Unkissed. (Rated R)

17.♣️

"Nasir," she cried flinging to me, arms wrapping around my shoulders. The sob she held in finally erupts onto me.

My chin resting on her shoulder, "Charlotte, it was you, they took you too?"

She nods, pausing to sniffle. "Was it you in the car?" she asks, still nuzzled in my shirt.

"I was in the trunk."

"So was I"

Gripping her bicep I pull her from me, her face cherry red with a runny nose. "So they went to your house too?"

She nods before sniffling.

I should be careful to not strike a nerve, like me she just lost her family, but come to think of it; everyone in this room is now an orphan.

Charlotte was with me this entire time, finally a promise I kept. "We need to get ou-" The room becoming overcrowded, all at once kids begin piling on top of each other pushing not mindful of the surroundings, impact of those behind me pushed me into her further.

Promptly I am glancing around trying to keep my balance steady when something caught my eye on the left corner. A girl nearby hunched over, beads of sweat leisurely pace down her dark skin, a look of fatigue and she tumbles to the ground.

In a flash her elder brother is at her side, but his attempt soon fails as he was having some sort of trouble keeping up right.

Bodies falling to the ground with heavy thuds, A thick wave flowing across the room, an invincible toxin looming in the air like a fog affecting everyone within the perimeters, and I was soon seeing double.

"I'm sleepy Nasir" Charlotte's voice sluggish, fighting to keep her wobbling head a float.

This Strange symptom weakens me, My grip around Charlotte's bicep beginning to loosen, but there were no aches in my bones whatsoever, only an overwhelming need to fall asleep. Perhaps this is the drug she spoke of? A tingle in my nerves tickles at the ends of my fingers, a rusty taste of Iron in my throat -- Wait a second.

Forcing my body, I enclose them tightly around Charlotte's bicep, "Open your eyes Charlotte, wake up, It a sleeping dr-"

A loud sound of a latch nearby jolts me forwards, the sharp click was ear- splitting affecting even the kids lying on the ground. A sound of the wind whistles inside blowing within the atmosphere. A large Mahogany door just at the very end that none of us thought to check of, on its own it creaks open showcasing the night sky outside.

"Charlotte" I whisper suddenly no longer affected by the wave of exhaustion, it would seem neither was she or the bodies on the ground. At the sight and sound of the outside they were each on their feet, except for a few, those that have succumbed to the aftermath of the drug now permanently asleep.

This was the second task, and what Charlotte meant. The freezer was to work it in faster, fully soaking it into our bloodstreams. But now the next mystery was how did they inject the drug? I felt nothing sharp penetrate my skin.

"What just happened?" she questions incoherently, rubbing her eyes.

"You were right Charlotte, we each have been drugged."

"Children" Came the voice again through the speakers."Please head to the next task, step outside for some fresh air."

Genuine looks of concerns surveys around the crowd before they started to step outside, though quizzical I entangle my fingers into Charlotte's leading the way, Not before looking at the same little girl that cried to her brother earlier; she sniffles resting her head onto his lifeless chest mourning as everyone stepped around her."