Secrets of Velvet

Prologue

After completing their training, two girls strolled their way home. The clock had already ticked past 6:30 pm, the girls simply walked side by side in silence as both were tired.

"Ugh, my phone's battery is over!" one exclaimed, whining. "How am I supposed to buy groceries without being able to see the list that Mom sent me?"

"Don't be lazy, Scarlett. The grocery shop is just a 3-minute walk from your house, you can jot down the list on a piece of paper or something," the other girl suggested, intertwining her hand with Scarlett's.

"I feel cold."

"Ha! See, I told you you'd need your jacket," Scarlett teased.

"What should I do? We're still so far away..." She frowned.

They walked peacefully through the snow, taking their time with each unhurried step.

"Can I please wear your jacket for some time please, please, please, please," said the freezing girl, stopping and begging her friend.

"Shut up, no." Scarlett didn't stop walking, attempting to hide her face as laughter bubbled up.

"You literally have a hoodie and sweater underneath it! Please, please, please, please, please, plea- "

"Okay! Stop annoying me, Nadia, give me your gloves and I'll give you, my jacket." Scarlett cut her off.

Nadia removed her gloves, shivering from the cold on her palms, and handed them to Scarlett. She felt like she could turn into ice any second now.

"Quick, quick, I'm freezing," Nadia urged, her voice quivering.

Scarlett took off her jacket and put it on Nadia then held onto her hand. "Let's walk a little more quickly; I feel like someone's watching us".

They both looked around and only saw a black van with a cherry-coloured small flag on the roof pass by.

"No, don't worry, Nadia, it was just a van...", Scarlett tried to laugh it off, but Nadia felt chills.

"No, really, I feel like we're being watched", Nadia said with a few trembles in her voice.

"Don't think about it, let's just walk faster", Scarlett said as they both increased their pace.

They walked for a few more minutes before Nadia suddenly stopped.

"Something feels weird; I'm sure someone's watching us," Nadia said, and held onto Scarlett's arm more tightly. "Do you feel it?" Scarlett nodded. "I thought it was just me. Let's walk quickly."

They both started walking rapidly, almost running when suddenly a black van stopped in front of them. Startled, the girls were about to run the other way, when another van stopped behind them.

Out of nowhere, a white van appeared, almost as if it had been invisible this whole time. Like the other van, it too had a flag, this one indigo coloured.

Suddenly, Nadia felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and realized a syringe had been stabbed into it. She quickly looked at Scarlett only to see that her friend too had a syringe in her shoulder.

"Someone help us..." Nadia uttered, so scared that she didn't even panic. Her body felt so weak and she collapsed into someone's arms.

She witnessed Scarlett passing out and being carried into the white van while she was being dragged into the black one.

She was so weak that she was unable to scream, all Nadia could do was hope nothing bad would happen to Scarlett and that they would be together when she woke up.

Suddenly, everything went black, and she too passed out.