The Escape - Part 1

"Please!" the woman cried out. "Don't do this!" A tall man held a gun in his hand, looking across the dim lit room at the woman.
     "I'm SO sorry Savannah, but it must be done..." he said. The woman rushed towards him, but he held up a hand, stopping her. "Don't make this harder to do..."
    "I love you! I really do! Don't do it!" the woman pleaded.
    "Close your eyes." The man said. "Trust me. You know why I must. Just please, close your eyes." The woman did as he said, and started to cry.
    "I love you too..." the man said, then pulled the trigger. The loud sound vibrated around the small, empty room, and the woman fell to the ground.
    She opened her eyes and looked at the man. Blood ran down the side of his head from the bullet hole in his temple. He was lying on the ground, his eyes still open; tear filled, but completely blank. Savannah crawled over to him, crying.
    "Close your eyes Zakky..." she whispered, as she wiped her hand down his face, closing his eyes for him. In his hand, he held a note which read 'I know you can do this, believe in yourself'. As she looked at his face, she wished that she had died, instead of the man she loved.

    She sat there for hours, her long black hair splayed out on the dirty floor, lying next to him and looking at his face. He looked like he was just sleeping. She wished he'd open his eyes, awake from his deep sleep, but she knew he never would. She would never see his face light up whenever he saw her, never hear his voice or his laughter again, and never feel his warmth or his beautiful scent when he hugged her. These thoughts circled her mind over and over and over.
    She couldn't believe they'd gotten themselves into this mess. She also didn't know exactly why they got into this mess. She remembered walking up an unknown street with Zakky and coming across two sick-looking old men. She and Zakky had walked up to them to see if they could help and then all she could remember was looking into the man's eyes, seeing a white light and waking up in a dark room. And now Zakky was dead and she was trapped in the small room, almost like a prison. She knew that, when that door was opened, one of those evil men was going to drag her out, and she'll have to find a way to escape. Zakky gave her a chance to live, but neither of them knew if she'd be able to do it, kill the big man and run, flee the country and keep running from the other evil men that stood so close to him, his loyal followers. And if she can't escape then, she'll be held captive, and Zakky's death would have been for nothing.
    She looked down at her dirty clothes. Being dragged around the big place for so long by those men had not treated them and her body well. She had scratches all up her arms and legs and her whole body ached.
    Suddenly, Savannah heard footsteps walking up to the door and then heard a key fit into the lock. Without thinking, she tore the gun from Zakky's cold hand, and, crawling along the floor silently, hid behind the door. She looked at the gun in her hand, realising that she'd never held a gun in her life, let alone learnt how to use one.
The door opened and bright sunlight filled the room. She heard footsteps step inside, pause for a minute, and a man's voice ask, "Is anyone alive in here?"
    She knew that voice. It was one of the evil followers; the small old man with the long grey hair that dragged along the floor and had wrinkles all over his face and bags under his emotionless, black eyes. As soon as he was far enough inside the room, Savannah slammed the door shut, came up behind the man, put her arm around his neck and pressed the gun against his temple. The first thing she realised was that this man was almost completely different from the man she thought he was. He had the exact same, husky voice, but he was taller than the old man, taller than her as well. In the dim light, she saw that he had shorter but still long, darker grey hair, which was tied into a ponytail by a red ribbon.
    "Please! Stop! Listen to me! Don't shoot!" the man cried out. "I'm here to rescue you!"
    "How do I know that?" Savannah asked. "How do I know that, when I let you go, you won't take the gun out of my hand and shoot me instead?"
    "You'll just have to trust me! Please!" the man said. Savannah thought for a minute, and then took the ribbon out of his hair.
    "What are you doing?" the man asked.
    "I'm tying your hands up. Whatever I tell you to do, you do it, ok? Then I will listen to you. And if I don't trust you, I will shoot you."
    "Ok, ok. Anything... ouch!" The man said as she tied his hands up tightly. Savannah let him go.
    "Go sit in the corner. Over there." She pointed to one of the darkest corners. The man did as she said. She realised that he was also a lot younger than the man she thought he was, around her own age.
    "You see that man over there?" she pointed to Zakky. "He was a great man, probably one of the greatest in the world. He chose my life over his own. We weren't even supposed to get into this mess. It was an accident. We didn't mean to trespass. Those men out there have kept up like pets for weeks. But then the biggest man shoved us in this room and told us, if one of us didn't die, we'd both be killed. And if one of us was killed, the other would be able to live here, but as a slave.
    "Zakky shot himself and told me that, when I get out, I should do anything, ANYTHING to escape, even if it means killing everyone here. Maybe you'll be the first..." she aimed the gun towards him.
    "I've been trying to save you and that man. I'm sorry that it's too late for him, but I'll be able to save you now. Can we please sit down? My story may be quite a long one..." Savannah looked at the man suspiciously but then, warily, sat on the stone cold floor.
    "My name is Elian. I've been here for four weeks in the form of one of the old men that used to live here..."
    "'...In the form of...'?" Savannah asked, surprised. "Are you one of them?"
    "Yes, I am Kanulinga." Elian said, surprised as well. "How much do you know about us?"
    "I have a friend like you. She can shape shift and read the minds of other Kanulinga and believes in peace in the world. They do everything they can to make things right... so is that why you're here?"
    "Well, I'm happy I don't have to tell you all about Kanulinga. It's a wild story." Elian said. "And yes, that's why I'm here. One of the Great Kanulingas was captured by Amongor, which is the man out there. He has the powers of the Kanulinga, but has the power of hypnotism and his views are the complete opposite. His type is called Tanulung, which is not as well-known as us Kanulinga. He wants everyone to obey him. He will do anything to get complete power. In the past, Tanulungs usually stole people, people like yourself, and just played extremely horrible games with them. In the end, they all ended up dying. Either that or they were hypnotised to be slaves until they got bored with them, and then they were killed. If I didn't come to save you, anything could have happened to you.
    "So, this Great Kanulinga was captured and hypnotised. The Kanulingas who were stretching their minds so they can hear certain people, tried connecting with his mind to see where he was after a week of him not coming back, but they hit a wall blocking the Great Kanulinga's mind. They knew straight away that a Tanulung had hypnotised him. They spent days listening to his mind, waiting to see if the Tanulung would unblock his mind, but instead, they were forced out of their mind stretches. The only way that could happen without their consent is if a Kanulinga is killed.
    "We Kanulinga know the location of all Tanulungs. Many years ago, before I was born, there was an agreement called the 'Tykara' between the Kanulinga and Tanulung. The Tanulung were ordered not to kill or harm people and animals, and if they obeyed, they wouldn't be killed.
    "A sort of royal family of five Tanulungs thought they were better than the Kanulinga, and thought that they were secret enough, and stole people that wouldn't be looked for, like homeless people or people without any friends or family. But the Kanulinga found out, and had to kill them. Since then, a Tanulung hasn't killed, until now.
    "When the event of the Great Kanulinga happened, each Tanulung colony was secretly invaded. One or two of the Tanulungs were taken and are being held captive at the Kanulinga Palace but they are being taken care of fairly, because it is the way of the Kanulinga.
    "Kanulingas were placed in the Tanulung colonies, in the form of the captive Tanulung, already knowing the back stories or each one, knowing their lifestyles, etc. We were put here to discover which of the Tanulung colonies killed a Kanulinga. And when Amongor brought you two into the dining room on your first night, I knew that this was the right one. From then on, I had been trying to save you and Zakky, but still tried to keep my cover and not be discovered as a Kanulinga. But I was too late." Elian looked at Zakky with sadness in his eyes. "He is the first one that has ever died during a rescue..."
    "Well... I guess I believe you now..." said Savannah, the gun on the floor next to her.
    "You don't know how to use that, do you?" Elian said, eyeing the gun.
    "Actually, no. But if you actually were one of them, I would have learnt fast."
    "I'm sorry, but we really have to leave. Can I get up now?" Elian asked. "I knocked out the guard outside the room, and he'll probably wake up soon. We have to escape this place." Savannah looked at Zakky again, and tears filled her eyes. Elian put his hand on her shoulder and she flinched.
    "I'm sorry, I really am." He said. He walked past her and opened the door slowly. The light shone into the room again and Savannah shielded her eyes. As she uncovered her eyes, she looked up at Elian's face before he transformed. He had very light brown eyes and a tattoo on his cheek. From the quick glance she got, she saw that it was the Roman numeral for the number 9.
    "I need to be in this form here." He looked up at her with his black, beady eyes after he reformed. "We don't want people to get suspicious. Act like you don't know me and you're nervous."
    "I don't know you all that well, and I AM nervous." Savannah said, looking around outside the room.

To be continued...