by Amy Richie
“A little?” she snorted loudly. “When we get out of this mess, the two of you should be committed.”
“It's not like we wanted to come here either,” I fired, losing what was left of my patience. “We had lives on earth too.”
“Well, wherever we are,” Mattie flung her arms in the air. “We'll make them take us home. They have to listen to us.”
Did she have compulsion? “Why do they have to listen to us?”
“It's against the law to hold someone captive.”
“Something tells me that these guys don't have a very healthy respect for the law.” I had a hard time believing that she actually being serious. Who did she think we were dealing with here? They had kidnapped three girls and locked them in this dirty room with no food or water, things didn't look good for us.
“Still,” Mattie continued forcefully, “that guy didn't seem like a killer to me.”
“When we were babies there was a man that put a curse on us,” I recited the words Kris had told me as if they were a fact that I knew. “It's why we were put on earth and hidden away until we turned nineteen.”
“Lady Tiff said the Queen had all the Guardians looking for us for all these years,” Bonnie added.
“What do you mean by us?” In her curiosity, Mattie forgot to sound furious and disbelieving.
“The seven Princesses of the Zar galaxy.” Obviously, Bonnie had heard that expression more than once in the last few days.
“Seven?” Mattie's mouth fell open almost audibly.
“We need to find a way out of here before any more of us are caught. I don't want to think why this master guy wants us all together.” It wasn't going to be for anything good, that much I knew.
“That door won't budge,” Mattie scowled. “I'm not a weak person and I can't get it to budge.”
“Maybe we should all wait by the door and the next time they bring someone in, we can all rush out,” I suggested. “If we take him by surprise, he won't be able to stop us all.”
“How do we know when he's coming back though? Or if he is coming back at all.”
“Anyways,” Mattie shook her head sadly, “I think he can tell if someone is by the door.”
“Why do you think that?”
“He told me he had to check for heat signatures before he opened it. I didn't know what he meant, but he must have been checking for you two.”
Once again, I was forced to be impressed with the man. He was getting his orders from someone else though, someone smart. “Yeah,” I sighed. “makes sense.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?” Mattie kicked hard at the wall, then immediately grimaced and bounced on one foot.
“We're not supposed to hurt ourselves,” I scowled. “How are we going to run away if you hurt your foot?”
“Wait,” Bonnie held one hand up for silence. “Did you guys hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Someone banged back.”
“What?” I scrambled closer to the wall.
“I heard it. As soon as she kicked it, someone answered on the other side.”
“Do you think there are more of us there?” Mattie pressed the side of her face against the wall. “Maybe they have another room like this one.”
“I thought I felt something here earlier.” I felt along the wall again and found the places that could have been an old outline for a doorway. “Right here,” I pointed out excitedly. “There has to be another room over there.”
“Hey,” Mattie called loudly and banged her fist against the wall.
Holding my breath along with the other two, I listened for any noise from behind that wall. It was a small flicker of hope, one that we needed. If someone really was over there, we could try to get to them or they could get to us. Anything was better than sitting in here staring at each other. Anything.
“I don't think,” Bonnie began but was immediately silenced by Mattie's frantic shushing noises.
“Do you hear that?” Mattie looked up and our eyes met.
“There's someone on the other side of this wall,” I confirmed. It was a faint sound, but there was some sort of buzzing going on. “Or something.”
“Something?” Bonnie was beginning to look scared again.
“It doesn't sound like human voices.” I pressed my face against the wall. “Sounds more like a machine.”
“Yeah, well, someone has to be running the machines,” Mattie pointed out. “It's probably some kind of factory. It makes total sense.”
“Why does a factory make total sense?” Bonnie asked before I could.
“You always see that kind of stuff in movies.” She rolled her eyes. “The bad guy takes the girl to some abandoned factory and locks them up there.”
“This isn't a movie.”
“And the factory isn't abandoned.”
“Let's try to open this door.” Mattie got closer to the wall and felt along the outline of the door. “We can pull the wallpaper up here.” She peeled a long strand off easily.
“I don't think this is a good idea.” Bonnie put her hand out to stop Mattie from doing any more damage to the wall.
“Why not? You think it's a better idea to just sit here and wait to be murdered?”
“She has a point.” Running my tongue quickly over my bottom lip, I pulled off another piece of the wall paper. Where it had been stuck up over the door, it came off with ease and it wasn't long before we were all three staring at a crude wooden door with a metal ring for a handle.
“We don't know what's over there,” Bonnie whispered, terrified.
“That's the point.” Mattie glared over at her. “It might be girls in the same situation as us. We'll find them and then find a way to call the police.”
Even though the police can't help us, I silently pointed out. “Right,” I nodded to Bonnie, instilling as mush confidence as I could through the small movement. “On three.”
“One.”
Hopefully we wouldn't find an entire army on the other side, an army that was searching for the Princesses.
“Two.”
That was ridiculous though. What would they want with us? If they really wanted us dead, they would have already done it.
“Three.”
Mattie grabbed the metal ring and tugged it on it with a small grunt of exertion. Much like the wallpaper that had covered it, the door gave no resistance. I glanced at Bonnie, who's eyes had gone wide enough to take over most of her pale face. “We'll be fine,” I assured her in a hiss. “We'll stay together and find a way out.”
“I hope you two are right,” she groaned, twisting her face into a grimace.
Yeah, so did I.
Chapter Twenty Two
“It's...huge,” Mattie observed, stepping through the door after me.
“What is this place?” Bonnie looked around, coming through the door last and pressing herself close to my back.
“Looks kind of like a factory,” I admitted, recalling Mattie's earlier assumption that we were in a factory. “Or a warehouse.”
“It's too big to be a factory.” Mattie whistled low and came to stand next to me.
We had come through to a large room that seemed to go on and on. The ceiling was low and had the same dull light as the room we were just in. Contraptions that might have been huge machines were scattered all around, lifeless for now.
“Do you think anyone is here?” Mattie scanned the room with narrowed eyes.
As if on cue, a small group of men came from behind a corner, talking quietly to themselves. Although we couldn't be sure that these people were dangerous, we couldn't assume they were friends.
“Quick,” I squealed, “get behind there.” The three of us moved as one and ducked behind a box shaped metal machine. It wasn't tall enough to hide us, so we were forced to crouch low to the ground. Turning to the others, I wasn't surprised to see two sets of wide eyes staring back at me.
“What now?” Bonnie hissed.
“Shh,” Mattie hissed back,
jabbing her elbow into Bonnie's side. “They'll hear us.”
Silently snarling, Bonnie moved close to me and away from Mattie.
Ignoring both of them, I moved to the very edge of the machine and peeked around at the group of men. They had stopped several feet away from us to inspect a sheet of paper that was tacked to the wall. “Looks like we're taking B side today,” one of the men grunted to his companion.
The other man clicked his tongue loudly and spat on the floor. “I don't know why it's always us that has to take that side,” he grumbled.
“No one else knows how to handle the Spears.”
Spears? That didn't sound like something I wanted to learn more about.
“I almost lost a finger last week,” he held up his hand to show off a bandaged finger.
“Gotta be careful,” the other laughed loudly at what he must have considered humor.
I sank back behind the machine with Bonnie and Mattie. “We need to find a way out of here,” I stated the obvious.
“There's a door,” Mattie pointed in the opposite direction of the men.
The narrow blue door was far away but at least we didn't have to try and sneak past the fingerless wonder and all his friends. “Ok,” I nodded quickly. “Stay low to the ground and close to the wall.”
Without another word, the three of us darted back to the door we had just come through and began making our way along the wall there. Keeping one eye on the men behind us and one eye on Bonnie who was directly in front of me, I forced my legs to move at the same pace as the other two. It was hard to fight my urge to run as fast as I could and get out of there but the saner part of my brain knew we would be noticed if we made any sudden movements.
What were they trying to build in here? Not being raised around anything like this, I had no clue what most of the big machines were used for. There were plenty of shovels and pickaxes, those I recognized. Considering the amount of stuff, there was a high likelihood that there were more people coming.
Sure enough, more voices could be heard now from around the same corner the other men had appeared. “Hurry up,” I whispered frantically, knowing we needed to get out before they all showed up. I glanced behind me to try and count the crowds that were now rolling in, my heart leapt into my throat.
“Hey!” a booming voice suddenly called out. Bonnie froze.
“Keep going.” We were so close to the door, a few more minutes and we'd be free. “Bonnie, just go,” I didn't bother whispering. I moved past her, grabbing her hand as I went.
“There's people up there,” Mattie told me, turning even while she kept moving forward.
My breath was starting to come out funny, my throat had tightened up and the air was having a more difficult time escaping through. I let go of Bonnie so I could wipe away the sweat on my top lip with a shaking hand. “Do you think we can make it to the door?”
“I don't know.” Mattie gulped at the air, as if she were having the same trouble I was. “Do we have a choice?”
“Not really.”
Mattie stopped to lean against the wall. “Should we just make a run for it?”
“I...” I scanned the area, counting the number of people that we'd have to get past. “I don't know.” Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose. It was hard to think, I didn't know what to do.
“Where did Bonnie go?”
My eyes snapped back open. “What?”
“Bonnie's gone.”
The place next to me, where Bonnie had just been, was empty. My heart thudded painfully. “Bonnie?” I called hoarsely. “We have to find her.”
“She can't be far,” Mattie soothed. “Just go back that way...” her words cut off abruptly.
Directly in front of us, a man's face was looming. His grin was anything but warm. “Look what I found,” he called over his shoulder.
Mattie lunged forward, catching the man off guard. His arm reached out and grabbed hold of her wrist, making us both scream. “Let me go,” Mattie squirmed violently, but the man held tight.
“You.” I stood up straight and stared directly at the man. Surprised he turned his face to me and our eyes locked. “Let her go,” I ordered, putting as much force as I knew how behind the words. I felt the power seeping out of me in waves.
The man didn't stand a chance.
His eyes went blank and his fingers let Mattie go. “Of course,” he mumbled.
“You leave this place and don't come back,” I told him, unsure what to do with him now that I had control of him.
“Alright,” he nodded, then turned and walked away without another word.
“What just happened?' Mattie asked, rubbing at her red wrist.
“It's something I've always been able to do.” Now wasn't the time for explanations though. “We need to find Bonnie.”
“There she is,” Mattie pointed to the red haired girl that was cowering behind a box not far from us.
Relieved, we ran to her. “Come on.”
“Look!” Bonnie's pale face went even whiter.
I turned my head to see what she was so afraid of. All around us, a crowd was gathering. The only way left to move was backwards – until our backs hit against the dingy wall. We were completely surrounded.
And not one of those faces looked friendly.
Chapter Twenty Three
“They look mad,” Bonnie whimpered, clutching my arm with frantic fingers.
“You think?” I arched my eyebrows sarcastically.
Without warning one of the men from the crowd lurched forward towards Bonnie. Her high pitched scream made him pause and grin toothily at us. “Get away,” Mattie screeched. “Just let us go and we won't call the police. We promise.”
Yeah, like that one would work.
There had to be a weapon around here somewhere, or at least something I could use as a weapon. Where were all those pickaxes now?
The group had only left us a small space to stand against the wall and there was nothing lying on the ground by our feet. Of course not, I thought scathingly. Bonnie had been right, we should have just stayed locked in that room.
“Go away,” Mattie called out again, swinging her arm out in a wide arc as if she were swatting away bothersome flies. “You can't make us stay here.”
“She's right,” Bonnie added, her voice coming out too high pitched to be considered normal. “If you don't stop all this now, you'll be in trouble.”
“Will we now?” One of the men laughed loudly and stepped away from the crowd – towards us. “Why would we be in trouble?”
“We're Princesses.” Bonnie's chin raised slightly, imitating bravery, but the man saw right through it.
“Princesses,” the man sneered. “We don't need no Princesses.”
My jaw tightened as I watched the crowd grow louder in wake of the man's sneers. “We were told to keep you here so that's what we're going to do,” he shouted, shaking his head in mock laughter.
“Who told you to keep us here?” I asked before the other girls could say anything.
“I'm sure you'll find out soon enough.” His eye dropped into a lazy wink, a gesture that made the hair on my arm stand straight up.
“We're not staying here,” I told him. Now that we were out here facing them, it was best to fake confidence. Any sign of fear and we were goners. Of course, this charade was hard to accomplish with Bonnie whimpering beside me and holding onto my arm.
“You think so?” His head tilted to one side.
“Yeah.” I tightened my jaw and took a step in front of the others. “I do.”
The man jerked his shoulders forward, but planted his feet firmly on the ground. I had seen enough fights with the boys back home to know he was just trying to intimidate us. He wasn't going to hurt us, maybe he was told not to touch us.
He might if we pushed him to far though. Men like him were unstable.
“You two go,” I told Bonnie and Mattie, not letting the man get out of my sight.
“What?” Mattie hissed
close to my face. “We can't just leave you here, they'll kill you.”
“No they won't,” I assured her. “I'll cover you.”
“No.”
“You two can go and get help. Call Kris or the police, or...” I wasn't sure who they could call or even how to call someone on the Zar Galaxy. Did they have phones?
“We're not leaving anyone,” Bonnie cried, squeezing tighter onto my elbow.
I had never considered myself brave. Back home, when a fight broke out, I was generally the first one to bolt. I kept my head down, that was the way I survived.
I had no idea why I was acting all super hero now.
“No one is going anywhere,” the man suddenly growled and then jumped forward and grabbed Mattie's arm. He pulled her towards him and the crowd cheered behind him.
“No,” Bonnie and I both screamed together.
Moving just as quickly as our captor, I grabbed a hold of Mattie's other arm. “Let her go.” I heard the power in my voice, but it was cloaked heavily with fear – making it significantly less effective. The man's hand jerked off of her for a second but he recouped quickly.
“Stop,” Mattie cried, planting her feet to make it harder for the man to drag her backwards. Following her lead, I dug in with all the strength I had.
It was no good though, there were just too many of them. I could feel their energy as the man taunted and yelled at us. “You think you're something special because you're a Princess?” he snarled. “We don't want you here, you should have stayed on earth.”
“We didn't ask to come!”
“Please!”
“Too late,” he laughed loudly, with no humor. “He was going to kill you eventually anyways.”
“No!”
Over all the noise of the crowd and my own hammering heart, a new sound started to pour itself into my chest and work it's way through every cell in my body. It took several panicked moments before I was able to realize what it was.
Bonnie was singing.
“Wha...” My mouth fell open at the sight of her standing there in an angry crowd of people and singing. It was the most beautiful song I had ever heard, even though I didn't recognize any of the words.
Next to me, the man dropped Mattie's arm and stopped to listen too. In face, I realized as I looked around, everyone was stopping what they were doing so they could hear Bonnie's song.
