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“They’ve been taken care of. You’re the only one who’s taking forever in your task.”
“I’m looking for her! She’s not here.”
The scarier of the three growled, “She can’t be much older than seven, there are only so many places she could hide. She’s here, keep looking.”
Smoke still poured in through the open doorway, and I could now make out erratic and angry flames stretching through the hall. What did he mean that they were taken care of? And took care of who? Was he talking about my family? Panic raced in my head as I realized the muffled screaming from earlier had stopped.
My breath was wheezing unevenly through my hands. Whether from the smoke or the panic, I couldn’t tell. But my effort to quell it was futile. Tears swelled in my eyes and poured down my cheeks as my mind raced with worry for my family. Where were they? I needed my mother’s hug so desperately. I wanted to curl into her arms and have her tell me that everything was going to be okay.
Silently, I sent prayers to the Goddesses of Allium as the intruders continued to hastily tear apart my room. I sent an extra plea to the Highest Goddess, Pylemo, to keep my family safe and alive. I prayed they weren’t the ones the males were talking about. Then I prayed for myself, in the off chance they wouldn’t find me and I could escape.
I couldn’t make out what they were mumbling and grunting to one another over my pounding heart. I was surprised they didn’t hear the beating. It was all but deafening to my ears.
My eyes were still clamped shut when I felt a rough, calloused hand grab hold of my ankle. A shriek escaped my lips as I was yanked backward across the tile. My knees burned as they dipped into the crevices of each indent, the small shards of glass embedding into my skin, drawing blood as I was pulled across the floor. I reached for my bedpost in a desperate attempt to stop myself, but it was no use. The intruder holding my ankle overpowered my tiny frame and weak muscles. I swore I saw the male with boots playing with fire, tossing a tightly wound ball between his hands, as he gawked at my struggle. Like he knew only one of them was needed to keep me in place. The scarier of the three was just standing there, accessing everything while the third held me down.
For a moment, I tensed up, unable to fight back, thinking it was too late. They had found me. It was over. But then I snapped, my body screamed at me to try everything in my being to escape.To fight.
Without second guessing myself, I pushed back.I couldn’t give up. I had to get to my family. I had to make sure they were safe. I kicked back with my other leg, ramming it against something hard. I knew I’d made impact when I heard a grunt followed by a curse.
I tried to wiggle free, but the hand holding my ankle advanced further up my leg, tightening its grip as it went. It didn’t stop until it reached my hip, and flipped me onto my back. My head slammed into the tile. I tried to focus my vision on my captors, to see if I could recognize them, but their faces were veiled with masks and hidden beneath black hoods.
My mind was already slowing from the smoke inhalation, and I knew I only had a matter of minutes before the lightheadedness would wholly take over. The masks my three captors were wearing gave me the feeling this was intentional. It was planned. They had started the fire as a distraction to find me. I just had no idea why.
With my free hand, I reached for my head, checking where it had slammed into the tile. I was greeted with warm liquid. I knew it was a bright, angry red without looking at it. Before I could react, the male grabbed both of my hands in his in one swift movement. I continued to struggle against him, kicking and screeching for my parents, calling for my momma.
“Gag the brat already,” the scary one deadpanned. “I’m sick of hearing her scream.”
The booted one, who was playing with fire, grew impatient. He stormed toward me and the male pinning me down. The fire in his hands vanished as he ripped the sock off my foot before shoving it into my mouth and clamping it shut. I heard a rip, then felt as he wrapped tape over my mouth, continuing until it made a full circle around my head.
“Much better,” he spat.
Tears were overflowing from my eyes, obstructing my view. They continued down my freckled cheeks like two running rivers. I wasn’t sure if the crying was attributed to the smoke burning my irises, or the realization that my life was likely about to end.
“Is this even the right girl?” the male holding me down asked the other two.
“Only one way to find out.” My head was lifted off the tile as I was dragged into a seated position. The back of my nightgown was pulled down, exposing the upper portion of my back. “I need your water abilities. The girl we are looking for only has markings on her back.”
Through my blurry vision, I saw the scary male step to the side as he moved to position himself in front of my back. Water spewed from his outstretched hands. A moment later, a cold rush of fluid hit my flesh, mixing with the sweat as it poured down my body.
“That’s her alright. Let’s go.”
I was jerked to my feet, my head whipping back as one of the males dragged me from my bedroom and toward the flames. I tugged at his grip and planted my foot firmly on the floor in a last effort to escape. I couldn’t let them take me away from here. I couldn’t leave my mother.
I must have caught the male holding me off guard because I fell backward, landing in a lump of something burning. A searing pain coursed through my body as my right leg became engulfed in flames. An agonizing throb took over my calf, and the smell of charred flesh filled my nostrils. The male who possessed the water abilities threw his hands in my direction, dousing the flames consuming my skin.
I tried to push up onto my feet to run away, but my legs gave out. I crawled all of two feet before one of them threw me over their shoulder. Now seeing the world upside down, he carried me out of my house as the fuzziness further took over. The entire place went up in flames, consuming my home from view, just before my eyes completely shut.
When I opened my eyes again I didn’t know how much time had passed. I was freezing, my body was shaking uncontrollably. It was a cold I’d never experienced before, even on the chilliest day in Lux. I tore at the tape around my head, not caring how much hair I pulled off with it as I ripped the makeshift gag from my mouth, gasping uncontrollably.
A coughing spell took over me as I attempted to inhale the crisp air. Mercifully, there was no smoke, but the air felt cold and wrong. My chest was rising and falling rapidly as I heard the familiar sound of waves crashing onto the shore. Slowly, I turned my aching head to take in my surroundings. I had been dropped on a beach, left to rot in the sand, but I didn’t see the clear blue water that always surrounded the Lux island.
The ocean was dark, almost black, with mounds of white mountains stretching in the distance. The peaks were almost too bright to look at, the sun reflecting off the white, icy material. How long had I been passed out? It was night in Lux. I shielded my eyes as I scanned the beach, noticing a fine layer of snow covering the black sand beneath.Black sand.Goddess above, where was I?
I picked up a pile of the white fluff, letting it escape through my fingers. I’d never seen snow before, but there was no mistaking the cold substance. It left traces of water droplets in its path as my fingers turned numb. The tips were already a beautiful but alarming shade of purple.
Dread crept up in me as I realized I wasn’t home anymore. I wasn’t even on my island. This was not the beaches of Lux with its beautiful golden sand, almost always too hot to touch. There were no aqua-blue waters that felt refreshing against the constant heat and basking sun. I found myself wishing for the warmth of it as the shivering overtook my body.
I scanned the rest of the beach, searching for any indication of where I was, but there was nothing. Everything was vacant, unmoving, except the dark ocean at my back. Strong winds were whipping all around me, making the waves seem more vicious. The only light color in this strange, dark place was white. Miles of the snowy black sand separated me from a dense forest at the other end of the beach. But even the trees were dead. There were no vibrant green leaves or colorful flowers like there were in Lux. I couldn’t even hear a bird chirp or an animal stir, as if the climate was too harsh for them.
