A Firefly's Glow

Chapter Two: Part One

Note: You know what, some of these chopped up chapter parts are so short! Sorry if this causes some trouble...but trust me, further into the story, all the parts even out to be around 3-4 Microsoft Word pages long.

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I noticed my mouth was still opened ajar, and I immediately closed it. I was speechless and at a loss of words. I silently wished for something to say to interrupt the awkward silence that droned in between us.

On cue, my stomach let out a large growl. I bent forward, clutching it embarrassingly and stumbling towards the door.

“Well it’s nice to meet you while you’re conscious,” I attempted a welcoming voice, but it shook nervously as I shoved my key back into its keyhole. I felt my teeth grit together. “But if you would excuse me, I am very hungry and I would like to eat now. So . . . goodbye.” And with the bit of remaining luck that I had mustered together, the door opened as I twisted the key. Before I could step inside the apartment, his voice sounded.

“You’re not excused.”

I paused and turned my head with a robotic motion. “When I tell you if you would excuse me, it’s rhetorical. It means I’m automatically excused.”

“No,” the boy gave me a blank, emotionless stare. “You said “If you would excuse me,” which suggests that if I choose to excuse you, you may enter your home. So I have two choices: to excuse you or not. I choose: Not.”

“Well that’s too bad for you.” I grabbed the bag I had sat beside the door, tossed it into the apartment, and locked my gaze towards the boy. “This is my house. Who’s going to stop me?”

“Men,” the boy nonchalantly murmured. At the sound of his melodic voice, footsteps rapidly clattered up the pebbled staircase. Two tall, muscular figures—one with thick, dark sunglasses laid in front of his eyes—dressed in flawlessly black suits approached the boy in a robotic manner.

“Yes, sir!” they saluted as they marched towards me. The key that I clutched slipped from between my fingers and it dimly clinked onto the dirt-stained carpet. I caught the boy giving me a hushed, smug scoff—but his face morphed back into blankness as I gaped at him.

“Excuse me, miss!” one of the tall men—the man with the dark sunglasses—cautiously whispered as they crouched beside me. They gently lifted my arms and wrapped them around their stiff necks. In less than a second later, they hoisted me up as they unbent their spines. My feet lifted a meter off the ground.

I began kicking and thrashing, thrusting my feet through the air. “Oh my god! Let me down!”

“We can’t do that, miss!” the same man hissed in a similar whisper of caution.

“Yes you can!” I shrieked, wriggling in place and tightening my grip around their necks. “All you have to do is let—me—go!”

They stumbled an inch or two as they descended down the stairs, but they successfully resisted whatever pain I inflicted onto them with my arms and deadly worn sneakers.

“Please keep still, miss!”

“I will not keep still!” I protested, turning my shoulders to and fro until I saw the boy stepping down the stairs behind me. “You! Order them to let me go, right now!”

“No.”

“Dude, I’m hungry, and I just restocked myself with food! Let me down, right now!”

“No.”

“Don’t just nonchalantly refuse me!” I felt my face flush with frustration. It irritated me how the boy was so calm about this situation.

I gave the boy my deadliest glare and gathered all my self-control to speak without screaming. Instead, what came out of my mouth was a falsely happy tone.

“If you don’t let them release me this instant, I will go into full destroy-mode and I will kick—your—butt!” I masked the shadows that crossed my face with a stressed smile. “I repeat: Let—me—down—right—now!”

“No.”

I attempted to unwrap my hands that had coiled around the mans’ necks in order to launch myself into destroy-mode, but they gripped onto my wrists before I could succeed.

I spotted a long, spotless black limousine that sat against the sidewalk up ahead. I could hear the engine whirring, and my eyes widened.

“This is kidnapping!” I shrieked, shutting my eyes and kicking my feet with all my might. “HELP! I’M BEING KIDNAPPED!”

But unfortunately, there were no passer-bys lingering around anywhere nearby.

I took one last look at the apartment that sat just above the staircase. The door was no longer opened ajar (I had to remember to thank them at least for closing the door). I felt my mouth water from the thought of the uneaten slop of rice balls that sat beside my mattress.

Another growl rumbled through my body and I let out a moan.

Once I heard the tapping of the shoes of the men against the sidewalk, I felt my pulse begin to race. I heard slight thumping against the rim of my neck.

It did not matter how much I kicked or screamed. Nothing was stopping these men from abducting me away from home.

One of the large doors swung open, and I felt the smell of leather fill my nostrils as I was shoved head-first into the car.

As the door loudly slammed shut, I closed my eyes. This is a dream, I thought. It’s one of those dreams where I know I’m dreaming. I must wake up! When I open my eyes, I’m going to be on my bed. On three . . . one-two-three!

My eyes immediately opened, and I glanced at my surroundings. I felt the seatbelt buckle pinch my back, and I shifted uncomfortably. I refused to sit up; to see the apartment fade into the horizon, to glance at the evil, heartless boy that I knew was sitting in the set of seats in front of me. I pondered where they were taking me, and I silently rehearsed what I was going to do once I was allowed out of the car.