Every year millions of people go missing. Some are found alive, others are victims. Some want to be found, some want to be missing and others just seem to disappear into thin air. I was the latter. I was a daughter, a sister and a girlfriend. Back then I had people who loved me, but if things had been different, if I hadn't been there. They would of been just fine. Of that I am sure of... but on Sunday the 5th of Febuary 2012 I was taken from that life and thrust into a completely different one. In this life, it wasn't how strong you were or how big your muscles were. In fact our greatest weapon in this life, was not a sword or a gun but our memories, connecting us to who we had been. Keeping us safe inside our own heads.
***
The last thing I remember before I was taken was walking home from the store. I was supposed to buy chocolate for my mum but at the last minute I realised I didn't have enough money. I didn't think anything of it when the white van pulled up next too me. I was walking next to a busy road with houses on the otherside of me. They moved so fast I had no time to react as they pulled a small white cloth over my nose and mouth, I was swept into darkness by the smell of mint. The van hid us from view, so no witnesses, I wasn't where I was supposed to be, so the police wouldn't have known where to look. My parents wouldn't even realise something was wrong until I didn't return two hours later. I had left no trail. I'd just simply disappeared.
***
When I woke up I was in a small concrete room. Now, call me crazy, you have every right too, but in no way did I feel like the first to be locked up there. There was nothing in it but a quiet mumbling sound that if you listened hard enough turned out to be "Raqua loves my general. Raquas general loves me. I will die for my general. I will kill for my general." Even in my groggy state I had enough brains to figure out that this was a brainwashing system. A few days just listening to this in a room with nothing else to focus on would certainly mess with your head, esspecially if people started calling you what ever name was mentioned when you got out. I laid back, the room just barely had enough space for me to stretch out, and closed my eyes. In primary I had been a great lover of books and had become highly adept at ignoring things around me so I could focus. I conjured up memories in my head, of my mother and my father and my brothers and disappeared from that room. I couldn't tell you how long I'd been in that room for, with no reason to move and a knowledge that if I woke up I might lose who I was I stayed swallowed in my memories until a the unmistakable squeak of door hinges made my eyes fly open. I sat up and was shocked to find that I wasn't stiff like I expected but was exhausted. Like I'd just run a marathon. I looked up at the man standing in front of me expecting the worst.
"Whats your promise, Raqua?" Panic exploded in my chest but I had to react quickly. My mind blanked but I felt my mouth open instinctively.
"I love my general. My general loves me. I will die for my general. I will kill for my general." The man nodded and beckoned me to follow him. I did so without hesitation, but in my head for the entire time I fashioned a new promise.
My name is Teranika. I will escape the general.
***
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