Cages.

People in cages.

Liam let out a soft curse and I tugged on his arm. The breakfast I had hours ago threatened to come up as I took in the vile room. The room was moderately lit, small, and had cages along the four walls. The bars were rusty and the room itself was covered in grime. There were thirteen cages in total, but only eight were filled with one person per cage. The mix of boys and girls looked like skin and bones and were filthy. The look of the room and the people said way more than words about how they were treated.

I tried to speak, but couldn’t find my voice from the shock. I was appalled at the thought of who could do this and why these people were being subjected to such repulsive treatment.

“Who are you?” One of the boys said.

“Liam and Charlotte.” Liam said, gesturing to me, “What is going on here?”

“Never you mind that. Grab that key!” A girl snarled, flinging her arm in the direction of the gap of wall beside us. On it sat a single hook with a single key.

“Charlotte, we don’t know these people.” Liam warned softly and I scoffed at him, “We don’t know why they’re here.”

“Look at them, Liam. No one deserves this.” I reasoned.

“Just let us out, you idiots.” The girl spat, “Now!”

“We’re helping them. They’ll know stuff.” I whispered to Liam and snatched the key off the hook.

“Hurry, would you? They’ll be back!” A different girl ushered and Liam closed the door.

I made my way to the first cage and inserted the key in the lock, rust flaking off of the lock onto my hands. It unlocked with an audible click and I moved onto the next one. After letting everyone out of their cages, I pocketed the key. The eight skinny, dirty people stood in a group apart from Liam near the door.

“We have a car out-”

“Shut up. There are things to do before that. When those two guards come back, we need to dispose of them.” The snarky one said, positioning herself beside the door.

“Dispose?” Liam choked out.

“Yes, dispose, goody two shoes.” She stated, “It’s us or them.”

I moved towards Liam and clutched his arm in mine. He found my hand and after entwining our fingers, squeezed it gently. We waited for the sounds of the two men to come back and observed the others as they observed us. From looks only, two seem to be older than Liam and I, into their twenties at least and a couple look younger too.

I watched the snarky girl tense as the loud footsteps of the men coming down the stairs echoed throughout the room. Without me noticing, she had pried one of the loose, rusty bars from one of the empty cages loose. She held it above and beside her head, like a baseball bat, and looked ready to swing the second the door opened.

The handle turned and Liam and I moved farther from the door as did the others, they seemed to have complete faith that she could handle it herself. The door fully opened and before I could register the men completely, the girl had launched herself at the first one and slammed the bat down on his head. The man crumpled to the floor like a sack of flour and she was already going after the second one before the first fully made impact. This time, she swung it at his kneecap and a loud crack later she bashed it into his head. The second man fell, his leg bent at an unnatural angle and I cringed into Liam at the sight.

“Grab one, Mattie.” She said as she pulled at the second man. She dragged him into the room and disposed of him in a cell as Mattie did the same with the other. She put the locks on the two separate cages and smiled triumphantly.

“I’ve been waiting to do that.” She smiled gleefully and a jolt of fear shot through me.

“We know, Lex. Now let’s get out of here.” The older looking woman said and motioned to leave, “You two as well.”

She looked directly at us and I nodded softly. The people starting filing out, Lex leading. I gripped Liam’s hand tightly as we followed them out of the basement and through the warehouse.

They all made for the front doors and shoved them open, uncaring about leaving obvious signs they escaped. They all looked extremely pleased to be back in the sun and I couldn’t help but be pleased that I helped get here.

“Alright, you two, lovebirds, follow us and we’ll talk.” Lex said.

“No!” I protested, “We are not just going to follow you. We have no idea who you are!”

“I’m Lex and you two should have been in those cages with us. You’re Charlotte Peters and Liam Collins and if you want some answers, come with us.” Lex replied.

“We should go, Charlotte.” Liam mumbled beside me.

I stared incredulously at Liam. For once he was keen to jump headfirst without asking questions and I wanted to make sure these people were safe. I was thoroughly confused at Liam’s sudden change of character, especially after what we witnessed Lex do.

“Liam.” I said sharply, tugging him farther away from the others.

“Charlotte, what other choice do we have?” He asked softly to me, trying to keep our conversation between us.

“Did you not see what I saw down there?” I asked.

“I know that the Lex one is, well, intense, but we need some answers and they’re willing.” He said, choosing his words to describe Lex carefully.

“I don’t feel good about following them blindly.” I protested.

“Neither do I, but really, what other choice do we have? We went down in that basement, let them free, and for what? If we don’t go with them, this whole excursion was pointless.” He reasoned.

“Fine.” I said through gritted teeth. What he said made sense, and I really didn’t want to go home empty handed after all the trouble.

“Lead the way.” I called to the others.