The Outskirts: The Sky Raiders (Jace x OC) BOOK 1

The Sky Raiders: 6

Ham came back down the stairs. He and another man lifted the cover off a manhole that I didn't even notice was there. The pale man with the weird teeth walked over to a cage with keys in hand.
A lean man with a wide brimmed hat raised a hand. The room went silent
"Smart children," he said. "You behave well. Most of you kept silent as directed. Those who did not suffered as promised. We do not with to harm you. This will be orderly. You will pay if you try something. We will make and example out of you. We are your masters now. Great is with due respect, and we will deal with you fairly." He motioned for the pale man to proceed.
From under the curtain, I couldn't see much, and I didn't want to get caught. I stayed as still as possible, while peeking out from beneath the curtain.
The cage opened. Kids filed out wearing iron collars. Their legs were chained together. They looked mostly between fifth and seventh graders.
They were paraded over to the manhole. Ham went down first.
He started down the ladder. A few moments later he called. "When you get to the final rung, just drop."
The first kid, a girl with sparkly horns and a cape, said. "Down there?"
"Go," the pale man urged. "Your worth more alive, but we can make use of more bones."
She turned, it must have been awkward because her legs were chained together but she started down the manhole.
I dropped the curtain. Where could that go? We're there secret sewers under Mesa? If we keep
still, the men might miss me and Cole.
Occasionally, a kid would protest, but the men would make threats, and they would go down.
We heard several echoing screams trail off ominously.
They were kidnapping dozens of kids. They were taking Jenna and Dalton!
"We have to do something." I whispered as quietly as I could to Cole.
He shook his head. "Not yet."
So we waited. Neither of us had cellphones. Our parents had both decided that we were to young, and didn't need one. If they could see us now, I suspected they would rethink there decision.
I peeked again, now that the kids got the drill, it was going pretty fast.
How could someone kidnap this many people? It would be national news! There has to be more than forty kids! The whole town would be in an uproar! The whole country would demand answers!
Cole raised the edge of the curtain next to me. We watched together as the last few kids went down the manhole. Jenna was among them. Dalton had already went down.
The man with the big hat checked his watch. "The way will close in less that ten minutes." He said.
"Excellent timing Ansel," the women said. "This was a good plan."
"Think we found but we're looking for?" The guy named Ansel asked.
"Impossible to tell on this side," the women replied. "But it's a large sample. I expected have what we need. It's should add up to quite a take."
"It's to early to count money," said Ansel. "Slave captured are not slaves delivered. We sank most of our funds into this operation. I'll celebrate when the cargo has been sold."
They tossed the bones down the manhole. I couldn't hear them landing. The men started filing down the manhole. Soon only Ansel and the woman remained.
"Are we finished?" The woman asked.
Ansel checked his watch. "Just over six minutes left. Doesn't matter home we leave the place. No one can follow us. We're done here."
The women climbed down. "Do we need to cover it?" She asked.
"No need." Ansel replied.
We waited, then I peeked out. They were gone.