Chapter 1
A young man woke up in an uncomfortable position without his clothes on him. He can't move his arms or at least he can't move them much. He takes in a small breath, but finds that he has been gagged and it is a little hard to breathe. It was dark, pitch black and from the position of his body, he could tell that he was in a tight enclosed space. The space was very cold and smooth almost like metal.
The young man would have noticed this if he didn't start hyperventilating from his situation. He couldn't recall what happened prior to waking up and the earliest memory he had was going to the bathroom late at night. He was confused about what happened between then and when he woke up. The gag kept him from getting a lot of air into his lungs which made him panic more.
He then closed his eyes as tears began to roll down his face, making his face more susceptible to the cold environment of the space he woke up in. He tried to pull his hands close to himself in an attempt to fiddle with his fingers as his anxiety was starting to get the better of him. The sounds of chains echoed through the air until he hit his head on a very short roof as the sound of chains were drowned out by a loud metallic bang. He recognized the sound from when he'd hit his head on several occasions when he fell on his family's old trailer.
The bang did more than confirm that he was in a very small area, but the sudden pain focused his thoughts. Before that, he couldn't think straight, and his mind was racing with several possibilities as well as what could happen. The sudden pain made him focus on how it felt and allowed him to collect himself to finally assess the area from what he could feel. He repeatedly told himself that he was okay despite the awful situation he was in.
The one thing he now knew was that whoever kidnapped him wanted him unharmed as his wrist restraints had padding to make it feel less like metal, but it still had him connected to a short leash of chains. He still had a lot of questions, but he hit his head on the roof again to not overwhelm himself. It would be a bad idea to do it and have his anxiety take over again. The more noise he makes, the more likely he'd get killed by his kidnappers. There isn't much he could do in this situation, so he settled to keep himself calm and maximize his chances of survival. It was far from ideal.
To keep himself from freaking out, he began to fantasize about breaking out and taking out his kidnappers using moves inspired from his favorite cartoons and anime. He had an unchecked imagination, but he made sure to keep his thoughts and actions separate to function normally in society. Oddly enough, he couldn't help but smile at the nice feeling of familiarity spreading through him.
Something caused a sudden burst of inertia making him jerk backwards and out of his daydream. The space would begin to shake and shift violently so that the young man would occasionally hit his head on the short roof or a wall in front of him. He already knew he was in a box, but he thought he could do without the brain damage.
The box was being moved, that was easy to figure out, but he couldn't help but feel happy that he was able to travel in some sort of trunk. It was one thing he wanted to do for a while before he woke up in the small box. It made his breathing more difficult through all the bumps and it was from this that he could tell he was being hauled on a trailer. It was a familiar feeling since he would often ride on the trailer. He was wondering if he was alright knowing all this without his sight because he felt this was incredibly convenient to know for a normal person.
He got over it, not seeing the point in thinking about it too much. Instead, he began to daydream to pass the time while still hitting his head every now and then. The young man was content with making the most of his situation despite having nothing to work with other than his own thoughts.
He eventually started to relax after realizing that he had no control and thought he could figure out escape later; if he had any self defense training. The illusion of his escape was broken when the box began to move suddenly as it threatened to tip over. The sound of explosions and gunfire managed to breach the interior of the metal box which made him a little hopeful. He was happy that some militarized force was there and could save him.
Unfortunately, the box tipped over and slid on the ground, occasionally turning as the box hit something to cause such an odd action. The young man was violently thrashed around by the inertia and inevitably hit his head on the walls and roof. By the time it stopped, he could feel a liquid substance to drip down his face. He didn't need to be a doctor to know that he had a gash somewhere on his head. He couldn't tell if he was injured anywhere else. Once again, he began to hyperventilate from the terror of the crash.
The battle raged on outside as strange noises accompanied the sounds of war. He couldn't describe it since it was a new sound. He tried to calm himself after the crash, but it was impossible as explosions would hit near the box and move it from time to time. If he was really unlucky, then he would flip again, making his attempt to calm himself pointless. He felt helpless in this situation. He couldn't get out of the battle field and get to safety even if the box somehow opened. It was pointless to calm himself now; he was paralyzed with fear.
The sound of fighting eventually ended and nothing was causing the box to shift anymore, but a dull pain crept through his arm. It hurt, but he was able to stay composed. He had no doubt that the crash broke one of his arms. He guessed as much, but he didn't expect it to hurt so much. It was easy for him to think about how an injury feels, but he was still caught off guard by the pain. There wasn't much he could do but sit there until someone opened it.
No doubt the victors would be curious about the box; either his kidnappers were worried about him being injured or his saviors would want to know why it was so important. Either way, the box would be open and he could finally see the outside and possibly orient himself. It was still a bad situation he was in, but he was hoping for the best while preparing for the worst. It was something his dad and grandfather told him due to their military experience and how he'd use it when he was doing a project.
The young man growled to himself as he kept thinking back to his past. He didn't know why he kept doing it. The best he could come up with was him subconsciously trying to recall something to help him escape, but it was illogical thinking since he had nothing to escape with; not even clothes. He also thought that it was a coping mechanism due to his situation. His subconscious was trying to calm him due to the high stress of a kidnapping, his irrational fear of the dark, or to help him retain some sense of normalcy.
His train of thought ended as he heard voices on the outside of the box, but they were too muffled to make sense of. One sounded angry while the other was almost nonexistent, but still vaguely heard. Since he couldn't hear any words other than muffled voices, still unable to decipher what they were saying, he couldn't formulate a plan to use it against them.
Just then, a bang echoed through the inside of the box. Next, the young man could see light leaking through a crack. He was happy that he could finally see something other than complete darkness. The metal creaked as the crack became larger and larger until he could see the bright blue sky. Tears filled his eyes as he was elated to see something he used to think was so mundane.
The box began to open more and more until he realized it was on one of the sides where his wrist was chained. He tried to pull it back since he could now clearly see that it was broken. It was pointless as the wall, now the roof, opened more and more. Pain shot through his entire body and he screamed through the gag. He couldn't help it, his arm felt like it was going to be ripped off if the wall continued to open.
"Holy shit!" A voice yelled, clearly masculine, "Someone's in there!" The young man saw something cover the light. After his eyes adjusted, he could tell it was an eye, but it was incredibly peculiar. It had started to turn black with the center most part of the pupil becoming catlike and red. What made it weirder was how that read pupil over lapped his regular pupil. "Don't worry, we'll get you out!" The masculine voice yelled once more with newfound determination as his shadow moved to another position round the box.
"We were transporting someone?!" A meeker voice asked, this one was feminine. The light was covered again as another eye peered through the crack. Her eye was normal, but it had a strange mark under her eye. "Oh no. He's hurt!" The young man wanted to sass her, but the gag prevented it. It was a compulsion of his that he was somewhat proud of.
"Why else do you think I moved over here?!" More lines of light broke through the opening wall. "Damn it, Rebecca, deactivate your mark. You're wasting energy." The young man was confused now, but at least he got some valuable information such as one of their names.
"Crap! Sorry!" With that, the wall opened completely. The young man's arm was stretched for a second before the chain was broken; freeing one of his arms. He couldn't help but shed a few more tears from both happiness and pain. "Bell, You shouldn't have told me to do that! He's injured and I could have wasted less time healing him instead of activating my ability again!" The young man noted that the man who saved him had an odd name for a guy; Bell. He wondered if it was a nickname of sorts since it would be unlikely that parents would give a man a name more fitting for a girl.
"Alight, I'm sorry! You go through energy so quickly that I thought you'd be exhausted after that fight!" Bell stopped for a second before remembering something. "You said he was hurt, so why did you deactivate your ability when you saw that?!" The young man was starting to wonder if they still remembered that he needed a lot of help with his injuries. He was also getting a headache from all the yelling, but he was still gagged so asking them to stop was off the table.
"I don't know what you're talking about?" The young man was now thinking that he was going to die since these two seemed more prideful than to admit that they were both dumb and help him.
"This isn't the time to be coy! Help him!" It was official, the young man had a headache. He wished that he hadn't been gagged so he could give them the sassing of a lifetime. They needed it after putting themselves above a very broken, physically, man.
Rebecca made a small noise before realizing the source of their argument was silently waiting to be healed. "S-sorry! I should have been more attentive! Please forgive me!" She was kind enough to apologize to the young man for the delay, but he still couldn't respond. He was still gagged and was still crying. They were no longer tears of gratitude, but tears of pain as his adrenaline finally died down. "Oh no, I'm very sorry! I'll heal you right now!" She finally leaned into the box as strange markings lined her arm.
Her form was shadowed due to the sudden appearance of her figure, but the young man just had to let his eyes adjust. No doubt, it had been a few hours since he'd seen anything so his eyes were still sensitive. He closed them to allow himself to be healed and not stare directly at the bright sun. The only clue to what the woman looked like was a darkened glance of a marked arm reaching to him. He was still grateful that they're willing to help him.
A second pair of hands, presumably from the man, touched the back of his head and began to work on untying the gag. He seemed to be having difficulty if his frustrated grunts were anything to go by. He eventually gave up and sought to break the chains. This shocked the young man as he didn't even realize that his gag was made of metal. "There," Bell said, satisfied with his work, "That should do the trick. Try talking now, it should be easier." The young man didn't doubt him, but he had to do something first.
For the first time in hours, he took in a long, deep breath that completely filled his lungs as well as the greatest feeling of satisfaction he's ever experienced. A smile appeared on his face as the pain began to subside gradually. He just wanted to take in as much air as he could before saying a single word; wanting to feel the pleasant feeling of full lungs for the first time in a while. He also wanted to take in as much fresh air as possible since he'd been breathing in air filled with the smell of his own sweat. Everytime he exhaled, he let out a small laugh for such a small victory, but one he wholeheartedly accepted.
"Thank you." The young man's voice was hoarse and raspy from disuse and a dry throat. He tried to swallow as much as he could to fruitlessly stave the growing discomfort in his neck. A hand grabbed the arm still chained to the adjacent wall, but it was different from a normal hand. It was much bigger and their nails were longer and sharper. It was also covered in a somewhat thin layer of hair; even on their palms, but he was reluctant to open his eyes.
A hand cradled his head and the rim of a bottle was lightly pushed to his lips as the binds on his other wrist finally snapped with a loud snap. "Drink this." Rebecca said. The young man hesitated, a little cautious despite everything that happened. "Don't worry, it's water." He couldn't take the dryness of his throat any longer and decided to take them up on their offer. The young man wasn't suspicious of them in the slightest, he just didn't want them to waste their resources on him.
The young man finally opened his eyes and made a crucial discovery. His saviors were not human.