Six Years Ago

A Chapter by MiMi

Where it began.

The four men stood hovering over a large table in the shape of a hexagon. The pictures of the four candidates spread out before them. They contemplated the possibilities. Two girls, one young and one becoming of age. Two boys, one also young and the other already an adult. Their choice having been the candidate with the slightest idea of what they truly are but not too much.

“What about the young blonde?” inquired the shortest of the four.

“No, no she’s much too young,” countered the eldest.

Now, with the young girl gone, the four men stood staring at the three pictures left.

“How ‘bout the eldest boy?” said the youngest in askance.

“Interesting, although, he’s much too aware of his abilities,” the eldest stated.

Now, with the young girl eliminated along with the eldest boy, the four men stood with their attention on the two candidates left.

“The girl maybe?” the tallest thought.

“Perhaps the young boy?” inquired the youngest..

With that they looked at one another. Their smiles grew and grew. They would choose both.

“Shall we track them down?” the twins asked of the men.

“Yes, bring us the girl and the boy,” the eldest of the four told them.

That was final and the two’s destiny’s and fate’s were intertwined..

The air in Gunner’s Edge was cold. Much too cold to be standing outside waiting for a friend who was always late to pick you up. At least that was the case for Moon Stone. The wind blew her raven black hair in every which direction and in front of her hazel eyes obscuring her vision. Her black jeans soaked to her knees due to the snow that was in her drive. She hugged her black jacket to her as to keep her warm. Finally, after waiting for an hour and a half, Moon saw Michael’s black BMW M6 Coupe pull up to the sidewalk across the street. Michael rolled down the passengers side window and yelled out to her, “Get in s**t, we’re going to be late for the meeting.”

Given that Michael is very flamboyantly gay, it didn’t bother her that he called her a s**t. What bothered her was the fact that he was all but dragging her to this meeting about the abduction’s that started six years ago and had continued throughout the years. One kid would be taken from Gunner’s Edge every three months or so after that first one. It started with a girl who was sixteen at the time. No one even heard from or saw her again after that. Her name was Sara Hart, a pretty girl with a heart shaped face and strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. A straight ‘A’ student that never missed a day of school in her life. The kind of kid every parent wishes their kid would be but doesn’t say it out loud. Michael knew her. Not well, but well enough to say hi to her everyday when they passed each other in the hallways at school. He drove them out to an old abandoned shack of a house that everyone called The Grange. Outside of the place was a small brown haired woman who was curled up in herself weeping. Moon figured it was Sara’s mother.

Probably called to talk about Sara’s disappearance., she thought to herself.

They stepped out of the BMW and everyone was rushed into The Grange. They took their seats and Michael looked as if he was ready to take on the world or something close to it. Moon, on the other hand was dreading the moment they started up the speeches that were supposed to be empowering and inspirational. “Use the Buddy System!” declared a banner above the podium that Moon assumed the speakers would be using for their speeches. Luckily, she knew that this meeting would take just about all of her night, so she took time to pack a few sodas and waters before locking up the house. But once she opened up the first water of the night when the first speaker went up to the podium, she heard a whisper.

Beware, I tell you of Wonderland.

They’ll let you know where they stand.

They’ll take you away to their world of wonder.

They’ll do this so as you slumber.

So on the night they decide whom to take.

It’s best the sleep that you fake.

Runaway to find me here.

I warn you, I am never near.

Moon looked at Michael on her right who was applauding the speaker, who was crying.

“Did you hear that?” she asked, her head cocked to the side curiously. But Michael barely heard her. As a matter of fact, he didn’t hear her at all. Moon looked around the room to find that everyone was applauding and some were even crying along with the speaker. Then everything went dark and Moon couldn’t see anything at all. She couldn’t breathe. Then…she fell asleep. Or was it even sleep at all?