Warrior Games

Chapter Three

Taken

Emily, afraid and shivering, hugged herself tightly in her underground basement. She glanced at the injured form of her mother and could not help the tears that came sliding down her cheeks. Why? Why was this happening? She seemed not to be able to stop that particular thought from popping in her mind every now and then. Why, the day had seemed normal and had promised to be like every other day. Although she had hated the monotony of it as a teenager, she had never wanted that monotony to be broken in this manner. Right now, she felt raising the middle finger to those damn buckets roaming the once beautiful sky of her planet. And not being able to even stand up to the wretched things left a bitter taste in her mouth. She suddenly felt like she was at the bottom of a food chain in an ecosystem where she was formerly at the top, which felt frustrating. If she wasn't this powerless, she would have been able to fight back and protect her home, her planet, everything she holds dear.

As another tear slid down, she made a silent vow to herself, a vow to reach the top, to become powerful. To dominate the food chain. No matter the means.

"Emily," a weak voice broke into her thoughts. Angrily wiping away the tears, she moved to her mother's side and held her hands softly with undisguised love in her eyes even as tears welled up once more, threatening to spill over.

"Mum," Emily managed to squeak past the lump in her throat. Looking at her ince vibrant mother lying there on the basement floor with blood pooling around her was almost too much to take in.

"Emily," her mother called again, her eyes flashing with pain at the effort. "I'm not sure I'll make it, Emily."

"Mum. . ."

"Ssshh," her mother cut her off gently. "It's no use deceiving myself. I've lost too much blood." Her mother's eyes closed as she struggled with the pain. When she opened them again, it shone with tears. "I'm really sorry, baby. My baby," she added softly.

Now Emily was sobbing. "No! No, Mum, don't say that. I'm not going to let you leave me," she choked out the words, though knowing that she couldn't do a thing. She was helpless and she knew it. This made her very frustrated and angry.

Her frustration must have clearly shown on her face as her mother smiled. "Don't sweat it, baby," she said gently. "Just prepare yourself for what I know is to come. Don't worry," she raised a bloody hand to caress Emily's cheek, using her thumb to clean away the tears which was of no use as more kept trickling down. "I'll always guide you. Right here." She pointed to Emily's chest with her other hand, leaving a blood stain on the touched part of her dress.

More tears tumbled out as Emily held her mother's hand that was caressing her cheek and pressed it lovingly. She closed her eyes to enjoy the feeling of her Mum's calloused palm, memories of cherished moments coming to her.

She opened her eyes, her mouth opening to say something when she suddenly knew. The cold hands, the lifeless eyes that had once sparked blue. . . Oh God.

A fresh torrent of tears came bursting out of her eyes as she experienced sorrow at the intense sense of loss that washed over her, making her shiver as sobs racked her body. She closed her eyes again as she could not bear to look at her mother's face, a face that even in death still donned a light smile.

When she finally got the nerve to open her eyes, she laid out a hand to close the eyes that had once looked at her with so much love and affection.

"I know, Mum," Emily sobbed. "I know you always will."

****

Kyle stumbled weakly through the streets, or what had once been the streets of the small island community of Mystic Falls. His home. Or was it former now? He chuckled hoarsely, earning him a painful bout of coughing. He was thirsty, and his throat was as dry as hell. Walking for hours through the depressing ruins of his country only served to make him see the true meaning of desolation and devastation, with his stomach already complaining for being deprived its right. Gradually and gradually— although he didn't realize it yet — he was losing hope. Hope for himself. Hope for his world. But who could blame him? Kyle had never received anything good out of life. Always, it was him suffering. Right from when he could discern right from wrong, he only knew struggle, suffering and what had he still always gotten in return? More suffering. And now, now that he was finally almost seeing the realization if his dream, this happened. It made him want to roar up at the skies. It made him want to beat the sh*t out of the this that was making his life to turn out like this.

He almost chuckled again. What could an insignificant ant like him do anyway? He knew that the radar of whoever that was orchestrating all this would not even register him as a blip. Hell, he was no one to his own community so what was he to the universe? An helpless chicken. That is what he was. An helpless chicken that could only prepare to be killed and eaten. Not being able to avoid his fate.

"Halt!"

Kyle froze as he almost did. But then he realized, with a relieved sigh, that it was not being directed at him.

Moving as steathily as he could, he moved behind a giant pile of rubble and crawled up the side, all the while suppressing the fear he was feeling at what he would see.

And what he did see made him fear. And lose the little hope he had left. For if before he had hope for Earth, that hope was gone now. Earth couldn't possibly fight against this.

****

She could still hear the sound amidst her sobs. It was loud now and was still increasing by the second. Though Emily had a rough guess on what it was that was, she seemingly did not care. The only person in the world she cared about was gone so why should she care. If they wanted to take her, well, here she was. She couldn't fight back even if she wanted to anyway.

Wiping her tears, she put on a look of defiance and waited. Which she didn't have to do for long according to her estimation. Already the sound was almost getting too loud and she could see a weak ray of light streaming through an opening in the mass of jumbled and collapsed stone blocks that served as a blockage to the basement. What had seemed impenetrable then was now being taken apart piece by piece till the tiny ray became a large and powerful beam, forcing her to look away. But what she managed to glimpse in that little space of time made her blood run cold. How could something like that be possible. It defied common sense, shattering everything she knew.

"Earthling," a voice filled with indifference made her to finally look at the source, her eyes showing defiance. She refused to let them get the satisfaction of seeing her fear, which she could barely rein in as her mouth already felt clammy with her insides fluttering wildly.

The beam of light meanwhile retreated into the outstretched hands of the person. Person? Was he a human? With a shock, she realized he was.

The man's gaze flitted to Emily's mother but he only let his eyes take in the sight of the corpse for a split second before looking at Emily again. She saw no expression in his eyes whatsoever. No feeling. And she knew that somebody like him had probably seen his own fair share of corpses. Hell, she could even bet her life that he had also killed. But would she also die by his hands, added to the collection of his kills?

Her chin lifted up in defiance, making a hint of approval to show in the man's vermillion eyes. Approval? Or could she be mistaken? She was confused but nevertheless, he still held his indifferent gaze with her defiant own.

With a cold smile, the man turned and ordered, "Take this one."

Before she could even make sense of what was going on, one of the two soldiers in strange armor that had followed the man struck her on the skull, moving so fast that all she saw was a blur before sinking into darkness.

****

Kyle watched as the last of the soldiers fell lifelessly to the ground, a big hole in his chest. He was breathing rapidly and was struggling not to faint. What was this? This was damn freakish. The Earthly side of the soldiers had offered no significant resistance at all. Even with all the tanks and the big guns, they just fell one after the other like flies while those freakishly strong aliens waltzed through like it was nothing.

Funnily enough, those aliens were like every other person. If the armor, weapons and helmets were replaced with shirts and trousers, they would perfectly look like his everyday neighbours. But these were different, he knew. Their strength and speed were beyond human limits, not to talk of the strong powers they wielded.

The soldiers, Kyle deducted, were probably a rescue squad that had rescued some people judging by the various bodies huddled together in fear. They had probably been heading somewhere to regroup before being forced to stop and fight . . .and die.

Now he watched from his perch as teenagers his age were picked out along with other young people and forced to move in a ragged line to one of the distant spaceships that had landed not far away.

Kyle smiled bitterly. They're capturing only young people. And he was one of them. He would be instantly captured if they so much as lay their eyes on him. Well, if they could give him something to eat and more importantly, drink, he would just try to adapt to the situation and try his best to survive. Even as the thoughts were going through his head, he had half a mind to reveal himself and give himself up to be captured, but common sense told him to wait and watch patiently.

As he watched, some of the aliens, dressed in white overalls marched out out of the spaceship's entrance and moved to where the other people who were not captured were staying. Kyle held his breath as he thought they were about to do something terrible to the people but released a sigh when he saw one of the white-clad aliens unstrap a big bag and started bringing out something that seemed like a medicinal kit. Then removing his gaze from that angle, he focused once more on the spaceship.

One of the aliens who wore a different armor design and whom Kyle assumed to be the captain walked majestically from the spaceship and then...

Her sharp gaze locked unto him.

Damn! Kyle cursed loudly and scrambled down the pike of rubble, his body receiving scratches for his haste. He couldn't understand how she had seen and known he was there from such a far distance. It was just damn creepy. Damn creepy. What were these people anyway? Gods? They possessed abilities that were truly bizarre.

An explosion resounded behind him and Kyle looked back to see his former perch blown to bits. For a moment, he was shocked. If he had still been there, he would have died. No mistake about that. Were they nuts? He thought they were taking prisoners!

Another explosion, startingly close, rocked him off his feet, the concussive force throwing him against a large stone block.

"Aargh!" Kyle shouted in pain as the hard stone connected with his back. Standing up weakly, Kyle continued to limp away, determined to put as much distance as possible between him and the bastards.

He risked a glance back and almost cried in despair. He had seen their speed, but experiencing it himself was almost enough to make him pee on his pants. They were gaining and fast. Sooner rather than later, he would be caught by them. And killed.

Raising his head up to the sky, Kyle sighed deeply and then did something that even surprised him: picking up a metal rod from the rubble-strewn ground, Kyle turned to face his pursuers, a mad glint in his eyes.

His pursuers stopped abruptly as if shocked that some lowly ant wanted to fight back. Their heads tilted as they studied Kyle who was secretly shaking inside but was putting on a brave front outside. His gaze held theirs defiantly and he held the rod in a defensive stance. Time seemed to slow down at that moment as Kyle waited for the first attack.

Suddenly, before Kyle could even raise his crude weapon, a blur hit him hard in the face, making him roll in midair from the impact before hitting the ground.

Damn! He had not seen that coming. Touching the side of his head, Kyle felt something wet and sticky: his blood. That ine strike had sure done a number on him. He winced as the pain hit him, his whole head throbbing like the mad engine of a chainsaw. All he saw now was a blur but he knew that he still had to stand. No, he must stand. Even if he died, he has to due knowing he had not been a coward.

Forcing himself to stand, Kyle hobbled weakly as his head spun dizzily. Shaking his head to try to clear the sensation, he faced them once more and, in return, received another hit in the gut that sent him flying backwards, the metal rod falling from his hands. He fell and didn't stop but continued rolling backwards for a few more metres before stopping.

Blood trickled from his mouth even as he felt an intense pain assaulting his whole torso. He was down, he knew it and all it had taken were two strikes. Just two. How strong were these people. Kyle has been in a lot of fights growing up and he had also received his fair share of blows. But never had he been felled with just two hits! Not fair, not fair at all. Why were the people of Earth this weak? Why? And he had thought Earth was a blessed planet.

Kyle rolled unto his back and took in the dark red sky of Earth, his eyes angry. Curse the Universe for making Earth weak. For making him weak. For not letting him enjoy anything out o

its hands.

A humanoid figure blocked his sight as the alien loomed above him. Kyle chuckled. "Do it," he said defiantly. "I hope you die a cruel death."

The alien raised his hand to deliver a vicious strike and Kyle closed his eyes as he waited for death. Even if his resistance had been flimsy, he had at least stood up to them. He could raise his head firmly high in the afterlife now.

Then it came. He felt something hard, presumably the alien's hand, hit him on the head. All he had time to think of was how a person's hand could be this hard before he felt himself plunging into a deep sleep he had no idea if he could wake up from.

****

Sonia watched coldly as the youth was knocked out. He had balls, she would give him that. And it was brave, stubborn people like him that they needed. Not jelly hearted people. Her eyes shone with contempt. People like those, she would gladly kill herself.

As she walked towards the unconscious form on the ground, her men bowed respectfully, but she seemingly paid no mind to them at all, moving with a grace that betrayed her regal bearing. Her red cape swirled elegantly behind her as a light breeze kicked up in her wake, her presence making the world seem brighter, like a mystical deity dwelling in the mortal realm.

When she reached the youth, a cold smile tugged at her lips. Instantly her soldiers were forced to look down again as their hearts palpitated.

He was not bad, not bad at all. She looked at his face more closely and frowned. His face, though attractive, hid a lot of misery and pain. What more could she glean if she peered into his eyes. . .

She shook her head to dislodge the thoughts that had settled there. She could not guarantee not feeling attached to him if she experienced his deepest memories. She had to keep her head, not lose it. In a position like hers, emotions were a setback.

She called over one of her men. "Check him out."

"Yes, My Lady." The man bowed and then flexed his fingers as he bent down to touch the sides of Kyle's head.

Sonia watched as his eyes lost focus for some moments before regaining focus again. Powers like his were useful as he could check the background information of anything — animate or inanimate. Similar to hers but only at a shallow level.

"Yes?" she inquired.

The man stood up. "Kyle Sorenson. Age, sixteen; country, Mystic Falls; parental status, none; occupation. . ." the soldier droned on and on until he suddenly stopped, an amused glint in his eyes.

Sonia frowned, prompting him to finish. ". . . Known nicknames, Mad Kid."

Her eyebrows jumped high. Oh? He must have been very popular. She waved her hands dismissively at the soldier and turned her gaze again to Kyle.

Kyle Sorenson, she mused. She maybe had not made a mistake in putting him through the test after all. This one will be under her watch constantly.

"Take him," she ordered before, with a sweep of her cape, turned to go.

Mister Sorenson, your future's in your hands. Her eyes took on an indecipherable glint. Let's see how high you can climb.