Just an Echo in the Darkness

~Chapter Thirteen~

"So, how well did you sleep last night?" Ambria asked Julia, as the large banging of a bell woke them all up.

They all sat up on their beds and Julia rubbed her lower back, "Not much at all. If they can kidnap this many people, why couldn't they get at least one comfortable mattress?"

We all smiled at that, Ambria and Harlee climbed down the wooden ladder that had given them slivers up and down their feet every morning at five.

"Who knows?" Ambria replied as they pulled on their tan uniforms. Julia looked surprised when the large metal cell doors opened.

"Let's move," Brielle whispered, pointing to a guard making sure each group was out of their cells. Ambia, Brielle, and Harlee walked out the open doors, Julia still stood there with her mouth dangling open as we walked freely out the doors. Before the guard saw us, Brielle rushed back inside the prison cell, grabbed Julia's wrist and we all hurried to the large crowd gathering.

"They let us roam free?" Julia asked, still with her jaw dropped, surprised. The three of them all huffed, obviously not amused.

"Of course not. You expect them too?" Harlee said. She had started getting used to each of us, and had realized that they aren't her enemies. She had been talking to us more, smiled at us more, she looked less scary when she smiled. Her small scar across her eyebrow disappears whenever she laughs or grins.

The four girls walked through the large crowd full of teenagers, and adults looking for familiar faces. They noticed the dark brown hair, and ran towards it. They tossed the shoulder around to face them, and Ambria's eyes went immediately apologetic.

"Umm, sorry sir. We thought you were someone different," Ambria said, still apologetic to the around 30 year old man who definitely wasn't her Bryce.

"Move along," The man said, in a rough, edged voice. Ambria started walking away, with Brielle, Julia, and Harlee following. Once out of earshot of the older man, Julia broke down laughing. Brielle and Harlee started breaking down along with Julia.

Ambria still looked afraid, "What are you all laughing at? I felt so bad."

Everyone couldn't stop laughing, besides Ambria who stood seriously.

"Looks like some people are having fun," A 17-year old, brown haired boy said, sneaking up behind them. "What's everyone laughing at?"

Ambria turned to glare at Bryce standing behind her. Jax stood behind him, still quiet from the other day's argument between him and Ambria.

"They," Ambria pointed to Brielle, Julia, and Harlee. "Are being annoying. I accidentally thought someone was you and I went over there to talk to him, and they thought it was super funny."

Ambria groaned from both annoyance, and embarrassment. She looked around the crowd, wondering why everyone was gathering around this certain spot. She was hoping to spot Harper, Hudson, Sky, and Carson but instead she noticed the black stage, standing out from all the white floors. Braylen had walked over to Harlee and whispered something in her ear, her smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. She shook her head and put on a fake, slight smile, and followed the rest of the group.

We looked around and caught a glimpse of the bright orange hair that belonged to Carson, he noticed us and whispered to two others. Realizing that they both had choppy black hair, and green eyes, Ambria waved Harper, Hudson, Carson, and Sky (still holding the same maroon book from last night) over. Once Hudson's eyes found Ambria's he smiled with relief that had been shown last night.

They hurried over, dodging several groups of people whispering about the new weird black stage and as much as Ambria didn't want to, she kept thinking about it too. What would they be doing to us now? Make us dance and sing on the stage and humiliate ourselves?

Once they got to where everyone else was standing, Ambria realized she had to introduce everyone, no one besides the people who were here before knew Jax, Harlee, and Braylen.

"Ummm..." Ambria said, not sure where to start, "Harper, Sky, Hudson, and Carson,this is Braylen, Harlee, and Jax-"

Ambria pointed at every person as she said their name.

Right about when she was about to continue on Julia replied, "Jax? The Jax? The brother?"

Jax nodded, and mumbled something about not being a good enough brother, since Ambria had found someone else to depend on.

Julia had her jaw open again, Brielle had to shove her jaw back up to her mouth to keep it closed. Suddenly the stage lit up and a man drove out. He was in a wheelchair-his legs paralized-as he rode up to the front of the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the man began, "I would like to choose five names from this jar." He pulled out a jar with what seemed as though a million white slips of paper. "Those names I call will gather on this stage once the work is done."

He looked excited and giddy when he pulled his first slip of paper from the jar.

He read off the name, "Oliver Stone!"

Everyone around the fourteen year-old kid circled him. He looked confused. The man in the wheelchair smiled, "Congrats, Oliver! Meet here. Eight o' clock."

He pulled another name, Trent Atticus. That name didn't get as much as a reaction, but there still was a gasp near the back of the crowd.

The man moved on quickly, Serena Brooke. The name sounded like it would be a high school prom queen and drama queen but the girl that Ambria guessed was her, looked like a bookworm. She wore glasses and had dark brown hair but reminded her a lot like Sky.

The man on the stage quieted down the mumbling crowd. He looked up, "Two more to go!"

He shuffled his hands around the large jar, once he felt satisfied, he pulled out the name he had a hold on. He read it silently first. His smile was enormous, but maybe that was just in Ambria's nerves.

She looked around at her friends' faces. They all looked like they felt the same anxiousness she did.

After what felt like a million years until he read the name. "Hudson Johnson!"