Chapter One: The Box
A loud bang erupted above him. His eyes flew open, panic swelling deep within his chest. The first thought that he processed when he opened his eyes to find himself encased in a darkness that was almost solid is this-
My name is Rikki.
That’s it.
The words sounded like they had been whispered right into his mind, rather than a recollection, but despite that, he believed them. There was no plausible reason not to.
The banging didn’t stop and Rikki cowered. The cold from the metal of the wall behind him seeped in through his thin t-shirt. He splayed his hand along the wall as far as his arm would extend. But the wall continued into the forever blackness that stained his vision. How did he get here? Did he fall asleep? In a place like this- how could he? Another bang made him jump, and suddenly, above him, the ceiling split open, like a double sided door. He blinked at the burst of sudden light.
“Alby! We’ve got one!” a voice shouted. “Come on up, little man.” A boy with ruddy brown hair that fell over his ears reached toward Rikki. The smaller boy shook his head and cowered away from the extended arm, curling his legs up to his chest.
Another boy came into view. He was out of breath and sweaty, with dark skin and snapping eyes that devoured every inch of Rikki’s small frame. “Tiny little shuck,” he commented, using a word Rikki had never heard before. “Come on, get out of there, boy.” Rikki shook his head, the panic growing worse. The dark-skinned boy turned to his companion. “Think he can talk?”
“Oh, I’m sure he can.” The boy with the brown hair was a little taller than the other kid, and he had a kind smile, which he flashed down at Rikki. “I’ll get him.” A rope was produced and the boy was propelled down into the Box. “Nice to meet ya, shank,” he greeted Rikki after his feet were on the ground. “Name’s Nick.” He held out a hand and Rikki stared at it until he awkwardly dropped it back down to his side.
“R-… Rikki.” His voice was shaky and hoarse, sounding like he’d been screaming for hours.
“It talks,” the dark-skinned kid above mused without humor, glaring down into the Box and crossing his arms impatiently. The message to Rikki was clear- This is a waste of time.
“Come here,” Nick reached for Rikki, but the small boy slid away from him.
“Where are we going?” Rikki demanded, feeling a little more confident in Nick’s presence. Something about the boy made him feel comfortable.
Nick laughed. “Where else can we go?” He pointed skyward. “Up.”
“Nick, he’s not coming out. Sooner or later, the shuck’ll get hungry. He’ll come around- they always do. The doors close in a half hour and I need to talk with Minho when he gets back.”
“Slim it, Alby!” Nick snapped, sending a glare up to his buddy. “Rikki? Don’t you want to get out of here?” he asked, tenderly. He didn’t wait for the boy’s answer. “Hold onto me,” he instructed, scooping Rikki up and throwing him over his shoulder like he weighed nothing.
“Hey! Put me down!” Rikki squealed.
“Gotta get you out of the Box, shank. The Creators’ll be sendin’ up a new supply soon. Box needs to be empty before it’ll go back down.” He slipped a foot into a loophole at the end of the rope and Alby pulled him up, muttering something about the ‘new shank’ bein a ‘slinthead baby’. Finally reaching the top, Nick dropped Rikki to his feet.
Rikki brushed himself off and straightened his shirt, huffing and feeling his cheeks burn.
“Was that so hard?” Alby eyed Rikki, nose scrunched up in disgust. “Ugly little shank,” he murmured.
“I think he’s adorable!” Rikki, Nick, and Alby whirled around in shock to find a smiling boy standing behind them. His golden hair shone in the light caused by the setting sun behind him and his tawny eyes studied Rikki with curiosity. “I’m Stephen. Welcome to the Glade!” His arms spread wide, and that’s when Rikki actually got a good look around.
The surrounding area- or ‘Glade’ as Stephen referred- was just a large square-shaped lawn of stone and grass. Four walls stretched up toward the sky, encasing them inside forever. But on each wall were four openings, leading out of the Glade and to god knew what. A wooden building was positioned in one of the corners of the courtyard. On the other end of the stone plain, was a garden, neat rows of vegetables packed the space there. The next corner held a small wooden building surrounded by a fence. In it, two little goats scurried around, and Rikki heard a cow’s low moo. In the last corner was a grove of trees grouped closely together, their branched twisted collectively and pointing up to the sky, like skeletal fingers trying to grasp their way out of hell.
A thought hit Rikki. Was this hell? Could he have died in his former life and been sent here to endure the consequences of his past sins?
He pushed the depressing thought out of his head before it could continue.
“What’s your name, kid?” Stephen asked, leaning forward and planting his hands on his knees so he could see eye-to-eye with the smaller boy.
“Rikki,” he replied, feeling less nervous around Stephen. He realized, instantly, that he liked this boy. “How did I get here?”
“Same as we all did,” Stephen replied, a humorous glint in his eyes, “the Box.” He gestured to two metal doors stuck in the stone, the same doors Nick had pulled Rikki out of a few minutes ago. They were closed now.
“No, how did I-” he sighed and rephrased his question. “Who sent me here? What did I do?”
Alby groaned. “You didn’t do anything, shuck face! And you know just about as much as we all do about who sent us here! Now enough with the questions! I can tell already that you’re gonna be a pain!”
“I said slim it, Alby! You were no different when you got here! Remember you kept following me around, crying your eyes out and begging to be sent back?!” Nick nearly shouted at him before shooting a friendly and apologetic grin in Rikki‘s direction.
Alby clenched his jaw and glared at Rikki again before stomping to the wooden building.
“Don’t mind him, Rick. He woke up in a disagreeable mood… several weeks ago!” Stephen snorted with laughter like it was the funniest thing in the world.
Rikki didn’t seem to get it. “How many others are here?”
“Well, let’s see. There’s me, Nick, Alby,” he counted them off on his fingers, “Minho, George… oh, and then there’s you.”
“Only six?” Rikki wondered who had the audacity to send six different boys to this godforsaken place.
“Yep,” Stephen said, proudly. “Come on, boy, I’ll show you around.”
“Get him some food first, Stephen,” Nick instructed. “Shuck’s probably hungry.” And with that, he turned on his heel, following after Alby.
