Taken

The afternoon sun hung high in the sky, shining brightly and reflecting off the sleek black vehicle that pulled up to a building. The building's colour was so dark it seemed to absorb the light around it. It was a house, a wonderfully designed one.

The car came to a stop, and a boy emerged—Hajin, the one who had been in an altercation with Calyx and Haze earlier. His face reflected his unhappiness as he walked into the building.

Inside, many other men roamed and lounged around, while cigarette smoke clouded the air and hard drugs lay on the table among guns.

"Huh, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" one of the seated men said, seeing Hajin walk in before inhaling his cigarette.

"Since when do you care if I go to school or not?" Hajin asked, walking over to the table and picking up a cigarette pack.

"I normally wouldn't care, but your father has said your missing school could hurt him politically. You have to behave until he enters office," the man explained as he blew smoke from his mouth.

"Well, I'm not going back there today. They manage to piss me off every time," Hajin scoffed, clicking the lighter and putting the fire to the tip of the cigarette, lighting it.

"Most students there are kids of your father's colleagues. Don't go starting fights. Wait, I hope you didn't fight with the Starborn girl," the man asked, a hint of panic in his voice.

"No, it's not her," Hajin replied.

"Good. It's better we don't mess with those guys. In fact, try and sway her if you can. We need our business with them to finish smoothly," the man explained, turning to glance at Hajin and noting his anger.

"So, who was it then?" the man inquired.

"Two rats. They're not even connected to any big movers in the city. I'd know if they were, and yet they had the audacity to disrespect me," Hajin said, his anger seeping through his voice.

"OK? And you came back here to cry about it?" The man asked, his voice dripping with disappointment.

"What did you want me to do? You're the one who said I should be well-behaved," Hajun retorted.

"Yes, I did—in school and in public. However, if some faceless guys were to, say, pick these boys up and teach them a lesson, that wouldn't have anything to do with you, would it?" The man conveyed his intentions with a devious grin.

"No, no it won't," Hajun replied, realizing what the man meant.

"If you understand, what are you still doing here? Take some guys and go if necessary," the man said, moving his hand in a dismissive motion.

"School doesn't close yet. I'll go when it's time," Hajun replied with a menacing smile, putting his cigarette to his mouth.

"Do what you want. Fuck off and let me smoke my problems away," the man said.

"You'll die from smoking," Hajun warned as he walked away.

"Look at this bastard, giving me health advice while puffing too," the man responded.

****

The bell rang, signaling the end of the class. The entire room erupted into a flurry of conversation as the teacher exited the class. Calyx fidgeted with his pen as he stared at the front of the class, deep in thought, before turning to Haze who sat beside him.

"How many classes do we have left?" Calyx asked, dropping his pen on his desk in front of him.

"I think about two," Haze replied as he stretched his hands and yawned.

"Let's leave then," Calyx suggested.

"What? Why?" Haze asked.

"If I do have to get seen tomorrow, I have to convince them that I can control my resonance and don't need suppression. I need practice if I'm going to do that," Calyx explained.

"I see. Let's get going then," Haze agreed as they stood up to leave the class.

They walked out into the hallway and took the stairs to the lower floor, where Halaine's classes were held. With shifting eyes, they scanned the halls for her before spotting her exiting a class.

"Yo, Hal!" Haze called out as they approached her.

"What's up, guys?" Hal greeted, noticing them.

"We're leaving early, so we just came to say goodbye," Haze explained as he walked behind her to unzip her bag.

"Huh? Why?" Halaine said as Haze took out two chocolate bars from her bag. He had been doing this since he saw chocolates in her bag a year ago, and somehow there were always chocolates.

"My mum needs our help with something," Haze fibbed as he threw one of the bars to Calyx.

"Oh, I'll see you guys tomorrow then," Halaine said as someone from the class she stepped out from called out for her.

"Coming!" Hal said as she turned toward the class.

"Well, bye, boys," Hal said, receiving subtle waves from both boys before she returned to the class.

"Man, we really need to stop lying to her so much," Haze said.

"Yeah," Calyx agreed as they both turned to walk away.

A couple of hours later, the sun had begun setting, and the students had just finished their last classes with all exiting the school. Halaine walked alone. Like most students of this school, Hal was also quite wealthy.

However, Calyx, Haze, and Halaine rejected all requests by their parents to be driven to school. Calyx and Haze took the train and walked to school, while they always walked back to the station together along with Halaine.

Today, she walked alone, earbuds in and music playing as she walked. Perhaps that was why she did not notice the car that followed her closely.

Not until the men jumped out from it, grabbing her. They were swift to take her into the car, even with her struggling. But that didn't mean no one around saw. After all, it was a fairly busy street; they just thought it best not to intervene.

So just like that, Halaine was kidnapped by masked men.