Black Cloaks

Five - Back To Black

 

        When Jade woke again, she felt dazed and disorientated.  Her eyelids were heavy and her body felt immobile, like she couldn't move even if she wanted to. She was sure however, that she had been having a nightmare.

        None of it was real.

        None.

        She would wake up properly in a minute, back in her room.

        Maybe she fainted? Maybe she fell asleep in class? Whatever she did, she was sure she was safe, just having a terrible nightmare.

        That was until she heard a loud cough to her right, a tortured sob to her left and a harsh hiss in front of her telling them both to shut up.

        Her eyes snapped open and she looked up through her fringe. She tried to move her hands but they were roughly tied behind her back and it was too tight to move. Her legs were tied in the same way to the uncomfortable, wooden chair she was sitting on. She squirmed desperately and the claustrophobia she never knew she had kicked in. She made frantic noises until the man in black crouched down in front of her. She saw his face for the first time, and she cringed back away from his scarred, ugly face.

        "Stop moving girl, or I will make you," he murmured softly, almost in a sing-song voice.

        He held up a shiny, silver pistol and she halted her movement completely. The man chuckled. Jade fought the rising panic racing around her body as she scanned the room.

        She found she was in the sat in the middle of a line of people in the same situation as her. Some had gags and one was flopped over in his seat.  She could see dark red seeping from his shirt and she realised he wasn't going to sit up again.

        The room was about three metres across, two metres up and she was so close to the others taken that she could hear each ragged breath they took. She looked ahead of her slowly and saw the scarred man talking to someone who couldn't have been more than four foot tall.

        "But sir, the room isn't quite ready yet!"

        "Work around the wretches, it can't be that hard." Jade guessed that she and the others were the wretches.

        "I suppose sir. But we haven't properly fixed the chutes yet. How can they get food if-"

        "Don't worry, Imp, it will just make it more interesting." A strange smile stretched onto his face and Jade looked away.

        Looking around there was too much fear in the eyes of these strangers, too much emotion and it was choking her. Her head began to spin and for a moment she saw grey dots before her head drooped with her loss of conscientiousness.

        She woke, yet again, as one of the men cried out in pain and dropped her on the cold, hard ground. She landed sleepily, but was brought back fully by a stinging sensation on her cheek as she was slapped.

        "You made me slip, you stupid little girl!" he yelled in her face and she flinched.

        He grabbed her wrist and dragged her the rest of the way to wherever they were going. When she was released, she heard the sound of unscrewing bolts and screeching metal. She was picked up again, then dropped almost instantly, this time falling a few metres before landing painfully in the dark. She crawled to the side quickly before the others were dropped on her.

        "Put the chains on or die," the short man said blankly as he held up the other man's gun.

        Jade felt around in the dark for chains until she found them. She clipped them around her legs with tears in her onyx eyes. She heard the others do the same, until there was only one girl left, foraging around in the dark.

        "Too slow, girl,"  one of the other black cloaks said, sounding bored and the dwarf held up the gun. He hesitated slightly before he pulled the trigger. The bullet lodged in her head, killing her in an instant.

        The metal lid was replaced and the bolts bolted. The darkness blanketed everything and Jade could no longer make out anything. She heard the footsteps outside fading and cruel laughter was all that echoed through the silence.

 

 John's P.O.V

        "Jade?" John said tentatively. He stared into her glazed black eyes and grabbed her shoulders gently.

        "Jade, are you okay?" he asked, worriedly. He had asked how she had been taken around thirty minutes ago, but she had instantly fallen into a trance like state. While the others had stared for a minute, then began having another conversation, John stayed by Jade's side trying to calm her growing temperature and stop her thrashing about. He was no medical man, but she seemed to be having a panic attack. Now she was completely still. The only thing that showed she was still alive was her irregular, quick breaths. He shook her shoulders and she groaned like she was in pain. He let go instantly and her eyes flew open.

        "NO!" she almost screamed, then she went silent again as everyone stared at her. John moved his hand slowly and patted her on the shoulder.

        "It'll be okay," he said gently, saying it as much for himself as it was for her, even though he knew it was a lie.

        Jade turned to face him and he was entranced by her mysterious eyes. She opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the words.

        "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," he said kindly and patted her again. Jade blinked and opened her mouth again.

        "I was-" Jade said before the crackling of a cheap microphone filled the room.

        "Well, that was fun wasn't it?" their captors voice taunted. "It was definitely fun for us." Background laughter joined the voice and John clenched his fists.

        "Why John, you seem awfully protective of our little Jade here. Don't get too close though, she's a real champion down there." How did they know his name? John looked to Jade in confusion, for answers, but was met with a blank stare.

        "Anyway, times up! Night awaits!" he sang as the remaining lights flickered and he, and all the others, were plunged again into an articial, empty night sky.