Let Me Be Your Shelter (Being Re-Worked)

Day 1: Help

I remember now. It was the siren that brought me into existence.  Eyes shot open in an instant. My body was weighted down onto the grated floor. The pulsing in my brain seared down my spine. I inhaled quickly, and exhaled just as fast, trying to regain full consciousness. The top half of my body shocked itself into a sitting position. I was surrounded by a dark, metal cage in some kind of elevator shaft. It was cold, but humid and the only other things inside were three wooden crates, and a few random pieces of supplies spread out across the floor.

I curled myself into a ball, but clung my hands to the sides of the cage. As it moved upward at an immense speed, my heart began to pound and I could feel myself hyperventilating. I was certain that the closer I got to the top, the closer I was to death.

Alone. I was alone.

Higher, and higher, and higher the elevator went, passing blinding florescent lights. The sound of the scraping of the cage against's the shaft's walls screeched into my scull and  I began to scream.  

Focus, I thought. Focus.

The screams eventually ran out of my system and I tried to remember how I'd gotten myself into this situation. I tried to remember where I was when I had fallen asleep. I tried to remember who I was with. Had I been with my parents? Who were my parents? 

My name. What was my name? I tried to remember something; anything.

Alone. I was alone.

As the realization set in, I was less than seconds away from hitting the top of the shaft. I squeezed my eyes together tightly and held on for dear life. 

The cage had come to an abrupt stop, causing my body to jump slightly into the air and crash back down onto the metal floor leaving what would probably be a hard bruise. 

Alone. I was alone.

A large deep siren began to ring out. Inhale. Exhale, I reminded myself. I peeked open one eye to see what was happening. The lights went red until the final siren rang out. They flashed quickly to green and then snapped into a complete blackout. The drone of the elevator quieted. I tried to scream again, but the sound got caught in my throat. "Help," I coughed out in a whisper. "Help."

 Just a few seconds later a blaze of sunlight hit the roof of the cage as a hatch opened itself up. A figure, a boy silhouetted by the morning hour, opened the top of the cage. I kept myself huddled behind the shadow in the back corner. With the cage's door out of the way, I had gotten a clearer image of him. He was tall, had dirty blonde hair, and he stood with a casual confidence that to my young self, came off as threatening . My hands squeezed the cage tighter, if that was even possible.

He didn't look at me straight off. He was more focused on making sure the cage door had gotten out of his way. But, as soon as he glanced over at me, his eyes changed from cold and rather nonchalant to shock and confusion.

"Newt. Alby. Get over here. Now!" My body jumped as the sound of his deep, but cracked voice shouted out into the distance. He wouldn't stop staring down at me and I was terrified to even think about leaving his gaze. 

Two more boys ran up to him. The second had pale skin, was lanky with blonde hair. He held a warm, but concerned expression on his face. The third boy had darker skin and the stature of a leader. He carried the same open confidence in his stride that the first boy did, and yet he felt more comfortable. It was clear to me now that man who was boring his eyes into me was just wearing a mask of someone he wished he was. He wasn't threatening. He was scared. He himself felt threatened.

"What-" the  scrawny boy with the blonde hair had been immediately cut off.

"It's a girl."

In a panic my eyes finally fell from the first boy's. I glanced over to my side to see a small, but sharp knife peaking out if the top of one of the large crates that was next to me.