The Warehouse

Emily awoke from what she thought was from a night’s rest, only to feel that she simply awoke from what now appeared to be a major hit on the head. She sat up in bed and surveyed the room. Everything in her studio apartment seemed to be in order, but somehow, she got this overwhelming feeling that something was wrong. She reached for her locket. It was gone!

She frantically searched the apartment for it, finally looking under the couch when the thumping in her head reminded her that she wasn’t feeling well. She slowly sat up and gently rubbed the bump that was hidden only by her thick, curly, brown hair. Was that blood that she felt stinking in her hair? She looked down at the clothes she had on, still wearing what she worn the day before.

Emily reached for her the back pocket of her jeans; her phone was still back there. A sudden sickening feeling overcame her as she glanced at the time on her phone. She was late for work! Emily grabbed her jacket off the hook by the door and flew around the dark hallway and down the stairs. Why did everything seem so creepily quiet? She couldn’t quite figure it out, but nothing seemed right.

Even the streets seemed strangely cold and quiet. The cool mornings usually felt so refreshing to Emily, but today they scared her. All the people she passed on the street seemed ill, somehow. Almost as if a dark shadow had overwhelmed them to the point of sickness. The same feeling from the dank hallways and stairways of her apartment also overwhelmed her outside.

Emily finally stopped in her tracks and looked all around her. Why was today so different? All the people continued to pass her by, nobody seemed to sense the same oddity that the day brought with it. As Emily glanced around her, she finally was struck by the absence of sounds. Oh, she heard footsteps and clothes rustling with movement, she heard the occasional cough, grunt, or murmur. But she didn’t hear music. She couldn’t hear birds singing. She couldn’t hear children.

She looked harder around her. No children! Normally school busses would pass by on their way to school, children would be running the hallways of her apartment building and along the streets. She looked for chalk marks that displayed variety of colors and shapes on the sidewalk, but nothing was to be found. Playgrounds were not just empty but non-existent. Finally, Emily grabbed the arm of a woman passing her, “Excuse me ma’am. Where are all the children?” Emily asked. “Are you kidding me!?” The woman glared at her as she continued moving ahead. Except for a few glares, nobody seemed to notice Emily and they definitely didn’t share her concern about the absence of children.

Emily reached the currier service where she worked. Normally, a very lively place, today however, it shared the same sensation as the streets had. Emily again asked her question, although this time confiding in her colleague, Robert. “Robert, where are all the children?” She asked bluntly. “Why? What do you need one for?” Was his curt reply. “What do you mean, ‘What do I need one for?’ I just can’t find any children around. It’s weird.” “Well, if you are trying to get me to spill where you can acquire one, I’m not falling for that. I have no such use for children.” Robert snorted and then left the room.

Emily was more confused than ever, “Acquire one?” she whispered to herself. “Emily, are you ok? You are acting awfully funny and asking very strange questions today.” This time the voice she heard was coming from the sorter next to her station. Alison’s weak voice was just barely heard as her eyes peered over the top of her work area. “See, I don’t understand why these are such strange questions.” Emily was struggling to keep her response at the same level as Alison’s. “Why is it strange to wonder where children are and not strange to care less that they are nowhere to be seen?” This time her voice started to rise.

Alison quickly looked around her before continuing, not missing a beat with the packages she was sorting, “Everyone knows that unless children are useful, they aren’t worth having. Our leadership has noticed that children don’t create any personal fulfillment to the general public, so they have been taken away and kept for those that are willing to pay for them to become useful.” This time the way Alison used the word “useful” gave Emily shivers down her spine. Alison didn’t seem to notice Emily’s reaction and continued, “I don’t have the time, energy, or money to degrade myself with them, so I don’t bother with children.” Alison went back to closely examining her work.

“Ok. But WHERE did they go?” Emily wasn’t at all concerned about her work and only leaned closer to Alison. “Go?” Alison asked. “Well, most of them have been discarded, I guess. Many of them have been taken somewhere until someone wants them for a while.” Alison shrugged her shoulders and went back to sorting. This time giving a look that made Emily feel as if any more questions would not be welcomed.

Emily stood there in a daze for just a minute. Her thoughts seemed to be just as overwhelming as the noise from the dozens of conveyer belts overhead and the hundreds of workers loading and sorting packages all around her. Emily couldn’t shrug this information off. She needed to find out more, she needed to leave and now.

She made it as far as the door when she realized that Tim, the night sort manager, was following her out. “Family emergency?” Tim asked. “Something like that.” Was all Emily could muster. “You know, you are going to get into a lot of trouble for poking around the way you have been these last few days.” This time Tim seemed to be ushering her out the door and towards the side of the building. “Last few days? What do you mean? I’ve only just noticed these strange things today!” Emily responded, now her heart was racing, and her eyes were frantic with curiosity. Was this somehow connected to her hit on the head? Did she get knocked out so hard she had forgotten? “What do you mean, Tim? What can you tell me about where the children are and what does everyone mean about their ‘usefulness’?” Emily was now grabbing Tim’s arm and spoke almost as a person deranged. “I’ll show you. The storage unit is not far from my house.” Tim spoke gruff but quiet as he now grabbed Emily’s arm and led her down an alley.

They came to a part of town that Emily had never been to before, she thought it seemed impossible, but it even had a worse feeling of dankness than what she experienced outside her apartment complex that morning. The air seemed to be thick with an evil she couldn’t explain. “What is this?” She choked out. “This. This is where they keep them.” Tim’s voice seemed to have changed, he sounded regretful somehow. “What do they do here?” Now, Emily had to know, but she was also afraid to hear the answer. “This warehouse was purchased by a research company. If you can believe it, this neighborhood used to be a nice place to live a long time ago. Over the years, it was getting run down and forgotten about. But I grew up here, I couldn’t just abandon it like so many others have. The research company left the building empty for many years, to the point where we thought everyone had forgot that it even existed. Suddenly, out of nowhere, people were slowly come in and out, dropping things off. We found out that it was being treated as some kind of holding facility at first. The “products” were being extracted and kept here for experimentation or for purchase to the highest bidder.” Tim’s voice now was filled with disgust and his eyes couldn’t rise passed the pavement.

Emily had this sick feeling in her stomach, but also feelings of pity as well as anger growing towards Tim. “How could you live so close to what was happening and not do anything about it?” Emily stuttered. Tim’s eyes rose to meet hers, “How could I?! The same way YOU did and everyone else in this blasted town! It all was happening right under our noses, so gradual that no one noticed at first. But now we are in so deep, everyone is scared what they would do to the ones that care about these children and who ask too many questions.” Tim’s eyes were flashing now and his voice was rising to the point that he found himself looking around to see who else was listening. Emily too, found herself checking to make sure they weren’t noticed. She could no longer blame Tim for his silence, fear was now overtaking her as well.

Tim continued, but in more hushed tones. “Nobody cares about children. So many of them are being neglected by their own families that when they started disappearing, no one noticed. Now, children everywhere are being taken. People are so scared of losing them, that they hide them somewhere or have decided not even to try to have a family.” Emily shook her head, “I don’t understand! You said children were being extracted as products for sale and for experimentation. What are they doing with the ones they are kidnapping?” “Slavery.” Tim replied. “Slavery?” “Some are being used for medical experiments to see how they respond to a variety of hormones at different stages of life, but primarily they seem to be used for sexual exploitation.” Tim was now leading Emily towards a side door of the warehouse as he spoke. Her earlier conversation with Robert suddenly made sense, “Acquisition.” She mumbled to herself as she followed Tim closely.

They approached a door that seemed to be loose on its hinges and Tim pried it open. Emily suddenly felt as if she had been inside before. The room was dark except for the light that came through the dirty windows. It took a few moments for Emily’s eyes to adjust to the light when she noticed a teenage girl walking towards the cabinets they were hiding behind. The girl was wearing the heart-shaped locket that Emily’s mother had given to her as a baby, the one that was missing! Emily gasped as she immediately remembered that she had given that girl the locket as a pledge to return to help her escape. Emily wanted to call out to her, but Tim placed a finger to his lips to caution her to be quiet. They carefully watched for a few minutes when suddenly a shadow appeared just over their heads.

Emily awoke in her apartment with a horrible headache from what now appeared to be a major hit on the head. She sat up in bed and surveyed the room. Everything in her studio apartment seemed to be in order, but somehow, she got this overwhelming feeling that something was wrong. She reached for her locket, but she was already clutching it in her hand. The chain was broken, and the locket was covered in blood.