Story Submission - June 27, 2011

This story is not yet finished but I was hoping to recieve some comments as to where I could expand on the story. 
 

Prologue 

                     All I saw was smoke. There were dark, black rolls of smoke everywhere. It was coming from houses, stores, and the local public school. It was everywhere. It poured out of the windows and doors of the places I had grown familiar of. The church was smoldering, the grocery store simmering to ashes, people stumbling out of burning buildings, some carrying children, pets, or prized possessions. 

                I looked to the house I had grown up in. It was black. The curtains inside the cracking living room window were smoldering in a bright flame. The front door that I had walked through over one thousand times was now lying immobile on the front porch, scalded with ash and flame. I looked to the second story of the old Victorian house, and tried to see inside my bedroom window. The only thing I could make out was fire and smoke, pouring from the open window, oxygen filtering through the house, flames burning faster and stronger. I couldn’t stand the sight. 

                I turned away from the house engulfed in flame to see a tall, broad figure right behind me. Everything went black before I could make out who, or what it was.

One: Awakened Pain  

               I opened my eyes. Everything was white. I was greeted by a white ceiling, white wall paint, and white tile flooring. Where was I? As I tried to sit up, pain shot through every vein in my body, like thousands of wasps plunging their stingers into my skin all at once. I heard a piercing scream, only seconds later realizing that it had been my own. Why was I in this much pain? 

                I looked to my hands, unable to move them. They were cuffed to the table I was sitting on. So were my ankles. I slowly turned my head, and almost let out another scream as I saw dozens of other teenagers my own age strapped to white tables of their own. None of them were awake. Now I was wondering if they were all dead. Maybe I was dead. No, if I were a ghost, I wouldn’t be confined to this aching body I was stuck in now.  

               I saw a small amount of movement from the corner of my eye. Another girl my age was stirring. I watched as her eyelids lifted, revealing the brightest green eyes I had ever seen. She slowly sat up. No scream, as I had. Maybe I was the only one in pain. She didn’t notice me at first. She was taking everything in, not looking in my direction. Then she saw me. 

                “What’s happening to us? Who are you?” she asked me in a high-pitched voice. Her long black hair swept around her shoulders. She tried to shrug it off, but gave up.  She too was strapped to the table. We all were.

                 “I don’t know. I’m Maggie.” I answered, hearing my voice for the first time ever since…the fire. Everything had been on fire before I blacked out. I tried to shake the images out of my head. “What’s your name?” I asked the girl. She looked like she was a couple of years older than me.     

            “Victoria. I’m subject G17.” She answered. Subject? What did she mean when she said she was a subject? 

               “Oh. It’s nice to meet you, Victoria. Do you know where we are?” I asked. I didn’t want to bring up the “subject” part of things yet, but I knew that the questions I would be asking would have answers that I didn’t really want to hear. 

                “I have no idea where we are, who brought us here, or how we are going to get out. I know just as much as you do, which isn’t very much. I’ve been here two days, and I was the first one here. Ever since I got here they have been bringing in random unconscious kids our age and strapping them to tables.” 

               This was way too much information to understand. Victoria had been the first one here, and for the past two days more of us have been arriving. But who are they? Victoria said she didn’t know. So I had to know what a subject was.

                “Why did you say you were a subject?” I asked her. 

                “That’s what they call us. Sometimes we can hear them talking about us. They say things like ‘subject K97 will be a reject projectile’ and other fancy sayings like that. I have no idea what they mean, but I do know that when I got here all of the tables were empty, and we aren’t their first batch of subjects.”  

               “So the question is where all of the previous subjects went.” 

                “And where are we going to end up? Nobody knows the answers.”  Victoria shrugged. A couple other teens were waking up from what seemed to be a very deep sleep.  

               “Hey. Subject B43 is here.” A boy said, nodding to me. “I’m Jack. You can call me J.”  

               “I’m Maggie.” I answered in return. Most of the teens were awake at this point. Not many of them bothered to look in my direction. I suddenly heard a bell ringing. The high pitched chime echoing through the room.  

               Two tall black figures entered the room we were in. Okay, why were they in black? Everyone else in here was in white.  They stopped in front of the table I was strapped to. They said nothing, their eyes staring pitch forks into me. I looked to Victoria and Jack. They looked as confused as I must have. Then, more figures flooded the room, all in black leather jackets, and leather pants. Great, just what I needed to see…not. Suddenly, they were removing all of us from the tables, and carrying us out the white door.

Two: Cargo  

               We are on a plane. I don’t know where we are going, but we are about to take off. I had been on a plane once before, when I went on a trip to Garland County in Pennsylvania to visit my cousins. That was back when I was twelve.  But this time, there were no friendly flight attendants preparing to bring us food, or a flashing sign overhead saying to fasten our seatbelts, although most of us had anyway. The TV screens overhead were all covered up in what looked like garbage bags. I was in a row of three seats, squished between Jack, and a girl who introduced herself as Millie. I had scanned the plane cabin in search of Victoria, but I couldn’t see her. She was probably lucky enough to snag a business-class seat.

                 As we began to take off, whoever the people in black were had shut off all of the lights in the cabin. An eerie glow of light came from the overhead emergency exit sign, and from the area where the first-class seats were. Most kids were whispering to one another. Millie, sitting to my right remained silent. It was too dark, but I figured she might be asleep. Sitting to my left, Jack whispered to me, “Are you still alive?”  

              I stifled a laugh. “Yes, I believe I am. So far.” I said, not meaning to sound so pessimistic. 

                “So far. Any guesses as to where they are taking us?” he asked. 

                “Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe we’ll get lucky and end up in Disney World.” I said, making a very lame attempt at a joke. 

                “If only this were like that.” Jack sighed. I agreed. Our chances of being headed to some happy, cheerful place were looking pretty slim at the moment. “So, um, want to play a game?” I looked at him. “It will help pass the time.” He suggested. I nodded. “Okay, basically we just ask each other questions and we have to answer the question, no matter what.” 

                “Like truth or dare, without dares.” I said, making sense of the game. 

               “Exactly.” He agreed. “Okay, I’ll go first. What is…your most embarrassing moment?” he asked me with a sly smile. 

                “Okay, don’t start the game off easy or anything.” I joked, thinking. “Well, I remember this one time when I had a huge crush on this boy in my class. His name was Austin. It was Valentine’s Day, so I snuck a valentine into his locker. He thought it was a joke, because he stood up and read it out in front of the entire class. It was really embarrassing.” I said, laughing slightly at the memory. Jack laughed too. “Okay, now I ask you a question?” he nodded. “Great. Okay, um, if you could go back and time and change one thing in your life, what would you change?” 

               Jack remained silent for a couple moments. I could tell he was thinking about the question. Finally he answered. “If I could go back in time, I would go back to the time my dad died.” He said quietly. I immediately regretted asking this question, probably making him feel uncomfortable. 

                “You don’t have to…” I began, but he just touched my hand, silencing me. 

               “It’s okay. I think it’s about time I talked to someone about this.” He said, looking at me. He gave a small smile, and took my hand. “My dad, my friend Sam and I were all in the car. Sam and I were goofing off, getting into a fist fight in the back seat. The weather was really bad that day. My dad kept yelling at us to stop, it was distracting him. But we didn’t listen. Suddenly, while my dad was getting angry, we hit black ice. We skidded until we hit a telephone post and…” he cleared his throat. “My dad didn’t make it.” I stayed silent for a few moments, taking the story in.                 “I’m really sorry…I shouldn’t have asked…” I trailed off. 

               “You don’t need to be sorry. You had no idea. Anyway, it feels a bit better now that I have told someone about it.” He smiled. I yawned. “I didn’t think my story was that boring.” Jack joked. 

                “It wasn’t. I’m just tired.” I admitted.  He leaned towards me slowly. I leaned back towards him, resting my head on his shoulder. It was surprisingly comfortable. I felt Jack’s arm go around me as I fell asleep. 

Three: Memory Attack 

                I opened my eyes. We were still in the plane, and I was still leaning against Jack. He was awake. “So you finally decided to greet the day I see.” He teased with an easy-going smile. 

                “Sorry. I was always a late sleeper.” I sat up. Jack removed his arm from around me, and took my hand instead. I looked to my right to see Millie’s seat empty.  

               Seeing my panicked, Jack said, “She’s fine. She just went to the washroom about two minutes ago.” I sighed, relieved. If our numbers began dwindling, that definitely wasn’t a good sign.    

             “Any sign of Victoria?” I asked him. He hesitated. That didn’t make the nervous feeling in my stomach go away, instead, the feeling grew.  

               “I’ve talked to a couple people sitting near us, Maggie. None of us know where she is. Everyone else is out here. Word is, we are heading over somewhere near China because of how long this flight has been.” I remained silent. If none of us had seen Victoria that definitely wasn’t a good sign. Jack must have sensed my unease. “Hey” he said nudging me, “I’m sure she’s okay.” I nodded. I didn’t want to talk about this right now. 

                “So, J, where did you live before you came here?” I asked quietly. 

                “You mean, before I was dragged here?” he laughed slightly, shifting in his seat, moving slightly closer to me. “I lived in Apple Valley, Wisconsin.”  

              “Apple Valley? I’ve never heard of it.” I said, as Millie returned to her seat. I smiled, knowing she hadn’t…disappeared. 

                “Never heard of it? It’s the best place ever! It’s called Apple Valley because of all of the apple orchards we have there. I lived right near one. I remember the exact address. 1893 Providence Road.” He recited. “In the summer there is a festival. They name it after a different orchard every year. It’s really cool. There are hay rides, apple bobbing, apple pie eating contests, and a lot of games. It’s fun.” 

                “It sounds fun.” I agreed. He smiled. 

                “When they came and got me, I was sitting at home alone. They just waltzed right in and stole me from my kitchen table. I didn’t have the chance to say goodbye to anyone I knew. Not my family, friends, nobody. My dog, Carly, was going nuts when they came in, so they…”he hesitated, cleared his throat. “They killed her.” He whispered. His voice caught in his throat as he said it. I looked at him, and hesitantly, put my arms around him. He hugged me back. “Sorry, I’ve just never told anyone about where I came from before.” He whispered his voice by my ear. He pulled away slowly. He put his arm around me again. 

                “It’s okay. I mean, this is hard for all of us. I ask lousy questions.” I said softly. He nodded, gently pulling me closer until I was leaning on him again. He smiled.

                 “So, enough about me. Where are you from, Maggie?” he asked quietly.  

               “I lived in Relevay, Ohio. It was a big city, and we were hit by tornadoes a lot. That’s what I thought had happened when they came for me, but, that’s not how it was. They set everything on fire to lure me out of my house, I think.”  

              “Wow. I’m really sorry.” 

               “Don’t be. It’s not your fault. I don’t know where my family was. People were everywhere and I was looking around, then they must have snuck up behind me and knocked me out, because everything just went black.” 

               “Wow. That’s horrible. They destroyed your entire city! Maggie, I promise we will get rid of these guys.” Jack said. I looked at him. He looked serious.  

               “Jack, I really appreciate what you’re saying, but you can’t promise someone something like that.” I admitted. 

                “That’s the thing, Maggie. I know I can’t promise just anyone something like that. But I can promise you that.” He said, looking at me. 

                “Why do you say that?” 

               “Because with you, I know that we can defeat these guys.” He said honestly. I swear he moved even closer to me as he said it, but I couldn’t be sure. 

                “Why me?” 

               “Because you’re you.” He moved closer to me, and gently touched his lips to mine. I kissed him back and closed my eyes, enjoying the moment while it lasted because, somewhere in the back of my head, a voice told me there would never be another moment like this.

Four: Shocked Silent  

               Like I predicted, the moment didn’t last long. A figure in a dark cloak emerged from the first class area of the plane. All of the kids in the cabin silenced quickly. I couldn’t see the figure’s face. The person, or thing, was a bit taller than I was. Jack looked at me nervously, and I returned the nervous gesture. The creature flipped back the hood of the cloak. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Nothing, practically nothing, could prepare me for what I was seeing before me. The person, standing in the dark cloak belonging to the enemies was Victoria. Victoria.

***

                We are all in a large empty room, strapped to chairs. It would seem like we get strapped to places a lot. I looked to the chair beside me. Jack was strapped to it, unconscious. They had knocked him out because he had tried to fight Victoria in the plane. I couldn’t tell what happened. One minute he was rushing at her full speed ahead, the next he was down on the ground unconscious. It didn’t make any sense. Victoria hadn’t touched him at all. What did she do?  

              A door in the ceiling opened and a ladder descended. One by one, people came down the ladder. They weren’t wearing black cloaks. If it wasn’t for the fact that Victoria was there, I never would have known that it was the same group of people who had captured us and brought us here in the first place. Victoria smiled, an evil, wicked smile, and approached Jack’s chair. She forced his mouth open, and shoved a pill down his throat. Almost instantly, Jack was conscious again. 

                “Welcome back to reality, toughie.” Victoria practically cackled. It took all of my strength not to break out screaming at her, for betraying all of us. “So, you must be wondering, why the hell is she with them? Ah, good question my friends.” She paused, making eye contact with several of the younger children, scaring a couple of them into silent tears. She merely laughed. Evil. 

                “Oh come on, darlings. Don’t be so shy. Speak up!” One boy, who looked about seventeen, opened his mouth to speak. Victoria raised a hand, and pointed at him. Suddenly, it was as if a hand had clamped around his neck. His eyes went wide, looking terrified as he tried to move, but couldn’t. With one last heave, his neck snapped. Dead. Gone. Hopeless forever. That boy would never return home to his family again. But then again, would any of us? 

               “Oh, I love cracking bones. Anyone else?” Victoria smiled. Not one person moved. We were all frozen with terror and shock. “Good. Well. I suppose you wimps deserve an explanation. You see, I was never on your side of things.” Big surprise. I think we had all realized that by now. 

                “But there is another thing you should know. As you can see, I can kill any one of you, easily.” She laughed, gesturing towards the now dead boy that I wasn’t allowing myself to look at. None of us were. Victoria noticed this, and looking angry, flicked her hands. Suddenly, an invisible force was making every single one of us turn our heads towards the boy. After a minute, we were free. 

                “One last thing. Nothing is as it seems.” Victoria said, almost nonchalantly, pointing to her friends. Victoria began shaking, until she was no longer human at all. She was…I don’t even know how to describe it. She was a monster. Her friends followed suit. What used to be Victoria pointed a finger at the boy who was dead. She had claws now. The binding holding the boy to the chair broke, and broken neck and all, he stood up and morphed into one of them. 

                “The more of you I kill, the more of us there are.” Victoria said in an inhuman voice. They all left the room. Nobody said a word, but we all knew the same thought was running through our minds. We’re going to die.

Five: The Final Countdown

                 We have been here for days. I don’t know how many. I’m pretty sure none of us are bothering to keep track.  Who wanted to count the days since they had been kidnapped? Since the death of the first boy, three more of us had been killed by what could only be described as an invisible force. One of the three being Millie. When they were removing her dead body from the room it took all of my strength to keep from screaming out words that would be “bleeped” out of a family TV show.  Imagining Millie as one of them was harder than anything I had done in a while. 

               As the room was slowly emptying, the only thoughts we had revolved around death. Who was next? Nobody wanted to know. Our army had shrunken to fifteen of us. After Victoria’s betrayal and the deaths of four kids, we were slowly…deteriorating.  Not physically, but mentally. It was like we had all completely lost hope. Even Jack hadn’t spoken for a couple of days.  

               A sudden crash woke us all from our daydreams. I heard muffled screams and a high pitched voice barking what must have been orders. The door to our room burst open and in walked Victoria, armed and everything in her human form. 

                “Which one of you did it?” she demanded to know. Nobody said a word, nor had a clue what she was talking about. Victoria spun around to face me. I must have flinched, because she gave a small, satisfied smile and pointed the small weapon at me. I had no idea what it was, but knowing what Victoria could transform into, I knew that this weapon must be deadly. 

                “Oh come on Maggie. Just tell me the passcode and I will let all of you go.” Victoria said. Passcode to what? Who knew.

-Leigha Munroe