The Collection

It started with a bang. Not those metaphorical bangs from useless stories, no, this was a literal bang. Pietro, Yulia and I sprang up immediately, the ones who had been a part of bombings and air raids before - though it didn't take long to realise that it wasn't a bomb.

"Probably church door fall," Yulia sighed, crashing back down onto her pillow as Pietro reached up to my bunk and patted my fingers.

Dominik and Katya both murmured from their sleep, and Adrik resumed quietly complaining about how having numerous friends resulted in a lack of permanent pillows. The homely atmosphere lasted only a moment longer before an identical bang rang out through the church - this time much, much, louder.

Yulia slowly raised her head again. "Not… that not church door."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Sherlock? Piet, I no understand this word."

Any chance to explain was lost before the church doors did burst open, clattering onto the floor as the cold night wind swept in. Crying out, Dominik instinctively jumped from his bunk and rolled to the side doors, the rest of us following suit as we glanced back at the light pouring into the broken cathedral.

Raiders? No, the country has been stable recently. Child protection? No, they never cared about us - why now? The possibilities raced through all of our heads, though the reality was none of us understood. Ignoring whatever was entering the church, we slipped out the side door together and darted into the small wood on the left side of the building.

They were everywhere.

Vehicles that resembled tanks were circling around the church, strange men and women in uniforms strutting around like it was their lunch break as they wielded guns larger than any of us had seen in all of Sokovia's war. It didn't take long before the sudden shadows cast on the illuminated path alerted whoever these soldiers were, and before I could blink there was a hand on my mouth and an arm around my chest.

"Scream," said the man, "if you can. Makes it more fun."

I tried to scream, but no matter his suggestion he kept his hand so tight on my face that I thought my jaw might snap. I flicked my eyes to the side, desperately scanning for Pietro as I was dragged towards the transports, but the only sight I was granted was Dominik struggling in a similar position to me. I didn't get a chance to see anything else before I was tossed through the air and my head snapped on the metal floor of the truck's interior, my head floating on air as stars caressed my vision.

The stars vanished as my mind faded to black.

-|:|-

The jolt of the transport as it slammed to a jolt woke me from my stupor. Still barely processing anything, I tried to raise my head from my bunk before I bumped into someone's shoulder. Strange - why was someone in my bunk? I tried to playfully shove them off before my hands resisted, the strong metal binding them sinking into my skin as I groaned in pain.

Not the church.

I blinked my eyes open to see a dark interior, the scared faces of my friends staring back at me, mouths clamped with the- the same gag in my own mouth, arms tied by the same metal as my eyes darted around the space, breathing faster and faster through the gag, and these restraints were too tight and I couldn't find Pietro where was Pietro-

A familiar shape bumped my shoulder as I turned my head to see Pietro. A bruise was forming on his forehead as he told me to calm down with that commanding glare. I hated it when he did that. But I obeyed, quieting and managing to take in my surroundings properly as I heard men speaking in English just outside the truck.

"How many d'ya get?" Yulia was still unconscious, head unnaturally hanging to the side as Dominik supported her with his knee, "This truckload? Six, but I heard there was another coming from the other side of town." Katya had a blank face as she stared at the wall, blood dripping from her nose, tears leaking from her eyes, the first time I ever saw her cry, "Take 'em in, I suppose, no use keepin' the boss waitin'." Pietro grunted in alarm as the door he was leaning on sprung open, rough hands dragging us out of the transport as we all screamed through our gags, the guns from earlier whacking us when we protested, hands shoving us by our necks inside a dank building.

We were shuffled into a line, gags removed but immediate orders to remain silent as those soldiers in the terrifying uniform opened a door as a tall man in a different outfit strode into the room. The boss? I thought, but any further contemplation vanished when he began speaking, the deep timbre of his voice echoing in the small space. I have never heard a more terrifying voice.

"So, you're my new little runts. Rats. Runts of a rat litter, I suppose, eh?" His English was accented, but not from Sokovian. "For the sole purpose of preventing crying balls of confusion, welcome to Hydra. I shall be your… splendid little host. Call me Vrach. Call me Boss. Call me Strucker, if you must. I will treat you the same no matter how much fear courses in your veins. It will be beaten out of you eventually."

Whatever attempts of humour he attempted, the man - Strucker - spoke to a deadened audience.

"Oh? Unimpressed, I see. Perhaps you don't understand how things run here. Would you like a demonstration?" His smirk told me that I definitely did not. "нет? No volunteers? Hmm. Well, I suppose you will find out for yourselves eventually. Now, I don't want you getting mistaken here - we haven't kidnapped you. I intend for none of you to meet an untimely death. You will be given food, water, shelter, rooms - better than your decrepit little church, нет? You have no reason to decline."

My heart stopped as Pietro stepped forward, ready to contradict anything this violent man said. In my head, I cried out in protest, I stepped in front of him, I pulled him back. I stayed silent.

"And what in return?" When the man showed no sign of responding, my twin continued. "No man would offer free shelter and supplies to random orphans in a wartime. What do you want in return?"

A terrifying chuckle sounded from the man. "Oh, just a little help in my tinkerings. Experiments, if you really must, though just small helps here and there."

The feeling that the man was lying lingered at the back of my mind, but I ignored it. The confusion of why he so violently took us lingered at the back of my mind, but I ignored it. The urge to question the strange man rose up, but I suppressed it and stayed silent as Pietro seemed to decide for us. He stepped back in line, a small and horrifying smile creeping onto the man's face as the soldiers - calmly this time - strode us towards what I assumed would be living quarters of some kind.

As man disappeared and the gas streamed from the ceiling vents, I realised just how wrong I was.