Shadow Bearer [NaNoWriMo 2015]

Chapter One

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Cole had heard all too many screams echo through the streets late at night, but never before had he recognized the voice. He bolted from the cover of the trees without a word, ignoring the startled jumps of the night patrol. He didn't look back as they called for him to halt, well aware that slowing down would result in his arrest. Following close behind him was his twin, of whom didn't hesitate to abandon their cover either. The two boys turned the street corner, bare feet digging into the dirt walkways in desperation to get home. A second scream pierced through the night, and this time they were certain. The desperate female that could be heard screeching a mile away was their mother.

As they reached the rickety shack they called home, the initial adrenaline began to wear out, and both brothers found themselves breathing hard. Their snow white hair was light a beacon in the dark, and both instinctively pulled up their hoods. It was clear something had gone wrong, men clad in black armor stood rigidly outside the door, eyes squinting behind visors at the darkness.

"I won't!" The ferocity behind the words was bone-chilling. Keiro motioned for Cole to follow him, and they snuck past the men, flinching every time someone's eyes turned their way. The two crept carefully around the back of the house, shivering both from the cold, and  from the fear that drifted through the air. 

"How could they have possibly found out?" Keiro whispered, eyes glued to the window. Cole carefully brought his ear to the glass, his breath drawing shorter as he heard the words that had kept him awake at night since he was a child.

"I'm well aware that you've betrayed our country," A dark-haired man crouched in front of their mother, a twisted smile settling on his face. "but right now, we'll address the issue at hand." His hostage glared at him as he stood, and Cole motioned for Keiro to listen as well. "It seems that your sons have run off, long after curfew. I'm willing to offer you a full pardon to your Resistance activities and a life of comfort, providing that you disclose their whereabouts."

"No." Tara didn't think twice, and the hatred apparent in her face was clear as day. She looked at her captor with such defiance that it was clear she wasn't going to simply run her mouth.  The dark haired man ordered for their mother to be tied up and hauled off, and the men grabbing ahold of her struggled to keep their grip as she kicked. She bit a soldier's arm as hard as she could, and someone struck her in the side for doing so. The soldier cursed as he yanked his arm away, blood soaking through his uniform.

"Cole," The teen jumped as a hand curled around his shoulder, turning rapidly. "We've got to get out of here, the first thing they'll do is double check the house."

"I'm not leaving." He struggled to keep his voice firm, but regardless of his efforts, his voice quivered. "We can't just let them haul her off."

"Live to fight another day." Keiro curled his fingers around his brother's arm, and pulled, trying to get him back into the cover of the woods.

"I told you! I'm not leaving!" Cole jerked his hand away, glaring at his brother. Keiro gave him a scornful look, and crouched behind the edge of the wall, peering cautiously around the corner.

"If we're going to do anything we've got to find mom's soldiers." He took it upon himself to be lookout, and Keiro even scarcely blinked.

"Care to tell me where they are?" The voice was cold, and both boys whipped around, their gazes meeting a tall, gaunt figure with thick, black hair. Cole drew a shaky breath, and nobody moved, not the general, nor the boys. The lean man stood there his gaze unwavering, arms crossed.

After a long few moments, as if on cue, both twins bolted, running without thinking. Their instincts urged them to get away from the general, but they had run the wrong way, they had run around the corner and into and into the waiting arms of the military men. Both shrieked and dashed in the other direction, only to find themselves trapped. Cole felt himself begin to tremble, and he looked desperately around for an hole in their defenses. He found nothing. Keiro drew closer to him as the soldiers stepped forward, raising their weapons.

"On your knees." The man from earlier stepped forward, a cruel smile spreading on his lips. Cole looked at his brother, whom shared the same terrified expression he did, and then back at the man, unable to move. "What are you? Deaf? I said on your knees!" Cole drew a shaky breath, and then collapsed onto the dirt path, looking at his feet. "Good." The man motioned to his soldiers, and the front line stepped forward, binding the boys hands so tightly that their fingers went numb. "I want them knocked out and searched." He strolled off at his own leisurely pace, his eyes like shards of glass.

"Please!" No one seemed to hear the weak cry, and if someone did, they didn't act upon it. Cole shrieked as a piece of cloth was forced onto his face, his tremors becoming more violent by the second.
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"Your sons are ignorant, Tara." Those were the words Cole awoke to, and they chilled him to the bone. He made sure to be silent, opening his eyes cautiously, peering at his surroundings. It was dark, and cold, and the entire place shook, and stopped without rhyme or reason. It was clear that they were moving, in the back of a truck perhaps, but where the hell were they going? Cole shivered as he realized who the voice belonged to, it had to be the general that had caused them so much trouble prior. Reality hit him hard, and everything came flooding back to him. Military, mother, Keiro, Resistance, Prison, Prison, Prison.

Suddenly, everything began to blur, or had it been like that before? The lights flickered on and off, and his eyes watered. What was happening? In the back of his mind, the words still floated, Prison, Prison, Prison. The single word brought about almost every fear that Cole's mind could conjure. Fear, death, pain, cage. Cage. Everything ached, and the room was spinning. No, it wasn't a room, it was.. What was it, where was he? What was going on? What was his name? Where were they going? He moaned, everything was spinning, blurring, focusing. What was going on? What was going on? What was going on? All the same the words repeated themselves in his mind. Cage. Prison. Cage. Resistance. Betrayed. Betrayed. Cage. Cage. CAGE.  His cry was louder this time, and the general noticed.

"How was your nightmare?" Nightmare. Nightmare. Cage. Cage. Cage. Night. Fear. Prison. Nightmare.

"Make it stop!"  His mother turned to face him, worry written on her face. Her eyes betrayed her own fear, regardless of the mask her expression tried to fake. The general looked at him with pleasure, engrossed in his own thoughts. All the fear came flooding towards him, the fear and the pain, and the loss.

"What the hell did you give him!" Tara lashed out, struggling to get her son, tears building in her eyes, her fingers shaking with rage and fear. "What did you do!" The general, as a response, kicked her in the side, and her scream echoed off the walls, and drifted into the open air.

Nightmare. Cage. Fear. Pain. Nightmare. Cage. Fear. Pain. Nightmare. Nightmare. Nightmare.