One and One and One More [Ems]
Feb 13, 2015 15:48:12 GMT -5
Post by Kire on Feb 13, 2015 15:48:12 GMT -5
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E Z I O L A S K A R I S
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When the bag is finally pulled off of my head I can barely think of what to do. Stunned, I stand there blinking like a dazed owl as a woman crouches in front of me. The other person - I know there had been another person, perhaps two others - was gone, but she was still here. "Hello." She had a pleasant voice, and I stayed silent to hear what she had to say. Maybe she would explain what was going on here, because I could only guess and I didn't like where my guesses were heading. All I knew for sure was that these people had taken me, and that even if they let me go I wouldn't be able to find my way home. I had no real idea where I was - both for overall location and even what the building I was standing in was. The sound was hollow here, though, so it had to be a big room. Still, most of the lights were off so I could really only see a small area. There was a clear wall to my right, but the left was all blackness.
"What's your name, bud?" The woman had reached out and taken one of my hands in her own, as though to comfort me. I was eleven, not a baby, but I still took comfort in the fact that she hadn't just left me alone. Alone. I tried to keep my back stiff and not shudder even though I had just been hit by a sudden fear. The skin of my back crawled with imagined bugs - I hoped they were imagined - and it was all I could do to stand still. I decided to distract myself by answering the woman. "Ezio." I didn't want to give her my last name, but my first name couldn't hurt. I wasn't the only Ezio, so it wasn't as though she would instantly know who I was. There had been three kids in my grade that were named Ezio, I had even had the same homeroom as one of them.
The woman smiled at me and squeezed my hand as though she was pleased, or trying to encourage me to say more. When I didn't, she decided to try another angle. "How old are you, Ezio?" I paused a little bit longer before telling her that, thinking whether it was a good idea or not. There was no way to know, and I wasn't going to get out of here by refusing to answer her questions. "Eleven." My one word answers were clearly not enough for her, but she apparently didn't see any way she could change it. In truth, she couldn't. I wasn't much for interacting with people, especially people who treated me like I was five. "Perfect, eleven is such a good age." I looked at her, confused. What had she meant by that? Eleven was not a perfect age in my eyes because I was too young to do anything by myself and yet I was too old to be helped by someone without being called a baby. I heard her mutter something but I didn't quite catch the words. Something about being younger.
The crawling on my spine was turning into pin pricks and I didn't know what to do. Some part of me urged me to yank my hand from her grip and run, get far away and find my way home somehow. Another part told me to go along with whatever this woman had planned, that that was the only way to get out of this okay. The last part of my said to find my opportunity to escape, and it was the one I listened to. I would have to go along with what she was saying and asking so that she would think that I was simply going to let them do whatever they planned to do with me and not put up a fuss. "There will be others coming by," her voice was light, friendly, but I instinctively thought that whoever these 'others' were going to be bad news. "You won't be alone here for very long, I promise." When she made to get up I felt panic well up in me. Alone?! She's gonna leave me alone?! I swallowed, letting her continue to hold my hand as she stood. Even when standing straight she wasn't much taller than me. I was 4'8" the last time my parents had measured me, and while I was average height for my age it comforted me to know that at least she, of all my kidnappers, was short.
Desperate to make her stay, even though I was eleven and should have been fine on my own, I blurted out the first thing I could think of. "But what's your name?" I hoped my tone wasn't rude, I didn't want her to get angry with me. For a moment I thought she wouldn't reply, or would tell me to leave off, but then she smiled sweetly at me. "My name is Polly." She extracted her hand from my grip - which I hadn't realized I had tightened - and let her hands fall to her sides. "It was nice to meet you Ezio, but I must go." She reached out and ruffled my hair lightly. "Someone will be along shortly, don't worry." And then she turned on her heel and walked away from me.
I thought to follow her, but decided against it. That would get me into trouble, even if I tried to play it off as me not wanting her to leave - which I didn't. The thought of sitting here all alone in a room that was too big and too dark for me to see everything in it scared me more than I would like to admit. All that there was as a sign of comfort was a large circular rug. It was coloured in rings of red and orange that looked faded under the small amount of lighting that I was left with. It was comfortable enough to sit on, and so I let myself plant my butt on the ground and stare in the direction of the door with my knees drawn up to my chest. Whatever person had decided to do this didn't know what it was like to be left alone in some place that they didn't know.
One time my mother had walked away from me while we were in the market, thinking I was following while I was really staring at the colourful fish in the display of a store. The Muttz and Petz shop had always been my favorite place and I could never pass by there without having to watch the creatures for a while. My mom had forgotten that ever since I had declared that I was an adult, and now it had come back to me. When I had looked up she was gone and I was scared. This felt a lot like that moment, except this time I knew it would take me a lot longer to find her. "Mommy!" I had yelled for her a few times before someone had let her know there was a boy that looked like a little gentleman, calling for his mother. The feeling of her hug had been the best thing I had ever experienced, and I had cried into her shirt like I was four again. She had stroked my head, neck, and back in a soothing manner, crooning softly to me.
My fingers wound through the threads of the carpet, getting trapped so that I had to pull hard on my hand to get it free again. I was sitting a little off center and the thought that I had missed the bullseye both comforted me and made me giggle a little. I let out a noise like a hiccup and it was then that I realized my eyes were wet. I couldn't cry, I was eleven. I was old enough to not cry at anything anymore and I had failed to keep from doing so. I pulled my knees tighter to my chest and wiped my eyes against my pant legs. At least my nose wasn't running, much.
A sound from the far end of the room, at the place where Polly had disappeared, startled me into a standing position. I don't think I had ever moved that fast. There were shuffling sounds and I felt my hands stiffen and curl into fists. What could I do against whoever was coming for me? Nothing, most like, but if they wanted to hurt me I would make it a chore for them. Shapes were moving towards me from where I assumed the door was, one tall figure, and two shorter ones. I recognized Polly as one of them and had to hold myself still. I didn't want to run over and cling to her as much as part of me wished to, I had to act my age. I'm eleven. As the three forms moved closer to the light and me I saw that the middle one had a bag over his head, just like I had. Eleven, not three.
The bag was removed by the tall figure and he - it looked like a man - stepped behind his captive's sight and stayed out of mine. There was no way to distinguish facial features in the dark and before I could even catch a gleam from his eyes or hair or teeth he had turned and began to leave, shoes making scuffing sounds that filled the entire room it seemed. The captive was a boy, I could see that now as Polly drew him to the edge of the rug. She kneeled in front of the boy just as she had done with me, but before she did I saw that the she was taller than him by a foot. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I assumed that she was asking him the same questions as me. I hoped that he was as cautious as me, but there was no way of knowing until it was too late.
I waited until they had stopped talking and Polly had stood up. When I saw here leave I relaxed my hands and body and tried to walk over to my only companion. "Hey," I tried to make my voice soft and as non-startling as possible, "did they grab you too?" The answer was pretty obvious, but maybe if he knew that I had been taken too he might not be scared of me. We were the only ones here so we may as well try to keep each other company. "I'm Ezio." Once again I didn't say my last name, worried there might be some cameras or microphones or something that would capture it and give it away. I wasn't quite sure why I felt like I had to keep it so much of a secret, it was just how I felt.
My hand was shaking slightly and I pressed it hard against my leg. I couldn't show any fear, I had to be brave. I am eleven years old, I am not a child to be scared by little things. "What's your name?"
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