It had been about a year since Solana graduated high school, and here she was not doing anything with her time except working minimum wage at a fast food establishment with no real plans for the future. And, if she was honest with herself, she did not have any plans to speak of except to get a new job. She felt more at ease living day to day and for that day, not for the future, yet she cannot help the feeling of being stuck.
It was nearing two in the morning and with the slow flow of customers this late party evening, the manager had ordered that they will close early. Brittney had been sent home early, that lucky bitch. She was always in the back with the manager, sucking up to him -- Or sucking him up. Solana's face scruched up in disgust before breaking out into a smile of amusement at the image of it as she was putting the chairs on the tables. She was the only one left on the clock legitimately working with the other minimum wagers standing around having a raucous conversation while they should be cleaning the grills.
A knock brought her out of her reverie as she looked to the glass doors to the noise. It was a man, and he appeared to be above the rowdy rancor that prowled the streets at this hour to find some cheap and unhealthy snack to soak up all the alcohol or to fill their recently emptied stomachs. After placing the chair in her hands upside down on the taable, she strode over to the door. She was able to get a closer look at him with the flouresent lights illuminating his visage.He was tall and lean with a simple pair of slacks and a dark dress shirt adorning his frame. Such attire was something that always got Solana to look, and she bit the inside of her lip for an instant. Her eyes trailed up to his face, and all the excitement left her just as quickly as it had flooded her. His eyes were cold and distant, displaying nothing in which she could read.
"Sorry, we're closed," she called to the man before turning away to continue her duties. After putting up a few more chairs, she turned back to the door fully expecting to see him still there, but he had left. She was perturbed but pushed it from her mind so that she could finish up to head home.
* * *
Her work was done, and she was glad for it. The two in the kitchen appeared to not give a damn about anything, just like the manager. Before heading out the door but after clocking out, she knocked on the office door. "I'm done with my work and I'm heading home." She received no response from the other side. Solana shrugged and went out the back door into the cold December night. The sky was clear, but the wind easily bit through her flimsy jacket. She drew it up closer to her little frame as she briskly made her way to her old but reliable car. She reached in her pocket for her keys, and as she was about to unlock the door, the man from earlier was in the reflection of her window.
"May I help you?" she asked, as she shifted the keys in her hand to have one protruding from between each of her fingers while balling her small hand into a fist and turning to face him. The man before her said nothing, remaining still and silent and standing tall and erect with his hands behind his back. Solana was unsure how to proceed in this situation, not wanting to make the first move against him.
He made the first move to reach out to grab her. She ducked and threw a punch with her right hand, the hand with the keys towards the man's abdoman. In blinding speed, he seemed to be able to shift his momentum easily, grabbing her right wrist with his left hand, twisting it . He spun her around and pressed her back against his front and placed a cloth over her mouth and nose. In shock, she inhaled sharply. The drugs on the cloth entered her system, and in a matter of seconds, she found herself slipping into the abyss of sleep, falling, falling, falling...
* * *
Solana's eyes opened slowly, and her vision was blurry. She found herself in a strange place in something that resembled a tube.
A tube... Her eyes snapped the rest of the way open with a start, and she started pounding on the glass. The man who was at the fast food restaurant was standing before her, his bright blue eyes as unreadable as they were before. In this light, she was able to get an even better look at him. The glass lifted and she fell out of the capsule onto the ground on her hands and knees. Slowly she came to rise to her feet as he began speaking. "Solana Reid. 18 years of age. Female. Future Guardian and Air elemental. Please, follow me." He had extended out an inviting hand to her and flashed a twinkle of a smile to her. "Welcome to Atlantis.".