Sundown (Book 2)

Escort

The day finally comes when me and David are supposed to go to A.I.O. I don't know what to expect, especially since this isn't the televised version of the bot fights. All I know is that this is going to be different from last year.

Me and David are both being escorted there, adding even more shadiness to the situation. I turn my attention to David, seeing the expression of worry on his face adds to my fear. It then dawns on me that whatever I got us into, David will be experiencing the worst of it. He'll be the one battling in the bot fights, while I get to sit in the side lines and...watch.

I shiver at the thought, and David must see me because he reaches over and squeezes my shoulder closer to him. Then when I look up he tries his best to give a reassuring smile. I slightly smile back but I then return my attention to the driver. He's wearing a black suit with a tie, but when I look closer, there are holes in the suit. And even when I look at the driver himself, I notice how oily his hair is, and how it looks like he has bathed in weeks. But what is most frightening to me, are the stains on his suit, red stains.

"Are we almost there?" I dare ask, "Wherever there is." I mumble under my breath. He doesn't respond, but I don't push. We keep driving.

Suddenly the car comes to stop, the driver parks and gets out. Then he proceeds to open up the doors for me and David, while adding a harsh, "Get out."

"Um...where are we?" I question, my heart rate speeding up. We've stopped in an abandoned airport.

"Follow me please." He reluctantly says, walking towards the entrance. There two guards who wear the same raggedy clothing wait at the door. They whisper something back an forth, then me and David are allowed to pass through. As we walk by, one of the guards says, "Gate C."

I barely catch it but soon I understand. They want us to board a plane. Taking us to god knows where. I try to turn around to protest but they wont let me go back. So with that I reluctantly walk to Gate C. There waits a woman, at the gate.

"Follow me please." She says in a much more pleasant voice, but I can tell its fake. When I walk onto the plane, I see many other people, along with robots. I realize that these are other players. But I recognize a few of them. I see Joey, and Luke, and Lily. Countless other unknown people sit in the rows. I sit in a seat next to two other men, both have black medium cut hair. David finds an empty seat a few rows down from me.

As I sit down, I feel the plane jolt forward. And before I can do anything about it, we take off. Its rough and bumpy, but soon the fight begins to smooth out. I begin to doze off into sleep, but before I can, the man next to me taps my shoulder.

"Do you know where we're going?" He asks in a way that says he knows the answer. I shake my head no. "It's an old abandoned city called L.A." He answers himself. His voice is low and smooth, with a hint of an accent.

"Oh, leave her be. She clearly didn't read the letter, so why bother asking her." The man next to him says, rolling his eyes.

"Pay no attention to him, I'm Christopher." He smiles politely.

"I'm Appareil." I say quietly.

"Well Appareil, do you have any idea what you've gotten yourself into?"