𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 ✍︎

54| 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚃𝚠𝚘

Ayla/Dove's POV
Age: 10
Location: Base, Unknown

My head spins as I inhale deeply, taking in the clean air.

Slowly, I force my heavy eye lids to flutter open.

When I see my surroundings my heart plummets again. The feeling of bile rises in my throat as I realize my wrists are shackled to a bed.

"Hey, you're up," a soft voice says suddenly. My eyes snap to the tall boy standing in the room.

"One," I say breathily. My eyes water as I suddenly realize my situation. "Get me out. Get me out of here now. Let me out."

One looks pained, but he shakes his head. "I can't do that. I'm so sorry."

Betrayal stabs me in the chest. "So you're working with him. You're helping him?"

"No!" His eyes flair in defiance, but he calms down slightly. "I would never. If I could get you out, Dove, I would. If I knew he was going to take you again, I would've tried to warn you or protect you."

"You didn't know," I say aloud. It's more of an assurance to myself than an actual question.

"I didn't know," he promises.

I exhale a shuddery breath, no longer liking the air. The air feels different compared to back home.

Home. I was taken from my home. Again.

"Now what?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't know," One answers honestly. "Sir says I'm going to take care of you now."

"You don't know what he's planning or what he's doing?"

One shakes his head. "Not yet."

I touch the cold metal railing on the bed, using the chilly feeling to ground me.

This all feels like one really horrible dream. Maybe if I try hard enough I'll wake up and find myself in my room again.

"Do you know where we are?" I ask quietly.

"Sir calls it Base. It's our new central headquarters. It's a replacement to the one that we were raised in," One explains.

"That's not what I meant," I say shaking my head. "Where are we? What country?"

"I don't know," One mutters. "None of us do. But it took Sir twelve hours to get you and come back."

Twelve hours. That means wherever we are, is very, very far away from New York. Away from home.

One suddenly hands me a plate of food. It's simple toast with jam, but I know that this may be the only food I'll be getting for a while.

"When you're done eating, the guards will escort you to our room," One tells me. He glances anxiously at the clock before turning to me. "Listen, before I go I need to tell you something."

I look up at him expectantly. 

"I know that you view your home as New York with your family, but you need to forget about them now. It'll make things easier.