CHAPTER 2

She straightened her shoulders, and a wave of confidence washed through her as she clenched her jaw and proceeded to join other workers who had already started with their work. That was her chance to pick up clues. She wouldn’t let fear stop her from getting to the truth.

There were crates heaped over around the building. There were stacks and stacks of them, and they were sorted into groups by the workers. Her mind echoed with her first plan.

‘Find out what’s in those crates…’

She spotted a group of women who worked silently at the corner and moved to join them. Upon reaching them, she observed them and took a step back, frightened by their callous eyes and massive size.

They all seemed to sense her at the same time because they paused immediately, their hands falling limply by their side and their eyes peering at her.

She met their gazes briefly, hating the dread and helplessness that washed over her. Something was not right.

Something was wrong with the atmosphere. Or was it the people? Emma thought they all seemed different, too different from fitting into the ordinary world. Her gaze slid over to them one after the other, their eyes beaming in the dark.  With no doubt, she knew they were not like her. But what were they?

Her heart hammered in her chest and she stood motionless as the women stared at her. They were saying nothing, but they all seemed to be thinking collectively. They didn’t know who she was yet, but she was certain that they were suspicious of her.

One of the women who seemed to be older than the rest suddenly stood up and walked towards Emma. Her movement was swift and graceful as she walked in circles around her, observing and sniffing her.

The gathered workers watched them with a look of hunger that left Emma frightened. It was bad enough that she was sniffed, that she was about to be caught, but did they have to look at her like she was some sort of animal? If looks could kill, she would have dropped dead in a second.

While all this was happening, she swallowed the urge to speak. If she was truly different from them, speaking would give her away immediately. But just like her mind was read, the woman who had been sniffing her threw her a question.

“Where do you come flom?...” She asked, taking a step back from Emma, her eyes not leaving her for once.

Emma opened her mouth to speak, but the words were struggling at the back of her throat. She was doomed. But she had practiced, over and over. She had listened to the tapes and recordings taken during some interrogations with some workers. She knew they rolled their ‘S’ and often replaced their ‘l’ with an ‘r’ and vice versa, but could she speak clearly like them? Their voices were rather thick, hers was crisp and girly in every form.

“Work. I have come for work…” She responded slowly, imitating them the best way she could.  If there was something she had learned from the tapes, they always had vague answers to questions. No matter what they were asked, they either gave too much or too few details, far from the answer required. She had often wondered if there were all eccentrics.

Emma found herself hoping that her disguised appearance and fake accent were enough to earn her a vote of recognition, as the women stared at her intensely. She prayed, with all of her beings, that she didn’t look as different as she felt. That they would somehow believe that she was one of them. But her prayers weren’t answered.

“Imposter… Human!...” The woman finally breathed.  “Imposter within us!...” This time, she yelled, taking a step towards her with clenched fists.

Emma shook her head forcefully, retreating as everyone began to gather around her. “No! I am not an imposter.” She yelled. It wasn’t true. She was skinny, shorter than the smallest among them, and human in every way.

“You dare rie…” One of the women thundered. “Filthy human…” Perfect. She had made things worse.

As much as Emma struggled to understand them even in the face of danger, she couldn’t. They kept referring to her as human. What were they? She staggered, trying to keep her shaking legs beneath her as she retreated slowly. There was no way she could fight them off. She was outnumbered. One to nearly a hundred.

“Stop!..” A deep voice boomed across the crowd gathered around her. It rang with authority and a note of command that stopped even Emma abruptly in her tracks. The crowd stepped aside to reveal a tall man, with an impassive look on his face.

Callus Silvan.

Though she didn’t know much about the organization’s stronghold, she had carefully investigated the leader, the ruthless man who oversaw all the operations within and outside the organization. He was definitely not a man to be messed with.

He stood casually, his eyes highlighting his dangerous and ruthless looks. His eyes were bright and eerily focused upon her as she stood motionlessly.

“She wirr come with me…” Emma heard him say. Apparently, if the rumors she heard about him were true, she was a dead woman. “Work is over. I sharr get lid of her and tomollow, we sharr continue…”

Emma bristled, her heart hammering. One by one, everyone began to pour out of the warehouse. She watched in fear as the workers threw spiteful looks at her before they moved out.  Soon, she would be left alone with Callus. What did he intend to do with her?

Maybe she would have a chance to subdue and interrogate him. She would be alone with him. She had a chance. Her mind raced with thoughts, and she struggled to regulate them.

Unfortunately, she was not left alone with him.  About ten men had stayed behind on Callus’s command, circling and eyeing her like she was auctioned for sale. She could hear her heart beating, her hands were perspiring as she thought of a way to save herself.