Extraordinary

Ripped Away

Shock... That was all I felt. It spread through my body, like a virus. From head to toe, numbness took the life from me. I couldn't move, think or speak as my dad pressed a button on his watch; suddenly the room swarmed with men in odd outfits, looking like they belonged in the army.

Kade was as pale as a sheet, his face ghostly white.

Everything turned into slow motion as men poured into the room. Darting towards Kade, my senses kicked in and I activated my invisibility... Only to run slap bang into a glass wall.

A glass wall? Where on earth did that come from?

My mind was really struggling to keep up with the pace of events now.

Frantically glancing left and right, I eyed a rectangular shape in the glass, which could only have been the door. But as I reached it, the slightest click reached my ears. The door wouldn't budge. I had no choice but to turn visible, in a last ditch attempt at getting Kade's attention.

"Kade!" I screamed, as he pressed a few buttons on the pad. Looking towards me, his eyes filled with tears, and mouthed the words "I'm sorry," a look of anguish staining his face.

Tears stung my eyes. I'm sure Kade could see my grief, but he tore himself away from my gaze to face the men coming at him. "Kade let me out! You aren't safe!" I sobbed. "Kade PLEASE!"

Suddenly the men were on top of Kade.

All I could see were limbs flying everywhere. Wild punches thrown. Kicking, biting, stomping. Muffled "oomphs," a cry of pain, a crack of a bone every so often. At least five guys were all over Kade, with more waiting as a backup. There was absolutely no way he was going to win this fight.

I felt so helpless behind the glass as everything unfolded.

"No, baby please!" I cried out. "I can't lose you!" I said as my knees buckled and I collapsed, more tears flowing down my cheeks.

My dad was still looming at the top of the stairs, watching over proceedings, when he caught eye contact with me. A dark gloom crossed is face, a mask of hardness and evil painting his features. Utterly terrified at this human I called my dad, I turned invisible and lay on the floor, turning to watched more action unfold. Why I did that, I don't know. But it was a terrible idea.

All I saw was Kade getting the life beaten out of him.

The only person that made me feel safe, that I could relate to, that understood me, was being ripped away from me and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. This glass dungeon was torturing me. And what made it all the more worse was that he was being ripped away by someone I thought I could trust... my very own father.

Through the tears I saw one of the men pull out a long stick, blue sparks escaping the tip and fleeing into the air around it. Without even a moment of hesitation, he thrust it straight into Kade's side.

A look of terror flooded Kade's eyes. He froze.

Then the convulsions started.

His body went as stiff as a statue; limbs shaking and shooting out in every direction, every so often with such violence and speed, it almost matched mine not ten minutes earlier.

Then, he collapsed in a pile of flesh and clothes. The men around smiled menacingly - a job well done for them.

I couldn't breathe anymore. I couldn't watch the person I loved most in this world get injured like this. Sobs escaped my mouth as I crawled into the foetal position. The pain of the last five minutes was rushing on to me like a sudden intense wave, hitting me out of the blue, as if I wasn't already in enough mental pain from this torture.

All my strength was gone and my body went limp. The world started to go hazy, spinning around, but I could still make out a few things.

Like the love of my life's limp body being dragged out the room.

I watched my father - that heartless creature - as he slunk around the training centre, looking for me. Suddenly seeing the control pad that controlled the training room, he smiled slyly. I held my breath as he pressed button after button. Death was at the door.

But it never got in.

Growing frustrated, he punched the keypad and strode away, only to suddenly spin on his heels, heading back to the control pad.

He hit one button on the key pad the training-room speakers came to life, filling the room with his voice.

The voice I once trusted, that once made me feel peace...

... But now only terror.

"Lexi I know you are in there, and I know what you are."

I crawled up into a ball and let the pain fill me. There was absolutely nothing I could do from inside here, enclosed in this glass cage. But I had to stay quiet - I couldn't get caught as well.

"There's no escaping now."

Kade was going to be tortured and meet his maker and I didn't even get to say goodbye. Not that I wanted to say goodbye forever. But I didn't even get to thank him for helping me through all of this.

"LEXI WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU??"

That was the last thing that came out of my father's mouth; followed by angry footsteps up the stairs and out the door. Deafening stillness filled my dungeon.

Sitting there in complete and utter silence, the tears kept coming and coming; a dam had been breached within me, and it couldn't be patched up.

I lay on my back and stared at the white ceiling, through foggy, blurry vision. My brain couldn't help from wondering to Kade. What were they doing to him? What could they possibly do to him?

What had we done wrong! We stayed in hiding and didn't give any clues whatsoever! Or so we thought...

"This is all my fault!" I screamed out loud. "All of it! He wouldn't be gone if he never met me, he wouldn't be in danger if it wasn't for me and my idiot father!" Anger welled up in me.

Shakily standing, I got up off the floor and looked out into the room; and yet again there was nothing I could do.

Sighing, I let myself collapse again. There was not even a single thing to distract me from all the torturous thoughts making their way in, of the torture methods that could possibly be happening at this moment to Kade.

Kade... my boyfriend, the person that was the same as me, that understood how everything worked. The person I had fallen in love with... He was gone, ripped out of my hand in a flash. Who knew that after complete enjoyment, there would be such anger and sadness, a part of me ripped out.

Seconds took years to pass, each second more agonizing as the last. I couldn't take it anymore. But I had to. There was no choice. I had to just sit there and wait for someone to come get me out. Not seeing any other option, I resigned to suffering in silence, squeezing my eyes shut.

Images engraved themselves onto my closed eyelids. I could not escape reliving the past ten minutes again, in full gory detail.

My entire body was shaking, sweat soaking my clothes.

I just wanted to go home!

Tears filled my eyes yet again. Looking over at the clock I saw that I had been in here for only 10 minutes since my father had walked out.

This was absolute agony.

Another ten minutes passed.

Then another five.

More tears.

More shaking.

Another 25.

I was going to go crazy soon.

Another 15.

Then, movement.

Or was I hallucinating?

Nope. A shadow crept down the stairs, sneaking quietly along.

My heart quickened, not knowing who it would be...