A New Leader

The girls came round in a cell, not unlike the one they had vacated not so long ago. It was bright at the girls opened their eyes, too bright. At first, they merely thought that snow had fallen during the night, and decided to get up and stretch. Allyssianne tried to yawn, but found that a heavy muzzle had been placed over her snout, preventing her from opening her mouth. A deep growl emanated from her throat as she also fought against a collar, alerting the others to the situation. Natalie reared up onto her hind legs, battling the ropes around her head and legs. Marny whipped her spiked tail from side to side in an attempt to slice through the ties holding her down on her side. Lara threw herself against the bars of the cage she was stuck in, and surprisingly, Holly just sat there in her own cage, not doing much.

The door opened, revealing three people who walked into the cell. One, seemingly the leader, was unarmed, but the other two, guards, were armed.
“Welcome!” The first man declared, arms outstretched as if to welcome them, but the gesture was met with steely silence and glares. He seemed undeterred, and signalled for the two guards to untie or release the animals. A boy leant against the doorway, about fourteen in age, with blond hair and grey eyes. As soon as he had appeared, an aura of calm swept over the angry animals, soothing all the worries and calming the stress.

The girls were released one by one, and they soon morphed back to their human forms, relaxed.
“Thank you Alex.” The leader said, smiling at the boy. “Now, I understand that you are all wound up after your time spent with the Association, and your journey in the wilderness. I must admit you survived extremely well. I will leave you to rest.”

The man left the room, Alex following him. As soon as the strange boy had left, the wave of calm disappeared as well, and Allyssianne started to pace frantically. The others watched her, lost in their own thoughts.

Two days passed before the man came back again, and the girls were in the middle of a meal when he knocked and entered. He smiled at them, but the girls were wary, and his smile faded at the blank looks he was getting.
“I’m going to come straight to the point here. I need you to help me.”
“With what?” Lara asked suspiciously.
“With bringing the Association down. I understand that one of your number is still with them.”
“Only the traitor.” Holly muttered.
“Traitor?”
“Illianna.” Marny clarified.
“Anyway, will you help us bring them down and save your friend? Either way, we’ll get you safely back to your families.”

The girls conferred in low voices for a few moments, before the agreement was reached. They would help.

Two guards brought the boys to see them, and then the three adults left. Allyssianne made the first move, hugging Jamie tightly.
“You do know that she’s never going to let you go now?” Marny warned jokingly, and Allyssianne glared at her friend, and let go of the boy. Jamie gave a pretend gasp of air before smiling at Allyssianne.
“Sorry, but do you know if there was a girl in Moscow, red hair, called Illianna?” Asked one boy, the same one that the girls had seen two days prior.
“This is Alex,” Jamie explained, “Illianna is his sister.”
“You mean the traitor?” Lara clarified.
“She’s not a traitor!” Alex snarled.
“Eh, yeah! She tried to kill me!” Holly spat.

A seemingly endless fog of sadness drifted over the teenagers assembled in the cell as Alex lamented his sister’s choice. It lasted for a few minutes before one boy, with pale blond hair and almost red eyes recovered.
“Alex! Snap out of it!”
The fog vanished as Alex shook his head. “Sorry Daniel.” He murmured before looking determined. “We have to get Illi out of there.”
“Count me out.” Lara and Holly said at the same time. None of the others seemed too keen on the idea until Allyssianne stepped forwards.
“I’ll go.”