They drop Declan, Alice and I into an underground room of some sort. The three of us fall to the ground, hard, unable to catch ourselves with our hands tied behind our backs.
It's pitch black inside the room and there's a very earthy odor. I can hear more heavy and labored breathing from the other side of the room. I pray that it's the rest of the class and Professor Kitt, though it doesn't seem loud enough.
My blindfold moved up a little bit over my eyes, so I am able to see if I lift my head to look out the bottom of it.
The man jumps down after us, landing on his feet, holding what looks like a battery-powered lantern that's currently turned off. There's a strip of moonlight coming from the entrance to the room and it shines down on the man like a spotlight on a stage. I watch from the floor as he looks up towards the opening, where I notice the two women are both looking down at him.
"Scott, do you think you'll need the gun?" one of the women asks. So that's his name.
Scott shakes his head. "No, don't think so. I'm gonna get them all situated. I'll let you know when to drop the ladder down," he tells them.
Scott walks towards me. He grabs onto my arm and forces me up to my feet, where he then shoves my back up against a wall. He grabs Declan from the floor and lines him up right next to me. My shoulder brushes against him.
My fingers reach to touch the wall behind my back. It feels dirty and gritty. I roll some of the grit between my fingertips, trying to determine what the substance is without seeing it. It feels like mud.
In a quick movement, Scott rips my blindfold off from over my eyes. I blink a few times as he does the same with Declan and Alice.
Then, Scott fumbles with the lantern in his hands, until suddenly it flicks on, igniting part of the room in a warm dim light.
Immediately, I notice that the breathing belongs to Zoe and Kiran, who are both against the other side of the wall, their hands also tied behind their backs. They are wearing the same clothes as us - blue linen.
My chest instantly deflates with relief as I lock eyes with Zoe. But if it's only them then where is the rest of the class? Where is Professor Kitt?
"Thank god," I hear Declan whisper under his breath from beside me, probably upon seeing that Kiran's okay.
Scott stands in front of us now that we're lined up against the wall. Slowly, he places the lantern down on the floor.
"Can I ask you something?" I say suddenly, my voice shaking.
Scott immediately looks at me, his tiny blue eyes watching my every move. At first I think he's going to yell at me, but instead he says, "go for it."
"Where... where's the rest of our class? Our teacher?" I ask. "We..." I look around at Declan, Alice, Zoe and Kiran. "We came as a class. There're still four others."
Scott stares blankly at me, as if he has no idea what I'm talking about. "There were others?"
"Yeah, three other students and our teacher."
He snaps his fingers and nods. "You know what, I do remember them saying that actually. I'll tell you what probably happened: they must've woken up while being moved. You know, we can't have anybody seeing where we are, just in case. If they happen to wake up, that's their fate," he says.
My mouth goes dry. I woke up while they were moving me. Scott strangled me back to unconsciousness. Flashes of his eyes, of his clenched teeth, all swirl through my mind. "I'm doing this because I like you," he'd said. "You're welcome."
"What do you mean?" I ask, panicking. "What happens when someone wakes up?"
"Well," Scott says quietly, "they're dealt with accordingly."
"Are... they dead?" Alice asks hesitantly from the other side of Declan. I can hear panic in her voice as well.
Scott shakes his head. "Oh, sweetheart. We don't say that word here. Life just... took them elsewhere."
The air is thick. I know I can't stop saying it, but this really doesn't feel real. This all feels so disorienting, like a horrible, bizarre nightmare.
I look across the small room at Zoe, who's watching and listening, sitting a few feet away from Kiran. Kiran has his knees up and he's leaning back against the wall.
"Don't worry, the way it's done is always humane," Scott assures us. "Quick and painless."
"Humane?" Declan repeats. There's a shakiness to his voice. "Are you fucking kidding me? You killed them."
Scott snaps his head to stare at Declan. The two of them are similar in height, so when Scott takes a step forward, he just about touches Declan's forehead against his.
"We don't swear here. Do you understand that?" Scott shouts in Declan's face. "Tell me you understand."
Declan reluctantly nods. "Yes, I understand."
Scott takes a step back and looks between all of us, looking over his shoulder at Kiran and Zoe as well. He softens his expression a bit.
I notice he doesn't look at any one else with such disdain, only Declan.
"You will stay in this holding cell until we've fully prepared your living quarters," Scott explains. "We are very accommodating here. You may be scared right now, maybe a little confused... a bunch of different emotions. I understand that, all of us do. A lot of our people have been right in your shoes years ago, but now?" he pauses for a beat, "we're all as close as ever. We have nothing but love to give."
"Could you explain what's going on?" Kiran pipes up, using the wall to help stand himself up without use of his hands. "What do you want from us?"
Scott smiles, wrinkles appearing at the corners of his mouth. "We are all here to love. To reproduce, to work and tend to our land, and to worship."
I feel like I'm going to pass out. "Reproduce?" I whisper.
"Worship what?" Declan asks loudly.
Scott inhales. "Our Abe."
What the hell is that? Our Abe?
"Well- what if we don't want to?" I ask quickly, my entire body trembling. The only thing I can think about right now is how this is going to throw such a wrench in my education if we end up unable to escape for a while. "You can still let us go. I won't tell anyone, I swear. I haven't seen where we are. I'm... I'm in school right now. I'm going to be a doctor."
Scott looks at me sympathetically before he shakes his head. "Aw. No, honey. You're not anymore," he tells me.
My heart dips down to my stomach. It feels like I'm going to be sick again. My vision is shaking and the world is spinning around me. The smell of dirt and grime is only adding to my pulsing migraine. I need to breathe.
"Yes I am," I tell him weakly, through snivels. "Yes, I am. I've been working so hard."
"No," he says calmly. "You're not. You three ladies - your purpose is cooking, cleaning, and your womb. That is where your energy belongs."
I burst out into a sob. I need to breathe and relax and think, but I can't catch my breath. I keep gasping for air but nothing satisfies my burning lungs.
I look over at Zoe through my tears. Her eyes are large and watching me, her mouth open slightly. She's judging me. She can't possibly be judging me for crying in this situation. The way she's looking at me is how I've seen her look at others before mocking them.
Slowly, I stop crying, as I continue to stare at her. Even in this situation, she's still able to remain so beautiful, so cool, and so collected. If she can do it, I should, too. I inhale forcefully through my nose.
Silence fills the room again. We're all breathing heavily, which is only making the air feel thicker.
Scott steps away from us and walks to the center of the room. He looks up, right where the opening is. "You can bring the ladder down now, they're settled."
The ladder drops down into the room, and we all watch him step onto it.
He turns his head back around and says, "Get some rest. We'll be back by sun-up in just a few hours."
Once he climbs up the ladder, they lift the ladder up out of the room, and close the heavy wooden door after it. I can hear them latch it shut. I look up and see several miniscule holes in the door, probably for us to breathe, but that also explains the mildewy, wet feel of the space.
I slowly walk over to Zoe and sit down next to her. My head is pounding, I'm thirsty, and it's freezing - these outfits don't provide any warmth. I watch as Kiran walks over to Declan and carefully sits next to him and Alice.
"How are you?" I turn to Zoe and ask.
"Aside from being alone with him for god-knows-how-long," she nods towards Kiran, "I'm fine. They didn't hurt me or anything."
I look over at Kiran as he talks to Declan and Alice. "What's so bad about him?"
"He wouldn't stop crying about his stupid girlfriend or whatever. But you probably had it way worse with Declan and that girl."
"Alice," I say, but I realize it's not important. "Yeah, they're pretty annoying. If it makes you feel any better, I made fun of Declan's mom. That was pretty funny."
Zoe looks at me with a smirk, and I feel a rush of relief over her approval. I smile back at her, even through my fear and confusion. It's at this moment I realize the power she has over me, the power she has to make me feel better in a time of distress.
This is just like a regular conversation, and suddenly, I feel like I'm back on the quad, in the grass, with the sun on both of us as we gossip. It's comforting.
"That is pretty funny. What'd he say?" she asks, interested.
"He told me I'm an awful person," I shake my head. "Like I care what he thinks."
"Well, he's the awful person. After what he did to you, he deserves the worst," Zoe says, and I feel a flash of warmth in my chest.
I lean back against the wall feeling almost giddy, despite the situation.
"It would've been nice if we were stuck with Nate and Joe instead," Zoe sighs. "They at least would've been more useful to have around than those string beans," she nods towards Declan and Kiran. "How would they even protect us?"
I try not to look at them, as I don't want them to know Zoe's talking about them, and I especially don't want them to hear what Zoe's saying.
I lift a shoulder. "They're athletes," I try, keeping my hopes up. They are both on the college track team, though because of that, their bodies are quite lean.
"I have more muscle than those two combined," Zoe huffs with a cruel laugh as she leans back against the wall. "This is just perfect."
"They're smart," I say. "That might be good for us."
Zoe shrugs her shoulders. I look across the small room and see that Kiran, Declan and Alice are huddled close to each other for warmth. I move a little closer to Zoe, hoping we can do the same, but she just looks at me, confused.
"I don't want to be touched right now, Lou-Lou," she says.
"Sorry."
I move away from her and bring my knees up to my chest, resting my chin against them.
I start thinking about my mom, my stepdad, and my sister. I wonder if they even know I'm missing yet. Liam has to know by now, because he obviously knows I haven't returned from my trip yet, but does my family know? What are they all doing about it? Is anyone looking for us?
Liam probably told them I never came back. They have to be looking.
I smile at the thought of people looking for me, people being focused on me for a change. In a way, no longer invisible. I imagine reuniting with my family in a few days. I wonder how my older sister, Sydney, feels knowing our mom is focused on me instead for a change.
"Do you guys want to come over here with us?" Alice suddenly asks, zapping me out of my thoughts. She looks between Zoe and me, adding, "You look cold."
I would love to go over there and bundle up next to them. I'm so cold that my skin is coated in goosebumps. I look over at Zoe to gauge her opinion, and I watch as she starts laughing.
"Let me make something clear," Zoe snaps. "Just because we're here right now, doesn't mean we're all friends. Get it through your head now."
I watch as Alice furrows her eyebrows, flinching in surprise. "Zoe," Alice says in shock, "I don't want to be friends with you. You looked cold, that's all. We're trying to keep each other warm."
"We know that you're a lesbian," Zoe says, her tone piercing. "We don't want you touching us, thinking this is some sort of excuse to get off. Thanks though."
My eyes widen as I look over at Zoe. I can't believe she just said that. In a time like this. For a split second, I wonder if Zoe is even scared in the slightest. She certainly doesn't seem like it.
Zoe never lets anybody see her emotions. She will never outwardly show fear or sadness, but if you unknowingly cross her when she's feeling that way inside, she will rip you to pieces. And that's how you'll know she's upset.
Alice's cheeks are bright red when she looks over at me, her mouth open slightly. She's stunned. "Louie, do you want to?" she asks me so quietly, her voice is hardly audible.
I shake my head. "No."
It's silent, the air is very tense.
"That was messed up," Declan says, looking at Zoe. "Even for you."
Zoe glares at him, and she's about to say something, so I interrupt.
"Stay out of it," I tell Declan quickly. Mainly because I don't want anybody else to give Zoe a reason to attack them.
Declan looks at me before he slowly shakes his head.
"Do you guys realize that our classmates were killed?" Kiran asks suddenly, looking at all of us, "Our teacher was killed. We're in danger, we know what they're capable of. We have no idea what they want with us. There's no time for this shit. We're not in high school."
We're all silent again for a few beats. So silent that I wonder if Kiran actually got through to Zoe.
Until she looks at me and announces, "I'm going to sleep. I have a pounding headache and these people are making it worse."
I nod as Zoe carefully lays down on her side on the floor, looking uncomfortable with her hands tight behind her back.
The three of them start talking from across the room again, this time, their voices are very low.
After a while of them still whispering, I wonder if they're plotting a way to get out. I try to catch certain words they say, but they're talking too quietly. What if they don't include Zoe and I in their plan? What if they leave both of us here all alone? If they escape and I'm stuck here because Zoe can't help herself, I don't know if I'll ever forgive her.
I look back over at Zoe. I notice, in the dim lighting, a tear slide down her cheek. I've never once seen her cry before.
I decide to leave her alone. If they leave without us, we'll just get out of here on our own. I also lay down, finding it difficult to lay on the dirty floor with my hands behind my back.
I face the wall, staring at the smears of dirt covering it, until my eyes feel heavy enough to close.