When The Light Dims

Chapter 6: SOPURU

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
-2 Timothy 1:7

I scanned the small room only to discover that the kids were fully awake. They turned to each other, whispering in hushed tones.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked with the little patience I could exercise.

All of a sudden, they kept mute. I could only put up with their silence for this long. I needed to find a way out and they had better start talking.

"What is wrong with you? We have all been abducted and yet no one wants to speak up so that we can find a way out of this!" My voice was ragged.

I stared at each of them with frustration, my eyes begging them to say something. Anything.  Desperation creeped on me as a few seconds passed and still, no one spoke. The tears I had been fighting back since last night broke loose. I faced the walls to hide my emotions. Only if mum was here to give me a hug and tell me everything would be alright. I bit my lips as I fought not to sob.

"Why are you crying!" Someone sneered.

The tone left me stupefied. I wiped my tears, prepared to give whoever it was a piece of my mind. I turned quickly to discover that it was the older girl with the angelic voice. She glowered at me as I locked eyes with her.

I parted my lips to retort a sharp jab but she silenced me with a hiss.

"You have only been here for one night. ONE NIGHT," she repeated with contempt. "And you are sobbing like a baby."

My eyes twitched slightly, the way they did whenever someone tried to bully me. I expired continuously in an attempt to calm myself. The idea of stooping low irked me.

"Genevieve, please apologize."

It came from the older boy across me last night. I could see him better in the day. He was bruised all over. I grinned in anticipation of her apology.

"Sor...ry," she forced, glancing anywhere but at me.

That felt right. The universe was once again in order. I turned to the pleasant boy.

"The name is Sopuru. Short for
Sopuruchukwu."

"Call me Oscar. By the way, I like the shape of your birthmark and...," he paused. "... the interesting shade of your brows," he teased.

I felt so embarrassed, all I wanted to do was shield my face. I suddenly remembered our current situation when the ropes restricted me.

"We should be thinking of a way to escape."

"You think we haven't thought of that."  Oscar snorted.

"Maybe, we should try a different approach." There had to be a way out. I couldn't lose hope now.

"We have tried it all," Genevieve said.

"What about we form an alliance to take the guards down?"

"How do you think I got all these bruises all over my body?" he asked.

"At first, they would untie our ropes as we were brought in here. We used that as an advantage. We escaped. Sadly, we were caught before we could leave the cave. We could have made it".

Genevieve slammed her palms on the ground.

"We couldn't have made it. It was stupid and reckless and Oscar had to pay dearly for it." She hissed.

My determination decreased by a quarter.

"Do we have weapons, anything?"

"Nope," another child spoke up.

There had to be another way.

"Is there any hole we can dig through?"

Oscar shook his head.

"So there is no way out," I whispered.

"But, we were able to acquire pieces of information from their database before we were caught."

That stirred my curiosity. I leaned closer.

"What did you find out?" I rasped.

"Well, they are an organization called S.C.A.M."

"I saw that on my way in. What does it mean?"

"Let me finish." He paused just to be certain no one interrupted him. "It stands for Secret Child Abduction Ministry. They are kidnapping young children and trafficking them to other countries as sex slaves or laborers."

My throat tightened at the thought of being sold off for such disgusting purpose. The trauma they put us through was just so that they could feed their greedy bellies. I gritted my teeth as the thought of seeing a pedophile sweeping his filthy hands all over my body invaded my thoughts.

The sound of the door opening got us comporting ourselves like we were not just discussing ways to escape. A slender lady walked in. She took a roll call and returned with other ladies who brought in loaves of bread and cups. As I watched them, I couldn't help but wonder how deceitful physical beauty was. On the inside, these women were monsters. They placed the cups and two slices in front of each of us, then walked out.

I stared at Oscar in confusion. They might have forgotten that they tied us up. He kept silent as this wasn't new to him. Thereafter some armed men stormed in, each stood before every child and untied us. The moment they loosened the ropes around our hands, the children dived into the food like a hungry pack of wolves that had not seen food for ages.

"EAT," the guard in front of me ordered.

I slowly picked up the slice in front of me and bit into it. Must be a week's old bread. It brought no satisfaction but it would keep me alive, so I finished the two slices without any complaints. I tentatively lifted the cup, curious about what poison they had given to us. The kids were gulping down whatever it was. They seemed fine. Okay, it wasn't poison. I took a sip out of my plastic cup. Water had never tasted so good. I downed the liquid to quench my thirst.

Genevieve gave out a slice to Oscar. As she passed it to him, her fingers lingered on his. He was about to decline when she smiled thoughtfully. She whispered something I couldn't hear.

The guards divided them immediately. It couldn't get sadder than this. At least they had each other. I couldn't help feeling lonelier than last night.