Are You Here?

Chapter Seven

Rain awoke, strapped down for the second time in a row. This time, she struggled furiously at the binds that held her down, even though the straps made red welts as her skin rubbed against it. She tried to scream, but her throat was so hoarse that she couldn't get the sounds out. Instead, she struggled harder, rocking the cot that she was bound to as well. Suddenly, a person raced into the room, holding a pointed object. She pounced onto Rain and jabbed the pointed end into her arm and Rain screeched weakly as the needle pierced her skin. She sighed, annoyed and blacked out again.

When Rain woke up strapped down, for the third time, she didn't struggle. Her arm ached from the spot that the needle had pierced her. The person who had stabbed her with it in the first place, sat on a stool next to her cot, another needle on the ready. When Rain turned her head, with great difficulty as while she was out, her head was strapped down as well, the woman with the needle raised her arm, ready to stick Rain with it again.

"You cool, girl?" the young woman said, eying the girl warily. Rain had only struggled once, but it seemed as if the woman had seen too many escape attempts to trust anyone.

"I asked you a question." the woman said again, raising her needle arm further. Rain was offended beyond belief. How dare such a woman speak to her queen in such a manner! She glared at the woman, obviously uneducated and poor, judging by her bright pink hair and tight, revealing clothes. This was absolutely unacceptable!

"How dare you, peasant!" Rain spat, still taken aback at the nature of her situation. The woman with the pink hair rolled her eyes, but lowered the needle.

"Look, princess. I don't know what world you came from, but here you aren't anything more than a peasant yourself." Noticing the look of utter confusion and hurt on Rain's face, the woman's expression softened.

"I'm really sorry, girl. It's just...well, you'll find out later. I don't think that I'm the right person to tell you about it." The woman set down the syringe. "I know everything is really strange, but you have to bear with me."

A drip of water leaked from Rain's eyes. A tear. She thought. The woman frowned.

"Hey," The woman said, soothingly. "My name is Candy. If you have any questions after the briefing, just ask somebody for me. I will come. I promise."

"The briefing?" Rain whimpered through her tears.

"Yeah. That's where they'll explain everything." Candy smiled reassuringly. "You don't have to be worried though. We are here to help you." She picked up the needle from the table. Rain flinched and tried to move as far away from it as she could, given the fact that she was still tied up.

"Relax, girlie. I'm just putting it away. You don't have to worry about being poked again." Rain breathed a sigh of relief, but eyed the needle until she saw it being thrown away. A part of her body was telling her to be cautious. She recognised that now: cautious. It sounded weird in her mouth. Cautious.

"Huh?" Candy asked, turning towards Rain. Rain blushed, as she realized she'd been talking out loud the entire time.

"Nothing." Rain said, embarrassed. Candy nodded.

"Oh! I never got your name!" Candy exclaimed. "What is it?"

"Queen Rain. I mean, just Rain." She said. Candy smiled. Suddenly, the doors to the small room burst open, and four men walked in. The smallest man, though a tall 5'10, stepped forward. The three giant men stayed back, eyeing Rain ferociously, just daring Rain to make a move. She didn't, and in fact stayed as still as she could, hoping that they hadn't seen her. They did. The man strode over to her, nodding at Candy as he walked by her. Candy seemed completely relaxed, so Rain did her best to be relaxed as well.

"Hello there. My name is Buck. And yours?" Asked the man casually in a strange accent, as if one of them wasn't strapped to a cot. Rain recognised the accent, though she had never heard it before. Australian. She thought. Rain glanced at Candy, who gave her a reassuring nod.

"Rain," She said. "My name is Rain and I don't care who you are. I just want answers. Now." Buck laughed heartily, his big frame bobbing up and down.

"You will get answers soon enough, my friend. I promise. We just have to wait for everyone to be...ready first. That's all."

"How many more people?" She asked.

"Oh, you know, about a hundred or so." Rain gagged, surprised. A hundred of her people have been taken too?

"How are they doing? How is Mai? Is she here? What about Christian? Or my parents? What about them?"

"Woah, slow down! None of your...friends are here. They're still in your world. I mean, they're still in your kingdom." Buck said, quickly trying to cover up his words. Rain noticed him stumble over his words, but didn't say anything. That was the second time that somebody had referenced a world, somehow different from the one that they were in now. First Candy, now Buck. My world, she thought, how is my world somehow different from yours? It made her brain hurt, like usual, from all that thinking. She wondered if normal people felt this way too when they thought about confusing things.

"Now, it looks like somebody's sleepy," Buck said quickly. "Why don't you go and take a nap for a while? I will personally come wake you when it's time for briefing." He nodded at Candy who walked over to the shelf and grabbed a needle.