 “Red, I don't think you realise how serious all this is.“ His name was Red and he was a Seeker. And on a respectful position, too. Despite his young age and naïve attitude. He let out a snicker. Ah. Despite his happy-go-lucky nature. “Red,” said the man with clear annoyance. “I can find at last 20 people here that disagree with your behaviour. If I as much as flick with my hand, you'll be dead in no time. I'm afraid you've bitten off more than you can swallow this time. Not to speak about our guest. Your guest.” He pointed at me. Red snickered again, but I could tell he was nervous. Still, nervous was nothing compared to where he could be in a matter of hours. But if I thought of my situation, heck, where could I be in a couple of hours? Down there. I swallowed. I should have known this was going to happen. After all, I wasn't a Seeker. I was a Gatherer. Life couldn't get more complicated than that. REWIND I think it would be good to recalculate my situation. I was seventeen and high on life. I was smart, good-looking (I'm allowed to have some self-esteem, okay?) and my life was pretty damn fine. In the Gatherers' community, that is. You see, the one thing about Gatherers and Seekers, they are just like Athenians and Spartans, respectively. (If I recall my History books correctly, I was never interested in such things.) If you were one of us, you'd get a taste of the G versus S war. If a Seeker caught you up on one of their streets alone, you were dead. Or at least hospitalized for the next few months of your life. If you were an outsider, all you could see was a small province biting right when you didn't expect it. Biting hard. Life in the Gatherers' community is rather easy. I'd wake up every day, get dressed and I was ready for serious business. And by serious business I mean enjoying life to its fullest. I admit, I am a rather carefree person. But my sense of orientation? It sucks, trust me. STOP. The day I met Red... It was a night. A rather dark and quiet night at that. A night quite good at being nightly... Okay, I'll stop. I had been attacked by insomnia before, and it was a dirty and unfair fight. So I sometimes let myself lurk around the town, the closed community that it is. But letting myself wander out of the city in the middle of the night is something I'm not proud off. I remember standing there, wondering where exactly I was, when I felt something behind me. A cold hand grabbed me by my throat and a very hostile voice started uttering right next to my ear (not that I could make any of it, it was mumbled all the way). Then suddenly, the hand dropped, still leaving me frozen in place. “Who are you?” the not-so-hostile-any-more voice demanded. “I'm... I...” I uttered hardly. I felt my voice was cracking against the thick, cold air. “Doesn't matter. You're a Gatherer. You got lost. I found you. You're mine. Thinking logically rocks.” I could practically sense the mysterious person pull his face into a mischievous grin. FUCK. “Wa.” I let out, screwed for life and incapable of forming proper words. “I'll take you home. With me.” Shit. Shit, shit, shit. I'M A VERY STUPID PERSON Yes, yes I am. Incredibly, amazingly, stupendously stupid. Face it, you're going to die. I kind of kept telling this to myself the very first fifteen minutes I was dragged by a not too strong arm. I could free myself, but, apparently I was doomed to standing still for eternity. Or what seemed like one, at least. An eternity until we made it to a little apartment, stuffed between one, two three... six dirty floors with, unbelievable, even dirtier windows. At least his place was no better than mine. The inside was a little dull, grey being the dominant colour. I don't like grey, it's boring and it doesn't stand out much. “So,” the mysterious person turned around to face me now, and I shivered while looking him in the eyes. I was scared to death, scared for my life. But I was too terrified to look away. “Name's Red.” he pulled his lips into a wide, obnoxious smile. The kind that (if in my situation) makes you think HOLY SHIT, HE'S GOING TO KILL ME, DEFINITELY. “And food's in the kitchen, if you want to grab something to eat.” Wait, what? Some Seeker kidnaps me, takes me to his place and offers me food? Oh, I get it. It's a plan, some kind of stupid bet he's made with his friends, probably about how much I can remain sane under unbelievingly stupid conditions. “Look,” I swallowed under my breath. “I don't know what your plan exactly is, but I doubt it's anything nice for me so just... do whatever you're planning to and then leave me alone.” I spat out the words with a lot less confidence than I wanted to. The guy raised and eyebrow and took a sip out of some juice can. Then he put it down, as simply as can be, and started laughing. “You're... you're freaking serious, aren't you? You think,” he stepped closer to me and pointed his index finger to my nose. “I'm going to kill you or something.” he took a small breath and let out a simple laugh again. “I can't see why. Except if you're paranoid, but I can't know that. Oh, and sorry, I don't have any prescription drugs, the doctors say I'm just fine without any pills that'd mess with my head.” he shrugged and quickly tossed a can of juice, just like the one he was drinking before to me. I didn't even bother to try to catch it, but I suppose I wouldn't be able to, anyway. Fear still hadn't left my bones by then. It hit me in my head and I let out a small shriek. He sighed and picked up the can, slowly put it in my hand and patted me on my head. As if my haircut wasn't enough of a mess already. I AM GRAVELY CONFUSED “What's your name?” he asked. It took me a few moments before I realized he was talking to me. “I...” I guess my voice was a mix of confusion, fear and stubbornness, so he let out another sigh. “Whatever. When you feel like talking, please inform me. Although I doubt it'll be any time soon.” I raised my eyes to his eye-level and from pure rebelliousness mumbled out my name. “Sngh.” “What?” he was either really bothered by my name or he just didn't hear it. “I said, Seth.” I let out trough clenched teeth. “Oh. Is Seth... unisex? Ha, I once knew a boy named Seth, and a girl named Seth. But...That's your birth name, I guess? How old are you? You're not young enough to carry it any more!” “I'm... I'm seventeen.” “What are you doing with a name like Seth then? Wait, don't tell me you Gatherers don't get your head names when you're seventeen. What do you have to be, like twenty?” “Twenty-one.” I whispered, slightly ashamed. “You're serious? Oh man, I went with my head name the moment I was seventeen. You know what my birth name was? Raine. With an e.” For a shadowy Seeker and my kidnapper this guy sure likes to talk a lot. “Anyway, you're with me now, so you get one as soon as the boss approves it.” Red pulled out some keys from his jacket's pocket and juggled them with his fingers. “So, are you tired and want to sleep it off, or can we head to the boss immediately?” I swallowed. Through the past fifteen minutes, swallowing was somehow becoming a habit of mine. “Uh... I guess... I'm tired and... Hungry?” I said, carefully and softly. I was still shocked from his quite quirky behaviour, all the jumping and laughing and tossing fringe aside. As much as I knew, he could still be a cold blooded murderer. And I believed into it even when he laughed and said: “You're hungry? Sure, I have some pizza left in the fridge.” IN WHICH SETH MAKES SOME REALISATIONS One: I am alone in a Seeker's apartment (not counting the particularly friendly Seeker), sitting on a comfortable sofa and eating pizza. Two: If someone doesn't come and get me soon, I am completely and utterly screwed all over. THE STORY River calls me and gets my answering machine. She worries, but she always worries too much, so it takes her two days to suspect something is wrong. Finally, she calls my cell phone and with the help of some probably alien-made technology tracks me out at this place. She rages storms into the Seekers' community and drags me out of the apartment. Drags, because although I go willingly, I have no energy left due to my celebrating for finally being freed. Except it doesn't go like that. In fact, it goes nothing like that. It goes more like this: WHAT IN GOD'S NAME DID I DO WRONG |