What the Shuck

Ch. 2 - Introductions

I turned in a slow circle, taking in my surroundings. There were only a handful of kids—fifteen?—and all of them were boys; I couldn't see a single girl in the small crowd of smudged sweaty faces; it looked as though they had all been working.

As odd as the lack of females was, checking my surroundings felt more important. We seemed to be in a vast courtyard several times the size of a football field. It was surrounded by four enormous walls made of grey stone. There was ivy here and there, trickling down from the very top; it didn't look like it had been there for very long. Maybe a couple months?

But the walls were rather distracting; they had to be hundreds of feet high, and they formed a perfect square around us. Each side split in the exact middle by an opening as tall as the walls themselves. From what I could see, the openings led to passages and long corridors beyond.

"Look at the girl" A voice with an accent said; I tracked the words back to a lanky blonde with dark brown eyes and a square jaw.

"Yeah, she looks like she's gonna slit our throats" This voice was scratchy, but I couldn't see him.

"No, look at her head" Blondie said. "Is she bleeding?"

"No, it's paint. We had a little arts and crafts session to pass the time" I said, already tired of them talking about me like I wasn't right in front of them. I looked around the group, "Any more stupid questions to ask? Maybe directly this time?"

A couple people looked amused, and the rest—including Blondie—seemed indifferent. I could see why some thought I was funny; I probably looked like a kitten trying to be fierce. After all, I had no idea where I was, or who these people were, yet I was trying to seem tough. (Indifferent: a lack of interest, concern, or sympathy)

"Alright then, what's your name?" The older kid with wise eyes asked. I stared him down, "Y/n. Yours?"

"I'm Alby." He held out his hand. I glanced between his face and his hand, then shook it. Something about Alby just made me feel like I could trust him.

He turned to Minho, "And you are?"

"Minho." He shook the older boy's hand, but he was definitely less hesitant than I was. When they let go, I asked one of the more burning questions, "Where are we?"

"I already told you. This is the Glade." Alby sounded a bit annoyed.

"I know that." I matched his tone. "I meant, where exactly is the Glade? Where in the world are we?"

"I don't know—"

"Does anyone know?"

"No—"

"So did you all lose your memories?"

"Yeah—"

"How long have you all—"

"Good God, woman! Slim it!" So, that was Alby's breaking point. I really did want answers to all of those questions, but testing his patience provided information and entertainment.

"Sorry, you didn't have more questions, did you?" I asked calmly. Alby glared at me, but begrudgingly admitted, "Yeah. Why do you have stuff? And what should we do about your head?"

"Probably get it cleaned and patched up" I shrugged. "But what do mean by 'stuff'? The knife?"

"Yeah. And the little pouch."

"I don't know. I don't remember anything before waking up with a bad headache and a weird kid."

"Right." Alby sighed. Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then I spoke up, "So, where's the first aid kit?"

Yes, this is the end of the chapter. Ik it's short but this is prolly gonna be the average length. It helps with my adhd and makes it easier to update quicker. I would normally like to take my time but there's gonna be at least four books for this fanfic sooo...this needs to get moving. On that note, there will probably be a decent amount of time skips just so things don't get dull, or to help move things along. Alright, that's all for today. Have a good day/night, and remember:
WICKED is good