We're Keeping Her | #Wattys2021

Looks can be Deceiving

3 days until everything changes

The soot that filled their dimly-lit cave was torture on his lungs. Back-breaking labor wasn't new to him, but this torturous motion of swinging a pickaxe was snapping his lower spine. Muscles were being stretched in ways he had never imagined before. But it was worth it. He needed to save her.

The teen took a break from swinging his pick, opting to take a seat on a nearby rock while he wiped the sweat forming along his brow. He looked at both ends of the dark mine; there wasn't another soul in sight. Just him and his thoughts.

He openly laid against the rock wall which blackened his pristine green hoodie. The deep breaths he allowed himself gave his mind an opening to think about his sister. 'Please be safe Nita,' his fist tightened as he imagined her current state. She was probably sitting alone in an empty room. His prayers were being sent to the father above, begging for him to keep her fed. To take care of her.

He again let his mind wander, though this new location was much grimmer. He saw his sister in tattered rags. Scared and alone cowering in a corner. Her bear pelt had been reduced to shambles from constant abuse. His blood boiled as he thought about the horrors they were committing on her. He couldn't bring himself to contemplate the filthy reality of sexual harassment.

He violently shook his head as he jumped to his feet. "I swear, if they harm a single hair on your head, I will castrate them and hang them by their entrails!"

With a new determination, he wildly crushed the rocks before him. His hands desperately searched for the green gemstones that would free Nita from her captors. His body was driven by the proverbial V12 engine that was his nightmarish imagination. When he felt tired and wished to take a break he would think of Nita. Then his guttural roars would fill the expansive cave system as he continued to mine away. Any gems he found were thrown into a nearby cart without a second thought as he rushed to find more.

Further down the track, Bo sat beside an elderly man. Both listened to Leon's enraged battle cry. "Thank you again Dyna-of-the-mike."

"Just Dynamike is fine. Heck just Mike'll do too," he softly chortled. The older man's voice was crotchety and laced with aged insanity.

"Fine then, Mike. Thank you. Your mineshaft has saved a life."

"Oh, don't mention it. Anything to help a boy save his sister." Dynamike peeked around the corner. A small dust cloud had formed from Leon's rabid swinging. "Hell, don't think Carl has kicked up a storm like that before."

"Yes. He is driven by passion. But blinded by rage."

"How much longer till the meeting?"

"Three days." Bo took a sip of the water Mike had brought down for them, "Then we meet outside the magician's home."

"Tara's Bazaar?" Bo nodded his head. "You're gonna be out in the open. Sure, you're ready for a meeting with that man?"

Bo took a deep breath, "Do you know how many emeralds we needed?" Dynamike shook his head, Bo had never told Dynamike the details. "2,000."

"2,000? But that boy finished mining 3k yesterday."

"Yes... he has long since hit his goal. Now, he is training. Though he may not know it, this mining is another form of physical training." Bo peeked around the corner, Leon stepped out of the hole he made in the ground with a hoodie full of gems in tow. "For I fear that this, Bull, will not go down without a fight."

~--~

The bell chimed as the front doors of the diner were slowly pushed open. The owner of the diner casually pushed his way through the partying crowd. A group of teenagers could be seen invading the dance floor while most of the older patrons gathered around the bar. A large group of men gathered in a semi-circle around two seats in the bar. Most of them burly beasts alongside the occasional younger stud.