Nils had been sleeping peacefully in bed when he was very suddenly awoken by someone grabbing him and flinging up out of bed to his feet. Completely disoriented, he didn’t react at first, having absolutely no idea what was going on. He became aware that there was a large, strong arm around his neck, and he was being dragged across his bedroom floor.
He craned his neck, trying to get a look at who was holding him, but it was no use. He started to kick and struggle, try to pry the arm away, but that was pointless as well. His seven-year-old strength was no match for a grown-up’s. Failing that, he began to scream. “Help!” he yelled. “Mom! Dad!”
“Shut the hell up, kid,” a man’s voice hissed from behind him. He sounded very mean and nasty. “No one’s going to help—Augh!”
Nils had bit down as hard as he could on the man’s arm. Disgustingly he could taste blood, but right now he didn’t care. He just wanted to get away.
A blow came down hard on the side of his face, so hard that he let go of the man’s arm immediately, dazed, as little lights danced around in front of his eyes. His head pounded. He’d never been hit like that before.
“If you bite me again, I’m going to break your fucking neck,” the man threatened. Though still dazed, Nils gulped in fear. Why was this happening to him? “Got that?”
He was dragged out of his room and down the stairs, into the living room where two more men and one woman stood. The woman was holding Henri much in the same way that Nils was being held, and the other two men surrounded their parents, who were on their knees on the floor. “What’s going on?” he cried frantically to his parents. Disturbingly, they both looked as absolutely terrified as he felt. He had never seen his parents—who always seemed so big and brave—looking so helpless before.
“Please don’t hurt them,” his mom begged, looking tearfully up at the intruders. “We have money…Take whatever you want, but please, they’re only kids…”
Her pleas fell on deaf ears. The two men flanking her and his dad stepped closer to them, brandishing knives. His mom shut her eyes, tears streaming down her face. His dad looked helplessly at him and Henri. “Look away,” was the last thing he said.
Nils tried to, but the man holding him grabbed his chin and forced him to look. “Watch,” he commanded. Nils wanted to shut his eyes, to block out everything that was going on around him, but he couldn’t. He watched in horror, his stomach dropping to his feet, as his parents’ throats were slit ear to ear in front of him.
“Mom! Dad!” Nils screamed. Henri was screaming too, and started to struggle against the woman holding him. Nils suddenly felt something cold pressed up against his neck.
“You each still got one family member left,” the man said to Henri, who froze. “Do what we say, and we’ll keep it that way.”
Nils only became vaguely aware that he was being dragged again when suddenly the cool nighttime air hit his face. They were outside. He’d blanked out, gone completely dead weight, unable to will himself to move. He looked over and saw Henri staring at him fearfully.
The next thing he knew they were being thrown into the back of a carriage. The doors slammed shut behind them, leaving them in complete darkness. Nils laid there for a moment before the feeling started to return to his body. He slowly sat up and looked around. In the darkness, he could make out two huddled forms in the corner.
“Daddy…Mommy…” a girl’s voice whimpered. “I’m scared…”
There was a lurch as they started to move forward. Nils crawled over to Henri and wrapped his arms around him, squeezing him tightly. Where were they going? Why was this happening to them? He kept hoping this was just a terrible dream, that he’d wake up safely in his own bed, but the pounding in his head told him otherwise. His parents had always told him that you couldn’t get hurt in a dream.
His parents…
He suddenly choked out a sob. His parents were dead. His mom and dad, the best and most strongest clio he knew, were dead. Henri hugged him back, but Nils could hear him crying too.
One of the girls in the carriage spoke up. By the sound of it, she was the only one of them not crying. “The police will come help us, right?” she whispered.
The police. Nils hadn’t even thought about that. The girl was probably right, though. The police would be looking for them, and take their parents’ murderers to jail. “Y-yeah,” he said shakily.
Nils had no idea how long they were in that carriage for. He only spoke up once more, to ask where they thought they were going, but none of the other kids had an answer for him. No one said anything else nearly the entire way, until they finally came to a stop.
There was a noise outside the back of the carriage, like someone was unlocking it. Nils and Henri both skittered to the far wall where the girls were huddled. The doors opened up, and the four clio who had taken them were all standing there. It was still dark outside.
The woman climbed in and grabbed the crying girl from earlier. One by one they were pulled out of the carriage. They were on a gravel road outside an old building. Nils looked around, wondering where they were, when all of the sudden the crying girl broke free from her captor and took off.
Nils barely had time to react to this before one of the men made a quick movement with his arm. Something glistened in the air and before Nils could register what it was, the crying girl fell over, unmoving. He gasped in horror. A small blade was sticking out of the back of her head.
“Dally!” the other girl screamed.
“See that?” the man who’d thrown the knife asked the three remaining children. He gestured to the girl’s body. “That’s what happens when you try to run away from us.”
Even without the threat, Nils wasn’t sure he was even capable of running anymore. His legs felt weak and shaky, his stomach felt sick. None of them resisted as they were lead into the building by two of the men and the woman, while the other one stayed outside.
The inside was as dreary as the outside. The walls were covered in an ugly, peeling wallpaper, and there were mysterious stains on the worn, wood floors. Most distressingly of all were the windows. Each one was boarded up completely.
They were taken into a room where another man was waiting. This man, unlike the others, actually didn’t look very scary. He seemed totally normal, like the type of guy who would work at Nils’ dad’s shop. That is, if it weren’t for the look on his face. He was smiling, but there was a mean, nasty look in his eyes.
“The fuck happened to your arm, Donny?” he asked the man behind Nils.
“This little shit bit me,” Donny replied, giving Nils’ arm a little twist. Nils winced but kept his mouth sealed shut, not daring to make a noise.
The man raised his eyebrows in amusement. “Oh yeah?” he asked. He got up from his seat and slowly walked over, looking over Nils menacingly. He kneeled down in front of him and grabbed his chin. “You like biting clio, kid? How about I knock those teeth outta your mouth, huh?”
Nils stared at him fearfully, still not making a peep. Mercifully the man let him go and stood back up, stepping back. “Okay, roll call,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Gimme your names. You first.” He pointed at Nils, who pressed his lips together, refusing to say a word. The man rolled his eyes. “Donny?”
Donny twisted his arm again, this time much harder. Nils couldn’t help but cry out in pain. “Nils!” Henri yelled, starting forward before the woman grabbed him and held him still.
“Nils? The hell kind of name is that?” the man asked.
“I-i-it’s Nicholas,” Nils whimpered. Donny slowly released his arm. “Selway.”
“Nicholas, huh?” the man repeated. “Well, Nicholas. Consider this your first lesson. You will speak when spoken to.” He pointed at Henri next. “And you?”
Henri glared at him, but under the threat of pain he relented. “Henrik Selway.”
“Ah. Brothers,” the man noted. “Two for the price of one. And the little lady?”
The girl, who was white as a sheet and whose face hadn’t so much as twitched since seeing the other girl die, listlessly responded, “Petra Lovison.”
“Good, good,” the man nodded. “You can call me Renick. That’s Donny, Rod and Alma.” He pointed to the other grown-ups in the room. “We’re gonna be taking care of you kids from now on. Now, lemme ask you something. You had to follow rules at home, right?”
No one spoke at first. Then Nils felt Donny’s grip tighten on his arm. Henri and Petra must have felt the same thing, because they all murmured out an agreement.
Renick’s nasty smiled grew. “And when you broke those rules you got in trouble, right?” More murmurs. “Well, that’s exactly how it works here. As long as you follow the rules and do as we say, you won’t get in trouble. But when you break the rules or don’t listen to us, you will be punished. Understand?”
The kids nodded, more out of fear than of any actual understanding. What kinds of rules? What were they gonna have to do?
Renick yawned. “Now, it’s been a long night,” he said, stretching. “Let’s all get some sleep, and tomorrow we’ll start learning those rules, hm?”
The kids were lead away again, this time to what sort of looked like a bedroom. There were two sets of bunk beds and a little table with a lamp. Just like the rest of the house, though, the windows were boarded up, and the walls were cracked and peeling.
“Sweet dreams,” Donny said in a mean voice, before closing the door. There was a little clicking noise. After hearing Donny and the others’ footsteps fade away, Henri went and tried the doorknob. Locked.
“What now?” Nils whispered, curling up into a little ball on one of the beds. He looked over at the girl, Petra. “Do you still think the police will come?”
She didn’t reply. She just stared blankly at the wall, not moving an inch.
“They will,” Henri answered instead. “They have to.”
He walked over and, rather than taking a different bunk, climbed into bed next to Nils. After a few minutes, Petra finally joined them. The three of them huddled under the covers together, unable to fall asleep, shivering even though it wasn’t even cold.
He craned his neck, trying to get a look at who was holding him, but it was no use. He started to kick and struggle, try to pry the arm away, but that was pointless as well. His seven-year-old strength was no match for a grown-up’s. Failing that, he began to scream. “Help!” he yelled. “Mom! Dad!”
“Shut the hell up, kid,” a man’s voice hissed from behind him. He sounded very mean and nasty. “No one’s going to help—Augh!”
Nils had bit down as hard as he could on the man’s arm. Disgustingly he could taste blood, but right now he didn’t care. He just wanted to get away.
A blow came down hard on the side of his face, so hard that he let go of the man’s arm immediately, dazed, as little lights danced around in front of his eyes. His head pounded. He’d never been hit like that before.
“If you bite me again, I’m going to break your fucking neck,” the man threatened. Though still dazed, Nils gulped in fear. Why was this happening to him? “Got that?”
He was dragged out of his room and down the stairs, into the living room where two more men and one woman stood. The woman was holding Henri much in the same way that Nils was being held, and the other two men surrounded their parents, who were on their knees on the floor. “What’s going on?” he cried frantically to his parents. Disturbingly, they both looked as absolutely terrified as he felt. He had never seen his parents—who always seemed so big and brave—looking so helpless before.
“Please don’t hurt them,” his mom begged, looking tearfully up at the intruders. “We have money…Take whatever you want, but please, they’re only kids…”
Her pleas fell on deaf ears. The two men flanking her and his dad stepped closer to them, brandishing knives. His mom shut her eyes, tears streaming down her face. His dad looked helplessly at him and Henri. “Look away,” was the last thing he said.
Nils tried to, but the man holding him grabbed his chin and forced him to look. “Watch,” he commanded. Nils wanted to shut his eyes, to block out everything that was going on around him, but he couldn’t. He watched in horror, his stomach dropping to his feet, as his parents’ throats were slit ear to ear in front of him.
“Mom! Dad!” Nils screamed. Henri was screaming too, and started to struggle against the woman holding him. Nils suddenly felt something cold pressed up against his neck.
“You each still got one family member left,” the man said to Henri, who froze. “Do what we say, and we’ll keep it that way.”
Nils only became vaguely aware that he was being dragged again when suddenly the cool nighttime air hit his face. They were outside. He’d blanked out, gone completely dead weight, unable to will himself to move. He looked over and saw Henri staring at him fearfully.
The next thing he knew they were being thrown into the back of a carriage. The doors slammed shut behind them, leaving them in complete darkness. Nils laid there for a moment before the feeling started to return to his body. He slowly sat up and looked around. In the darkness, he could make out two huddled forms in the corner.
“Daddy…Mommy…” a girl’s voice whimpered. “I’m scared…”
There was a lurch as they started to move forward. Nils crawled over to Henri and wrapped his arms around him, squeezing him tightly. Where were they going? Why was this happening to them? He kept hoping this was just a terrible dream, that he’d wake up safely in his own bed, but the pounding in his head told him otherwise. His parents had always told him that you couldn’t get hurt in a dream.
His parents…
He suddenly choked out a sob. His parents were dead. His mom and dad, the best and most strongest clio he knew, were dead. Henri hugged him back, but Nils could hear him crying too.
One of the girls in the carriage spoke up. By the sound of it, she was the only one of them not crying. “The police will come help us, right?” she whispered.
The police. Nils hadn’t even thought about that. The girl was probably right, though. The police would be looking for them, and take their parents’ murderers to jail. “Y-yeah,” he said shakily.
Nils had no idea how long they were in that carriage for. He only spoke up once more, to ask where they thought they were going, but none of the other kids had an answer for him. No one said anything else nearly the entire way, until they finally came to a stop.
There was a noise outside the back of the carriage, like someone was unlocking it. Nils and Henri both skittered to the far wall where the girls were huddled. The doors opened up, and the four clio who had taken them were all standing there. It was still dark outside.
The woman climbed in and grabbed the crying girl from earlier. One by one they were pulled out of the carriage. They were on a gravel road outside an old building. Nils looked around, wondering where they were, when all of the sudden the crying girl broke free from her captor and took off.
Nils barely had time to react to this before one of the men made a quick movement with his arm. Something glistened in the air and before Nils could register what it was, the crying girl fell over, unmoving. He gasped in horror. A small blade was sticking out of the back of her head.
“Dally!” the other girl screamed.
“See that?” the man who’d thrown the knife asked the three remaining children. He gestured to the girl’s body. “That’s what happens when you try to run away from us.”
Even without the threat, Nils wasn’t sure he was even capable of running anymore. His legs felt weak and shaky, his stomach felt sick. None of them resisted as they were lead into the building by two of the men and the woman, while the other one stayed outside.
The inside was as dreary as the outside. The walls were covered in an ugly, peeling wallpaper, and there were mysterious stains on the worn, wood floors. Most distressingly of all were the windows. Each one was boarded up completely.
They were taken into a room where another man was waiting. This man, unlike the others, actually didn’t look very scary. He seemed totally normal, like the type of guy who would work at Nils’ dad’s shop. That is, if it weren’t for the look on his face. He was smiling, but there was a mean, nasty look in his eyes.
“The fuck happened to your arm, Donny?” he asked the man behind Nils.
“This little shit bit me,” Donny replied, giving Nils’ arm a little twist. Nils winced but kept his mouth sealed shut, not daring to make a noise.
The man raised his eyebrows in amusement. “Oh yeah?” he asked. He got up from his seat and slowly walked over, looking over Nils menacingly. He kneeled down in front of him and grabbed his chin. “You like biting clio, kid? How about I knock those teeth outta your mouth, huh?”
Nils stared at him fearfully, still not making a peep. Mercifully the man let him go and stood back up, stepping back. “Okay, roll call,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Gimme your names. You first.” He pointed at Nils, who pressed his lips together, refusing to say a word. The man rolled his eyes. “Donny?”
Donny twisted his arm again, this time much harder. Nils couldn’t help but cry out in pain. “Nils!” Henri yelled, starting forward before the woman grabbed him and held him still.
“Nils? The hell kind of name is that?” the man asked.
“I-i-it’s Nicholas,” Nils whimpered. Donny slowly released his arm. “Selway.”
“Nicholas, huh?” the man repeated. “Well, Nicholas. Consider this your first lesson. You will speak when spoken to.” He pointed at Henri next. “And you?”
Henri glared at him, but under the threat of pain he relented. “Henrik Selway.”
“Ah. Brothers,” the man noted. “Two for the price of one. And the little lady?”
The girl, who was white as a sheet and whose face hadn’t so much as twitched since seeing the other girl die, listlessly responded, “Petra Lovison.”
“Good, good,” the man nodded. “You can call me Renick. That’s Donny, Rod and Alma.” He pointed to the other grown-ups in the room. “We’re gonna be taking care of you kids from now on. Now, lemme ask you something. You had to follow rules at home, right?”
No one spoke at first. Then Nils felt Donny’s grip tighten on his arm. Henri and Petra must have felt the same thing, because they all murmured out an agreement.
Renick’s nasty smiled grew. “And when you broke those rules you got in trouble, right?” More murmurs. “Well, that’s exactly how it works here. As long as you follow the rules and do as we say, you won’t get in trouble. But when you break the rules or don’t listen to us, you will be punished. Understand?”
The kids nodded, more out of fear than of any actual understanding. What kinds of rules? What were they gonna have to do?
Renick yawned. “Now, it’s been a long night,” he said, stretching. “Let’s all get some sleep, and tomorrow we’ll start learning those rules, hm?”
The kids were lead away again, this time to what sort of looked like a bedroom. There were two sets of bunk beds and a little table with a lamp. Just like the rest of the house, though, the windows were boarded up, and the walls were cracked and peeling.
“Sweet dreams,” Donny said in a mean voice, before closing the door. There was a little clicking noise. After hearing Donny and the others’ footsteps fade away, Henri went and tried the doorknob. Locked.
“What now?” Nils whispered, curling up into a little ball on one of the beds. He looked over at the girl, Petra. “Do you still think the police will come?”
She didn’t reply. She just stared blankly at the wall, not moving an inch.
“They will,” Henri answered instead. “They have to.”
He walked over and, rather than taking a different bunk, climbed into bed next to Nils. After a few minutes, Petra finally joined them. The three of them huddled under the covers together, unable to fall asleep, shivering even though it wasn’t even cold.
