Chapter II

I awoke to someone nudging me. Mum.

"Too early." I groaned. Why was she even up, anyway? I opened my eyes and remembered what happened. I was kidnapped and there was those creatures...

"The man said we will be landing soon." I turned to the boy sitting next to me. He seemed to be my age, if not a year or two younger. His blonde hair was a mess and his baby blue eyes seemed wary. Despite this, he gave me a warm smile. I noticed his creased top displayed the logo of a band I could vaguely remember. Seeing how bedraggled he looked, I became acutely aware of how awful I must've looked. My hair was all tangled, my leg was covered in dried blood.. I tried running my fingers through my hair but I couldn't sort the knots. "Don't worry, last night was rough for everyone." The boy chuckled. His accent was American, Texan. "My name is Sam, you?"

"I'm Phoenix, but Nix is fine."

"That's an unusual accent, where are you from?" Sam tilted his head, curious.

"Wales." Sam looked confused. "You know, next to England." He smiled. How could he smile at a time like this?

I looked around at everyone else. They all looked downtrodden. There were three other girls and another boy. The other guy next to Sam had a mass of ginger hair and was wearing only boxers. His face and bare chest were speckled with acne, despite him looking about twenty. One of the girls had blonde locks and was wearing a silk nightgown. She looked more annoyed than frightened. Opposite me was a girl who looked around my age. Her hair was dyed black and her makeup matched. She wore dark day clothes rather than night clothes. The girl next to her was definitely the youngest. She was Chinese and looked to be about thirteen, or maybe younger. Her dark sleek hair slid down and hung around her waist. Her eyes were big and the colour of chocolate. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"We are now landing." Our captor warned. I studied him. His skin was as white as snow, almost transparent. His eyes were bright red, contacts probably. There was a scar running down his right cheek. His long black hair was tied back but a few strands had escaped. He was handsome and I might have been attracted to him if he hadn't taken me away from my mother and actually smiled for once.

Suddenly, the carriage dropped and everyone except the man screamed in terror. I felt bile rise in my throat, but before I could vomit the carriage hit the ground with a crash. I glanced out of the window and gasped. Everything has far as the eye could see was covered in a thick blanket of snow. We were lucky to get a few inches of snow every few years. If we had this amount of snow Wales would surely shut down completely.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"In a land not known to most." The man answered.

"Take us home." I snapped, finding some courage.

"Why?" He looked genuinely confused. That made me even more angry.

"We have families! We can't just leave them!" Hot tears rolled down my cheeks before I had a chance to stop them. Suddenly, the man looked somewhat panicked, unsure of what to do.

"Don't do that!" He demanded.

"What?" I sniffled.

"Don't cry."

"No." I said partly out of spite. If it made him uncomfortable, good. Also, I wasn't sure if  I could stop.

"Stop bawling for Christ's sake!" The blonde girl snapped. "You'll get us bloody killed!" I stared at her stunned. There was something I disliked about her. The carriage came to a graceful halt outside a huge lodge that looked more like a millionaire's holiday getaway. There was a man waiting for us. He was tall and broadly built with a pot belly. His busy beard was as white as the snow and his eyes were kind and experienced. Our captor opened the door and stalked out.

"Alexei!" The Santa look-alike chuckled as he shook the mans hand ferociously. He too sounded Russian.

"I have returned safe and well, Dmitri." Alexei said, keeping his tone flat.

"I see you brought our new recruits." Recruits? Alexei nodded in reply and beckoned us out. The ginger guy left first, confidently followed by the Chinese girl who was more hesitant. As soon as I stepped out I wanted to crawl back into the carriage. It was freezing and my wounded leg began to ache. Dmitri noticed everyone shivering violently and cleared his throat.

"Follow me, introductions inside." He led us into the warmth of the main hall.

"This is one hell of a trip." The ginger guy muttered.