Black Cloaks

Four - Taken

 

        She woke in a room cornered by blue walls and soft, comfy pillows on her bed. Although the curtains were drawn, weak rays of sunlight pressed through and danced around her room. Her eyelids fluttered as she woke. She groaned in annoyance and reluctance, she had been having her favourite dream. She had been flying. In most of her dreams, she would grow a delicate pair of purple wings and she would fly away from all her problems. She would fly to a place where everything was okay. A place where she had friends. A place where her parents were together again. A place where her parents were still alive.

        Instead everyday she would wake in her blue-walled box room parent-less and friend-less. At least she had her sister, Blue. She was just like a mother to her and Jade loved her to bits, she was the only one she had left. Jade's walls were covered in photographs, all of her and Blue. It's not like she had anyone else to take pictures with. Jade had never really had proper friends, she had always been the odd one, the one that liked to wear black, the one that didn't wear makeup, the one that preferred to read rather than to go to parties. She never really spoke much, only to answer the register at school and to Blue, apart from that, she didn't speak unless spoken too. Whenever someone at school asked her a question, if it could have a yes or no answer, she would nod or shake her head. If it wasn't, she would answer in as few syllables as possible.

        Jade swung her bare legs over the side of her bed. It was the middle of Summer, so she wore shorts and a vest to bed. I was way too hot for anything else. She brushed her fringe from her eyes with her fingers. She sighed. 'Another day in Hell' she thought. She heard the creaking of her bedroom door and smiled quickly as Blue entered.

        "Happy Birthday Jade!" Blue squealed.

        She ran to Jade's bed, sat down and gave her a bone-crushing hug. They both looked very similar, almost like twins, but Blue was much more social and lively than Jade. They both had the same sense of humour, likes and dislikes and they both shared the same peculiar black eyes and black hair. While Jade's eyes made her classmates uneasy, Blue's friends thought they were cool and jealousy oozed from their own plain coloured eyes. Jade loved her eyes though, it was her favourite thing about herself. 

        "What did you get me then?" Jade teased when Blue finally released her. To be honest, Jade didn't expect much. She and her sister didn't have much money to spare. Blue was 18, and could only work part time hours. Jade was now 16 and had yet to find a job.

        "Oh! Hang on!" Blue cried and rushed from the room.

         Jade had to laugh. Blue returned again less than a minute later with two presents, wrapped up in homemade wrapping paper. They could never afford to buy any so they made each others paper. Jade always kept the paper she got from her sister in a draw under her bed.

        Blue handed Jade the first present, the bigger one of the two. She took it in her hands and admired the wrapping. Blue had drawn flowers, hearts and butterflies all over the paper. Jade smiled. The package was easily molded. She wondered if it was clothes, she hoped it was. She never really got new clothes, and even thought she would never admit it to Blue, she desperately needed some. She gently prized open the package and onto her lap fell three items of clothing, as black as midnight. She felt her smile grow as she picked up each item. First she grasped the black, real leather jacket and hugged it in her arms. Next was a deep, black shirt, plain but beautiful in Jade's eyes. Lastly, there were black skinny jeans, soft to the touch and perfect for Jade's slim legs.

        She felt like crying with happiness.

         "Thank you so much!" she said happily, hugging Blue. Blue laughed and shook her off.

         "Open the next one!" she said, thrusting the much smaller package into Jade's arms. Jade grabbed it and opened it carefully.

        She gasped.

        She gently held up a beautiful silver locket. On the front there was a rose as red as spilled blood and on the back it read: 'For my beautiful sister on her 16th birthday, love Blue. xxx.' She opened it up and inside on one half there was a picture of her and Blue. On the other half, a picture of her parents.

        Jade could feel tears in her eyes but she would not let them fall. She was speechless and all she could do was hug Blue harder than ever before, until-

        "Jade! I can't breathe!" wheezed Blue, so Jade reluctantly released her.

        "Get ready for school."

        Jade groaned.

        "It will be over before you know it," Blue said sympathetically.

        "Get out then, I need to get changed," Jade sighed and Blue left.

        Jade stood and stared at her new clothes before quickly throwing them on as her school didn't have a mandatory uniform. She admired them in the mirror. She knew she wasn't too bad looking, and the black clothes fitted her perfectly. She reached for the silver necklace and fastened it around her slim neck. She felt complete with it on. She brushed her long, black, naturally straight hair and left the room.

         When she had arrived at school on foot, she got the usual dirty looks from the people who made it their job to always remind her she was alone before she got to her lessons. She day-dreamed through each period, not really paying much attention at all to the teachers but still getting top in all the tests. She doodled in her books instead. Eyes had always fascinated her, she drew them in all of her books and not even those who hated her most could deny her talent.

        She was in the middle of drawing a complicated, but beautiful eye when the fire alarm sounded. She jumped and her hand slipped across the page, creating a led gash in her work. She sighed sadly and stood to leave the classroom. As she turned to leave, she could have sworn she saw a man in black walk past the low windows. His face was covered by a massive hood. She passed it off as a trick of the light, nothing more. She left the room and made her way across the school to the courts where the register was taken. Sadly, she could see the school wasn't burning down, so she realized it was just a fire drill.

         'This is so stupid,' she thought as she finally arrived and stood in her year line. She turned her head slightly to the left and saw a flash of black material whip past a door to one of the class blocks. Jade closed her eyes and shook her head.

        She ignored it.

        The register was called and she answered quietly. She wasn't sure whether she was heard but she didn't think anyone would care if she was to go missing. Everyone stood in silence after the register was taken, until one line at a time, they were let go. Her line was first, so she began to walk to her class. No one else in her line was in her block, so she walked alone.

        She welcomed the silence.

        Although she preferred solitude, she couldn't help the worry nagging at her brain or the growing feeling of unease in her stomach.  She felt a presence behind her and her brain flashed warning. She began to walk faster, her eyes darting from left to right as she all but ran across the empty school.  She'd never felt this way before, her her heart rate increasing and hearing each quick beat in her head.  She could see her destination, just a few steps away, she was nearly there-

        She was stopped suddenly and she gasped, her eyes widening as a sweaty hand clamped over her mouth and a cold blade was pressed against her throat.

         "I wouldn't try anything if I was you," a deep voice whispered into her ear, the blade tightening on her skin. A stinging sensation told her that she had been cut, and that the man was deadly serious.

         With no other choice, she held her tongue and let herself be dragged away.