The mine was a safe haven for homeless people who wondered the streets of Olta. No matter the age of the person, be it a child or an adult, they accepted labourers of all kinds as long as they were physically capable. Dante had been living on the streets since he was 5, he could not remember any details of his whereabouts, so he assumed he was abandoned by his family, or they died early from illness. In Olta majority of children would not survive till the age of three, adults would die before they reached twenty-five from unknown illnesses or murder. It was a miracle for Dante to survive past five years of age. He worked under two grouchy couple who would make use of him in any means necessary and only fed him twice a day to repay him. He would do odd jobs from polishing the stains of people’s shoes to painting the nails of women who were too idle to do anything else. He would mop the floors of the little restaurant and deliver food to the lousy customers who only came to drink and cause a ruckus.

For Dante, being able to eat twice a day was a luxury on its own. There were plenty kids on the streets who'd die for a piece of bread and a loaf of bread with some water he had every living day. Dante was ever so grateful, and treated the couple who took him in with respect no matter how badly he was treated. One day a kind woman, pitying the poor boy who'd spend his birthday without food gave him a single chocolate cookie on his birthday. He was delighted, he cried as he took the cookie from the lady's hand and held onto it tightly, as if it was his most treasured item. He never had chocolate before, he wanted to eat the chocolate in the little cottage he shared with the cows. When he entered the domain, he could hear the old couple quarrelling. His heart dropped; he knew he would get a beating today. He wanted to pass by the open doors quietly, yet he stopped dead on his track when Richard; Marvilles husband shouted his name in anger. 

'You ungrateful vermin, where did you get those cookies from?! You've been stealing from my home now?' he barked, stomping in my direction. He dragged me by the neck and threw me to the ground, kicking me while holding fist full of hair as he dragged me across the lawn.

'I did not steal' I yelled; it was of no use as he kept beating me while spewing series of insult at me. I got up several times to run away, he caught me and beat me even harder. I cried and begged him to stop, he'd rip my tattered shirt, unbuckle his belt and beat me senselessly. I eventually broke free when he threw me across the field. I ran as fast as my legs could take me and settled underneath an abandoned church. My cookie was shattered in small pieces, but I ate it with tears streaming down my face. 

it was delicious, the chocolate chip melted in my mouth and the sweet crumbs of the cookie disappeared after few bites. My brain went into a frenzy mode, my muscles relaxed and I felt comforted. The chilly night air hit my bare body, I no longer had a shirt and was left with only my trousers. Not a soul in sight was seen at this time of the night, it was past midnight. I fell asleep at the foot of the abandoned church, my mind felt peaceful first time in while. 

Dante opened on his eyes to muffled screams, strong arms wrapped around his limbs one hand covering his mouth. Dante’s heart was by his throat, he knew what this was, he knew who was kidnapping him and where they would possibly take him. By this point, crying was of no use. It felt as if all his emotions were drained out of him; he no longer had any reason to continue living. Why must his body be ridiculously healthy? Not once had he gotten sick, he questioned why he should live. Death would be less demanding than attempting to survive in this pitiless world. 

He could hear shrieks and cries for help of the children surrounding him. 

I was thrown in an old buggy that barely covered the top, the sky was still as dark as I had fallen a asleep. I am not aware for how long I was out, but it felt like I closed my eyes for only a moment. There were three more children occupying the same carriage as I, two kids who looked to be my age, one had silver blonde hair, pale skin and a button nose, he was clean. His gown appeared to be made from silk. A fabric only the nobles of Olta may procure. The other one was wearing a plain white tee, coupled with a green coloured pants. He had ashy brown hair and bulbous nose, covered in freckles, tall and thin. I could tell he was a commoner. The brown haired one was snarling his eyes out, attempting to shout and cry through the cloths secured in our mouth. We were unable to talk, our hands and feet tied down.  

It felt like we were in the carriage travelling a long distance of time, the night was quiet I could only hear soft little sobs and two grown adults chatting quietly leading the carriage. I could hear bits and pieces of their conversation. Something along the lines of ‘captain needing young bastards’ ‘good for nothing’ ‘they’re all so skinny’ ‘they’re useless’ ‘better sell them as slaves’ I remained calm through out the trip and devoured any information I could from listening into their conversation. After what seemed like two hours ride in the carriage, it finally came to a halt. I heard the adults getting stepping down, I was anxious and felt as if the world had ended. I wondered what they were going to do three young boys? Isn’t the answer obvious, I’ll be sold as a slave. So is this is my fate.

‘Gobble get the rats out, we’re here.’ I heard one of them speak, I braced myself. His voice deep, dangerous, predatory. 

‘Come on you lot, welcome to hell’ the short, pudgy adult covered in body hair opened the curtains. He seemed humorous, his tone light and cheerful as if he had not a worry in the world. My breath hitched as I took in my surroundings, they brought us to the sea and right across from me stood a gigantic metal boat, swarms of people were rushing in and out of the ship. Carriages similar to ours were bringing more children in. They freed our feet so we can walk, but placed shackles so we wouldn’t run away. One of the taller man stepped forward, he had dark hair like the sky, shoulders as broad as mountains and dark hooded eyes that seemed to read my mind. He was the one accompanying Gobbles. 

‘Listen here you morons, how you act from now own will decide your fate. If you think you can run away at this point, a bullet will go through your head. So I suggest you obey and do as your told.’ He examined our reactions, no one said a word. Everyone was too afraid to speak. I was tempted, I wanted to run away, I was done with this hellish life. Death seemed too inviting.

‘You will shut your mouth, and march straight inside the ship, Gobble will be following you behind and I will take the lead. If you want to live, you better walk’ it looked like there were about 6 carriages, between three to four children in each carriage. All of them shackled from the feet and mouth covered with a piece of fabric. I noticed that all the kids that were kidnapped were boys. What could this mean? Going against my initial suicidal thought, I wanted to find out what this was about. A large ship in the border of Olta would not go unnoticed, unless the ship was registered. If it is registered, then there is something suspicious happening in Olta that the government knows and approves of. Could this be an experiment? What kind of experiment? Are they testing new drugs? 

We were pulled one by one by our shackles and began marching towards the ship. I looked above and saw men casually watching us. Bringing in bunch of boys certainly didn’t seem any news to them, few men snickered and whistled. I heard one of them say ‘fresh meat’ and my thoughts were immediately disturbed. As we entered inside, there seemed to be a big open space, it was dark and quiet. We continued walking in darkness led by the muscled man who’s name I have yet to heard, I saw an opening, I had to squint my eyes as the atmosphere suddenly became bright. The place was crowded with men of all colour and ages, they all stood six feet tall, strong and wore no expression. They watched us and made way as we continued to walk what it looked like the middle of the room. There seated a woman, so beautiful almost like a fairytale. Her hair white as snow, skin so pale and lips soft pink, she did not look much older than twenty. Yet she had an intimidating aura, almost frightening. 

‘Welcome’ she spoke. 

pS;

sorry about the change between the first person and third person. I'm honestly just writing this on a whim to get in some writing practice. I will be editing the book once it's complete. I will try to stay in third person view from now on. 

thank you.