The Winged

23- Taken

I was certain that if my friend had been awake, he wouldn't have breathed a word. Staying silent and unnoticed would have been his only aim. But Aspen wasn't awake, he was something in between— not quite asleep, yet all his awareness for the situation seemed to have faded out of his mind. So when ear-splitting voices shuddered above his head, it was only natural for him to emit a low moan and try to cover his ears.

I didn't dare breathe. Rosin had gone rigidly still beside me. The worst thing was that it was quiet. There were no more voices hurting my ears. All I could do was force my eyes up to the lurking monsters and pray. So I did; I pressed my hands to my mouth and begged that they hadn't heard Aspen's soft cry. All that hoping was pointless, and really, I already knew that. I found a pair of dark eyes already lowering to the source of the noise.

Sam did a double take on what was below him before the frigid look on his face was replaced by a surprised, but nonetheless terrifying grin. I cringed. Mike, who maybe hadn't heard Aspen, noticed Sam's smile. Eyes followed his friend's gaze down to the table. Mike instantly realised what the other giant had too; not all of their captives had escaped.
There was a small possibility that I was going to be sick from the anxiety. Do something- anything! My heartbeat was poisoning the little bit of calm I was clinging to. Do what? I wanted to scream it at myself. Do what?! What could I possibly do? Run out there and stand up to a pair of enormous people? Any scenario that involved Rosin and I fighting with these humans could only end with them catching us.

There was a savage smirk blooming on Sam's face. "What's this?
I slapped a hand over my mouth to muffle my protests as a hand swooped down to grab the defenceless Aspen, still so helplessly trapped within the jar.

I must have screamed no in my head a thousand times, though it made no difference.
Impossibly huge fingers wrapped around the glass before I had time to think, then my friend was being snatched off the table. Away from me.
Aspen didn't wake inside, but I saw his face scrunching into a wince as the floor shifted under him. His hair was still over his face and I was desperate to fix it for him. The aching to hold him, to protect him, it was unbearable. There were flames burning their way through my head. My hands were shaking on my face as I was forced to watch the human bring my friend towards him.

Had Aspen had felt the same way when he watched Sam carry me away into the tent all those days ago? Had he felt this agonising urge to just hold me, like I was feeling now?
This pounding of my heart seemed to be making my chest cave in. Surely he hadn't felt the same as this?

He was lifted up and held before the huge creatures. Aspen. My cheeks felt hot as I watched in painful silence. He still seemed so helpless even with the glass walls surrounding him. Sam turned his hand so that Aspen's face was towards him. I could only shove my hand tighter over my mouth. Then, to my absolute horror, the human frowned. Concentration, I realised. The human was concentrating or thinking... peering at Aspen's face. The staring lasted for a few seconds. Slow seconds for Rosin and me. Each one felt like a minute. Then, the human's head tilted a little and that face, that awful face, became the vessel for a ghoulish smile.
He recognised him. It hit me like a blow to my guts, like a fire in my throat— he recognised him. Sam knew that it was Aspen in there. And he's smiling. Grinning. I wanted to shut my eyes tight, but I couldn't possible look away.
"Look." He handed the jar to his friend. The human's expression now gave nothing away.

Mike examined Aspen just as Sam had and I had to endure the suspense all over again. Only this time, the reaction was different.
He frowned at Sam. "Am I missing something?" Aspen was handed back to the other human and I instantly realised that I preferred for Mike to hold him. If he had to be trapped, I wanted Aspen to at least be with the blonde human. They were both terrible, but...
"Seriously? You're such an idiot. Mike, this little thing is Aspen."