Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Insightful Promise ❯ Chapter Three - Stone ( Chapter 3 )

Stone sat in the back of the vehicle as it jumped and jarred across the rough countryside. With each bump or hole they hit, Stone was knocked from side to side roughly, and he was sore after riding in the vehicle for hours. He had long since given up complaining; it did no good. The only response he would get was a grunt, or, if he was lucky, a `shut up, kid'. Star sat next to him on the seat, looking scared. She looked up at Stone with worry in her eyes, but there was nothing he could say to console her; not without lying, anyway.

 

Suddenly the car jerked to a stop and both Stone and Star were thrown forward, only saved from ramming into the seats ahead of them by the belts that were across their chests and laps. Even with the belt, Stone's head hit the back of the driver's seat. Star, who was much smaller, seemed to be all right. “What are you doing? You could've killed us all!” Stone screamed.

 

The guy in the passenger seat turned around and hit Stone with the back of his hand. “Shut up, you stupid little mongrel, or we'll throw you out of this car with a broken neck,” he snarled, raising his hand back to strike Stone again. The driver reached over and grabbed his fist just before it hit.

 

“Do you want to kill the kid? Sheesh. If anything really bad happens to either of them, we're both dead. So you better stop hitting him,” the driver said. She was nicer than the guy in the passenger's seat; she was the one who let them ride in the car. The guy had wanted to put them in the trunk.

 

The guy just grunted; it was obvious he didn't care what happened to Stone or his sister. The ride continued in silence. Every once in a while the guy would look back at them to make sure they were behaving, though the action was pointless. They'd bound the children's ankles and wrists and broken their wings.

 

Star cowered into Stone's side, trembling from head to toe. They sat like that until the car stopped again, this time in front of a large building in the middle of the desert. Both children were yanked roughly from the car and thrown onto the sand. Neither of them moved; after a few moments, they were each seized and yanked roughly upright between two guards.

 

Stone glanced at his sister, checking to make sure she was all right. Her feet hung half a foot off the ground; the guards were holding her up by her wings. A quiet whimper broke through her silent lips, and the guards shook her. Stone winced as his sister did, wishing that he was strong enough to stop them from hurting her. His own feet were on the ground; he was too tall for the guards to be able to lift high enough off the ground without having to hold him above their heads.

 

“Move, kid.” One of the guards yanked Stone forward and he nearly fell face-first into the sand. Neither of the guards noticed; they just kept pulling him forward. The two men holding Star followed, swinging her roughly between them and laughing when she cried out.

They were carried through the entryway of the building and up a flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs, there was a long hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was a large, plain oak door. The woman that had driven them to the building led the way down the hall, followed by the two guards who were dragging Stone. Star's guards were last; the man who had been in the car with them had vanished. When they got to the door, the woman turned around to face the people behind her.

 

She gave both of the children a sharp look. “You two had better behave,” she warned, then turned back to the door and pushed it open.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three