Taken

The Beginning

A shaking leaf, a mumbled breath.
A shuddered sigh, a turning hand.

Each man stood as part of the circle, unified, whole, one. And yet differences were clear.
One man, a pharmacy owner who trembled in excitement as well as fear, wiped the sweat from his brow with twitching fingers. This was his chance to finally be more than the coward who wouldn't fight. This was his chance to be the victor in something.
Another man, who relished the possibility of power and strength, grinned down at the center of the circle, a familiar glint in his eye. This was easy for him. Not because of the possible reward, no, this was an act of revenge against those who wronged him.
The bank owner looked down his nose at his neighbor, his gaze flicking down every other second as if he couldn't wait to get that weight off his shoulders. The secret he still guarded from these men, waited on the tip of his neighbor's tongue.
The man next to him, who held incriminating information on all of those present, held a smirk that crept further and further across his cheeks. Even if they tried to stop him now, they were in too deep. He knew they wouldn't do anything to harm their own futures. They wouldn't risk turning him in if they were afraid he'd do the same.
The town's butcher, still thinking about what he'd walked in on with his wife this morning, clenched his fists. After this meeting, he would no longer need the in-laws' monthly dose of cash. He wouldn't need to ignore his wife's cheating ways and allow her to warp their daughter into a little version of her. This was for Alice, no one else.
And the child in the center whimpered, her shining white hair matted with blood and mud, one red hand reaching into the air as if asking for help.

        In the end, even the gods couldn't hear her screams. Or chose to ignore them.