Move them

"We, we finally made it back!" A little boy said with tears in his eyes. With him, were five other children. They all had tears of joy in their eyes staring at the people who moved about. "We're home!" He shouted and they ran forward.

The people turned to see six tattered looking children whom bore bruises on their skin run with joy into the village. "They, they're some of the missing kids!" Someone said recognizing one of the children.

"Abby? Abby!" A woman shouted in joy seeing her daughter run towards her with tears in her eyes.

"Mummy!" She called out with open arms and ran to embrace her mother. She continually wept in the hold of her mother.

"Abby are you okay, my dear? What happened to you, where were you?"

"Mom? Mom?! Mom, where are you?!" Alfred cried running about the village to his home. "Mom! Mom, are you home? Mummy, I'm back!" He banged on the doors to his home. Hearing a very familiar voice, Matilda pulled herself up from the bed she had been laying on for the past week, making only minimal movements from time to time.

"Alfred?" She hurriedly ran to the door. "Alfred is that you?!"

"Mom!" He held onto her. She bent over and held her son tightly.

"Alfred, my boy, where have you been? I was worried sick!" Tears rolled down from her eyes as she embraced her son. Hearing the banging and shouting, Justina, mother of Malakai came out of her house. She was also a nextdoor neighbour to the Sylvester's and immediately ran out when she heard a recognizable voice.

"Mom, those men, those men they took us and...and" Alfred tired to speak but was crying uncontrollably.

"A-Alfred? Alfred, you're here!" Justina said with a smile as she looked over at the mother-son duo held up in each other's embrace. She was beginning to have hope that perhaps her son and husband are still okay and would return as Alfred has.

"It's okay, don't cry too much, you're home now." Matilda said wiping the tears that fell from her son's eyes. "You're safe." She hugged him once more.

"I was so scared, I thought I wouldn't make it back. They took us into the fields and then began to transport us from this village to someplace far off. I and a few others managed to escape before then, but we were already far away from here and wondered in the bushes before making it back." He said with his eyes closed and his head buried in his mother's chest.

"You're a very brave boy. You fought and made it back," Justina said stroking his hair while bent close to them. Matilda looked at her and then had a sad expression.

"Alfred, what about Malakai?" Matilda asked her son softly.

"Malakai, Malakai was caught and taken back when he tried to escape with us!" Alfred cried louder. "I don't know where they took him."

Justina felt a stab in her chest on hearing Alfred's words. The hope she just now had began to diminish once more. Still, she was happy that Matilda got to reunite with her son. Seeing her expression, Matilda placed her hand softly on Justina's hands and squeezed it a bit looking at her with soft eyes.

"It's okay, I'll leave you be now. Y-you should get him freshened up, treated, and most importantly fed, Alfred must be really starved." Justina separated herself from the family and returned to her empty house which was once a home. As soon as she stepped in and closed the door, she fell to the floor and rested her back on the door with her face buried between her knees as she held herself tightly.

"Will you ever come back Malakai? Will you ever come back Victor?" She muttered softly with tears falling from her eyes.

********

"Mother, are you okay? Father is gone, do you know that? I am separated from you and all I wish is to see you again." Malakai said to himself staring up at the ceiling.

Footsteps were heard moving in their direction, and by the sound of it, it didn't seem to be many people.

"So, we have to preserve them now," One of the masked persons that they had seen once before spoke. Their voices were somewhat distorted due to the masks they wore and their choice of attire made them seem mysterious. They all had on brown coloured cloaks and would stand still for a while looking at the children while speaking softly to themselves.

"This means they have to leave this chamber to a place were they will be of more use." Another said. "I mean, we can use them now, right? Since you both are handling the issue." He asked and received a nod from both Rasmus and Aella.

"Whatever you please to do with them, can be done now. But, I would advise not all at once. This is what you have to live on for three years, at least." Rasmus said.

'All you have to live on?' The children wondered what was meant with that choice of words. Were they supposed to be food?

"It's okay, I do enjoy the other way more than what we've been doing recently, we've been wasting them. Finally, I get to be satisfied." Another masked man spoke.

"It has always been nice to just watch them," A female voice this time said.

"Do I give our contacts a message?" Rasmus asked the rulers.

"Right away, let's have some fun. Move them out of here and make it snappy, my patience gets thinner with each passing moment." One of the masked men said and walked closer to the room and then held onto the bars. "Hey kids, I just want to let you know we are going to have so much fun together. I deeply apologize for keeping you in such a place. Don't worry, you are going somewhere nicer in a jiffy."

"Not with you here." The lady in the group pulled him back.

"Wh-why?" He asked.

"You are seriously asking after what you did last time we asked you to move them?" Another spoke up.

"That wasn't entirely my fault, they just looked so weak and helpless, I couldn't help myself." He defended himself.

"Well, now we are being cautious, you leave first and then they get moved."

"No, we all leave Rasmus to get to work. None of us here can be trusted. Red, you shouldn't keep referring to Rod like you're any better." The female said.

"Oh, rabbit. You're the only one who speaks the truth." Rod said and Red scoffed.

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Hello, author here, participating in my first WPC. Giving the world of revenge a try, so here's a story about secrecy, greed, power, bloodshed, gods and demons, and a young man who finds himself between them all.

You can let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

I hope you enjoy reading.