Part 75: The Masked Boys

Eddie slowly opened his eyes. He felt weird. Like he was being carried. The little boy smacked his lips, feeling how dry they were. Then he was confused, because he felt very comfortable. He felt like he was resting on a bed, not the makeshift bed at the Medical Tent. Then he quickly looked around, realizing he was in some kind of hut. There were very old pictures on the walls. He looked around and noticed a makeshift table with a very old chair. Eddie was beginning to panic cause Tony and Marita were no where.

Then two young girls walked into the cabin. They looked at Eddie with concerned eyes. One girl then took off the black bandana covering her mouth. Eddie looked at them in confusion. Neither one of them was anybody he recognized. He remembered seeing the dirty girl when Marita and he were looking for coconuts. But he only assumed she was from the beach. “Who . .who are you?” he asked, “Why did you take me away from Tony?”

The girls just smiled. They walked over and set down a plate of fruit, and meat. Eddie looked at it and was unsure what to do. He was starving and the food did look good. The girl with the slightly blonde hair then gently touched his shoulder and motioned for him to eat. Eddie looked at the food again and finally grabbed it; stuffing it into his mouth. The girls giggled at the sight. Eddie smiled with his stuffed cheeks at them. “Mank Mou.” He said with a full mouth.

The girls then sat down, watching Eddie. The little boy ate the fruit, and then stuffed the meat in his mouth, recognizing it as boar meat. He looked over at them, wondering why they were so interested in watching him eat. So far they seemed nice enough but even his mom and dad taught him to not trust strangers. Eddie stopped eating the food and leaned back. “Thank you for the food,” he whispered, “but I still want to know why you took me away from Tony?”

The girls looked at him with confused eyes.

“You girls did a bad thing.” The little boy warned, “If you are not careful, the Polliwog will punish you.”

“Je suis désolé.” One of the girls whispered, “Je ne fais pas understant que vous dites.”

“Huh?” Eddie blinked.


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“Psst, Taylor,” Mia whispered.

Taylor slowly opened her eyes. The young blonde then looked up and saw the familiar face of the Lakota girl that always hung around the other three young adults. Mia blinked her eyes, looking very serious. “We are in trouble,” she whispered.

“What’s going on?” Taylor leaned.

The Californian panicked slightly when she realized she was bound. She tried to get up but Mia held her back. “Don’t move.” She ordered, “There is no where for us to go.”

Taylor looked around. It could be described best as a makeshift camp, comprised of wood and other pieces of debris that these people constructed into various things. However, describing them as people might be a little premature. They looked more like teenagers. Several boys walked past the tied pair. One was sharpening what appeared to be a short sword. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Taylor. Mia was more concerned about the blade and the fact that it she saw them use it in her dream. She knew they were out here. But she didn’t know they would take her. “Who are they?” whispered Taylor.

“I don’t know but there is 13 of them.” Mia mentioned, “Nine boys and four girls.”

“Why did they take us?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“Has anybody spoke to you yet?” the blonde quizzed her.

“I over heard them talking a few minutes ago but I couldn’t understand them. I think they are speaking French.” The Lakota girl whispered.

“Mia, what do we do?” Taylor was getting scared.

“We wait. John will come and I know McKay will too. Don’t you feel it?” she looked to her companion.

Taylor smiled. She had no idea that Mia knew about her and McKay. She knew it was a slight way of reassuring her. “Yes, I know he’ll come.” She whispered.

“HEY!” a young voice screamed.

Mia and Taylor turned around to behind him to see a familiar boy running from a nearby wooden cabin. “Eddie?” Mia said puzzled.

Eddie laughed as he ran to them. When he came to Mia, he collapsed in her arms, hugging her. The Lakota girl was concerned, then wondering why Eddie was taken. The little boy then came over and hugged Taylor. “I am so glad to see you two,” he laughed, “I don’t understand a word these guys are saying.”

“Neither do we, kid,” Taylor said, hugging him best she could with her bonds.

The little boy leaned back and noticed that his two beach companions were tied up. He then pointed, “Wait. Why have they done that to you?”

“Eddie, listen to me,” Mia whispered, “you are not tied up so they trust you for some reason. You need to run into the woods now and get help.”

“Into the woods?” he said, looking sad.

“Yes, Please, Eddie, while we have time.” She grunted.

“But . . .what if I get lost?” he whimpered.

Mia gritted her teeth in her jaw, calming down. She forgot for a moment she was talking to a small boy and not someone who could understand what was happening to them. Lowering her head, she exhaled. “You’re right, Eddie,” she whispered, “I don’t want you to get lost.”

Taylor looked around and then noticed three of the boys were coming to them. One looked like he was the oldest but what was the most strange, is that everybody had a black bandana around their mouths. What were they afraid to breathe? The oldest boy with the jet black hair came over to them. He looked down to Eddie, who just stared back up at him. “L'enlever.” He whispered to his friends.

Two of the boys came over, taking Eddie by the arm. The little boy hit them but of course, made no impact. The Jet Black Hair boy then kneeled down in front of Taylor. He reached over and gently stroked her hair. She reeled from his touch, not wanting to get near him. “Vous êtes beau.” He whispered, “Je vous n'importe qui ne permets pas d'ai mais me.”

“What the hell is he saying?” Taylor muttered.

“I don’t know.” Mia responded.

Then before Taylor could say anything else, the jet black hair boy grabbed her by the arm and started to pull her away. Taylor struggled but for a young man, he had exceptional strength. Eddie then tried to fought with his captors but the boy could break their steal grip. Mia wasn’t sure what to do.

The boy then thrust Taylor down on a tree truck. She grunted as the wood collided with her stomach. The boy then grabbed her wrists and tied another rope to the bonds, securing her down. Mia then went wild eyed. It wasn’t hard to figure out what the boy was planning. “NO!” she screamed, trying to run toward Taylor.

Another boy grabbed Mia by the neck, holding her back. Eddie then started yelling, kicking, and screaming. He could tell they were going to hurt Taylor. The blonde tried to keep from hyperventilating. Then she felt the boy grab her shorts and began to pull them down. She then began to scream and thrash, as he felt of her panties. “NOOO!” she screamed, “I’LL KILL YOU!!”

“L’ARRET, CEDRIC!!!” someone screamed.

The boy called Cedric stopped touching Taylor and looked toward his right. From out of the jungle, leaped another boy. Mia squeaked at the blonde haired boy as he leaped from the jungle and landed four feet from Cedric. It was an impossible leap but yet he did it. Taylor turned and looked at the boy. He was at least 17 years old and he had blonde hair going down to shoulders. He wore not shirt, just torn pieces of cloth wrapped around his wrists. Taylor was quick to notice how built he was, as he had been working out his entire life. But what struck her the most was the fact that he too had a bandana around his mouth. Except his was red.

Cedric slowly backed away from Taylor. The blonde hair boy followed him. “Vous êtes idiot, Cedric.” The muscle bound boy whispered, “Vous vraiment avez pensé que je vous permettez de fais ceci ?”

“Ceci est aucun de votre inquiétude, Alexander. La fille est la mine par la droite !” Cedric hissed at him.

“Alexander,” Mia whispered, seeing as the blonde boy had a name.

“Si vous l'aimez, alors elle fera un bébé.” Alexander whispered in anger, “Et si elle a un bébé, alors que rapportera Ethan. Je ne permettrai pas cela d'arriver !”

“Je peux l'arrêter. Tout comme je peux vous arrêter !” Cedric screamed as he threw a punch at Alexander.

The blonde boy caught it with his fist in a splint of a second. Cedric then flew up his other hand and hit his opponent in the chest. Taylor gasped as Alexander flew through the air a good five feet, landing on a bunch of dead leaves. He grunted, immediately getting up. He then ran toward Cedric and leaped at him, tackling him. The two young warriors fell hard onto the ground and began to scuffle. Each one punched at the other.

Then more boys and girls emerged from the woods. Mia looked at them, seeing they all had red bandanas around their mouths. Two boys came up behind the two other boys holding Eddie, quickly putting their strange short swords to their throats. They immediately released the small boy. Eddie dove for Mia, who quickly embraced him. Two brown haired girls quickly ran over to Taylor. One of them swiftly leaned down and cut her bonds, while the other pulled up her shorts for her. As they led her away, she finally was able to breathe and whispered, “Thank you.”

Mia continued to watch the fight between the boys. Alexander then punched Cedric across his face, making him spit blood. The blonde boy then picked him up by the throat, holding him above his head. The Lakota girl held onto Eddie watching this display. Every fiber of her being was telling her what she was seeing was not possible. But yet it was clearly happening. This boy was strong enough to hold the other boy up with one hand by the throat.

Cedric grunted for air, holding onto Alexander’s wrist. “Maintenant m'écouter, Cedric,” the blonde boy whispered, “Je ne souhaite pas arrêter la paix mais je ne nous vous permettez pas de tue ou. Maintenant vous me direz où ils sont venus de, oui ?”

Cedric punched him on the shoulder but it did nothing. Alexander squeezed harder. “Oui?” he demanded.

“OUI!” Cedric coughed.

Alexander finally dropped him. Cedric crashed to the ground, making large gasping noises. The blonde boy then leaned down to the fallen boy. He gently placed the bandana back over his mouth. Mia blinked, wondering what the significance was. Then he stood up and walked over to them. He looked down at them, then kneeled to face them. “Vous avez à rien ne craindre. Personne vous blessera.” He said.

Even through his mask they could tell he was smiling. Mia just shook her head. She had no idea what he said but she could tell he could be trusted. The boys and girls with the black bandanas slowly dispersed. The Red Bandanas all kept an eye on them. Two more girls, who happened to be twins, gently cut the bonds of Taylor and Mia. The blonde girl massaged her wrists, then leaned over to her Lakota friend. “What the HELL is going on here?” she grunted.

“I don’t know,” Mia said, holding onto Eddie, “My best guess? We have stumbled onto some kind of Lord of The Flies gang war.”

“They are speaking French, but yet they are all so young,” Taylor whispered, “Did the French leave them here as an experiment?”

“Unless you know someone who speaks French, I don’t think we’ll ever know.”