Shattered

PROLOGUE

Four Years Ago
Friday | October 3 | 6:17 PM

"Mom, can you please let me stay longer," I asked, using the sweetest voice I could muster. "Please, another half hour, that's all."

"No, it's time for you to come home, Jaycee. You're thirteen, you need to home at a decent time, please don't argue with me. I want you to be home in ten minutes," my mom said, sounding exasperated. "Okay? Love you."

I hung up without saying it back. Mai leaned against the wall, pouting. "I guess we'll have to have our Supernatural marathon this weekend."

I gave her a small smile. "Yeah, wanna walk me home?"

"What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't?"

The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows over the street Mai walked me home, our arms intertwined, our laughter echoing in the streets. I tried to be cheerful, we had only three days left and were out for summer, but I couldn't shake the eerie feeling that had settled in my stomach, a sense of unease that had been growing stronger with each step. I glanced around, but the street was empty, bathed in the soft glow of streetlights. A cool breeze rustled the leaves overhead, sending a shiver down my spine.

We turned the corner onto my street, and the first thing I noticed was a white van was parked, on the same side of the road we needed to park. It sat there ominously, the windows tinted and opaque, giving no hint of what lay inside.

"Do you see that?" I asked Mai, heart quickening.

"We should go a different way."

We turned around, and moments later, the van door slammed open. I glanced over my shoulder and gasped, tensing.

Two tall, muscular men stepped out of the van, their presence commanding. The one in the black hoodie had a rugged appearance, with scars visible on his neck, hinting at a past filled with violence. His smile was unnerving, too friendly for the situation. The second man, maybe in his late twenties, had grey, cold eyes with a smirk tugging on his lips as he laid eyes on me.

He walked towards me, reached behind his back and produced a taser. I gripped Mai's arm, fingers trembling. "Run, Mai," I whispered and took off in the other direction, pulling Mai but we stopped short

It sent a shiver down my spine. Something wasn't right, but before I could react, he lunged forward, a sudden, searing pain jolted through my body like a lightning strike.

It made me crumble, my muscles contracting uncontrollably, my vision blurring. He wrapped one arm around my waist, his grip like a vice while wrapping his hand around my mouth to keep from screaming. I cried out in pain, but

The van door opened and a third man jumped out. "Orion, get her in the van," he growled before rushing toward Mai.

"Help," I screamed, but my voice was drowned out by the roar of the engine as we sped away from my home, my family, everything familiar. "Orion shut her up," the third one snapped, as he helped the man with scars subdue Mai, twisting her arms at an unhealthy, undoubtedly painful angle, before reaching for a syringe and sticking my best friend in the arm. They tossed her into the van, both climbing in with her.

Terror gripped me as I realized the severity of the situation. Orion, the man who held me down to the metal floor of the van, had his knee digging into my back so I could barely move. "Looks like we got a feisty one here," he called, a needle from his jacket pocket. "We'll get a lot from this one."

I screamed, thrashing around harder, but it didn't stop him from stabbing me in the neck with the syringe. My vision blurs at the edges as he grips a fist full of hair, the world around me swirling into a hazy blur of colours.

He pushed me down to the floor, my body beginning to feel like it's made of lead, each limb growing heavier and more sluggish by the second. It starts in my legs, a slow creeping numbness that makes it hard to lift them, to move forward. My arms soon followed suit, becoming difficult to lift, to rip away from the man's hold. Panic set in as I realized I was losing control, my body betraying me, succumbing to the hum of darkness that welcomed me with a warm embrace.

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- Charlie 🧡