It feels as if my lungs are balloons pumped with way too much air, on the brink of exploding. My legs are numb sticks I can't feel, and the sweat is dripping into my eyes, blinding me temporarily. But I can't stop running, not now, not when I'm trapped in a life-death situation. All my hard work at Bloodshed - the physical training - better not go to waste.

I keep pushing myself to run, even when it feels like there are a dozen knives stabbing me over and over and over. I cannot give up. The envelope in my hand feels heavy, too heavy for my liking.

My subconscious is bipolar.

One second, it's cheering me on, telling me I can do it if I just push a little harder, that I can make it, that everything will be alright after I reach my safe haven. And then it goes all moody on me, telling me I should just drop the money and surrender, that running isn't going to help, that this whole thing is going to end in despair.

How motivational.

I am acutely aware that someone is chasing me - with elephant steps at that - but I don't stop. I can't, and I won't. Not for the world.

"Jan, could you stop for a little? It's tiring, and they're gone already. No point in running."

If I weren't about to die, I would've made some sarcastic remark like "ah, so you're the elephant" or something, but I don't. I'm too annoyed at myself for wasting time. I slow down a little, but cannot find it in me to completely stop. Before I can stop myself, impulsive me rises to the surface.

"Did you just call me Jan? Janel's the name, y'know? And 'they're gone already' is not an excuse. It's never, by the way. In Bloodshed you'll learn that soon. 'Never stop running, th..."

"They will trample on you if you don't get back on your feet."

I'm actually pretty glad he remembers it. It's a life skill, something he needs to remember at all times in order to stay alive. I can't help but notice I used the phrase "you'll learn it in Bloodshed soon". Do I really want him to go back? Do I really want him to die?

And then I'm kicking, struggling to breathe. I manage to get in a few hits on my captor, but he's strong, much stronger than I am.

My muscles feel like they've been torn apart and set on fire, and the run from just now has drained me of tons of energy.

The only thing that I manage to think before my world becomes dark is: They're not gone, Kay.

They've never been.

***

When I wake up, it feels like home, surprisingly enough. Apart from a weird-looking television, the wooden floor and tables radiate comfort and security. The bright and beautiful flowers in a vase feel almost reassuring.

I can't let myself slip, not now. I blink. You're being kidnapped, Janel, by creepy strangers who've taken your money. Wesley's money, actually.

It's then when I notice the faint tug on my wrists. I'm being held captive by handcuffs. How original...it's ancient.

I struggle against it, wincing when the metal digs into my skin. It hurts like someone threw me into a pit of acid. My legs are numb, unmovable, and my head is pounding like I hit something hard.

"Master and Mistress' orders," someone says, probably a servant who's living in a world in which she is a robot and the only purpose of her life is to serve her Master and Mistress.

"Please drink your tea," another one speaks, in such a harsh tone that the word "please" is redundant. She sounds like she belongs in an asylum. I wouldn't be surprised if she did.

"I repeat, Master and Mistress want you to drink your tea," Servant 2.0 says, clearly annoyed.

They're delusional. I'm being cuffed. How am I supposed to calmly sip tea while I'm trapped in this foreign place with a boy who shouldn't be here, two insane servants, and no idea of where I am?

Kay chuckles a little, and I groan inwardly. What's his problem?

Servant 2.0 goes red in the face, before drawing out a pistol from her back pocket.

My heart rate speeds up. Even though it's not pointed at me, but Kay followed me here, and somehow, that makes him my responsibility, and him dying isn't going to do me any good. I could die, and never find out what happened to my parents.

"Woah, woah. Okay, don't get too rash. It's just tea, so put. That. Gun. Down." I almost laugh at Kay's horrible attempt to try to reassure Servant 2.0.

He raises the cup to his lips and takes a sip. For all he knows, the tea is poisoned.

Focus, Janel.

I struggle against the handcuffs again. I have one objective: Get out of here as fast as I can, even if it means leaving Kay behind.

I wince as the metal rubs my skin raw.

"You should stop moving, you know, it's pointless." Kay says.

Like I don't know that. I vaguely remember reading up about fighting and breaking free from certain objects when I was younger, probably before I joined Bloodshed.

I used to love reading - they weren't my books, from the library, probably. My absolute favourite ones were those that were "fried" just like the eggs my mother used to make for me - amazing and delectable and something that left an indelible mark on me.

Servant 1.0 and 2.0 start towards me, and I begin to panic, my heart pounding loudly in my ears, telling me that danger was imminent, that I was going to die, that this was the end. Servant 1.0 squeezed my cheeks together, opening my mouth, and tipped my head back while Servant 2.0 poured the warm tea down my throat. I began to struggle and fight against them, afraid that it was spiked or something. Choking on the liquid, helpless tears started to push down my temples.

Kay lets out a small chuckle.

Is he crazy? For all I know, he was the one who planned this. I don't want this to happen. I don't want to die. I need to find out what happened to Mom. I need to tell Calum goodbye.

Instead of crying like I want to, I manage to muster all my irritance and hate into a glare, and focus it at him. He responds with a nonchalant stare.
I would walk over and punch him if not for the metal digging into my skin. I'm dying. I need help, and all he's doing is laughing?

He's a monster.

Somewhere in this multitude of emotions, I begin to be aware of a chill that spreading on my skin. I notice a man with stone-cold eyes looking straight at me. If looks could kill, we'd all be six feet under by now.

He taps his foot twice, like we're in some musical - something I've never experienced but have read about - and this is the cue to launch into some groovy track about the meaning of life. Then he opens a transparent door at the back of the room and nods to someone - or a group of strangers - in that room.

It's not long before a new person, Servant 3.0, emerges from the room, her face as blank as a clean sheet of paper.

Fear washes over me like a wave, pulling me down, and no matter how hard I try to kick my legs, I'm still going deeper, and the fear is taking over my senses, leaving me blurry but clear and sharp at the same time. My throat goes dry. Is that an execution room?

"Master and Mistress order you to have a conversation. Now." Servant 3.0 says, her voice icy.

I remain silent. What's there to talk about? I don't even know who 'Master and Mistress' are, and where they are. Also, the horror running through my veins has closed up my throat, making it hard to breathe and speak.

"Speak!" She raises her pistol.

Do all of them have guns? Why? Is this place really that dangerous?

Kay's face twists. "Hi Janel, um...I guess you might want to open your mouth now before you lose your life in a matter of milliseconds, yeah?"

I would speak, Kay, if I knew what to say, and to whom.

I open my mouth, and attempt to talk, but nothing comes out, a side effect of my dry throat. He gets annoyed - right, I did open my mouth, in both ways, but he misunderstood me and thought I'm just playing games.

"Man," he says, and I can picture him raking a hand through his hair right now.

I inhale. He's trying to help me. I'm going to live through this.

Faking my most casual tone, I reply, "Woman, not man."

Kay frowns, his eyes boring into me. "Fine, woman. Woman, could you just let go of your ego for once?"

Says the one with the ego. Has he ever stood in my point of view to look at things? He thinks I'm doing this on purpose.

I look over at him again. He seems lost in his thoughts, and the last thing I want to do is to wake him from them.

"Fine," I say.

The numbing in my feet and the cuffs are automatically released, causing me to jolt forward a little. I rub my wrists once they're free, and wince at the pain the pink marks create.

I stand up, but don't move too close to Servant 2.0. She seems lethal, and my head gets all messed up when I'm standing even at an arm's length away from her.

"This way," she gestures through the door, and I feel Creepy-Eye's gaze on me the entire time I walk through the door.

The air feels cold, and I spot two people - a male and a female that look strangely familiar - talking at a table hovering several inches off the ground. It's like I've stepped into a whole new world, surrounded by technology and white floors, ceilings and walls. Every so often, a colored wave would pulse, coloring the walls a light pastel color before the room returns to its original state.

The woman smiles. "Hello, Janel. Do take a seat," she says.

I'm about to take a step when something buzzes and hits the back of my legs, making them buckle. With my heart in my throat, I fall back and my butt hits something hard. Then I realise I'm sitting in some hovering contraption that vaguely resembles a chair, and within seconds I'm whisked to the table, or whatever that is.

"How'd you know my name?" I blurt out on accident.

The woman smiles knowingly. "We'd like to keep it a secret for now," she replies. Her voice reminds me of honey - thick and sweet and drowning.

"Apart from the fact that you've brought our son back," the man says, "which we are grateful for, we have something more important to talk to you about."

His son?

Realisation hits me like a freight train, and for a second I'm frozen in my seat. Kay is his son. I'm in Kay's house? I should've known he was the one who brought me here. But why was he struggling?

My mind attempts to comprehend everything at once, but it's too overwhelming.

The man - Kay's father - slides a glass with a neon pink liquid inside, offering me a tight-lipped smile. "It'll help to clear your head."

At my skeptical look, Kay's mother laughs a little. "Don't worry, it's not toxic."

Gingerly picking up the glass, I raise it to my lips and take a sip. It tastes like rose and honey and something familiar and comforting, and it doesn't take long before I down the whole glass.

For a moment, a split millisecond, my world goes blank, before Kay's parents' faces materialize in front of me.

Then everything comes flooding back, and the world goes spinning, a spectrum of colors and shapes, but nothing I can focus on.

Your parents were horrible people, Janel. They were part of Bloodshed - I believe you know where that is better than any of us - and they took drugs illegally to fight better. I'm going to be honest with you - we're the owners of Bloodshed.

We need to find them, and we need your help. You have to trust us.

Please, Janel. If you have anything that you know that may help us in our search, you can contact us...just say the words written on the piece of paper that will be given to you later on.

Your parents aren't dead, Janel, they're just hiding behind masks of death. They never loved you, not the way you wanted. I know how you feel, and be reassured that if we catch them and bring them to justice, you will be rewarded.

And then I'm back in that familiar room, staring at a wall made of wood. The servants are still around - I can sense their eerie presence - but they're not staring at anyone in particular, not that I know, anyway.

I walk out to the balcony, and no one stops me. I look out at the setting sun, and realise my hand has somehow curled into a fist.

Spreading out my fingers, I find a small chip in my hand. The voice comes again.

Give it to the people at Bloodshed when you find them. They will know what to do.

Someone murmurs in the background, but I'm concentrating on the voice. I know what to do. Although there is something tugged at the back of my conscious, telling me I'm being fed lies, I shove it away. The voice is familiar - syrupy and beautiful.

It's the voice of Mistress, but I forgot who that was. It rings a bell, but just as I'm about to realise who it is, someone speaks from behind me.

"Janel, how long do you think they would keep us?"

It almost sounds like Master. I spin around, startled, and realise it's Kay. Irritated at him for breaking my train of thought, I snap, "One, you sound like a child asking her mom about something; two, how do you expect me to know?"

Kay walks away, muttering under my breath, and it's then that I realise how alone I am. I miss home. I miss Calum. I miss everything and nothing.

But I have a task to do, and nothing will stop me from completing it.