Devil's Knot

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"Quick she's down here!" Footsteps come closer, louder and more frequently than before. Scooting back against the moldy grey wall, I hunch my back tighter and block myself in farther; I'm grabbing the dresser and the blankets in front of me and pulling them closer. I hear the old chairs squealing and being scraped away. I feel the loss of protection that I took precious time to make. The layers of old clothes and bags, chairs and books, everything I could possibly find in the old attic of my house. Boards creak as they finally tear away the last of the old dresser and a blanket. I cower in front of them, inching myself backwards, pressing further against the old crumbly wall. Tears threaten to spill out of my soft lavender eyes; biting my lip I look up at my assailants.
"Get 'er" growls one of them in the back. The two people in the front with black masks and black jumpers reach for me and yank me out of my safe hole. Pinching my arms, they hold me as I writhe and struggle, choking as they gag me with and old dirty cloth. I feel the grains of dirt shake around and get caught on my toungue. The ones holding my skinny, pale arms breathe down my neck and another smashes her fist directly into my temple. I hear a single maniacal laugh as the world blinks painfully away.

'Uunng', I hear a dry moan as I sit up, head pounding. I look around, startled, and and see a dirty, thin boy about my age curled in a fetal position on the ground a few feet from where I sit. A second character comes into view as I look around. She has pale white hair, probably about thirteen, two years younger than me. The boy next to me groans again, a pained sound that reverberates through me. I start, turning to face him. His eyes flutter open, leaving me gazing into a startling dark green. I reach out to grab hold of his shoulders, and hoist him into a sitting position but I feel a light tap on my shoulder before I can even move a muscle.
I stifle a scream and I shift around and see the small white haired girl standing behind me. The darkness of the small cube like room makes her long soft hair stand out starkly against the darkness. The pale blue shirt hangs loosely around her bony shoulders and her knobbly knees seem to tremble with the weight of her skinny waist. The white leggings match her hair, but for a few light stains, and black sandals fit her small feet. Her eyes a dark grey stare, looking directly at me.
"Don't touch him. " she tells me simply. The creaky darkness casts odd shadows across her face, making her look much different from when she was sitting in the dark.
"Why?" I whisper. She doesn't answer just shakes her head.
"Your name?" I ask.
"Cier."
"Kenta." I introduce myself and she smiles. I stand up, even though my skull pounds.
"I'm fifteen, how old are you?" She shrugs and I blink, repeating my questing. Same response. I decide to give up on her, and ask her a second question
"Who's he?"
"Rin, he's fifteen, I believe," Deciding not to pry for anymore personal information I get up out of my crouched position, even though my head is still pounding. A bit unsteady as I walk I make my way around the spacey, dark room we are in. I hear creaking from up above me and suddenly Cier is right next to me pale hair swinging.
"Go lay down next to him! And be quiet!" She whispers feverently. I make a silent beeline for the dark soggy wood next to Rin. Plopping my self down I arrange my arms and legs as they were. The creaking turns to thuds and those thuds get louder, louder, louder, until I hear a giant creak and a grunt. Light infiltrates the dark room as I resist the urge to screw up my eyes. Rin gives another small moan next to me and I feel him roll over. Yet again, I don't move. Two maybe three, or four, pairs of footsteps fill the room. I feel rough hands scoop me up and throw me over a shoulder. I concentrate on not flinching, giving everything I have to pretending to be unconscious.
"Quick get them out and into the boat!" Whispers the one carrying me. We start moving and my head thuds to a dull rhythm as we pound up the stairs. The light gets brighter as we ascend and hear muffled protests of people gagged, and gunshots ring loud and clear. I risk squinting my eyes and I see a small wooden boat getting larger.

The scene fades away as I close my eyes, and lose all hope of staying conscious.

"Kenta, Kenta are you okay?" A whispered voice slaps me like a hard hand directly to my face. I feel my back pressed against a freezing cold surface and the air around my chin repeatedly puffs up with mist from my hot breath. The chill seems to be floating through the air, infesting very inch of warm it can get. The white walls seem to surround me for a moment and almost blind me, but I look at the darkly colored rug, pulling up a few strings as I ball my hands into fists. I concentrate on Cier and Rin, whose in the corner, with a scruffy red blanket thrown over him. I sigh and sit up painfully as I answer and eye my pale blueing hands.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine, sorry," I say, apologizing and I take a deep breath.
"Where are we?"
"I don't really know but I think those guys that came to get us are either kidnapping us from our kidnappers or they're gonna bring us someplace else. I feeling the former but I'm hoping for the latter."
"Oh" is all I can manage to say.
Hours later stiff and blue from the cold room someone pushes open the door. I look up, my head feeling like lead. In the doorway stands a nice looking man with dirty blonde hair. He wears a white long sleeve tee and an even whiter sweater. His blue pants stand out.
"Sorry for keeping you. You must be freezing. Here have some jackets...and tea." Taken aback by his kindness I eye him up and down before taking a soft navy jacket and a hot thermos of tea. I tip the cup to my mouth, but flinch away. It's too hot to drink. Much to hot to hold as well, so I set it down and blow onto my hands to warm them up.
"Follow me." he says after a moment and nods at my thermos.
"Don't forget that." I just nod because the breath seemed to be sucked out of my lungs. It's been too long since I've felt the formality of kindness. I stoop down and clutch my thermos feeling the burn of the hot tea seep through the metal and directly to my palms. He leads us and up and up through one stairwell after another. Pausing at the top of what feels like the hundredth flight he looks back.
"Drink the tea." He says to me in that oddly soft voice from before.
"It won't hurt you, I promise, were not here to hurt you."
"Kenta." A soft whisper winds its way towards me through the thudding of feet. I gulp down another mouthful of tea and look at Cier as I reply.
"Mmm?"
"Do you know...where we are...who they are...?" I shake my head.
Finally we reached the top of the stairs and, panting, we entered a room Rin looked at Cier and Cier looked back at him. I hear her whisper something to him, but I can't catch what it is. They lead us into a large gray room and I hand the guy who led us up the stairs my empty thermos when I pass him.
"Welcome to the beginning of your new lives."