*~9~*

Saved, Not Kidnapped

 

Ea carried Azure on his back through the sewers. She hadn't moved since he had put her to sleep and he realized that if it hadn't been for her warm breath on his neck, he would not know she was alive. Aina followed at his heel, the guilt permanently stamping its place in her gut. "Was this necessary, brother?" She asked, her eyes pleading him to find some way to take Azure back to the surface where she belonged.

"I'm sorry, Aina. But she was going to tell the OnLookers about us being on the surface." Ea looked down sadly.

"So now what...?" Questioned the scared child, who's normal brave behavior now escaped her. "We just kidnapped a Utopian..." The guilt grew.

Ea simply grinned, revealling his gleaming white smile to reassure his little sister. "I wouldn't say kidnapped. We rescued her. Big difference, miss Aina."

She simply rolled her eyes in reply and looked at the slime oozing out of the walls of the sewer's pathways. "Saved her? We may have just made her life worse." She she watched it slip down the bricks on to the concrete path, leaving with it a large, thick trail of residue. "And what do you think Alma is going to say about this?"

His smile became etched into his face, as he turned his head ahead at the long dark tunnels they still needed to move through. "Alma will be very happy that we chose to knock her out so that we didn't get caught."

 

*~/~*

 

"Excuse me, you did what?" Snapped the large woman at the front door. The city behind the two children that cowered beneath the woman, bustled with business and laughter as people rushed home to be with the families that they felt lucky to have.

Beneath Utopia, just under the under the thick and sturdy layer of surface holding up the large city above, lay a peaceful and quite city below. But the city below seemed more like a town or a village. It lacked the tall sky scrapers that Utopia had built to "touch the wonderous skies" (as said, numerous times, as an excuse to build a new one for the city) and it also lacked the cleanliness and the order. This fact was caused by the continuous flow of excess chemicals that were dumped into the pipes to the UnderGround City on a daily basis. There didn't use to be any green, awful smelling sludge dripping from the cracks between bricks that formed the tunnels and pathways that connected the world in a subtle way. Laughter and joy use to be heard in the city. You still hear laughter. But the joy is drowned out by the coughing of those fallen ill to the diseases and cancers that were created from the toxic waste.

How did this waste and slime form? No one is really sure how this sludge was created, what from it was used for the city above. It was mostly made up of different, harmful ingredients that were never meant to be ingested or even meant to be near organisms. But the "scientists" of the UnderGround city couldn't tell much more about it. They didn't have the proper knowledge or the proper equipment to examin it further, so the UnderGround people were forced to work to avoid it slipping into their drinking water systems that they used to quench thirsts of people and plants they grew beneath artificial sunlight.

The buildings were small but packed with different families. The largest building was the building that a young, 32 years old to be exact, woman named Alma owned. She housed five different families and acted as a "den mother" to each and every one of them. Unlike most who owned buildings even slightly similar to her charged rent. But Alma could sweet talk her way into any shop keeper's heart. And often times her food, shelter, and clothes were free.

Now, her eyes, dreary from watching time fly by, stared down at the two young boys who stood at her doorstep. The twins, the filthy muddy children in front her who were often called Grubby and Grimey, belonged to one of the members of Alma's house.

"We didn't mean to fall in the mud, Alma." Cried Grubby.

"We were running in the tunnels again, and the slime tripped us right into a puddle of wet dirt." Pouted Grimey.

"Please let us in, miss Alma." Grubby sniffled.

"The mud is cold." Grimey whined.

Alma rubbed her temples and groaned. Her blue eyes had seen these two looking worse than this and still allowed them into the building before. But she desperately looked behind her to the floor she had spent two hours making spotless and groaned again. "Why? Why? Whhhhy?" She pushed her forehead against the door frame.

"Please, miss Alma?" The boys begged in unison. She looked past them to see two familiar figures pushing through the crowds in her direction. Ea and Aina looked at her smiling. "My heroes are here at last!" Alma cried out to them as they approached. Ea knelt down behind the boys as they turned and saw him.

"Are you two causing trouble for miss Alma again?" Ea asked calmly.

The boys now looked frightful of the older boy. "N-No, mister Ea. We were just leaving to go clean up!" They both said, and pushed passed Aina to head for a place to bathe. Ea stood up straight, still being careful with the girl on his back.They walked past Alma without a word and headed for the family room. "I hope they weren't giving you too much trouble before we arrived." Ea said.

Alma stared in shock at the child in the white uniform striped with blue that stay unconcious on his back. "Not as much trouble as you're about to give me..." Alma leaned against the wooden wall and couldn't tear her eyes away. "Now, what on Earth is that?" Alma questioned.

"Ea's victim." Aina told her.

"You're the one who tackled her." Ea glared.

"You're the one who had to yell when she stepped on your toe, you big baby!" Snapped back the 13 year old child.

"She's not as gentle as she looks! That really hurt!"

"Enough! Enough!" Alma interrupted. "Now explain the child, or I'll send you to go wash Grubby and Grimey with just wet sponges!"

They both gulped and remembered the filth dripping off of the smaller kids. And then they sighed and Ea told her what had happened. Instead of taking it calmly, Alma took the news of Ea and Aina becoming kidnappers poorly. She cried out in dismay and looked at the girl that Ea was setting onto the old couch. "Kidnappers... You are kidnappers..." She repeated.

"I say we saved her." Ea replied.

"No, no, no, no, no..." She groaned. "Why did you bring her here? Here? To my home? Don't you kidnappers have some sort of secret hideout or something that you can stash her in until you get the money?" She frowned.

"We are not kidnappers." Ea said defensively. "This girl is not a kid. I think she's a teen."

"Teen-nappers!" Alma pointed to them accusingly.

Ea should've (and kind of did) expected this reaction from Alma. That boyish and charming smile, reappeared and her had no other reply but "Everything will be fine once she wakes up and we explain things to her, Miss Alma. I promise."

 

*~/~*

 

1 sat at his desk, the phone call he had just recieved from the Tates' family bothering him deeply. He stared ahead at the empty room where the blond girl had sat before him and answered all his questions without too much hesitation. And he began to wonder how this could've possibly happened. Mrs. Tates had just told 1 some very disturbing news.

A citizen from Utopia has gone missing.