CHAPTER 3: HOW TO BECOME A DIFFERENT PERSON

    Ouch, ouch, ouch.

    Roselyn was awoken by the feeling of pain. It took her a moment to register where the point of origin was. Someone had grabbed her left arm and carelessly pulled her upward onto her feet. Ouch.
    A hand grabbed hold of her jaw and forcefully turned her head, fingers digging into her cheeks. She opened her eyes and found herself looking into a pair of dark yellow eyes. She had never seen people with eyes that color. He was more like a cat. He had light caramel colored hair, the bangs brushed to the right side of his face. What stood out the most, however, was his white jacket.
    Great. Roselyn thought, He found out I called him a girl.
    Leader had a very serious look on his face.
    "I bet you're wondering why you're here." He said.
    Well, the thought had crossed her mind. She hadn't dwelled much on it though.
    "Because you're very confused." She answered. No, this wasn't her answering. This was what she thought someone cool and confident like Rose would answer.
    "All right, then forget formalities." (These were his formalities? Really?) "I'll get straight to the point. How do you know Turao?"
    "Tuh-who?" She questioned.
    "Turao." He repeated.
    Roselyn glanced around with her eyes and noticed for the first time that the other five were all standing just behind leader. So, then he really was the one in charge here. Good Call, she thought.
    "I don't know him." She replied, "Or her...I'm not really sure."
    "Don't play dumb. They said that you were with him when they found you."
    "Was I? What does he look like?"
    Leader sighed heavily and dropped his eyes from hers in frustration. He then took a deep breath to regain his composure and found her eyes once more. He looked much more intimidating this time.
    "He's about 6'2, black hair and black eyes, very tough looking, and-"
    "Oh! Do you mean Bandages?"
    "What?" Leader looked taken aback by her comment.
    "You know, he had bandages on his hands? Is that him?"
    "I suppose." He replied, seemingly losing his patience.
    "We had just met. I've never even spoken to him before."
    "Are you serious?"
    "Yeah. He just told me 'Don't worry, this won't hurt' (she lowered her voice to mimic his low tones) and then that's all I remember."
    "That's it?" He sounded like he didn't believe her. The girl couldn't help but think it a little insulting.
    "Can you tell me Ghost's name too?"
    "Ghost?" He raised his eyebrow now, as though she had asked something completely ridiculous.
    "You know, the one y'all were chasing. He was super fast and agile."
    "Kodio." Leader replied dismissively. "So if you didn't know either of them, then what were you doing on the rooftop?"
    "Stargazing?" She tried.
    "In the middle of the day?"
    "Well, sometimes you can see the moon in the day." She reasoned.
    "Maybe if you don't want to tell the truth, I might have to convince you."
    "I don't know what you mean." She replied.

    "Ahhh!!!" She cried out in pain as something assaulted the side of her stomach. The smell of what could only be burnt flesh wafted up into her face, and she felt a little sick. She rolled her head to the side, and saw the red hot piece of metal that Claws still had in his hands. Damn. That was her new shirt he had just burnt a hole in.
    "Ok, ok," She said quickly, "That may have been a lie, but that- that's because..." She paused here for dramatic effect, and also because she was trying to think of something convincing. She remembered the last time she had been on a rooftop....all alone in the dark, the lights of the city like a thousand stars. Why had she been there in the first place?
    "I was going to jump." She said, steadying her voice. "The reason I didn't just say that in the first place, is because it's kind of embarrassing to admit, all right?"
    Leader put his palm up against her shoulder and slammed her back into the post.
    "Does this look like a game?" He asked.
    "I don't know what this looks like." She replied. "I don't even know where I am. Is this a dream, maybe? Oh, but that burn hurts too much to have been imagined." The pain was actually escalating by the second.
    "Forget it. Maybe you will feel like talking tomorrow." He said, and then snapped his finger, and one by one, the shadows filtered out from the tent.
    "What about the girl?" Eyepatch asked him.
    "Don't care. Do what you want with her."
    Then, they were all gone. All but one.
    Red walked over to her and his brown eyes caught hers. She decided that he actually had quite the baby face to go with that fluffy red hair. He was wearing a grey, sleeveless black jacket, with a sleeveless white shirt underneath. His arms looked like they might actually have quite a bit of muscle definition.
    There was something a little unnerving in his eyes though. He looked like a predator.
    "What do you want?" She asked cautiously. He just shrugged slightly, and kept moving closer to her, until his face was so close to hers, she was feeling claustrophobic again.
    "What do you want?" she repeated.
    As if in response, he lifted his hands and placed them on her hips, and pulled her closer toward him. She flinched. His hands were so hot, and he was touching her burn. The pain was so bad it was almost enough to make her stop thinking all together.
    "Remove your hands." She threatened.
    "Or what will you do to me?" He asked playfully.
    She bit her lip. There wasn't much that she could do from here. So what? Was she supposed to just stand there and do what he wanted?
    Red lifted his hand higher, tracing the contours of her body, lifting her shirt in the process. His hands then became much too adventurous. His touch was so hot it was almost like he was burning her everywhere.
    "So are you just molesting me, or are you actually going to rape me?" She asked, daringly.
    Her words seemed to catch him off guard, and he froze for just a moment, then lifted his hand and covered her mouth.
    "Why don't you shut up?" He said, his other hand reaching down to try and undo the button on her pants. His body was pushed right up against hers now, and she felt like she would suffocate.
    No. She thought. This absolutely can not happen again.    
    Remembering self-defense courses, she bit his hand. She bit him really really hard. He pulled his hand back from her face instinctively.
    "Kyndlen!" She yelled. She wasn't sure if it was because she thought he might help her, or if it was because his was the only name she actually knew. "Kyndlen! Help!"
    Red lifted his hand and slapped her across the face. He sure had no reservations about hitting girls. She lifted her leg in an attempt to kick him, but he simply caught it, and then closed the gap between their bodies once more.
    "Hey Ep, leave her alone."
    They both froze. Red did not turn around to see what Roselyn could see from where she was. Kyndlen was standing just behind him.
    "Amerun said we could do whatever we wanted with her." Red replied, as though his actions were completely justified.
    "Yes, but let's act civilized, shall we?" Kyndlen replied.
    "I agree. That sounds like a good idea." Roselyn cut in.
    She could see a visible look of anger and frustration flare up across Red's features. He took a deep breath, and then lifted his hand and patted her cheek and smiled. It made her face feel hot.
    "Maybe next time then"  He said, almost threateningly, then turned and walked past Kyndlen, toward the exit.
    Roselyn could feel her body instantly relax the moment he was gone. She closed her eyes as if to wipe away the entire situation. Erase it.
    "Did he hurt you?"
    "Nah." She replied, trying to sound tough, "If he had just asked, things could have been so much different."
    Kyndlen looked at her curiously, as though trying to decide if she was serious or not.
    "I'm joking." She said finally, "Who was that anyway?"
    "That's Epir." Kyndlen replied, "He's kind of an idiot sometimes."
    "I noticed."
    There was an awkward moment of silence before Roselyn spoke again.
    "Thanks...for helping me."
    "It's not personal, I just don't really condone that kind of thing."
    "Lucky for me then." She took a deep breath. "Do you think you could do me another favor though?"
    He looked at her as if waiting for her to reply.
    "Can you pull my shirt down and do up the button on my pants?"
    He smiled, almost nervously, and then moved closer to her. He first did up her button, and he grabbed her shirt to pull it down, but then froze, staring down at her stomach.
    "See something you like?" She asked suggestively.
    He looked up at her surprised.
    "Sorry." She said quickly, "Being kidnapped is making me kind of crazy. I can't be held accountable for at least half of the things I say."
    Kyndlen let her shirt fall back down around her, and then turned and walked out of the tent. Just when she was feeling like she may have scared him away, or that he abandoned her, he came back. He was holding a wooden bowl.
    He walked right up to her without hesitation, and lifted her shirt again. He then dipped his fingers in whatever nasty green substance was in the bowl, and applied it directly to her wound. She had to fight not to scream out in pain. It only stung for a moment though, and then it felt cool. She sighed, relieved.
    "Won't Amerun (So that was leader's name?)get mad at you for helping me?" She questioned.
    "Well, he did say we could do whatever we wanted with you. Besides, I don't really condone this sort of thing either."
    "You seem like a decent person. Maybe you should get some new friends."
    Kyndlen half smiled, and then pulled her shirt back down. He looked up and their eyes met. "There. Hopefully now you won't get an infection."
    Kyndlen then sat down on the ground beside the post. Confused, Roselyn lowered herself down to the same level as him.
    "What are you doing?" She asked.
    "Do you really not know Turao and Kodio?"
    "Why would I lie about that?"
    "So you know nothing?" He re-itterated.
    "I really don't."
    "Then I suggest you pretend you do."
    "What? Why? So I can get stabbed with more hot metal poker sticks?"
    "If Amerun finds out you actually are useless to him, he will just kill you. Either that, or leave you out here, tied to a post."
    "Really? He sure sounds heartless."
    "He's not heartless. He just does what he has to."
    What a lame excuse.
    "But if I'm left here, someone will find me eventually, I think."
    "You know, you haven't asked at all."
    "About what?"
    "About where we are, or why you're here. You haven't asked about us at all. Any normal human might be freaking out a little bit right now, but somehow, you're completely calm. It's almost as though you already know. It seems a little suspicious from our perspective, don't you think?"
    "Well, I WAS wondering what happened to my coat." She commented sarcastically. This seemed weird to her. She wasn't normally a sarcastic person, but maybe the events of her life had indeed made her bitter.
    She scolded herself though. As if that comment didn't make her sound even more suspicious. She hadn't thought for one moment that not letting her fear show might make her look guilty. She had just decided it would be useless to know the facts when she would die so soon anyway. Still....what was she guilty of?
    "I'm joking." She replied, without giving Kyndlen a chance to say anything. "It's true. I don't know where I am, or why I'm here, but I suppose I'm sort of in denial and I just keep expecting I will wake up any minute now and just be at home, in my bed. There's no point in getting worked up about being kidnapped, when there's not much I can do about it anyway."
    "The way you think is strange." He said.
    "Bad things happen in this world." She continued, "If there's something you can do to stop it, then that's great. But there's no use fixating on something you can do nothing about. I learned that a long time ago."
    "What about something you could have done something about, but didn't?"
    The sudden change in Kyndlen's tone startled her. She faltered.
    "I'm sure it wasn't your fault." This was Roselyn talking now, but she couldn't help it. She felt a little sad.
    "You think so?" He asked. She nodded her head.
"Well, then..." He continued, "I think it probably wasn't your fault either, what happened to you, so you should stop blaming yourself for it."
    Roselyn's eyes opened wide. She felt confused.
    "What do you mean?"
    "Didn't you say you wanted to jump off the roof?"
    She nodded slowly. Even if that wasn't her actual reason for being on the roof, she had once been on a roof with that intention.
    "Since it wasn't your fault, you can stop doing that, all right? Stop pretending you don't care if you die. Live instead."
    Roselyn instantly felt like crying. How could he so easily see through the mask she was wearing? How could he see right through Rose, into Roselyn's heart?
    Perhaps becoming someone else wasn't as easy as she had thought. She felt completely vulnerable.
    "Can you stay with me, just for the night?" She questioned. "I'm kind of afraid that Red might come back."
    But she wasn't afraid of Epir. That wasn't it.
    "All right." He agreed.
    Roselyn's heart pounded in her chest.