The Classified Files

Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Renee Thomas

            I woke with a start, my breathing harsh as I slowly took in my surroundings. “Where am I?” I questioned quickly, as nothing looked familiar.

            Other girls clamored for attention, the two calmest being a brunette and a blonde girl sitting in the center of the room.

            “Guys, calm down, okay? Panicking really isn’t going to solve anything here,” another brunette with hazel eyes tried pleading with us. Gradually, the din subsided, and I looked around wildly, hoping that none of them would hurt me. At least I could hold my own in a fight.

            “How about everyone sit down?” the brunette I had first noticed sitting down spoke up. I sat down, still tense with anxiety. What had happened since I got caught? I thought back to my kidnapping. In a flash, everything came back to me. Running back from the gym, searching for my car, then the glimpse of the white license plate before the chloroform was pressed against my face.

            The tiny blonde girl interrupts my thoughts. “Let’s go around and introduce ourselves, shall we?” she suggests. “In fact, I’ll go first. I’m Brianne.” I nod in acceptance. Brianne. A suitable name, I suppose. She looked like a Brianne.

            The brunette who asked us to sit down was next. “Zoe.”

            “Rochelle,” the next girl spoke timidly.

            “Celeste,” a somewhat haughty looking girl announced.

            My turn. “Renee,” I say, quite nonchalantly, considering the situation we’re in.

            The first girl who spoke up to calm us down spoke her name, Lena, and we were finished. “Now what?” Celeste asked.

            “Maybe what we did in the beginning,” Zoe suggests, “go around and talk about how we were taken.” I shrug a bit. Sounded like a decent idea.

            “I’m Renee,” I take the dive and go first. “I think I was taken on the 16th of August, but I’m not quite sure.”

            “So we were all taken a day apart from each other,” Brianne cuts in, her eyebrows furrowed as she ponders this new information.

            “What does this all mean?” Lena leaned in closer to the circle, her elbows resting on her jean clad knees. The rest of the girls looked around, uneasy expressions on their faces.

            “I don’t know, but-”

            The door to our entrapment suddenly opened in the middle of Zoe’s sentence. I scrambled up, along with the five other girls, defensive posture in place. “Get behind me,” I hissed, pushing Rochelle and Brianne behind me, the two youngest and smallest girls. Lena took up a spot just beside me, along with Zoe, on my right.

           A boy with ruffled hair that looked about a year or two older than me walked in, followed by five other guys.

            Oh shit.

            “Oh, so you’re all up already, look boys, they’ve woken up just in time,” the first boy smirked nastily at us, appraising each of us for a few seconds.

            I stole a quick glance at the girls. They all looked pretty shaken up, except Celeste, who had a highly affronted expression upon her face. The boys came fully into the room, lining up along the wall, facing us. “Who are you?” I question bravely.

            One of the boys comes up and slaps me. I wince slightly, but do not cry out. I won’t give them that satisfaction. “We’ll be asking the questions here, thank you very much,” he continued.

            “So you’ve probably noticed that there are six of us, and six of you,” he said, gesturing towards the obvious. “That’s for a reason. You, my dears, have been selected to be special assassins.”

            At his words, Celeste speaks up, completely outraged. “What the hell do you mean, assassins? I’m not going to murder anyone, and I’m sure that people will find us soon, you sick bastards,” she snapped.

            The guys laughed. Lena and I exchange looks, concerned. Why are they laughing?

            “Celeste Sanders,” another male from the side comes up towards her. She shrinks back. “I knew you were going to be a feisty one. And what’s funny, is the fact that your parents sold you to us. Trust me, the government pays well for this operation.”

            Shit, shit, shit. If the fucking government had paid for this ‘transaction’, then we really had little to no hope of getting home.

            When none of us said anything, the first boy continued with his explanation. “So, we have partners for you. Each of you girls will be paired off with one of us,” he gestured to himself and the other guys, “and they will teach you one specialty that you, and only you will excel at. If you fail to do so, well, let’s just say you won’t like the consequences.”           

            Rochelle was shaking behind me, and I gripped her hand tightly as support.

            “I’m Luke,” he introduced himself, “and this is Ryan, Zach, Blaine, Ryden, and Cody. Now for the pairings. Cody, you will be with Celeste.”

             The boy who had spoken to Celeste previously grabbed her arm and dragged her beside him. He returned to his spot in line, taking Celeste with him.

            “Ryan and Renee,” my name was called, and a boy with sandy hair came out, eyes glinting at me. I went with him willingly, seeing absolutely no point in fighting. It wasn’t a fair match anyways, six boys against six girls, but really six boys against one girl since I doubted any of the other girls would be much help.

            “Zach and Zoe,” she went with resignation written all over her face.

            “Blaine and Brianne.”

            “Ryden and Rochelle.”

            “And best for last,” he joked, “Lena and I.” Warily, Lena walked towards him. His face hardened. “Hurry up, I don’t have all day,” he pulled her roughly towards him. She gave no complaint, merely staring ahead with no expression upon her face.

            We’re so screwed, was my last thought before I was taken away from the other girls.