Year E3029

Ocea

"Cut the bullshit. Where are you taking me?" I asked the woman in the mask, the leader.

She scuffed, shaking her head. "Such a dirty mouth for a pretty girl," she said, voice smooth, almost singing. "You look a lot like your mother."

I rolled my eyes, fidgeting with the restraints on my wrists. Glancing behind me, I saw a woman in a guard's uniform holding a gun and her muscles the size of a man's. She glared at me, keeping pace with our steps.

The lights above changed from bright white to dull yellow as we descended deeper into the ground with no stairs, but I could feel the grade of the slope.

At the dead end, where the hallway turns, a cell with thick metal bars as an old lady leaned with her arms out of her prison. Her grey hair stuck to her face from the moisture, and her eyes widened when she saw us.

Banging on the bars. "Witch! Witch! Witch!" the lady yelled, causing more screams to echo down the hallway.

"Oh, shut it, you old hag," the leader said as we rounded the corner.

Cells lined the vast hallway with various safforians and humans caged. They yelled and banged their hands on the metal bars as we walked past, spitting at the MOS leader.

"Bitch!" a man yelled, stretching through the bars, trying to reach for her, but his fingers were inches away. "I will strangle you one day!" he screamed while we kept walking.

The guard behind us swung her gun and hit the man's arms, causing him to fall back, but the violence didn't stop the rest. A purple safforian female laughed with mock, her eyes on me before gesturing a kissing motion.

"Looks like the witch brought us another friend to play with." She dragged her pointer finger across her neck and howled.

"Don't mind them." The leader gripped my upper arm, dragging me quicker down the hallway. "Trapped in a cage can make anyone insane."

"Then why do you do it?" I asked, yanking my arm from her grasp.

"Science," she replied, continuing our walk. "You wouldn't understand."

"Yeah, because you are all-knowing, right?"

She paused for a second and clenched her fists. "This way." Her steps quickened, staying one pace ahead of me.

The prisoners didn't slow down while most screamed profound words at us, but I slowed down and stopped when a young yellow safforian girl sat on the ground with her face on the bars. Her tiny hands were in the dirt below, tracing pictures while ignoring the chaos.

I raced toward her, sliding to my knees before the guard could stop me. With my hands still tied, I cupped them on top of hers. She didn't glance up at me or even stop tracing the image of a home.

"I will help you get out of here," I said, but she didn't budge, keeping all focus on her home in the mud.

"Hey!" the guard yelled and kicked my side. "Stop that."

I slowly stood, clenching my jaw. "You broke this girl!" I yelled at the Men of Suits leader. "A child!" I cried toward her back.

She stopped, and her shoulders dropped. "Ocea," she said without turning around to look at me. "Everything I am doing is for Safforia. This planet is only alive because of my father and me."

"What?" I asked while she whispered to nobody beside her. Shaking my head, I knew my grandfather had died, but my dad never even mentioned a sister. So, did he lie about that, too?

"This way." The leader walked without knowing if I followed.

We slowly trailed between the cells, someone new yelling or crying until the silence masked the air like a chilly fog. The light dulled from yellow to nothing while the dark tunnel formed around us, a single red light bulb at the end of the last prisoner.

A shadow moved in the maroon, noticing us as we approached. The person scrambled on the ground with papers, tucking them under the twin bed before standing and letting the blood light illuminate them.

"Dad?" I asked in a whisper, tears caught in my throat.

The man tilted his head, dropping his jaw. "Ocea?" he questioned with sadness.

✧✧✧

Tears poured down my cheeks, soaking my palms as I curled into a ball on the chilly floor, the darkroom of sorrows and cries. Everyone around me cried with sadness as they lost loved ones. Wyatt carried me from the smoke to a tiny home, a place where there were laughs and happiness and now wails and injuries.

My father's voice echoed in my head, his promise, the emptiness in his voice, and my soul revealed to me he would never find me.

"Little one, did you want some?" a sweet voice asked as I lifted my head to see a woman with a bowl of soup.

I shook my head, brushing my dirty hands through my hair. I focused on the dirt with no hope for my future.

"You should eat something," a boy's voice said. "The soup is delicious."

I glanced over to see him sitting next to me. His dark, curly hair reminded me of Thomas, but the boy's strands were shorter. He smiled weakly, trying to show his strength, but his eyes told his story. The emptiness.

"I'm Dylan. You arrived here with Wyatt and Stopper, right?"

I nodded, playing with the dirt and filling my hand before watching it drop between my fingers.

Dylan watched me play with the soil. "What's your name?"

"Ocea," I whispered.

"That's a cool name. I wish I had something unique like that." He slurped up the soup while the steam covered his face. "I like your hair too. I'd always wanted to have colorful hair."

I slightly smirked. "You can dye it."

"Yeah, that is true." He looked across the dark room at Wyatt and Stopper wrestling each other. "What color should I do?"

I peeked at him, bringing my knees to my chest. "Red."

"Good pick," he said with a mouth full. "That's my favorite color."

The potatoes and cheese filled my nose as I watched him scoop a carrot into his mouth. My stomach grumbled, and he noticed my expression.

He waved to the older lady handing out soup, and she strolled over. The warm bowl touched my finger with a sting before I shoveled a vast amount into my mouth. The lady smiled at me with concern and brushed the top of my head.

"The darkness can't consume all the light," she said, walking away.

Wyatt's father and soldiers entered the house and silenced the murmurs. He eyed me, shaking his head, telling me all I needed to know before scanning the room.

"Get ready." He gestured to the soup lady. "We head to the bunker soon."

✧✧✧

"Dad!" I cried, racing toward him, wishing the ropes on my wrists would disintegrate. "I thought you were dead," I wailed as he reached through the bars and wrapped his arms around me.

"Ocea, my baby girl, no," he said with despair. "You shouldn't be here." His hand brushed in my hair.

"I checked all the databases, and you weren't on the list of the chipped, so I assumed you were gone. I would have looked for you if—"

"Ocea, listen to me," he said, not caring about what I said. "I'm sorry your mother and I never told you the truth about your aunt. We thought she had died. We watched her die. You need to get out of here and forget about me. She is not sane. Ray had lost a lot of her brain when I thought she died and—"

A hand yanked me away from him, and I felt myself tremble from being out of his arms again. The guard forced me to my knees while the leader laughed. The leader of the MOS was my aunt, and my father had been alive the entire time.

Ray had been a name circling my house for years, unknowingly who she or he was. As a kid, I never asked, feeling foolish on the frigid ground now.

"Beck, you don't trust me with my niece?"

"Ray, please let her go. You promised she would be safe if I stayed here without pushback."

"Yes, but she walked into our headquarters by herself," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Take Ocea back to friends."

"No!" my dad yelled as I resisted away from the guard. "Don't hurt her."

"Oh, brother dearest, I won't hurt her."

The guard tugged me down the hallway, back through the prisoners. My tears swelled in my eyes, burning to escape. I dragged my feet as I kept my head down, darkness and sorrow taking over, so much unfolding at once.

"Bring her in here," a man's voice said as I glanced behind me, seeing the leader never followed us.

The guard pushed me into a bright room while a rough hand grabbed me and forced me into a chair. Till Cop snickered as I fought away from both of their strengths, but they locked the chair, and a metal restraint tightened around my neck, wrists, and ankles.

"You must be obsessed with me," I chuckled, and the female guard glanced at him with unease.

"You won't be laughing soon," he glared at the guard, pointing at the door. "Leave and don't tell anyone about this!"

Till pulled a device from his pocket and quickly cupped my chin. I spat at his face, but he didn't budge. He grinned with evil in his eyes while bringing the tool up to my blue eye.

"Beautiful blue for an ugly purple safforian," he whispered. "I think I will keep it for my collection."

"Stop!" I yelled, trying to resist, but the chair had me tight. "Help!"

The spoon light device touched my skin with a burn as he dug above my cheekbone. I screamed in pain as blood poured down my face. The chilly metal scraped deeper while Till leaned closer. A stinging ache radiated over my face, causing my body to shake.

I cried, hearing my screams deep in my soul, echoing in the hallways, but the hurt sounded underwater while black dots masked the bright room. The scoop collected my eyeball but stopped while Cop dropped before me.

"Ocea." Wyatt's voice filled the room as heaven's gate opened. "Oh, no," Wyatt knelt before me. "Don't move." He held Till on the ground, wrapping a rope around his arms and legs.

"Off me!" Till yelled from under Wyatt.

"Stupid MOS," Wyatt laughed, waving the badge we copied. "You will be your downfall," Wyatt mocked as Mr. Cop wiggled on the group like a sunhover without wings, with the ropes tight against his suit.

Dan Cyder burst through the door. He paused, looking at me with panic, and quickly rushed to me. With the tool still in my eye, Dan cupped it, but his eyes bobbed to Till on the floor, nervous.

"Stop!" I yelled. "Don't touch me."

Wyatt arched his brow at me while Dan raised his hands, stepping back. Wyatt slowly removed it from my skin. He ripped the end of his shirt off and pressed the cloth to my eye.

"How does it feel?" Wyatt asked with concern. "It's deep, but your eye is okay."

Wyatt unlocked the chair, and I held the shirt to my eye. The blood collected in the material and soaked through fast, but the pressure should stop the bleeding soon.

"You won't believe me, but my dad is alive," I whispered to Wyatt, so Dan couldn't hear. "There is so much I need to tell you."

Wyatt peeked at Dan. The older Cyder brother watched Till on the ground, keeping his distance from us.

"Come," I said, rushing to the door and opening for Wyatt.

I remained in the doorway, pretending to keep it open for Dan, but once he stepped too close, I slammed the door shut while Wyatt scanned the badge and pushed the red lock button.

"What are you two doing?" Dan asked, hitting the glass window.

I lifted my hands and showed him my middle fingers, and the white light changed to red with a siren blaring.

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