Chapter 3: Mission Revealed

The night approaches and so does the bitter cold seeping through the old barn walls. Mauve wakes up under a pile of warm fluffy comforters that kept her neatly tucked in a bed. Through the glass windows, she realizes that she had been asleep for a few hours since it's dark already. She looks around the room and sees nothing but a chair placed on the edge of the bed and a door leading outside. Mauve rises and tries to jam the window open but fails after a few tries. The loud sound alerts Sephie who was preparing rice porridge for dinner.

“Miss, are you alright?” Sephie asks behind the door. 

It took a moment for Mauve to respond as she pondered whether to yell at Sephie demanding her freedom or just be a decent person. She did not want to be rude since Sephie has been nothing but nice to her since they met.

“I’m fine, I was just trying to escape.” Mauve answers with a sarcastic tone as a compromise for her thoughts. 

“I see, well our dinner will be ready soon. Please don’t try to hurt yourself.” Sephie responds while putting garnishes on their food. 

Mauve takes a deep sigh as she thinks of ways to escape. She notices her clothes have been changed into her own oversized  crew neck paired with her sweatpants. She automatically checks her undergarment and discovers that it had been replaced as well. Her eyes widened with her mouth wide open realizing that one of her captors must’ve been busy fetching her clothes and changing it for her. Oh my god! They saw me naked Mauve frantically thought.

“Wh-who took my clothes?” mauve yells, trying to hide her embarrassment. 

“Nicholas did. He took most of your necessities.” Sephie responds.

Necessities? Like my sanitary pads? I can’t believe it. Wait Don’t tell me Nicholas took off my clothes!  Mauve’s thoughts escalate as she feels her cheeks heat up. She couldn’t bear the thought of having a stranger look at her naked body especially if he is a guy. 

“Did he take my cl-clothes off?” Mauve tries to say but stutters on her attempt. 

“No, Nicholas isn’t a creep. I’m the one who took care of it, don’t worry. I did it as fast as possible. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” Sephie says clearing Mauve’s misunderstanding. Nevertheless, Mauve is still embarrassed knowing someone else did something so personal for her. It’s a strange feeling that she can’t get rid of easily, it's like a burning sensation inside her that she could not explain. She nudges away her thoughts as Sephie opens the door announcing that dinner is ready.

Mauve looks at her own bowl of watery rice porridge with sliced boiled eggs, toasted garlic  and scallions on top. It's not typical for her to eat something like this but she kept her eyes down pretending to stir it, avoiding both Nicholas and Sephie who are observing every action she makes. She is still bombarded with the thought of Nicholas going through her personal items. 

“Would you like some soy sauce? It tastes better if you top it with lime as well.” Sephie says as she offers to pour some on Mauve’s bowl. 

“I don’t mind.” Mauve replies still avoiding eye contact.

Sephie proceeds to pour some soy sauce and squeeze half a lime onto Mauve’s plate. The aroma coming from it was enticing which made Mauve curious enough to try and discover how addicting it tastes. 

A smile forms on the corner of his lips as Nicholas watches Mauve finish her food. The food is very satisfying to eat and fills you up easily which made Mauve refuse Sephie’s offer for another serving. After Sephie finishes tidying their table, Nicholas suggests for them to tie up Mauve once again for precaution since he is planning to talk to her. He doesn't want her using her powers now that she is still recovering. Mauve tries to resist but is convinced by Sephie to calm down. 

Mauve is tied up on a chair while Nicholas and Sephie sit a few feet parallel to her.

“I’ll be expecting for you to listen carefully and reserve all your queries at the end of my discussion, is it clear?” Nicholas says with a serious tone as he looks at Mauve who gave him just  a nod as a response.

"Elite is a parallel dimension of Earth which happens to be existing a thousand years apart from Earth's present day. Here it's 2021, in Elite it's 3021. Geographically, Earth and Elite are identical but differ in the number of population of its occupants. Unlike here on Earth; Us, Elitians collectively live in the most favorable continent we call as the Whole. Our population is strictly controlled hence the high quality of life and abundant resources we have that greatly impacted our advanced technology." 

"What does that have to do with me?" Mauve abruptly interrupts showing her disinterest. 

"Like I said, reserve your questions later."

Nicholas retorts with a tone of annoyance. 

"It all started with the First One. His majesty, Arnold Dein who was the first ruler of Elite, descendant of Earth. No one can scientifically decipher as to why this phenomena exists but as the first king discovers his special gifts, he opens a portal to Elite and eventually establishes the Monarchy which is to be led by the chosen ones. The chosen ones are the descendents of Earth who have special abilities and can open the portal to Elite. Over a thousand years, there had been seventeen rulers and Mauve you are about to be the eighteenth one."

What utter Nonsense! Does he think I'm going to believe this crap? Mauve thought. There is no way Nicholas is telling the truth. He could just be telling lies to buy them some time for all she knows. Nevertheless she keeps her sarcasm at bay. 

"Can I ask questions now?" Mauve asks. 

"Yes, you may." Nicholas responds. 

"Where's your proof?" This caught Nicholas off guard. He has his explanation ready for whatever Mauve may ask except a physical proof. It took him a minute to think. 

"Elitian technology cannot enter Earth, an Eliot and an astral can only pass through the portal miss."

Sephie explains. 

"So no proof at all?"

Mauve cuts back with a smirk on her face. 

"I'm afraid none."

Nicholas responds. Mauve is convinced that they are literally toying her around. She thinks this is probably human trafficking of some sort. 

"Are you gonna rip me apart and sell my organs away?" Mauve asks, trying to confront her fear. She thinks that if she let them know that she knows, they might second guess this situation and have a little mercy for her. 

"No Mauve, we are not trying to take advantage of you. Drop it already!" Nicholas responds hinting that he had enough of Mauve's suspicions. Mauve was taken aback since it's the first time that Nicholas has shown impatience towards her. She recollected her thoughts and had no intention to push him further. The last thing she wants is for things to escalate. Now that she is tied up, trapped and has no means to escape, her priority is to prolong her life and somehow make it out of here. 

"The chosen ones have 4 abilities, so far we have seen you unlock your first one; telekinesis. You might think it's a coincidence but it's not. I suggest we wait for your next ability as it will support our claims." 

Sephie suggests trying to get rid of the tension between Mauve and Nicholas. 

"Fine." Mauve curtly said, looking away from the both of them. 

"That settles it, alright we should rest now. Eliot, please transfer Miss Mauve to her room." 

Nicholas unties Mauve from the chair and lifts her up by his arm. Mauve almost panicked knowing Nicholas is quite upset with her. She kept quiet as he tucked her in the bed under the warm covers and secured her for the night. 

Mauve spiralled with her thoughts and fell deep into sleep as the winter night lulls them all to rest. 

The early winter sunlight woke up Sephie who was fast asleep next to Nicholas who were both sleeping next to each other wrapped up under thick weighted sleeping bags.

To her utter surprise, the burning coal which was supposed to be on the makeshift fireplace she made was floating in the mid air. She pans out her vision all throughout the barn and sees that most of the lightweight tools they have are floating around. She quickly wakes Nicholas up who is astonished as well. As they  quickly get rid of the fire hazard burning coals, Mauve starts screaming on top of her lungs. 

Nicholas sprints towards her door with nothing but fear and worry in his heart. 

He fumbles with his key and pushes the door open. 

"Mauve!"