So I’m writing something
So I have this thing I’ve been writing and I figured I’d publish it for some people. Give me feedback if you can!
I was ripped from my father's arms. Torn away from the man who gave me everything. I strained against my friends grip on my chest, desperate to run back to him. Marie was stronger than me, and I knew my struggle was useless, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t just leave him. Not like this. I continued to scream, to cry, to push all my weight forward. My father told me it would be okay, but how was I supposed to believe that when our door was being kicked down by the A.R.M.Y.??
Our small country of Ospain was in desperate need of money. Our economy was crashing rapidly and we needed a quick way out. The government decided to start something like human trafficking. Young girls from across the country would be stolen and taken to a warehouse to be sold. For what, well that depended on who bought you. All we knew was that whoever was taken was never found.
Marie pulled me into the garage, covering my mouth so I would stop screaming, but I kept resisting. My father was looking at me with sorrow painted all over his usually joyful face. I had never seen my father cry before. Marie closed the door and locked it, though I could still see through the glass.
Shouting. Yelling. From behind the front door, military men banged with hard metal to break it down.
"Nikolai Arvandus! This is the A.R.M.Y! It is by state law that you let us in!" A man roared from behind the door. My father did not move, he simply looked at the ground.
"Arvandus!" again, a shout from the doorway. He covered his face and turned away from me.
At that second, the door hold gave in. A sickening crack, then wood scattered the beautiful white carpet my father had lain only weeks ago. Army boots stomped into the den and grabbed my father by both of his arms. He did not fight.
Why didn't he fight?
"Where is your youngest?"
"She isn't home." my father lied simply, trying to be convincing despite the gun barrel forced upon his temple.
"Liar!" the officer snapped back. My father closed his eyes, ready for the gun to fire. But it didn't.
"Tell me where you're little snow bunny is, and you get to live another day." the officer threatened. My father did not speak. The officer was visibly becoming upset. He could barely restrain himself. Shaking, the man jerked his gun down and shot my father in his thigh. My father winced painfully, but did not make a sound.
"I will ask one more time, " the officer uttered, face to face with my father, "Where is she?"
Nothing. They could get nothing from him. The officer gave up and pushed the barrel to my father's head.
He fired.
I couldn't stop the scream that erupted from my throat. The tears that blurred my vision were not enough to blind me to my father tumbling like a bag of bricks onto the soft carpeted floor. Marie picked me up and ran. She opened the garage door and sprinted full speed down the abandoned street, holding my small body close to her torso.
Cursing, she suddenly turned into the woods. Tree leaves and thorns broke into my skin as Marie jumped and turned, ducking and slipping occasionally. A loud siren sounded behind us. Marie did not stop running. We came up on the manhole hidden in the leaves that we found a couple months ago. Marie set me down and flipped the cover up.
"Come here." she commanded before she picked me up and nearly threw me down onto the ladder. I slipped and dropped onto the wet mucky walkway, pain shooting up my hips as I came down. Marie followed after, tugging the cover over the entrance with some leaves falling in. She hurried down to me and grabbed me again. Holding me as close as she could, Marie slammed her back against the wall and waited.
Leather boots crashed against the manhole as they crossed. It was all I could do to stop whimpering. Any noise could sell us out. The siren was still wailing in the background. The SS men were ordering each other around. I moved Marie's hand.
"What do we do?" I whispered as quietly as I could manage, my voice shaky. Marie hesitated.
"I don't know."
"We can't just wait here…"
"I know." she replied. Nonetheless, we waited.
After what seemed like hours, Marie finally released her grip on me. I nearly fell forward into the sewer waters. Steadying myself, I turned to face Marie again. She was still looking up at the manhole cover.
"Marie, I think it's okay now…"
"You can never be so sure." she stated plainly. Marie looked back down at me and tugged at my wrist. Silence. I had no idea where Marie was planning to take me or what she planned to do once we got there. She didn't seem to know either. She looked lost in thought, mindlessly guiding me along the stone wall. Reluctantly, I followed.
"We'll head to Moonmeadow Region, then try to cut into Skeiya from there."
"Why Moonmeadow?" I questioned. Why not take me to Bonerock Region, where Marie was from? Did she not trust her own people?
"Bonerock is too aggressive. I'd be too scared to leave you alone, even without the A.R.M.Y on our backs. It's already too dangerous here in Shadowchill, everyone knows you. Emberwich is too close to the warehouse for my liking." she explained, her deep voice flat against her throat.
"Oh," was all I could manage. It made sense, what she said.
Bonerock was where the Nureks were, otherwise known as the Berserkers. Marie came from Bonerock Region, which easily explained why she was so possessive over what she valued. Right now, that might as well have been me.
Shadowchill Region was my home region, where the "Elves" lived. Typically, we valued art and skill. Music, graffiti, poetry and writing, and even dance. We lived in the cold, dark northern part of Ospain. The other regions always believed for a long time that no one lived in the Shadowchill Region, but we did. We live underground and in the shadows, away from the snow and harsh cold the Northern Gods brought us.
Though Moonmeadow City was the capital of Ospain, the Main Region was Emberwich Region. That was where everything was started. The people of Emberwich were cunning. They were the middle. Intelligent like the Shadowchill, stubborn like the Bonerock, yet could show you the kindness of the Moonmeadow. There were complimentary legends of the people taking the abilities from the other Regions as their own, mixing then together, and then making the people.
Moonmeadow Region, the Region of The "Greenlanders". The most naturally driven region, relying on the river for water, livestock for food, and the air for their fuel. The people were kind and thoughtful. Technology almost did not exist there. The A.R.M.Y. couldn't even touch them.
The sewers were mucky and damp. Green water flowed slowly through the canal in the center. The smell of human excrement filled my nose, I nearly puked at the putrid scent.
“How long will we be down here?” I whimpered to Marie, my nose plugged. She shrugged.
“I don’t know. Until we get to the next manhole.” she replied. That would take hours of walking, meaning we’d have to make a couple stops along the way. The only other manhole that I knew the way too was the one that was more on the southside of Shadowchill Valley. Would the A.R.M.Y men be waiting there? Did they see us go into the manhole? No, they couldn’t have. They would have followed us in. They would have grabbed me.
I had nothing else to ask of Marie. She had saved my life and I didn’t know what to say. How to thank her. I looked up at her. Dark, tan skin against her strong body. Muscles shown through her exposed arms and stomach. Her amber eyes almost glowed in the dark to shine our way. She faced me, a smirk playing across her face.
“What?” she chuckled. I felt myself blush and I turned away.
“Oh! Sorry, I...” I started, then stopped. She continued to look at me. I glanced up at her again.
“Thank you…” I said. Her smirk dropped, and she turned away.
Nothing.
She said nothing.
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