Eden

I heard their voices before I saw them. Something was wrapped tightly around my eyes too tightly, and was giving me a headache. My hands were bound behind my back, rope digging into my wrists. My feet were also bound, leaving me all but motionless.

I moved my hands toward the ground, trying to see it I could find something useful to untie myself, or better yet, escape. The grounds was hard and cold. Tile. Was I in a bathroom?

"H-hello?" I whispered, my voice horse after all my screaming.

Though it was only a whisper, it echoed around the walls. I was in a bathroom. Why had they left me here?

Before I could ask myself anymore questions, I heard the squeak of a door followed by loud footsteps. My entirely body froze and my heart thudded loudly in my chest.

"You humans have such rapid heart rates," a voice mocked.

Humans?

The footsteps drew closer, and I attempted to scoot back. The only problem was that I found myself in a corner.

"Why did you kidnap me? What do you want from me?"

I could already feel tears brimming in my eyes. I didn't want my captors to think I was weak so I tried to calm myself down.

"I'm sorry little lady but we can't do that. I'm afraid you're our experiment. We're going to have some fun with you."

Suddenly the man in front of me grabbed me roughly, tugging me towards him. I tried to resist, but having my feet bound made that impossible. I nearly fell over. The only thing keeping me upright was his tight grip on my blouse, which I now realized was torn open.

"My my, I see in some aspects humans are superior to Oevolo's. Your breasts are–"

"Julius that is enough!"

"General, sir! I'm just–"

"Oh shut up. Just take the prisoner to her cell."

There was that word again: prisoner. Who's prisoner was I? Why me? And why do they only refer to me as human?

I shuddered, feeling chills go down my spine. The feeling of his unnaturally cold hands against my chest made me want to cry out for my mother like I would as a child, but I knew no one would come for me, here or at home.

"Yes sir, right away sir."

I tried to shrink away into nothing, to shrink away from whoever was carrying me, but again he tugged me forward. We left the bathroom, according the other mans wishes.

I was dragged down the hall where we passed many other voices all of whom were laughing or talking in a language I've never heard.

It wasn't Spanish, or Latin or even french. It sounded thicker than polish and harder to learn than Icelandic. To me it was completely unknown. I might even go as far to say as it was alien like.

I tried one of the moves my defense teacher had taught me. But I hadn't planned out how I would land with my feet bound, so I slipped and hit my head against against something.

It became clear to me that it was an incredibly stupid idea as soon as the throbbing pain registered and I felt the blood seeping down my forehead.

"I always forget a humans blood isn't black," a voice spoke.

Black?

The man–Julius–pulled me up again and continued dragging me down the hall. I tried to count how many times we'd turn and which direction we had gone but eventually I lost count.

"Maddox, I've brought the prisoner," Julius grinned. Of course I couldn't see, but I could hear it in his voice. "Make sure you don't go easy on her. She's a tough one, but we're tougher."

"I would but I'm not you. I didn't join to torture the innocent. I joined to make a change."

"How do you think we're gonna make a change, big guy?"

I listened intently to what they were saying, hoping they would let something, anything about where I was and who they were, slip up. But once they realized I'd stopped struggling and was listening to them, they stopped talking.

"Well here," Julius said to Maddox, who caught me before my head hit the floor again. "I'll be back tomorrow. Maybe have some fun with her. She's feisty."

Maddox tossed me into a cell, softer than Julius would have, but still enough to give my back a thorough bruise. I winced and attempted to shift my weight, but I was still bound.

I felt his hands wrap around the back of my head and for a moment I was worried he would gouge out my eyes. But he only took off my blindfold, revealing the dark and very rundown cell I was in. It smelled like mildew and mold.

As he untied my feet, and I sent a sharp kick to his crotch, sending him falling backwards. I took his painful groan as a sign of success, but before I could reach the door, he grabbed my ankle sharply and slid me back over to the wall.

Now I was the one on the floor and he was standing over me practically looking like an angel of death with his unruly black hair and tall stature.

"Don't ever try that again. Try it with me you'll get nothing but a bruise. Try that with one of the others and you'll end up dead or worse."

I tried not to dwell on the "or worse" part, afraid of what that really meant. From what I had heard, these were all men, and they were merciless.

"Maddox?" A voice called. What kind of a name is Maddox?

Maddox left the cell open, as he walked around a corner to see who had called for him. I snuck out after him, hoping he couldn't hear me.

But when I ran around the corner I crashed into someone. Unlucky for me, it wasn't Maddox, it was Julius.

"Trying to escape are we?"

I gulped and attempted to run passed him, but he grabbed me, this time by my long hair and threw me harshly into my cell, causing me to knock my head on the wall.

Through my blurred vision I could see Maddox wince. I lifted my still bound hands to the back of my head only to feel more of my thick oozing blood coat my hands.

"Remember Maddox, humans are dangerous. You have to keep them on a tight string or they will end up running loose and killing you."

I tried to keep my eyes open, but the pain overlapped my ability to do so and my eyes fell closed.

Please let this all be a nightmare. Please let Carla wake me up tomorrow with my usual cup of tea. Even though my parents are always busy, I'd give anything just to see their faces. I'd give anything to be at home.

But again I was wrong. My nightmare was only beginning.