Taken

• Shayla Riddiford, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2017

I saw nothing but black, and yet, I could still hear voices. They sounded like men. Was I dead? A light switched on from somewhere and suddenly I saw three bulky figures wearing black suits stranding in front of me. I tried to get up, to run, but I couldn't. Looking down I realised why, I was tied to a chair. I struggle as fear bombarded my senses. Where was I? How did I get here?
The man in the middle spoke in a deep voice "Oi, you need to stop moving and listen up. I'm the boss so you obey my orders. Now, what's your name?"
I glanced down to the floor, away from his dark, hard eyes, and say softly, "Annie".
The man moved forward to grab a hold of my chin, he lifted my head up and made me meet his scary gaze, he snarled, "Speak louder".
As I felt my nerve calm and anger start to rise, I shake my head out of his hold, narrow my eyes looked him straight in his eyes before saying loudly and clearly, "Annie".
I sensed my eye shift to a golden brown. The man stepped back and turned to the other two men. "Get the rope. She's one of them, a werewolf."
Struggling again, I let out a frustrated scream, but the other two men do as they're told. They tie it around my neck it started to burn. Howling in pain, the rope slowly began to make its way through my skin. I realised why and hissed, "Wolfsbane".
The next minutes where the most painful and exhausting minutes I had ever felt. I was cut and beaten. When I thought they'd just kill me they didn't, instead they tortured me, wanting all secrets about my pack, only I didn't break. I had been trained well by my alpha/boyfriend Joseph.
The man walked forward with a knife in his right hand and dragged my head back to face the roof. He said harshly, "If you don't tell me who the leader of your pack is and where they're hiding I will slit your throat right open." Suddenly, glass shattered all around us and Joseph in his wolf form burst through the window diving on the back of the man who held me. He jaw snapped around the man’s throat and tore through it easily. His head fell to the floor first, then his body. But Joseph had already moved in to kill the other men who were trying to make a run for it.
Silence soon came. Joseph trotted toward me and shifted back to man in seconds. "It's time to get you out of here, Annie."
"I didn't break, I told them nothing."
"I know, I could hear you and feel your pain through the link, but due to the wolfsbane you couldn't hear me. You're safe now."
"You always make sure of it."
"Of course, you are my mate."
For the first time that night, I smiled.

By Shayla Riddiford