Warmth.

Calm.

It was bright, and full of color. Like the whole world was suddenly saturated. Soft grass brushed against her skin, alerting her to the change in scenery. Jordan sat up slowly and looked around. A brightly colored field, looking akin to the dawn sky, stretched before her. It looked seemingly endless. A sight straight out of a dream.

“Hello?” She called out. Not even her own voice answered. She stood up and turned in a spot, looking for any signs of life. “Is anyone here? Can… can you.. hear… me?” She felt frozen by the scale of the landscape. Nothing around but pink and purple hues.

“Jordan?” A familiar voice answered. She turned to see an older man and woman dressed in bright colored clothing. They weren’t there a second before, but Jordan couldn’t bring herself to care, too focused on the veil that the woman wore over her hair.

“Mom?” She asked, tears just starting to form, “Dad? What are you… How are… What?” She stammered. Her brain couldn’t seen to form a complete sentence, in shock.

She started to step towards them, but her dad put up his hands and yelled out, “No! Don’t darling. Don’t get any closer, please.” Jordan looked to him confused. Her mom pointed away from them, to Jordan, “You have to that way, dear. You can’t come to us. Not yet.”

Jordan furrowed her brow, “Why?” She choked out, “I haven’t been able to see you in years. I don’t understand.” Her parents shared a look, something sad passing in their eyes.

“You don’t have to understand. You just can’t with us Jordan. You have your brother that way.” Her mom pointed away from them again. Her father continued, “And Tony, Nya, and Vess. Your classmates. They’re all worried about you.”

Jordan turned away from her parents and looked at the emptiness behind her. She thought about Zachary, Vess. Tony and Nya. She was properly crying now, barely aware of why. “But,” She turned back to her parents, “I… I just want… I want you…” She felt the urge to run over and hug them, hold them, but she just couldn’t.

“I know, kid. But, you have to go. You have to go to them.” Jordan nodded and turned away from her parents. Tears flooded her eyes completely, spilling down her cheeks like rivers.

The color of the land began to fade.

**************************************************************

Cold.

Jordan was greeted by cold darkness. Hard stone under her sore body. She was careful, and sat up slow. It felt like the ground was moving under her, and her muscles were on fire. She almost wanted to fall back asleep.

“Jordan?” A familiar voice called to her. She rubbed the spots from her vision and looked over to her left. She was barely able to make out her brother’s face. “I’m okay Zachary. I’m awake.” She stretched her arms over her head and moved her joints. Her legs felt especially sore. “What did I miss?”

“There should be food in your cell. You were out for a long time.” His voice got quieter, “I was starting to worry.”

“Well, I’m up now. What else happened?” Jordan tried to get him to look towards the positive.

“Nya went already. She woke up before you.” Jordan continued to listen while looking around in the dark for the food.

A high pitched scream rang out, sending chills down her spine. She looked back into Zachary’s cage, straining her eyes to see any sign of a smaller figure. When she could find none, she looked back to where the door would be if she could see. She took a cold shuttering breath. “Where’s Vess?” She asked, without breaking eye contact with the dark.

“He took her after Nya.” His voice started to shake, “We were ‘too loud’ so he shut the door. They’ve been gone for a while.”

Another scream sounded out and Jordan tried to jump to her feet, but was immediately brought to her knees by a sharp pain that traveled thorough her body. She groaned as she hit the floor, prompting Zachary to ask, “Are you okay?” She could only muster up a nod, her breathing getting faster.

She hugged her knees to her chest and buried her head in the small space between. ‘I can’t lose her. Please, we can’t lose her.’

“Jordan, calm down. We can’t do anything.” Another voice called from across the room to her. It was softer and sweet. Nya.

Jordan did her best to steady her breathing, taking slow deep breaths. At least, as deep as she could. After a little while, Nya called back to her, “How are you feeling?”

“Sore. Everywhere. What about you?” Jordan asked back.

“Better. It will pass. Just breathe.”

As her breathing calmed down, Jordan decided on trying to find her food again. She was able to find her tray, a hard plastic piece, and ate what was on it. There was a small water bottle (which she tried to drink as little of to save the water as a weapon), an apple, and a mystery meat that she couldn’t quite work out what it was. She couldn’t care anyways, this being her first meal in, presumably, a few hours.

The three of them talked to pass the time. Tony was asleep when Jordan woke, and seemed undisturbed by the conversations around him. Or the small screams from down the hall. They didn’t talk about much, talking about current subjects they were studying, to favorite traditions, and eventually anything to fill the growing silence.

Wait.

Silence?

The door upruptly opened, flooding the room with bright light. When her vision cleared, Jordan could see the dried blood under Nya’s nose and the dirt on Zachary’s shirt. Most importantly, she saw Vess’ limp body hanging over the man’s arms.

He remained silent, walking into the room and towards the middle cage. Jordan felt a lump form in her throat, threatening tears. Across from her, Nya woke up Tony so he could watch along. You could hear a pin drop in the silence. His face was twisted with disappointment.

He made it to the cage and lowered his arms, dropping Vess onto the hard dirt floor with a thud. Her head flopped towards Zachary, who’s oven face filled with quiet horror. Nya screamed out, tears gleaming in the corners of her eyes, “Vess! No! Wake up.” Tony put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

It was hard to see any breathing coming from the youngest, forcing Jordan to assume the worst. “You can’t.” She said, allowing her anger to seep into her voice, “You won’t.” She barely knew what she was saying.

The man turned to her, staring at her for what felt like an eternity before smiling. “Of course not.” He finally confirmed, “I just needed to open the door.” He stepped over Vess and opened her cage’s door. He then picked her up and dropped her in the cell, thankfully on Zachary’s lap this time. He closed the door with a dull thud.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Zachary started checking her pulse and breathing, putting two fingers on her wrist and one hand by her face. Jordan saw the marks from the restraints on her wrists and ankles, red marks that adorned her like jewelry.

The man walked to the back of the room again, to the right of Jordan, and slouched against the door frame. “I’ll stay here until she wakes up.” He spoke in a bored tone. “If she wakes up that is.”

“Wow, finally grew a heart? Or did it just thaw out?” Tony sneered at him.

“No, no. Nothing like that. There’s just no more experiments tonight.”

And so, they waited. The air was tense, watching for any sign that she was waking up. Jordan watched as Zachary tapped and shook her gently. After moving her a little away from him, she noticed a wet spot forming on his shirt and pants. It set off all kinds of alarm bells in her head, prompting her to ask, “What’s that on your hands and shirt?”

He looked up at her, pupils of his eyes still blown wide, and then back at his hands, then back at Jordan. “It’s from her.” His voice shook a little, tripping over words, “H-her head. It’s b-bleeding. From wh-when she hit the ground.”

This caught Nya’s attention. She turned her head immediately towards him, “It hasn’t stopped yet? It’s been almost ten minutes now.” Zachary shook his head no. She moved over, closer, to see clearer. After a few seconds, she signed heavily. “Okay, take her jacket and wrap it tight around her head. Like gauze.”

“Would it be better to use a strip of fabric from my shirt?” “Anything that can be wrapped around her to stop the bleeding.” Zachary then began ripping the bottom of his, already torn, shirt and wrapped it around her wound.

Jordan turned to the man in the doorway, mustering all of her self control not to scream at the man. “Please, let Nya heal her. She could die with an injury like that. Then she’s no use to you.” Jordan felt sick to be speaking this monster’s language.

“Why would I care if she dies?” He laughed, “I have four more of you guys right here.” He pointed to the other cages.

“How willing do you think we’ll be after you let our little sister die? In front of us no less.”

The man seemed to consider her threat before standing up and unlocking the middle cage once again. He took Vess off of her brother’s lap, dragging her to the middle of the room. He clipped the same metal bracelet on her wrist again for a safety measure.

Then, he went over to Nya’s cage. Glaring at her, he opened the door. Nya backed away from the man, but he went in and dragged her out by her arm.

Positioning her next to Vess, he let go, practically throwing her to the ground. Nya was facing away from the man, as he reached behind him, under his shirt, and pulled out a pistol. He pressed it into Nya’s head.

“No funny business, or I shoot.”

**************************************************************

Nya felt the cold metal against the back of her head. It sent a chill down her spine, facing Jordan. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear. No one dared to even breathe unless told.

She looked down at her younger sister, still bleeding on the ground in front of her. Slowly, she reached out to her and carefully sat her up, heavily leaning on her chest.

This was the first time they were allowed to use their abilities since they got here. She tried to think of way to over power the man. She could jam the gun, or put a shield around her head.

But what would he do to her brothers and sisters. He could kill them if he really wanted. And, if she tried anything now, Vess wouldn’t get healed.

They had to play the long game.

Nya held her hand over the back of Vess’ head. The wound wasn’t as bad as it seemed, only being a small, deep, cut no longer than her pinky. She used her powers to stop the bleeding and sealed the cut, leaving behind a small scar like usual.

Nya took the opportunity to check her breathing and pulse, knowing that she could have trouble breathing at moments. Thankfully, it was still strong. Nya bent her head down, seeming to be listening to her heart. She continued to move slowly, the pistol a constant weight in her mind.

She moved close to her ear, minding the man staring intensely at her, and whispered, “You need to wake up Vess. We can’t lose you now.”

To her surprise, the youngest turned her head a little at the noise, replying with a small hum of her own.

Nya’s arm was suddenly yanked back, causing her to drop her sister, and forced onto her feet. The cold barrel was still pressed to her head, though now it rested on her temple. She shook with the sudden urge to run, but he held her tightly, his fingers digging in to her arms.

“What did you do!” He yelled, his hot breath and spit spilling onto her face. Nya tried to find her words, but the man just shook her again, her head tapping against the gun. “What did you tell her?!”

“Nothing! Nothing.” Nya yelled back. Her throat began to close up.

“You tell me what you did! Fucking tell me!” He roared in her ears. She tried to pull away, but only gained more whiplash by him shaking her more.

She continued to yip, scream, and claim she did nothing, until the barrel of the gun slammed hard into her temple and stayed pressed into the same spot. She shut her mouth tight, feeling the man’s grip tighten impossibly further.

“Is this what you want?!?” He screamed at her, echoing off the walls of the cave, “You want a bullet in your brain? Do you wanna fucking die?”

Nya felt tears fall down her face, her body shaking with silent sobs. Her chest felt constricted and she could barely speak. She could only murmurer, “No. No, please no.”

He didn’t move however, keeping it pressed against her temple, “I’ll fucking pull the trigger if you wanna die this badly! I fucking will, bitch!” There was a strong click and a small gasp. Nya felt her heart seize up and her breathing stop. “Do you want die, bitch? Die at 15? Is that your shit plan to get out of this? Just fucking die!!”

“No!” Nya cried out, properly sobbing now. Tears fell from her face onto the dirt. “No. No, I don’t! Please! I don’t want to die!” He was honestly the only thing holding her up at this point.

He got closer to her ear. She felt his breath on her cheek, “What did you do bitch?” He spat at her.

“I told her not to die. I healed her and then told her to wake up. I swear.” She hiccupped. Something hard collided with her head and he pushed her towards her cage. The man opened the door, but Nya couldn’t find the strength to move. Her vision started swimming, either from tears or the head injury.

“Get in.” She felt too overwhelmed to move. She had forgotten that she could easily protect herself from the man. Just one shield would do the trick. But if she protected herself, what would happen to her siblings?

**************************************************************

Tony carefully moved forward, inching towards the open door. He kept glancing at the doctor, who still pointed the gun at his sister. She shook with tears and fear. He could see the trickle of blood falling down her face.

He got to the thresh hold, before looking at the man from where he was crouched on the ground. He waited patiently.

Finally, the man rolled his eyes and nodded. Tony reached out to Nya, scooping her into his arms and pulling her back into the cell. She man shut the door behind them.

He could feel her hyperventilating. He held her close and squeezed her into a hug. He bent to her ear and gently whispered, “You’re okay. It’s gonna be okay. It’s over now. It won’t happen again, I swear.” Though, He really couldn’t promise that.

He tried to het her to copy his breathing, taking deep breaths and blowing out. He looked over to his other sister, Vess. The man dragged her back into the cage and Zach continued trying to wake her up.

Tony watched the man make his way over to the door way again. When he got to it, he aimed his gun down the hall to the left. Tony quickly covered Nya’s ears as the man fired the shot down the hall. He looked back to them, noticing Tony’s stare, and shrugged. “Shouldn’t keep a loaded gun in your belt.” He slunk down to the floor again.

Slowly, Nya calmed down. She fell asleep against his chest, but Tony just let her stay sleeping semi-peacefully on him.

Hours at least must have passed before Vess properly woke up. She sat up, scared and sore, but Zach was able to comfort her.

After she woke up, the doctor left, mumbling something and closing the door. They were left in darkness once again.

Tony watched the shadows of Jordan and Zach go to an uneasy sleep, but Vess stayed awake. Eventually, Tony decided to test his luck. “Vess, if you can talk, let me know. I can’t see signs in the dark like this.”

A few seconds passed before he heard, “I can.” echo in a small voice.

“How are you feeling?” He asked.

“Scared.”

Tony sighed, “Don’t worry, you’re not alone.” He meant it two ways. She was surrounded by her siblings.

Who were all terrified.

“Is Max coming?”

Tony’s heat fell to his stomach. How could he comfort her? They had to be looking, right? ‘They have to be.’ “I’m sure he is. He probably is looking all over for us. We just have to wait.”

“Okay.” Tony laid down, carefully keeping Nya next to him. “Try to sleep Vess.” He looked into the darkness, watching the shadows move in front of his eyes.

He couldn’t tell if it was his head, or Vess, but the last thing that passed his thoughts before he slipped into sleep was a quiet plead.

“Please find us soon.”