Evolved

18. Captured

I woke up to a dark room. I felt my hands tied behind me. My face felt sore and swollen. I was pretty sure that it was throbbing. A light was turned on and I squinted my eyes. A man walked up and started speaking fluent Russian. I started trying to think about what had just happened. I had been kidnapped. Obviously, they were from Russia. They were probably working for Shiatvzi. My best bet was to play dumb. They hadn't seen me use my power, so they probably didn't know who I was yet. By the way the man said my name at the beach. He had only been guessing. I pretended to struggle against the restraints. I could understand his Russian, but I played it dumb.

"What's going on? Where am I?" I asked. He looked at me confused and another man came up to me.

""You are in Russia, Svetlana," the man said. I scrunched my eyebrows.

"Who's Svetlana? My name is Ellie," I said. He spoke Russian to the other guy. The other guy argued with him for a bit. I pulled out my bag of theatrics and started crying. "I just want to go home." I sobbed. The man yelled Russian at the other man. He was yelling at his for being rash and not checking to see if I was really the Legacy first.

"We should take her to Ritavska. She will know," the man said looking straight at me. They undid my restraints and took me to a car. I was then driven to a small hut of a house. I was taken inside to see an old lady with long blonde hair. She had glasses and I noticed that she was in restraints as well. She looked up and her eyes widened. I mouthed no quietly and she looked at the men.

"Why do you have this poor child here?" she asked the men. They threw me into a chair and I pretended to stumble into the chair.

"We think she's the Legacy and we need you to tell us," the man said rudely in his thick accent. I couldn't have these men know who I was. I mouthed 'please' the old women. She seemed to understand. She touched my hand and closed her eyes.

"This is not the Legacy. The Legacy won't be born for another year, you have the wrong girl. She doesn't even have the abilities," the woman lied for me. I thanked her quietly and pretended to look scared again. The men yanked me up.

"We will take her to Shiatvzi. He will tell us what to do with her," he said. As soon as he said this, I had a plan. I would plan dumb until they brought me to Shiatvzi. Then I would do what I was born to do, I would kill Shiatvzi. If I did that though, there would be a chance that all hell would break loose, and I would have to be prepared for that. I was stronger than ever, and I knew, fueled with the right energy, I knew I could do this successfully. I would have to run to the nearest safe place as soon as it happened though. The men took me out of the woman's house and back to where they had me before. I memorized the road and my surroundings on the way. For my plan to work, this would have to go perfectly. I couldn't afford a slip up. I kept in mind that he could heal himself. I would have to burn him. You couldn't mend ashes, but I would need something to start the fire with. When we were back in the room, the men gave me a plate of food. I ate it greedily and handed the plate back, but I kept the knife that they gave me to cut the stake. It was very sharp and sturdy. It was a pretty good size as well. I hid the knife behind me.  The men didn't put the restraints back on me since I wasn't the girl they thought I was.

"So... Ellie? How did you end up on the beach crying?" the taller man asked me in his thick accent. I sighed and frowned.

"My boyfriend told me he was leaving, so I went to the beach to think," I answered truthfully. I looked up at the men thoughtfully. "You know my name. Am I allowed to know yours?" I asked. The men looked at each other before looking back to me.

"I am Ganske," the taller one said.

"I'm Hinkle," the other one said. "This is all a misunderstanding Ellie, we'll take you home as soon as Shiatvzi gives us his approval." Hinkle continued.

"Who is Shiatvzi?" I asked ignorantly. They both looked at me.

"He is the most powerful of us all," Ganske replied. "He's our leader."

"Is that what all the war is about?" I asked. They both nodded.

"You either join his side or die," Hinkle informed me. I tilted my head at him.

"So if you could fight against him, you would?" I asked. Ganske looked around nervously before he looked back to me.

"He's too powerful. There is no way we would win," he whispered.

"But if you had this... Legacy, would you help whoever it was kill him?" I asked quietly. They both nodded.

"We're tired of being under Shiatvzi's rule. We barely get enough food and we are constantly told what to do. We have no freedom," Ganske whispered again. I looked around and sighed. Hinkle lit a cigar. Something to start a fire... perfect.

"May I have that?" I asked. They looked at me confused.

"Why do you need a lighter?" Ganske asked.

"Please, you're just going to have to trust me," I replied. Hinkle nodded hesitantly before he handed me the lighter. I put it in my pocket and thanked them. They also gave me a magazine to read. When they fell asleep, I folded up a few papers and put them in my back pockets. Finally, I got some rest.