The Electric Life

Chapter One: The Abduction

It was a summer afternoon and my family had all gone to the market together. My family wasn't extremely large, consisting only of me, my parents, and my younger brother Aero. We had gone to the market because we were in dire need of a new bull to breed with our other cattle after an unexpected illness had hit our previous one. We'd tried our best to heal him, but despite our efforts he passed away overnight. My brother, always the sensitive and empathetic one of our duo, was very shaken up at the loss. We brought him along with us to hopefully take his mind off of what had happened. We got our neighbor to watch the land for us, deciding to make it a family trip.

The electric hum of my father's lantern accompanied us, the pale blue light guiding us to the market through the eternal darkness blanketing the world. The market was a large area in the middle of town, the ground paved with cobblestone. More permanent vendors had tents pitched, metal poles set in holes in the cobblestone pavement. Inside the tents were little blue lights that illuminated the interiors like a starry night's sky. The other more nomadic merchants had no need to imitate the heavens, the midnight sky their tent and the stars and moon their light.
We strolled from tent to tent, examining their wares but keeping an eye out for the normal cattleman. Aero was the first to spot him, and he led us to the tent. The man that ran it informed us that there was only bull left. He was very young but strong, the man explained. Seeing that we didn't have much of a choice, we bought the calf. Aero insisted on being the one to hold the calf's leash, and my parents obliged.

Having time to spare , we looked around for a little while. A fair distance off I could see some sort of performance going on. As we ventured closer I could see that it was a troup of fire dancers. Aero tugged at my sleeve with his free hand, asking if we could go watch them perform. I ran it by our parents, and after their permission we joined the crowd of awed onlookers. Try as we may, would just couldn't push ourselves anywhere near the front. I took the rope from my little brother, lifting him onto my shoulders so he could see the act. The dancers spun and turned, and Aero watched, delighted by their graceful but dangerous moves. One of the dancers slowed her dancing, lifting her flaming baton to her lips as she turned to face the crowd. She breathed fire above our heads, or rather, attempted to. The combined height of me and Aero was more than she had calculated for, the flames catching my little brother's hair. He screamed, and I instinctively let go of the rope to help fight the flames. The small fire was extinguished without much harm to him other than some of his blonde hair becoming singed.

Just as that panic had subsided, a new problem arose. I turned around in time to see the calf running off into the darkness, and our parents running towards us, alarmed by my brother's scream. Meeting them halfway I pointed them in the direction the calf had ran, and they turned on their heels after it. Confident in their ability to catch the runaway cattle, I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. After a moment, I turned to Aero to ensure he was ok. He reassured me that he was ok, and I took him by the hand as we ran in the direction our parents had gone moments earlier. After a while of running, we stopped again. Our parents were nowhere in sight, and we were far from the market, the comfort of its blue light far in the distance.

I glanced around, observing our surroundings. We were in some back street of the town, the only path ahead of us a sharp turn to the right. Around the corner trickled rays of yellow light. This immediately set me on edge. Yellow light was extremely uncommon in these parts, blue light well-accepted as a normal color for artificial light to be. I wondered for a moment if it could be fire, but the light was too steady to be mistaken for the flickering, organic forms of flames. I gripped Aero's hand tighter, instructing him to stay close to me. I didn't want to risk losing anything else tonight. We moved along the wall towards the light, and once we reached the corner I slowly ducked my head around it to see the strange light's source. My blood turned into ice the moment I saw what was illuminated in the unnatural light.

Three figures stood in the yellow light, two of them with their hoods pulled up. The light cast harsh shadows that completely obscured their features. The shortest of them, though still tall in comparison to most average people, was without a hood, his bald head reflecting the light almost as much as the dark-lensed glasses concealing his eyes. From what I could tell he appeared to be later on in his years. I began to turn away, intending to sneak away silently from the man and his ominous company, when he turned to face me. I could feel his eyes piercing into me like knives from behind his black shades. He raised a thin arm, pointing a bony, ring-adorned finger at me. The other two by his side turned to look as well. I jerked my brother by the arm, whipping around to make our escape. What I saw behind me made my stomach lurch in fear.

The three figures were a few feet away, watching me with what could only have been malevolence. I stumbled backwards, tripping over my own feet and foolishly landing onto my backside. I let go of my brother during the fall, not wanting to drag him down with me. I glanced to the side Aero had previously been at, to discover he was no longer there. I returned my gaze to the figures, who had closed in on me further. From this distance I could distinguish the features of the old man's company. The tallest of the three was to his left. She had a long face with high-set cheekbones, and her skin was white, with an almost grey tone to it. Her eyes and lips were darkened to black from makeup. Her head was shaved, which I could tell from the dark stubble at her hairline. To the left of the old man was a man of almost-average height and build. He was young, but his features were aged by a set of deep scars across the bridge of his nose. His eyes and lips were also painted, but unlike the other two he had long, dark hair, which assisted in obscuring his face alongside the black hood. In his arms he held Aero, restraining him in a chokehold with one arm. In his free arm he held an ornate silver dagger. I didn't move a muscle as the eldest of them approached me, crouching down beside me.

"You've seen something you weren't intended to tonight, son." He said to me, his voice thick with an accent I couldn't discern the origin of.

"I-I don't understand!" I sputtered pathetically, any resemblance of calm now absent from me. The man continued as though he hadn't heard my shout.

"You have two choices. You come with us, or you both die. First the boy, and then you."

"Don't you lay a hand on my brother!" I yelled, infuriated by the threat as I attempted to get to my feet. I then realized that I was completely paralysed. I had no way to fight, and no choice but to go with them. The man restraining my brother pressed the dagger against his throat, tears streaming down his face as his shoulders shook, wracked with sobs. I relented.

"Alright! I yield! I'll do anything you ask of me, just don't hurt him!" A hint of a smile appeared on the man's face. He took my head between his hands, looking at me from under his glasses. From this angle I could see that his eyes were pure white. It was in that moment that a thought occurred to me. These people are not human. He wrenched my head to the left, and I felt a snap, but no pain. I stopped breathing, my lungs struggling inside my ribs, and an intense feeling of exhaustion came over me. The last thing I saw before I blacked out were the other two hooded people closing the distance between us.