Aunt Candy and the Mysteries

Twenty.

The last door. Excitement rings in my body from my head to my toes as I stand before the door, ready to open it. They're almost all free! My excitement recedes, though, when I realize that this door does not have a key card reader-- or a keypad. There's nothing. I run my hand over the rough wall, hoping to smooth out some of my confusion. The shiny lettering on the door catches some light and shines forebodingly in my eye. Elite. I place a hand on the metal door and push it open.

It does so with ease, as if it were just recently oiled. What's going on here? The room that stands before me adds further to my confusion. It is not filled with cages, but instead decorated military style, as if these prisoners were in a tent, waiting for their orders on the front lines. Most of the room is dark, though, save for the entrance I'm standing in. I suddenly feel a chill go down my spine. Something about how this is going leaves me feeling uneasy.

A sharp blade is swiftly held to my neck, it's holder behind my back. I can feel his muscles through his shirt. They seem too defined to even be natural. I mean, I'm not saying that abs are a bad thing, but his were unsettling.

"Who are you?" A feminine voice from behind me says, telling me that my captor is no he at all.

"Why do you need to know?" I choke out, using what parts of my throat that aren't being constricted.

"Ease up Lydia, she can barely breathe!" I hear a boy say, his higher pitched voice telling me that he can't be more than ten years old.

"Nonsense. If I let her go and she's coming after us, then it'll have been my fault." Lydia counters.

"Why *choke* on earth would *choke* I attack yo- *choke* you?" I say.

"Are you not a test?" The little boy asks.

"A test? Ackgh!"

"Come on Lyd, there's no way they'd give us a test like this: She's too young to be working for them. If anything she's an escapee." an older boy's voice says. "Are you an escapee?"

I don't say anything.

"She is." Lydia says, holding the knife closer to my neck. "Then she is a test: to see if we'll cooperate and turn her in."

"Calm down. Just let her breathe. You don't know the whole story." the older boy says, stepping into the spotlight I'm being held captive under. I can now clearly make out his dark skin and kind-- yet harsh honey brown eyes. Lydia finally releases me. "I'm Anderson." he says.

"Scarlette." I say, holding out one hand for him to shake, the other rubbing the spot on my neck that the blade had touched.

"Etta?"

My whole body tingles at his voice, a smile creeping onto my face. He's okay! I begin to walk further into the room, my eyes adjusting to the odd lighting enough to see him standing near one of the bunks.

"Cedar!" I practically scream as I run to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "You're okay." I whisper to his shoulder. He smells a little like his namesake: like awakening life. It suits him.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, looking me straight in the eyes, concern in his grey eyes. He's still wearing his beanie though, which makes me smile wider. "Are you alright? Did anything happen to you?"

"No, I'm fine! I'm here to take you back!"

"Back to where." I hear Lydia's voice says from behind me, needles poking at me with every word she says.

I'd forgotten they were still here.

"Back to our old lives, the world out there. You know, where they don't force you to fight your friends or torture those who don't obey." I look back at Cedar with those words, telling him all I'd been through. His eyes fill with compassion... and regret? For what? Not being there? How could he have been? He caresses my cheek, that expression not leaving his eyes.