The Rebellions

That night, I woke up to the tattering drum of endless beads of rain falling on the rooftop. I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms and legs. I looked out the window. I had an hour before the sun peeked out. That's when I decided to get out of bed and explore the hideout. It had been way too tempting for me to restrain myself. I NEEDED to know how everything worked around here; one can never be too cautious about things like this.

"No one's gonna be awake at this time anyway." I thought as I slowly creaked the door open. I tip toed out of the room and down the wooden stairs, failing to stop it from creaking everytime I took a step down. I was about to turn around a corner into the hallway when I heard faint whispers on the other end of the hallway. I paused for a moment and then tip toed closer to the hallway to get a clearer look. Rays of the silver moon poured into the hallway through the large glass windows lining it and it looked like the entire city could be seen from where I stood. The lights from different buildings, cars being driven on the roads and the street lamps shone brightly in the quiet, mysterious night.

I inched closer to the end of the hallway and peeked from the side. They were the man and woman who were responsible for bringing me here. The woman, Scarlet, still had her hood pulled down so low that it covered half of her face. I could only see the pale skin around her nose and mouth.

"You know, with your dull skills, you'll be the first one to get caught out of all of us." A smile played on the man's lips as he turned to meet my eyes.

My body tensed up in surprise. His senses were as sharp as the knives he keeps with himself. I was mentally punching myself for my stupidity and emerged out of the shadows into the large hall where everyone gathers for feasts.

Scarlet quickly pulled out her sharp knives from the sheaths and eyed me with hostility. The man waved a dismissive hand at her. "Don't worry, he's one of our own now."

She paused, glancing at me and then at her leader before sheathing her knives in visible confusion.

"Since when?" She asked in a calm and icy tone. That was the first time I'd ever heard her voice. Her wavy, crimson red hair flowed out of the hood as she pulled it back to reveal her pale face. She had a ribbon of braided hair wrapped around her head which looked like some kind of a hair band. Red locks of hair covered her forehead. Her cold, blue eyes stared at me with an unbothered expression.

"I brought him here. I'll tell you the whole story later." He turned to with a smile, "So, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?

"Uh, nothing. I just heard voices so I was curious.." I trailed off as I felt Scarlet's icy gaze on me. The man seeming to have noticed it, let out a laugh. "She may look scary but she's actually a nice bean. You both will get along soon."

"I don't think so." I thought to myself awkwardly.

Scarlet glanced at her leader and put her hood back on again. "I'm leaving."

The man nodded with a smile. "Thanks for always being there for us."

"Didn't she just come back..?" I thought to myself.

I watched as she swiftly walked past me towards the hallway and slid open one of the glass windows. I stared in shock as she jumped out the window like it was pretty normal to hop out of a building that was so high that it overlooked almost the entire city. It made me wonder if she was capable of something more.

The man smiled again, cocking his head slightly. "Did you need anything else?"

Being dragged out of my train of thoughts, I looked back at him.

"Answers." I replied.

"To what?"

"To where I am and what do you plan on doing with me." I stared at him with hostility. He could just use me as a bait, for all I care.

"You really think I'm still a danger to you?" He chuckled. "Well, I can't really blame you. I did drag you into an unknown hideout without any explanation and I could just be one of Ryan's pawns."

His signature smile slowly faded. He walked over to me with his hands stuffed in his pocket. "You sure you want to know more about us?"

I nodded, a little nervous under his stern gaze. "Come with me." He said as he walked past me. I followed quietly as we walked through the hallway. Lights of all the rooms lining the hallway were turned off. Everyone was deep in sleep and it was eerily quiet.

We stopped in front of a wooden door. He took out a bunch of silver keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. The lights were switched off in this room too and it was too dark to see anything. I squinted my eyes as we marched inside. His hand trailed the wall searching for the light switch.

When he turned the lights on, my eyes widened. I was met with several faces— not real faces, but pictures. Picture frames of different smiling faces hung on the four walls of the room.

The man crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "These were the people who became victims to Ryan's cruel experiments. Families, friends, husbands, wives and children of the people you've seen here today."

I walked closer to the pictures and looked at those cheerful faces. They looked so happy. I noticed a familiar face among the photos— the man who thought we were a threat to them. He and his wife smiled at the newborn baby which he was holding tenderly in his arms. He seemed like a whole new person now. There was no smile or warmth in him anymore. Each picture stung my heart deeper and deeper. They all had lost someone very precious to them. Ryan had caused much more pain to people than I had thought. I shuddered at the thought of what Ryan could've done to each one of them.

Next to his photo was a bigger photo frame of a younger version of their leader and a girl with beautiful blonde hair and freckles on her rosy cheeks. The boy beamed as bright as the sun as they held hands together like lovers. He walked closer to it and stood next to me, staring at the photo with a mixed expression of guilt and sadness.

"Who is she?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"A kind girl who would've grown up to be an outstanding woman...but couldn't." He looked at her face with a bittersweet smile, reminiscing the old days.

His words had made me even more curious but I thought it'd be best not to open old wounds. But one thing was obvious that he wasn't lying about defeating Ryan. He was even more determined than I was. But I had gotten so used to not trusting people ever since all of this began that I still couldn't completely trust him. As soon as I find something suspicious, we'll get out of this place.

"You gathered all these people all by yourself?" I asked.

He shook his head, never looking away from the photo. "Of course not. I had someone who helped me."

"And who is that?"

"Oh, you will see him tonight. He's coming here to deliver some information. I'll introduce you to him." He said.

I nodded, bottling up my head with even more questions than before.

His signature smile was back as he turned to me. "Do you believe me now? We're not a threat to you or the little girl."

"Yeah. I can trust you now." I lied.

He stared at me for a few moments before letting out a big sigh. "Seems like you don't."

My eyes widened in surprise. "What- how did you-"

"Look, I've been doing this work for a longer time than you think. I can easily find out when someone's lying. I wouldn't be surprised if you ran away from here. I won't stop you. Feel free to do so if u want to greet Ryan's syringes again."

My heart stopped for a moment. He was reading my every thought from the beginning of our conversation. Just how much more can he do?

"Now go back to your room and get some rest. We're going to the city tonight." He walked out of the room and turned off the lights, leaving me to my thoughts.

"If he wanted to kill me, he would've already crushed me like an ant. I should try to trust him more." I said to myself. "I'll come to know more about Ryan from them. And I also have someone to meet. Let's hope everything goes well."