Caged (Caged series Book 1) Read online

  Caged

  Chapter 1

  I opened my eyes to darkness and took a deep breath, trying to keep from crying. Where was I? Where were my parents, and why hadn’t they found me yet? I was sure my Daddy would find me and come save the day, but it had been almost two weeks and he hadn’t found me yet. Maybe he gave up.

  I heard a noise outside the door and tried to pretend I was asleep again. It was just about that time where sometimes food was given to me, soapy hot water was thrown in, or worse. He called it training time. It was the time where I had to do a bunch of push-ups or sit ups until I got sick, or I would have to fight. If I won, I got a piece of candy, but if I lost, I got punished. He said that either way, it was going to make me stronger, but I didn’t feel that way. I just felt exhausted and beaten.

  The door opened and the light from outside blinded me. When things became clear, I could see the silver bars that locked me in my cage. I had forgotten that I was even in one.

  Someone walked into the room with a set of keys. That meant no food was coming my way tonight, not even any hot water. Tonight I had to train. The cage was opened and I was yanked out by my shirt, "c'mon girlie."

  I got to my feet and stumbled along as I was pulled outside the room. Two of the boys I usually fought were standing against the stone walls smiling at me. There was usually only one, but this time there were two. Why?

  The man that pulled me out walked over to someone in a black suit standing over by the wooden steps. He looked like some kind of lawyer, but I knew he wasn't. He was a young man with dark hair and pale skin, and the entire time that they talked he stared down at me, making me shiver. I couldn't understand why. Looking down at myself I still wore the same dirty clothes that I was taken in and had a few blood stains from the previous training nights.

  “How old is she?” The man in the suit asked.

  “Eight, maybe nine,” The other guy said.

  “Healthy?”

  “Yes, very.”

  I looked over to the other two boys and noticed that their clothes were much dirtier than mine. The one on the right was Cleo, and the one on the left was Fike. They were best friends and would sometimes come sit in the dark room with me to keep me company. Inside that room they were nice to me, but when we came out here they were totally different. They would fight each other, fight me, and compete as if their lives depended on it. Cleo said they had to be that way in order to survive, or else.

  “And how does she perform?”

  The other guy paused. It looked as if he didn't really know what to say, “She's strong, but needs a little more work. We haven't completely broken her in yet, so she...”

  The suited man slowly started to walk towards me, and with each step he took forward was one I took backwards. Once I was against the wall, he stopped and crouched down in front of me, “What’s your name?”

  “Rose,” my voice shook along with my hands.

  He smiled, “Hello, Rose, my name is Arnold.” I didn't respond, “Do you want to leave this place?”

  I glanced from the boys, to Arnold, to the steps, and nodded. Maybe I'll be able to go home! I really missed my family, and I wanted to talk to my friends.

  Arnold smiled, “Well, I can take you out of here, but under one condition.”

  I frowned, “What is it?”

  “You fight both of them, and you win. Then I can take you from down here."

  I took a deep breath and dropped my head. Cleo was a lot stronger than me, and Fike knew more fighting moves than I did. I didn't stand a chance, "I'll lose."

  Arnold stood up, "Keep losing and you'll spend the rest of your life down here," he walked back to the steps and stood by the other guy.

  The small, dirty man turned to me, "Pick one," he said to me.

  I clenched my fists and turned to the boys. Which one should I pick? Cleo is strong, and Fike can actually fight. It was two boys against one little mixed girl.

  "Fike," I said. Figured that I’d get the hardest one out of the way first.

  Fike smiled as he walked towards me. I didn’t know what to do! He was coming for me and I had no idea what to do. I looked from Arnold to Fike, and decided to try and tackle him. Fike was a little taller than me, with more muscle, but I thought that maybe I could take him down. I charged after him and went in for the tackle, but he just moved out of the way and I fell on the dirt floor, scraping my knee. Once I processed what had just happened, Fike was already throwing blows. The first one hit my cheek and the second one landed on my chest. I hit my head on the ground and became dizzy, but when he hit me again I snapped into action. I had to get out of here and find my family. I wanted to go home.

  Remembering something Fike did to me before, I grabbed the front of his shirt and head budded him on the nose. That wasn't enough to stop him though, so I did it again. Once he slowed his punches I used all of my strength to push him off of me and jumped to my feet. Fike was now on the ground holding his nose, trying to keep the blood from dripping.

  "Get up boy," the dirty man said.

  "Yes sir-"

  Before Fike got to his feet I ran up and kicked him in the face. If he were to get back up, he would've pummeled me. My friends say that kicking a man when he's down is fighting dirty, but I didn't want to lose.

  Fike rolled over to his back screaming and holding his face. I assumed that the fight was over and turned to Arnold.

  "Keep going, you’re not done yet," Arnold said.

  I grunted and turned to the screaming Fike. There was blood dripping from his nose.

  "Don't you dare," Cleo warned. His face was red and full of anger, "Don't you touch him."

  I swallowed and thought about what I was going to do next. If I didn't do what I was told, then I would be put back into that cage and held down here for the rest of my life. I took another step towards Fike and that set Cleo off. He charged at me like a bull and tackled me to the ground. I cried out as I hit my head. Punches just came flying, and they were a lot harder than Fake’s. The only thing I could do was block my face with my hands and hope that he would stop soon.

  I looked towards Arnold, his face was becoming blurry, but I think that was just because blood was getting into my eyes. I lost, and now I would never get to leave. I was gonna have to stay down here forever.....

  POP, POP ...POP

  Three gunshots went off causing my ears to ring. Cleo stopped swinging and fell on top of me. I thought he was just tired, but when he was kicked off to the side, I realized that he was dead.

  "Cleo?" Fike cried. He crawled over to Cleo's body and began to shake him, "Cleo!!!"

  Arnold stood over Fike and Cleo with a dark look in his eyes. Fike grabbed his pants, "You killed him," he cried, "You killed..."

  Fike stopped talking when he saw Arnold raising the gun at his head, "We don't have time to be working with weak boys. Cleo went after her without being told, and you...you lost to her."

  Fike looked at me with wide eyes, "Tell him I'm not weak Rose...tell him-"

  Another shot went off and Fike’s body fell to the ground. There was a small hole in his head where the bullet went through.

  Tears slowly slid down my face. I thought I was next. They don't want the weak, and I don't think I'm that strong. I was going to die and never see my family again, I was never going to leave this room.

  Arnold walked over to me and crouched down, "You did well," was all he said. I felt a pinch in my wrist, and then things started to get really blurry.

  "Can I go home now?" I asked.

  "Yeah, you’re about to go home now...”

  I woke up in a bright room. My eyes adjusted to the light and what I saw made my heart drop. I was locked in another cage. This time onl
y in a large basement.

  I started to cry and kicked the bars. Maybe, just maybe I could break them down and go home, "Let me out!!!" I screamed, "I want to go home! I want to go home!! Let me out!" But no one ever came...

  * * *

  I could hear the people screaming outside the door. They were cheering for me, and calling my name, letting me know that it was almost time....

  Arnold sat down in front of me and wrapped my hands. They were welted and bruised from our training nights together. Once he was done, he stood me up and pulled my shirt off. I had on a training bra, and I still hadn’t really started puberty yet, so I wasn’t uncomfortable with it. After he threw my shirt down, he tightened the string on my new U.F.C. shorts. They were black with my name going down the side. After I won my last fight, he gave me some of the money that I had made, and I decided to get a new pair of shorts.

  "You get out there and win me another fight, alright kid?" Arnold said.

  "Yes, sir."

  Arnold opened the door and all the cheers hit me at once. I walked down the aisle with Arnold behind me, and then onto the open floor. Across from me was another girl my size. She held the same expression that I had on my face: the look of determination. If she did well, then maybe she would be allowed to go home. Win enough fights, and you get your freedom....

  "FIGHT!!"

  Chapter 2

  9 years later

  I sat in the principal’s office wearing my grey Nike sweats, a white t-shirt, and my grey, black, and white Nike shoes. I was being enrolled into a new school after moving from California with my Aunt Shannon. She adopted me after the police found me, and all the other children that were kidnapped nine years ago. My parents turned up dead, so I never saw them again. They were murdered, and I'm pretty sure that it was Arnold’s doing. He had extreme ways of punishing me sometimes...

  The principal walked into the room and sat down at his desk. There was no welcoming smile on his face, so I assumed he has seen my record.

  "So, Rose Klien, welcome to Wintry High. I have a lot of work to do so I'm going to make a long talk short. I have seen your record and I'm telling you now that I do not want any of that in my school. I have enough problems as it is."

  I sighed. Of course.

  "It’s simple, you come to school, get your education, and then you leave. I'm all about clean starts, which is what you aunt said you were trying to do, right?"

  I nodded.

  "Good. Then I shouldn't have any problems from you."

  "As long as people leave me alone, I'll leave them alone. If not, I have no choice but to defend myself," The principal frowned, and I smirked.

  The door opened and the secretary walked in, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have one of the student guides waiting to show Ms. Klien her classes."

  The principal sighed and waved his hand, "I don't want any trouble Rose."

  "Sure," I stood up and walked out of the room.

  Standing in the entrance of the office was a short white girl dressed similar to me. She had short cut blond hair, and dark brown eyes. When she looked up and saw me, she smiled.

  "Rose," the secretary started, "this is Abigale. She'll show you around the school and let you know everything you need to know about it. Come back third period for lunch and then I'll introduce you to Mrs. Shy." I nodded. The secretary walked back to her seat with a smile on her face.

  "The senior counselor," Abigale answered without me even asking, "c'mon." She waved for me to follow her into the hallway, "I guess I'll just show you around the school and then take you to each of your classes afterwards. By then it should be...."

  "Third period," I answered.

  Abigale nodded, "right."

  We walked down the blue and green hallway, which was completely empty, and Abigale showed me all the bathrooms, cafeterias, the gym, the auditorium, the showers, the pool, and all the exits. She seemed really cool about things, and answered any questions I had. Her personality was similar to mine: relaxed and laid back. The comfortable clothes she was wearing gave that away.

  Once the tour around the school was done, Abigale started showing me all of my classes, "So, you play any sports?" Abigale asked.

  "I used to kick box back in California. Then after that I started wrestling for my school."

  "Wrestling? Like with the boys?" She looked excited now.

  "Yeah."

  "Were you good?"

  I smiled. Was I good? I was the only girl on the team, and I never got hurt because I was always doing all the hurting. The last wrestling match I had was against the captain of the team. If I won I would've taken his spot but his strength got the best of me. Instead I became the captain under him.

  "Yeah, I was good," I answered.

  "What about kick boxing?"

  That shouldn't even be a question. I wanted to answer and tell her I was undefeated out of 20 fights, but then remembered that to make a clean start, I shouldn't bring my fighting past along with me.

  "I was....alright," that hurt to say.

  Abigale nodded, "I used to kick box."

  My heart skipped a beat. First person I met at this school used to kick box as well, "What happened?"

  "I stopped. Decided that I didn't want to fight anymore."

  That excitement I just had diminished in seconds, “Were you good?"

  Abigale squinted with a smile, "I was...alright."

  I smiled back. It looked like she was going to this school for the same reasons I was. I was starting to get the feeling that we were going to be good friends.

  We stopped in front of my second period class. It just so happened to be second period, so I got to see who all I would be learning with.

  "What class is this?" I asked while looking through the window.

  "English. The teachers name is Mrs. Pond, you'll like her."

  A few students sitting in the front spotted me peeking in from the doorway, and then the rest of the class. Out of all the students that turned to see me, there was one that was still reading her book. I wanted to walk away so I wouldn't seem like a creep, but I found myself frozen when Mrs. Pond saw me.

  Mrs. Pond walked to the door and opened it, "Hello, can I help you?"

  I stepped back and looked her up. She was a young teacher in her late twenties, with long black hair and green eyes.

  "Sorry, Mrs. Pond. I was just showing her all of her classes. This is Rose."

  Mrs. Pond's face lit up, "Of course, our new student. How do you like the school so far?"

  I nodded, "It's nice."

  She looked as if she expected more, but I had nothing else to say. Instead I looked past her to the girl reading her book. She still wouldn't look in my direction, almost like she was trying not to. I tried to get a good look at her face, but her blondish-red hair fell from her shoulders and blocked any view I had. From what I saw she was familiar...but then again if she was who I thought she was....that's not even possible.

  Mrs. Pond looked back to see what I was looking at, but when the bell rang she turned back to me and Abigale, "Well then, I'll be seeing you tomorrow?"

  "Yeah..." I started backing up. Mrs. Pond was in the way of the girl now and all I could see was her reaching down for her books, then the class came rushing out.

  "Hey," Abigale tapped my shoulder, "you cool?"

  I nodded, "Yeah," I sighed, "show me back to the office?"

  "Course, see you Mrs. Pond!" Abigale led me back to the office, "So, see you tomorrow? I believe we have homeroom together."

  "Yeah, don't want to miss my first day of school," I said sarcastically.

  Abigale chuckled and backed out of the office, then disappeared in the crowded hallway.

  The secretary called me back to her desk and I was given lunch. It was a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a cheese stick and a banana. I learned to appreciate any food given to me, and to enjoy it while it lasts. You never know the next time you'll eat.

  When I finished lunch, I slouched on the cushion
chair and laid my head back. Soon this Shy lady was going to come get me and try to get into my head. I'm pretty sure she knows about my past and probably thinks I'm some damaged child just like all of the other teachers, counselors, and psychologists. My past follows me wherever I go, and anyone with a degree thinks that they can fix me like I’m some kind of broken toy.

  I admit that I still have nightmares and flashbacks. Sometimes I even react to things that remind me of my childhood, and end up hurting people. When I was first found by the police, my outbursts were an everyday thing, but then I learned to control it and eventually pushed away all those memories. All Counselors and Psychs try to do is bring it all back, and study me. I slipped up once and let a woman get into my head, that's why I'm here in this office now...why I had to leave California. I'm never letting that happen again.

  Chapter 3

  "Rose?" A woman's voice called. At first is sounded like my mother’s call, but she was gone, "Rose?"

  I opened my eyes and turned my head towards the soft voice calling me.

  It was yet another young woman in her late twenties. Or, at least, I thought she was. She was a tall woman that wore her dark brown hair down to the middle of her back and had bright blue eyes.

  "Miss Shy?"

  The woman nodded, "Can you come into my office?"

  Slowly, I sat up and the got onto my feet then headed into her office. Miss Shy sat down behind her desk and started going through papers, "You can sit down."

  I sat down and watched her go through my files. It looked like she had records on me from when I was eight up until now.

  I sighed, "I already got the lecture from the principal, so if that's what you plan on doing, you’re too late."

  Miss Shy smiled, but didn't say anything. She stacked up all of my records and sat them flat on her desk.

  I raised an eyebrow, "So, what am I in here for?"

  Miss Shy's smile didn't break, “What’s your favorite color?"

  I frowned, "Aren't you gonna ask me about why I had to transfer schools?"

  She didn't answer, and her smile still never broke, "My favorite color is orange."