Speak

Chapter 1

Scarlet pushed her legs up against the wooden side of her pen, doing her best to stretch. With a small groan, she gave up and bent knees; sending pain throughout her body. The 3 by 4 animal pin she was locked in gave her 5'5 body barely any space to move. Straw littered the ground, as a bed, a place to go to the bathroom, a place to sit; it made her body itch. It didn't help that her feet and wrist were chained, and after wearing them for so long her wrist were raw and bloody. The straw just made it worse. She was sore, bloody, dirty and hungry. Sighing, she pushed some greasy strands of hair from her face.

"Scar, psst, scar- are you okay?"

Sitting up, Scarlet lifted her hands. She paused, and listened, before giving two solid knocks on the wooden wall.

"Good, so am I."

Scarlet gave a small smile, leaning her head on the wall. One the other side, in one of the other 34 pins, was her best friend Renee. She had been in the woods with Scarlet on the faithful day that she was kidnapped. They had taken Renee, only because she had fought for Scarlet's freedom.

Kidnapping wasn't rare, it was quite normal. They were traded through the Slave Trade, along with other beings who didn't pay back a debt, sold themselves or were forced into it. There was much bad in the world just as there was good. Good people ended up doing deals with bad people- and they paid for it in the end. Scarlet's mother, her single mother who raised her on her own, always told her not to use her powers- ever. But being the 18 year old rebellious girl she was, she did. Her mother, so good, told her not to use her powers. She, herself, did and because of it was taken from her wholesome world into the dark Slave Trade market.

With a small huff of air, she looked up to the ceiling of the wooden train cart.

"Yeah, I'm right with ya Scar. This sucks."

It was moments such as this, where she was locked away and alone; that she could speak. Renee was only a piece of wood away- yet because she wasn't able to sign, mouth words or even write a note, she had no way of communicating with her friend.

~~~

Stumbling out of the train car, Scarlet's bare feet shuffled along with everyone else who was in her chain-group. The sun blared down from the sky, blinding her. Her whole body was sore, and her legs shook from being unused and bent. She had been locked away in her pin for... she didn't even know. She had lost track of the days. She knew it had to be at least a few weeks.

The Handlers screamed at everyone, as the moved from the dirt area outside the car to a blocked off area behind a plain, wooden stage. There were other chain-together groups, and people mumbled softly to each other.

"I just heard some others talking, they're saying we're in Voirol!"

Renee's breath was hot against Scarlet's ear, and she turned to face her.

'How do you know?'

Renee shook her head, a held a hand out. That meant she didn't understand what Scarlet had mouthed to her. Which wasn't uncommon, and being Scarlet's hands were bonded together; she had no other option. Reaching out Scarlet spelt out each letter, one by one, on Renee's palm using her fingers.

'T-h-a-t's a 5 w-e-e-k t-r-i-p f-r-o-m T-o-b-u-s.'

"It also means we're basically on the other side of the world... We're never going back."

Renee casted her eyes away, as she swallowed back a lump in her throat. Scarlet looked to her friend chained beside her, but did nothing to comfort her. It was her fault they were chained, thousands of miles from their home land and about to be sold off as slaves for the rest of their lives.