The silence of the abandoned shop was absolute. It was a heavy, suffocating blanket that pressed down on Mara and Kiara as they curled into each other on the cold floor. The taste of the dry bread was still a bitter memory on their tongues, and for the first time in days, sleep had finally begun to pull them under.
Then, the world shattered.
CRACK.
The sound of splintering wood ripped through the quiet like a gunshot. Mara's eyes snapped open, her heart leaping into her throat, hammering so hard it felt like it would bruise her ribs.
"Mara?" Kiara's voice was a terrified whimper, lost in the pitch-black room.
Mara didn't answer. She couldn't. Her lungs had seized. She scrambled to sit up, her hands scraping against the gritty floor, searching for the iron bar—searching for anything.
THUD. THUD.
Heavy boots.
Two massive silhouettes blocked the faint moonlight filtering through the cracked shutters. They were giants, blocking out the stars, their shoulders broad enough to fill the doorway. Mara tried to scream, to tell Kiara to run, but the air in the room had turned to lead.
She felt a hand—massive, calloused, and cold—grab her shoulder. She thrashed, her nails clawing at the air, but she was like a bird in the grip of a mountain.
"Kiara, ru—"
Before the word could leave her lips, a thick, damp cloth was slammed over her face
The smell hit her instantly—a sharp, stinging chemical that burned her nostrils and turned her brain to liquid. It smelled like rot and iron. She fought it, kicking out, her fingers tangling in the rough fabric of a stranger's jacket, but her limbs were turning into water.
Beside her, she heard a muffled gasp, then a soft thud.
Kiara..." Mara's mind spiraled. The darkness of the room began to bleed into a deeper, heavier black. The last thing she felt was the rough floor slipping away as her body went limp, and the cold, mechanical silence of the the room
Then, there was nothing
the same type of clothes was placed on Kiara she didn't struggled because of lack of strength and she blackout.