[ABANDONED] Another Series of Oneshots

They Came for Me in the Daylight

If they were to have taken me away, I thought they would have done so at night under the cover of darkness. I always imagined that they would have quietly broken into our house when the moon was at its darkest, and gently sneak into my room while avoiding all of the creaking floorboards. Then, they would have picked me up and taken me to their van, with no one any wiser to what had happened until morning.

But that's not how this went.

They knocked on our door, and Mom told me to hide under my bed, just like we practised. I did, and the big brown wolf was under there too. At least I had someone to talk to during all of this. I could hear the muffled noises coming from the front door. I strained to hear what was said, but the walls were too thick and the voices had too far to travel.

I laid there with the big brown wolf in silence, and wished everyone could go away. Nobody else could see the wolf, even in public. She wasn't the only one though, I could see cats and dogs and even other people. I could even talk to them if I wanted, but they never had anything interesting to say.

"She's not going to be successful this time," the wolf said. "They followed you home and saw you come in here, and I can see you looking out the window soon."

"You can see me?" I asked her. She was normally blind, but a third eye let her see the future, she told me once.

"I'm not explaining it again," she replied and crawled out from under the bed.

"Wait," I said, maybe a little too loudly, and followed her. "Why would I be looking out the window?"

"To see if their van is out there and if someone is leaning against it."

"Is there?" I asked.

"I can't tell you that."

"Hmph." I sneaked to the window and opened the blinds a crack. Sure enough, a featureless white van was parked on the street. Someone wearing black leaned against it, and even from where I was I could see his bright red hair. He looked right at me, and pushed away from the van and walked to the front door. I dropped the blinds and muttered a curse. I glared at the wolf.

"I only tell you what I see," she said. "It's your choice to make it happen."

"Did you at least see a future where I didn't just do that?"

"No."

I sighed and sat on the bed. Any moment now, the people I had tried so hard to avoid were going to come in and take me away. I didn't even know where. I tried asking the wolf where I was going to go, but she disappeared in front of me. I wanted to cry.

"Roan," Mom came into my room. She looked tired, and I could clearly see the wrinkles on her face. Were those always there? Behind her, a man, the same one who had been leaning against the van, walked up to her. "I told you to not look out the window."

The man bashed her head with a piece of pipe, and Mom crumpled to the ground. I stared at them, wide eyed. The man didn't look happy, or even satisfied with the outcome.

"Come on," he said, something sparking at the edge of his voice. He turned and started to walk out, but realized I wasn't with him. His voice became a growl, "Come on!"

I backed up until my back hit the wall, and he advanced. He grabbed my arm and started to drag me out of my room.

"No!" I yelled and dug my heels in. I yanked against his grip and got him to let go. He spun around and summoned fire in the palm of his hand.

"I swear to the Snake God, I will burn this place down if you don't come with us," he snarled. Us?

"Hey, Quinn," another voice came from the doorway. We both looked at another man who held a gun in his hand and wore a brown jacket. "Stop scaring her. Burning her house down won't help her be loyal to Serat.