Torn Minds

Chapter 1

"No! Stop! Please!" Old man Axel cried. The armed officers gripped him tight, and I stood there frozen.

People loitered in the streats, watching as the scene unraveled before us. Everyone was in shock. Axel had never done anything. He walked us kids to school everyday to pass the time, and had us over for hot cocoa and cookies when it was cold. The man hadn't done anything so why was he being taken?

"Just come with us sir." A big man with curly, brown hair said in a monotone voice. He wore the signature blue clad suit and angled hat. He wasn't even that muscular, just tall in a way.

"No! Please! Understand! I'm begging you!" Axel yelled. He struggled to pull against their restraining hold and the cold, unforgiving, metal cuffs. He wore old, fraying jeans, and now offwhite ripping tank top. If anything, the officers would have just held tighter.

"Come without a fight, and your consequences won't be as unkind to you." The second officer said. He too was dressed in the blue clad uniform and pointed hat. They wore shiny black shoes to go along with their unmistakable clothes. They ushered him towards the back of the police vehicle. It was a better one than the few in this town. Lucky as some families were, they had one of the most outdated cars or trucks, but few were in this small town. Prices were too high, and the attention was unbearable.

Axel struggled in a failed attempt to break away from the uniformed officers, but nothing worked. They finally got him into the car, and as the door closed you could head him cry out in fear.

"I-I haven't done anything! It was a mistake! Please! Don't make me go there!" His high cries called as they shut the door. Both officers slipped into their sleek vehicle and shut the bulletproofed doors. The engine roared to life before the car sped off, dissapearing into the horizon.

I stood there, still frozen, with a brown paper bag full of grosheries in my arms. I shook the disbaief aside and began, again, to walk home.

The fleeting rays of the sun were vanishing as I made the treck home, an I could feel the cracked sidewalk beneath my feet as I stepped down. An old Ford pickup truck passed slowly moving up and diwn across the uneven cobblestone steets.

Lamps flickered to life along the winding path home, and most people were inside. I pulled the back of grosheries tighter in attempt to feel more secure.

It was only a few painfully long moments before I reached the small house my parents worked so hard to provide for my brother and I. It was small, I'll give you that, but it was a house no less.

It had two stories, but you could only get in by climbing the rickety old stairs to the second level of our fading yellow house. The shuttered dropped slightly, the flowers I had painted on last spring dissapearing like the light of the day.

I slowly acended the stairs, making the structure groan under my weight. As you walked up, you would be able to see my many fading murals on each step. They were all different, most with the names of our family, but others wordless. I reached the top landing and carefully stepped over a withering board. I unlocked the door, dim light spilling out.

"Mom! Dad! Max!" I called, dropping my keys on a nearby table. I walked to the kitchen, setting the bags on the counter. Nobody was uptairs, they must be downstairs then.

I made my way to the stairs, walking down to the lower level.

"Maximus!" My mom laughed, running around, chasing Max.

"You're back Liliana," my father said with a smile, he too was chasing Max.

"Yeah, did you hear what happened?" I asked curiously. My parents both said a low 'no' and continued to chase Max.  I laughed, and decided to join my family in their game of tag.

After a while of playing tag, we all collapsed in a pile in the floor. I hadn't known at that moment, but times would change soon, and nothing would be the same.