The Metal Bender

Chapter 1: Meeting New Friends

    “Hey!” I yell, as the guards toss me into a small bare room. “Get your hands off me!”

    The door slid shut, and I hear the click of the lock. I look around the room and notic there were three bunks, all of them surrounded by chain curtains, and one of them is open. A small child lay in a ball crying. He couldn’t be that much younger than me, and I was nine. I walk over to the bed on the other side of the room, and open the chain curtain. The girl screams and tries to leap back, hitting her head on the bed above her. I step back and trip, falling onto my rear end.

    “Knock before you enter!” She screams, covering her chest.

    “I’m sorry, I didn’t know!” I said, averting my eyes. “Besides, how do you knock on a curtain?”

    She grunts and slaps me, and closes her curtain. I climb to the bunk above hers and lay down. After several minutes I was asleep. My dreams are vivid and horrifying.

    “No, you can’t take him! He’s only eight!” I heard my mother scream, as men entered the house.

    One of them pulled out something from his coat and pointed it at mom. It was a gun. I climbed out of my hiding spot and ran at him screaming. But I was too late. He pulled the trigger, and I collapsed clutching my ears. When I looked up, my mom was bathing in a pool of blood, dead. I screamed and started to cry.

    I awoke to a girl shaking my shoulder. I look around and notice I was still in the cell. Tears started to flow from my eyes.

    “Hey, kid. Time to wake up-” She stops her sentence midway through. “Are you okay? You’re crying.”

    I wipe my tears away and sit up. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just had a dream about-” I stop midway. “My name is Akai. Sorry about earlier.”

    “Don’t worry about it. My name is Cecilia. I’m 8. That kid is Michael. He’s 7, and arrived about 3 hours before you did. I was here 2 weeks ago.”

    I slide out of bed and approach the kid. He’s sitting on the edge of his bunk with traces of tears on his face.

    “Michael?” I ask softly.

    He looks up at me and starts to cry again. The door flies open and a large man with handcuffs walks in.

    “Alright, line up and hold your arms out.” He bellows, forcing our hands into the cuffs.  He leads us down the hall. “You brats are going to start military training today. Each of you have a special ability that you need to use. There is one rule we have during training, and that is no killing each other!”

    We’re lead into a massive gymnasium, and the handcuffs are removed. “Alright! Start by running laps until I say stop! If you fall or stagger, I’ll whip you then and there until you stand up again!”

    Michael opens his mouth to speak, but the man looks at him directly and Michael shuts up. So I speak for him. “Why are we here? Why did you kidnap me and kill my family?”

    “I don’t recall killing your family, but whatever the assault team does is none of my business. If they killed your family, then too damn bad. But don’t worry, you have a new family here with us.” He responds.

    “If you’re family, why did you handcuff us and threaten to whip us!?” Cecilia shouts.

    The man lifts her off the ground and pulls her close to his face. “Listen here, bitch. If you so much as raise your voice at me again, I’ll be sure to end your pathetic existence quickly. You’d best watch yourself.”

    “That’s enough, Sergeant Corwed.” A new voice, coming from the PA system. “We’re here to teach them to better their abilities, not torture them and scare them.”

    “My apologies, General.” he says, putting Cecilia down. He looks at us again and barks. “Start your laps, children!” That last word was more of a sneer than a bark.