Stolen

Chapter Four

Ember

When the memory thief was done with me, he pulled my body across the hard cold floor of the room and threw me into a cage. I was exhausted from relieving the memories but as much as I tried, I couldn't remember what they were. Fresh tears streamed down my face in hot lines, and I scolded myself mentally for not fighting back harder. Why was this happening to me? I got no sleep that night as I tossed restlessly on the floor. Knox's face was in my mind, begging me to get up and to find a way out of here. Just when I thought I had mustered enough strength to try, the thief was back. There was not much light in the cell that I was being held in, but I could make out the general shape of him. He was much taller than I was, and his slender arms were too long for his body. Long black talons hung from the tips of his fingers and a stark realization hit me that he was digging his claws into my head. The creature pulled the lock from the cage and swung the door open, beckoning me to come out. I knew if I didn't do as he instructed, he would come in after me. Slowly, I pushed myself onto my feet and walked forward. When I reached the creature, I attacked. Lunging out at him with all of my weight, I knocked him back on the ground. He twisted quickly to grab at my ankle as I attempted to push myself into a run. I slammed back down into the floor hard, knocking the air from my lungs and splitting my chin on the ground. I could already feel the blood seeping through the fresh wound. The creature released my leg to grab the backs of my arms and lift me into the air.

"Enough!" it bellowed.

The sound of its voice made my skin crawl as I thrashed out against it with everything I had but it just wasn't enough. It carried me back to the chair and strapped me in tighter than before. The pain of my blood supply being cut off from my hands and feet began to spread as I quickly lost feeling to them. I wanted to beg it to let me go, to stop this madness but I knew that it was no use. His talons found their way back into my temples as it dug harder. I clenched my eyes shut and arched my back off of the chair as the pain ripped through me, but I never cried out. I would not give it the satisfaction of a scream. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the familiarity of the academy.

I walked into the classroom with my head down, trying to draw as little attention to myself as humanly possible. Knox's words from the square were echoing in my mind, you don't belong here. He was right, I knew he was right, but it didn't stop the words from haunting me. I found a seat in the back row of the room with the hope that no one would notice me back there. The room was built with theater seating. Each row was on a different level than the next, the podium in the front of the room on the lowest level. It didn't take long for other recruits to begin filing into the room and taking spots as their own. The instructor walked in and immediately began writing something on the board, but it was hard to focus on him when Knox walked through the door, his arm hanging on the shoulder of the blonde girl he knocked down earlier in the square. He owned the room. Everyone's attention was on him and what he was doing.

"That's Knox Rivers." a boy sat in the chair next to me, a friendly smile on his face.

"I know," I smiled back to him, "he acts like he owns the place."

The boy chuckled and pushed a hand through his curly brown hair, "He basically does. I'm Carrson," he stuck his hand out. I shook it as firmly as I could. "Woah, tiger, I'm not one of them, you don't have to act tough with me" he was laughing but I knew he wasn't laughing at me and I visibly relaxed. 

"I'm sorry, I'm -  Ember." I hesitated. This was the first time I was having to introduce myself with this new name.

Carrson smiled like he didn't notice, "I know," he admitted. There was a sly look on his face but before I could ask, the instructor started the class.