Fainting and being kidnapped weren't on Aru's New Year's resolutions, but here was the 19-year-old version of her: a top spy--all because of one boy, one night.
His first mission wasn't supposed to be rescuing a girl from one of the main sites of th...
TW: character faints twice, kidnapping, being tied by rope [does that count?]
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The problem with living in a quiet neighborhood was that no one was around if you, for example, fell and managed to faint. Of course, that was purely hypothetical.
Until it wasn't.
Aru managed to fall and faint. A far-away part of her brain complained, I wanted to faint but not NOW.
Her eyes fluttered open, her head pounding, and she felt like shit. Taking note of her surroundings, she slowly got up, woozy, and saw grey walls. Weren't hospital walls supposed to be white? She was dreaming...right?
Gradually, everything came into focus, and Aru's skin was ridden with goosebumps, her body shivering even though it was summer. She was alone in a room with nothing but a thin mattress on the floor, her arms tied to a hook in the corner.
The panic set in, her breaths coming in faster and shorter gasps. Where was she? Where was her sister, Kara? Was she dreaming? It didn't feel like a dream.
Aru yanked her right arm away from the rope, but instead of pain there, she doubled down with the excruciating pain in her left arm. A strangled scream rose from the back of her throat, her vision blacking out in outlandish patterns. She whimpered and tried to move her arm, which only resulted in a scream. Her legs gave way and she collapsed on the floor, withering.
"Help," she tried to croak out. Her heart beat against her ribs as if it was trying to escape.
At some point, she must've passed out again because when her eyes opened again, there was a boy with dark, concerned eyes framed by long and equally dark lashes looking at her. Aru opened her mouth to scream but he placed a firm hand on her, restricting any noise. He looked around, making motions with his hand, and Aru caught a flash of movement outside her peripheral vision. The boy started to move his lips—he was probably saying something but she could barely hear him above the noise of her heartbeat.
Who was he?
Were they going to torture her?
Was she going to die?
The boy frowned and slightly shifted away from her. An older-looking man with a mask moved in sight, holding something in his arm. Aru made a muffled protest of panic and tried to move—forgetting about her arm. As pain shot up her arm, she curled up into a ball, trying to contain her screams. A yelp sounded and suddenly Aru was sitting up straight, held up by the boy and feeling more nauseous by the minute.
The older man sighed, moving closer, and said, "We're here to save you!"
Aru remained quiet, in too much pain and busy swallowing her nausea, to respond.
"You have been kidnapped by the Sleeper's forces, kid. He is a dangerous entity in the dark side of the world," he continued, "Do you understand what I am saying?"
