Chapter 2

• Where the frack was I?
• I pushed myself up on my knees, wiping my mouth while trying to figure out how I’d gotten from a fire escape into a tiny clear cubicle. I looked behind me, no, make that a box. Looking up, I blew out a breath, wrong again, a cube.
• I jolted up to look all around me. My gear was gone. Getting to my feet, I paused to notice my boots are gone too. Still shaking from throwing up, I stepped around the puddle of spew and went to the wall, running my hands along it, feeling for a door or seam.
• A noise startled me and I froze as I watched a red light travel down the side of the wall. It went to the floor, then moved back up, slowly. I wasn’t sure, but I think I was just scanned. For what, I didn’t know, but I was now at an eight on my freak out scale—or FOS as I liked to refer to it. If I reached ten, it wasn’t going to be pretty.
• I went closer to the wall and cupped my hands around my eyes, pressing my face against it. I was hoping it was a two-way mirror or—something. I couldn’t see anything. Okay, I could do this. I huffed out a few fast breaths, it was clear, no bars, no cement walls, I may not be able to see out, but it gave the illusion of space.
• My heart started beating out a staccato rhythm. Maybe that big scary guy was one of the abductors. If so, why did he have a girl with him, and why did the girl get so mad because I shot her Rafael? Rafael, really? Who named their kid that? A few hundred years ago, maybe. Didn’t his mother like him?
• I realized I was breathing like I had just run a mile and knew I had to slow down or my behavior would change without my noticing. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Don’t freak out until you know the facts. You are not locked up. You are not there again. You will never be there again. Reassured, I turned and put my back against the wall and slid down. I’d just sit here and focus on my breathing for a few minutes.
• Grabbing my shins, I pulled my legs tight into me, then froze. I ran my hands down my legs to my ankles. Pish! My knives were gone. How? Did I pass out? Is that how I got here?
• The reflection on the far wall changed and suddenly there was someone standing on the other side. He had long black hair and didn’t look friendly. From my vantage point on the floor, he looked like a giant.
• I stood up slowly, then realized he was just as big as he appeared when I was sitting. His eyes were grey, not green or blue, but grey, and right now they were assessing me, very thoroughly. Crossing his arms over his large chest, he turned his head and spoke to someone. I couldn’t see anyone else. I also couldn’t hear him.
• Turning, I looked all around. Actually, I couldn’t hear any thoughts either. I put my hands against the sides of my head. Complete silence. That was rare. I wonder what these walls were made of, and if I could get some of it and make my own bigger cube—if I ever got out of here.
• Taking a deep breath, I dropped my hands and blew it out slowly. When I turned around the man looked concerned. I stepped over to be right in front of him. Did I want to try reason? Other than abnormally large and scary looking, he appeared fairly intelligent.
• “Hello?” I said quietly.
• His grey eyes connected with mine.
• “Good. You can hear me.” I motioned around me. “I’m not sure where I am, but I believe there has been some sort of error, mostly on my part.” He didn’t move a muscle. “I may have shot the wrong man by mistake.” I rolled my eyes, “okay, I meant to hit him, I never miss my target—” I realized that babbling wasn’t going to buy me any favors. “I-I thought he was someone else that intended harm,” I waved my hand around, “or to abduct these clueless twits that probably didn’t have a whole brain cell among them.”
• I took a deep breath and tried to tone down the hostility. I smiled, not sure what else to say. “So-so if I could have my gear,” I looked down, “and my boots back, I’ll get gone.” I nodded. “I was on my way out of this insane city before I spotted those disgusting men scoping out the aforementioned idiots.” I took a quick breath, “I was just trying to stop more women from vanishing.” I shrugged, not sure what else I could add to plead my case. He hadn’t moved, his expression hadn’t changed. “You should play poker,” I blurted out before I could stop my mouth, “you have the face for it.”
• He turned to look at something, then shook his head. A woman, the same size as me, came into view. She had short black hair and there was something familiar about her. The giant looked unhappy as she walked by him to the wall and did something there.
• “What’s your name?” She asked.
• I looked all around for the speaker but didn’t see anything. “Kara.” I gave her a weak smile.
• “Cara…”
• I shook my head. “Kar-a, like a car.”
• She gave me a patient look. “Kara, where are you from?”
• I frowned, that was not a question I expected. “Planet earth?” I huffed out a breath. “The same city I was trying to leave. Okay, I’m not originally from there—actually I don’t know where I’m from originally, but I’ve been in that decaying city for the last few years.” I needed to shut up. I didn’t spend a lot of time around people, for obvious reasons and tended to ramble when I was. That, and I was really trying not to freak out from being contained in a clear cube.
• She nodded, then turned to the man and said something I couldn’t hear. They both turned to look at something out of my view.
• Another man came into view. He had pale blond hair and a goatee. He was also as large as all the other men I’d seen. The one with the black hair moved out of view, then that red light was moving down the wall again.
• I watched it for a second, then turned to see him come back in. The three of them were looking at a tablet.
• “Did I pass?” I asked sarcastically, then regretted it. My mouth and brain needed to work together if I was ever going to get out of here.
• The woman moved to the corner again. “We’re just making sure it’s safe to move you out of there, Kara.”
• I frowned. “Why wouldn’t it be safe?” I moved up to a nine on my FOS. “What’s wrong? What did your scan say?” Had all the experimental drugs and therapy they’d tried done permanent damage? My heart felt like it had moved into my throat.
• Reaching for the button, she nodded to the men. “Nothing bad. You’re fine. You’re completely human though, so that’s a concern.”
• I stood there for a second, not even sure if I heard her correctly. I looked from her to the men, then back. “Whew,” I pretended to wipe my brow, “and here I was worried I wasn’t completely human.”