer on the countdown. Twenty- two seconds left; it felt like a lifetime had passed. I looked back down at James, who was barely clinging to life, as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and foam started coming from his mouth. A few seconds passed and he stopped breathing, stopped struggling, went limp and shit his pants.

“How fitting that a shitbag like you would shit his pants when he dies.” I said, rolling my eyes and turning back to the countdown.

Ten seconds left; I suppose I could try to make a run for it, but I’m not about to risk anyone getting to stop this sequence. I thought of the look on Everlea’s face the first time she saw me come through that door. She was so beautiful, she’d grown up without me being able to be there for her, and now I wouldn’t get to see the rest of her life. A sacrifice I was more than willing to make to ensure that she wouldn’t have to grow up in the world I did.

Five seconds left; I worry that I’ve made the wrong decision for Everlea in making her leave without me. She has already been through so much in her short life, would this damage her further? I couldn’t possibly know; I knew nothing of the girl beside the fact that I gave birth to her. It’s too late to change anything now, and even if I could I don’t think I would. Taking down the Cult has been priority number one for me since the moment she was born.

3… 2… 1…

As the base erupted in flames, I felt a sense of peace wash over me. I had saved my daughter. In that moment, I knew I had done everything I could. The explosion consumed me, but in my heart, I would always be with Everlea, guiding her through the darkness.

#

As Everlea felt the ground shake, she turned around to see the enormous cloud of smoke rising into the air from where the base once stood. In that moment, she felt a powerful force wash over her; enveloping her in light and warmth. The moments passed, and she felt herself getting stronger and more powerful as each one flew by; her body becoming imbued with the ancient magic that had run through the blood of her mother. Everlea knew now that what she was feeling was her mother’s essence dissipating into the surrounding atmosphere and gathering itself into her.

The feeling stopped more suddenly than it started, and Everlea felt Meg wrap her arms around her as she called her name. The comfortable warmth that had been surrounding her just moments before was gone, and she suddenly felt cold and alone. Even Meg’s warm and loving embrace felt cold and distant as she gripped her tighter as the moments dragged by without a response from Everlea. As she stood there, her ears ringing and her heart pounding, Everlea knew; she knew that her mother was gone.

Meg, with her arms still wrapped around Everlea’s shoulders, began to guide her away from the spot she had rooted herself to when she felt the ground beneath her reverberate with the concussion of the bomb. Everlea couldn’t think, couldn’t cry, and couldn’t focus on walking with the shock of finding her mother and losing her forever in the same day. She allowed Meg to guide her blindly as her mind remained blank. Everlea hoped that her mother’s efforts were not in vain, otherwise she didn’t think she could bear the loss of her.