Thud.

The small sound woke me up. Although my tired eyes refused to open, I could hear faint voices talking. 

"...what will we do?"

My hearing sharpened upon hearing her familiar voice. Someone sighed, and there was a rustle.

"I don't know. I really don't know."

"Will Justin even really be able to help her?"

"It's our best bet for now. Even if she doesn't even seem to remember him, she perks up when she hears his name."

A moment of silence fell.

"Where is he anyways?"

Another sigh. "I don't know. But I'm definitely going to find him tomorrow and drag his ass back here. Once he helps her regain back her memory, I will beat his ass to pulp."

"You couldn't even if you tried..."

"Hey!"

"...Sorry guys. I didn't mean to get you guys through so much trouble."

Someone snorted. "Trust me, Sakura's already got us used to trouble. She always gets into it every other day somehow. Besides, I'm sure it was really all just a misunderstanding. Although, I'm not sure why she would be choking herself in her sleep..."

"By the way, have you seen those kidnapping posters around? It's scary."

"Now that you mentioned it, I did. But it was strange. When I approached to look at it, a pair of police popped out of nowhere and snatched the posters right off the wall."

"Maybe those posters were fake? There are pranksters out there who do these things. Besides, it wouldn't make sense for police to take down these posters if it were real."

"I guess..."

"Anyways, we'll expand our searching range today. Yuri, cover up all the way up to the docks. Jake, try asking people around you. I'll search the whole north part of the town."

"Got it."

"You guys be safe. It looks like a storm is coming."

I listened through their whole conversation without moving a muscle. I wished I would already remember who they were. There was always a tugging sensation behind my head that I knew them, but I couldn't discern the hazy faces in my mind before their faces were wiped blank.

"We'll be going first, then. Catherine, watch over her and be safe."

"Yeah, let's hope for the best today."

The sound of shoes hitting the ground sound soon faded off into the distance. I waited for a little longer before opening my eyes and pretending to just wake up.

"Ah, morning. The boys just went out," she smiled at me as I sat up.

"Morning," I responded.

"Let's cover the pillows and blankets and get under cover," she got up. "It looks like it's gonna rain today."

I looked up and understood what she meant. Besides the ominous wind, the sky was filled with angry, large clouds that rumbled overhead.

We had just finished putting the blankets and pillows back against the wall and under the roof, when it started to rain.

"Whew nice timing," she grinned.

Right when those words left her mouth, lightning flashed through the air before thunder struck. The girl shrieked and jumped towards me, clutching my arm. I jumped too, startled by the sudden loud noise. 

It took me a while to shake off the jitters, my ears still ringing from the loud noise. The rain had started falling harder; it was becoming more difficult to see through the curtain of rain.

The town became deserted quite quickly as people rushed out of the pouring rain. Worry cascaded into me when I realized that the boys were out too. They were going to catch colds if they didn't come back soon.

"They won't come back," the girl suddenly said while leaning against my shoulder. "Even though they know that they will probably catch a cold, they aren't coming back."

"What why? It's pouring out there and thunder goes off every other minute—" I started.

"We have to get you back," she muttered. I blinked, stunned by her words. We stayed in a still position for quite a while, neither of us saying anything. Soon after though, I could hear her rhythmic breathing and realized she was asleep. Sighing, I looked up at the roof shielding us from the rain.

"This is crazy," I muttered. 

My eyes lazily gazed out at the rain and found a tiny shadow in the curtain. I stared at it for a second before quickly realizing it was moving. Narrowing my eyes through the thick rain, I realized it was a little boy. The boy seemed to turn in circles before he let out a anguished cry.

I shot up, almost forgetting that she was leaning against me and gently laid her down on a pillow before chasing after the child. The rain seemed to pound down painfully on my skin as I splashed my way to him. When I caught up to the boy, I was soaking wet.

Quickly pulling up the hood from my cloak, I caught the child's arm. He turned around, his eyes large and wet. When he saw me, he yelled and tried to run away. Realizing I looked like a kidnapper with my hood up, I pulled it off and tried to calm him down.

"Calm down! I'm here to help you!" I yelled over the rain. Thunder struck again, startling both of us. Glancing back at her figure, I tugged the boy with me. "Come on! I'll bring you to shelter!"

The boy sniffled, stared at me, and then flung his arms around me when thunder struck again. Picking him up, I hurried to take shelter under the roof we were under. I stole a quick glance at her and let out a breath of relief to see she was still sleeping.

"Where did you come from?" I asked the boy, putting him down the ground.

"I—I don't know," he rubbed his silver eyes.

"Umm, do you have any brother or sisters?" I tried to ask him another question.

"I have a sister. We're twins," he muttered.

"Where are your parents?"

"Mama's at home with Floura. Papa brought me out to help him put away his stall, but I accidentally ran off when I heard the scary noise."

Must be the thunder. I bit my lip. "What does your dad do?"

"Fried rice."

My heart leapt excitedly, and I fought to keep it under control. If it was a different stall, I was in trouble, but I remembered the owner talking about how he had twins. "Alright, I think I know where your Papa went."

Untying my cloak, I covered the boy up and picked him up. I hesitated, glancing back at her.

Should I just wait until the rain was over and then head out safely? Besides, then I wouldn't scare her if she woke up to find me not there—

"Hurry!" the boy urged. I glanced down at him, his body shaking from the cold and felt my hesitation disappear. With one last glance at her, I rushed out from the roof and hurried down the road. The entire time I was out, I could just feel the rain hit me like dull needles. If I wasn't drenched the first time I was out in the rain, I was now.

"Cole! Cole! Where are you?"

My ears picked up his voice over the loud rain, and I immediately skidded to a stop. When I spotted a dark figure running around in the rain, I rushed towards him. "Mister! Over here!"

He saw me and rushed over. I took off my cloak that covered the boy and handed him towards the man.

"Papa!" the boy cried in his dad's arms.

"Oh, thank goodness!" the man exclaimed before turning to me. "Thank you so much! Thank you! Oh wait! It's you!"

I smiled. "Don't worry about it! Don't get lost again, okay Cole?"

"Please, come take some food and shelter in my my house!" the man proposed. "It's pouring!"

I felt myself take a step forward when I was suddenly reminded of her who was still unknowingly sleeping under the roof.

"No, it's alright! I have to go now, take care!" I declined and shot off like a bullet without waiting for a response.

The rain was raining harder than ever, and it became so bad that I couldn't see in front of me. Suddenly, I bumped into someone

"Oof! I'm sorry!" I apologized, trying to sound as sincere as possible without running off crazily. Before I could take a step forward, a hand grabbed my arm. I stopped and tried to looked up at the person's face without having the raindrops flood my eyeballs.

"Are you alright?" a man's voice yelled.

"Yes!" I managed. I tried to tug loose, but his grip tightened.

"Hurry! Lemme help ya get to a safe place!" 

"No, it's alright!" I tried to tug loose again but couldn't. Suddenly, I felt ominous chills run down my spine. Something didn't seem quite right. "Please let go."

"Come rest up at my place," the man gripped my arm tighter.

"Ouch..." I cringed away from the pain. "L—let go!"

"Don't make it so hard...come on!" the man started to pull me.

"No!" I screamed, starting to kick and flail my arms.

"Damn it!"

A hand suddenly connected with my neck and suddenly, I felt myself fall. My head hit the ground, pain resonating in my skull. Through my blurry vision, I could see a pair of feet step closer to me and a hand reach for me. 

Oh...no...

                                                                            ...

Plink. Plink. Plink.

The rhythmic sound of the rain hitting the ground slowly brought me to reality. When I opened my eyes, I immediately regretted waking up. My head pounded relentlessly, and my knees stung like crazy. The ground underneath me was so cold, I tried to push myself up and was immediately pulled back down.

My eyes shot wide open. I glanced around and realized in horror that I was in an unfamiliar room. No, not even a room. This was...a cell.

I tried getting up again and felt something pull me back. Looking up, I realized my wrists were tied above my head with chain restraints. Heart hammering, I glanced down at my feet; my ankles were tied together tightly with a rope.

"It's no use."

I turned quickly towards the croaky voice, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness and almost yelled. There were about ten children and a few people my age that were in the same situation as I was in. I quickly noted that the majority were all girls.

"W—What's g—" I stopped. The gears in my brain slowly began to turn when I realized what situation I was in. "Are...are you all the people who have been kidnapped?"

"Yeah," one of the girls around my age suddenly started to cough. "Calm down. It's no use. We're getting sent out soon."

"W—What?!" I screeched, trying to wriggle out of the restraints. "We gotta get out of here—"

"Like I said, it's no use. I've been stuck in here for over three days and the number of us just keeps on adding," she growled. " Some have been here for over two weeks. Besides, these are metal restraints."

I stopped moving and stared at the girl. She flinched and looked away. I sighed. "That's it?"

"What?" the girl looked back at me.

"You're just going to give up?" I asked her.

"Do you not understand?" the girl shook. "I've been here for three days! There have been other girls in here who have been in for more than a week! We're just girls! How do we go against big, scary men like them? They're a gang. They have weapons and fighting experience—"

"So?" I interrupted. "I didn't ask who they were or if they had fighting experience or not. I'm asking if you're just going to give up and let yourself be sold."

I stared at her and watched her shrink down. After a few seconds passed, she started to cry. "I—I don't know what to do. I—I want to go home..."

I looked away. "You have a family that's waiting for you at home. Fight for them. I'm sure they're out trying to search for you too, even through this big storm."

The girl seemed to cry even harder after hearing what I said. I turned to another girl who sat near me. "How long has it been since I woke up?"

"I can't really tell time but judging by the light coming from the window, it's probably night by now," the girl answered. "We don't have much time."

"Do you guys know where they are now?" I asked.

"They usually go out at night to kidnap more girls since it's dark. I'm not sure about today though since it was raining," she said slowly.

" Damn, I'm gonna beat up those bastards when I get my hands on them..."

"By the way there's something else you should know," she hesitated before going on. "They...they like to treat girls here as they like."

I tilted my head. "What?"

"Like you know...play with girls—"

The door suddenly banged open. The girls immediately tensed and shrank themselves into tiny balls.

A high-pitched scream echoed into the room, and a person was thrown into the room. I narrowed my eyes at the shadows standing at the door, trying to get a glance at their face, but they had their backs towards me the whole time as they were tying the girl up. 

When they turned towards the door, I cranked my neck to try and see their faces, but because of their large hoods, I couldn't make out their faces before they slammed the door shut.

"Ow..."

My eyes turned back towards the girl who had just been thrown in on the opposite wall from me and widened when I realized who it was.

"Polina?" I gasped.

She turned towards me, her wet hair sticking to her face. Her eyes widened, and she leaned towards me as if she was going to come towards me, only to be held back by the chains.

"What..." she swallowed. "What's going on?"

"Well," I said, trying to come up with a way to describe the situation. "You've been kidnapped."

"Well obviously!" she snapped.

"Then I don't have anything else to say really," I responded with a cold tone. "By the way, you were conscious when they threw you in here right?"

She nodded. I glanced warily at the big steel door. "Do you know how it's set up outside?"

She shook her head. "I was blindfolded when I came in."

I sighed. A violent chill ran up my spine, and I was about to sneeze when Polina started to wail. "What are we going to doooooo!"

"Why are you even out in this weather?" I asked.

"I just came from a bar!" Polina wailed.

"And the guy didn't take you home?"

"He was being annoying so I left when I had the chance."

I sighed for the thousandth time and tried to think clearly. I had a dagger in my boot. But I couldn't reach it, and I couldn't get the other girls to reach it for me either.

Even if I was able to reach for my dagger, I wasn't sure if I could cut through these chains. They were thick and—

My chain of thoughts were broken by Polina's wails. "I'm going to die in here! I'm going to die! You!"

Her teary eyes turned towards me. "You fight, don't you? Get us out of here!"

"The best thing to do right now is wait," I responded. "Even if I managed to free all of us, we still have the bars and the door to get through. And we don't know our outside surroundings. There could be a bunch of members outside waiting for us."

"I'm not going to wait!" Polina hissed. "I'll starve!"

"Well unless you have a better plan..." I waited for her to respond, but she clicked her tongue and looked away.

A thunderbolt suddenly struck through the air; a few girls screamed. I closed my eyes and sighed. It was going to be a long night.

                                                                     ...

It was the same thing every time they came. It was either because they had kidnapped another person or because they were just making sure none of us were freaking out and trying to die. 

I considered raising my voice and trying to get their attention, but what could I do? The only outcome I could see from me speaking up was getting a beating from them.

There was no talking in the cell. Everyone was tired and weak from being locked up. The rain didn't let up for a second. It constantly poured outside; I could hear the thunder and incessant rain thundering down on the roof.

I was beginning to understand why the two girls in the beginning felt so helpless. It really did seem impossible to escape or even get rid of these heavy chains around our ankles. 

It was scary.

Not only that, but I was beginning to feel a little dizzy and incredibly hot despite being in such a cold room. A headache had started after I had take a little nap and had been pounding at my head ever since. 

Besides that, it was just Polina being noisy and whining about how she was going to die in this place. When Polina mentioned how her mom and sister were probably going crazy back home, my mind suddenly landed on the blonde and the boys.

Oh shit. I completely forgot about them. Guilt resonated within me like waves as I remembered how they had risked their own health by going out in the rain for me. Now, I was gone, probably driving them crazy with fear and anger.

I dropped my head and sighed. I couldn't even tell how much time had passed in this cell. There was the tiniest window that barely allowed any sunlight in. It could've been the next day or so—I couldn't tell—

The door suddenly banged open again, breaking my thoughts. At first, I thought they were coming in to just throw in another girl, but this time, a group of them stood in the middle of the cell.

All of the girls who were leaning against their chains suddenly balled up against the wall and tried to make themselves look smaller.

I glanced warily up at the big men carrying large weapons around their waist. One of them stepped forward and began to walk around the room. I quickly realized he was scanning the girls, examining if they would make any good profit. Girls looked down or away from him as he passed them, but as he approached me, I found unable to look away from his yellow forbidding eyes. Right when his eyes turned to meet mines though, I looked towards the ground.

His feet stopped in front of me.

My breath hitched in my throat as he crouched down. "What's wrong, girl? Why are you looking at me like that?"

~~~~~

Guys, I am going to be so fat with Corona out there. I haven't walked farther than going downstairs to grab something to eat. I really hope this thing goes away fast. How are you guys coping with it?

What do you guys think will happen next? Who is this man? If you enjoyed, comment below your thoughts and hit the star!

I'll see you guys next Sunday ;)