| He raised his eyebrows again. "Yeah well, after that, or since then, he's hardly said anything. They took a lot out of him," he said quietly. I noticed Amy watching him - she was the only one that could actually see into the cell. "Is he ok?" I suddenly asked. She glanced at me, realising I was talking to her. She looked back. She shrugged, and we could tell she was worried. So were we. We heard movement in the bed, before silence again. As there was no window, we couldn't tell how long it took for the day to wear out. We also noticed there was no way to open the door from the inside, and that they'd installed a camera in the top-left corner. We guessed it was late afternoon when they returned. It was only Matt and another man, and they headed for Isaac. He looked up as Matt watched his cuffs being unlocked. "You and me are gonna have a little fun, Isaac," Matt grinned, as he was hauled to his feet. Matt winked at Taylor, then they left the room. "Not again," I murmured. "That guy's always had it in for him," I heard Taylor comment. "Yeah..." I replied. No one had hardly spoken since we arrived, and we thought Zac may have been getting some much needed sleep. Amy and Angie were just silent. It seemed a long time before Isaac returned. We heard the door being opened, and saw the two men enter. They were dragging an unconscious Isaac into the room. "Ike?!" Taylor exclaimed, his legs struggling to help him sit up properly. "You, shut up," Matt pointed at him warningly. Amy leant forward as the two men left Isaac in the centre of the floor, then just left the room. We heard movement in the cell. "Guys...?" Amy began, "there's blood on the floor."Taylor immediately looked concerned. "Where abouts?" I asked. "Near his face," she replied, trying to see. We hesitated. "That's the side with the scars," came Zac's voice from the cell. "Yeah, it is..." Taylor realised, "are you ok Zac?" He sighed. "As ok as I can be," he replied. There was a moment's silence. "How can you stand this?" Angie asked suddenly. Taylor and I looked at her. "What?" Amy asked. "This! Not knowing what's going to happen to you! And him, lying there half dead right in front of you," she exclaimed. "You know this has happened before," I pointed out. "Yeah, but..." she trailed off. "I hate, so much to say this... but overall I think we're getting used to it," Taylor began, "this has happened to us too many times to even think about, and the things that we've been through... this set up is nothing compared."Angie just stared. "You mean this is only the beginning?" she raised her eyebrows. "By far," Zac replied quietly, "what I... went though, this morning... even that has happened to me before. And to Taylor." Taylor suddenly looked uncomfortable, probably because of the memory. "Woah wait, so, what's the worst thing that's happened to you so far?" Angie asked. Taylor almost broke out laughing. "Someone cut my wrist before," Amy mentioned, showing Angie her scar. Her eyes widened. "As for me, it was probably getting a tracker," Zac added. "A what?" Angie asked. "Zac, block your ears for a second," I warned. Then I explained. "A tracker was what they used on us three to make sure they knew where we were all the time. It was implanted between our shoulderblades, and we each lost alot of blood. Zac and Taylor were both conscious during the time." Taylor shuddered. Angie's eyes again widened. "On just a physical level, my worst time..." Taylor stopped to think, "well I was once driven over a cliff... that wasn't too bad until we landed." He chuckled a bit. "Um... they also drugged me alot the first time. Oh, and being electrocuted a few times last time," he added. "Electrocuted?" Angie repeated. "The trackers had something that... connect it with something else and it sends a shock through your body... enough to knock you out," I explained. "What about your worst time?" Amy asked. I hesitated. "Probably the connection thing," I looked at Taylor. He groaned. "Oh that... thank God it's over," he said. "What?" Angie asked. "It's something they had," Amy began, "they could sense each other's injuries or something." Angie looked skeptical. "It was more like we actually felt them. For example, the first time we found out about it, Taylor got stabbed in the hand and I could feel it in mine," I explained. "That's another thing," Taylor suddenly said, "when I got shot that time, that had to be the worst." Zac whistled. "And boy do I remember that," I raised my eyebrows. Suddenly, there came a moan from the floor. "And I guess we're about to find out Ike's worst," Taylor said, watching. One of Isaac's hands moved, before he tried to sit up. He ended up rolling over onto his back. "Ike? Isaac, are you ok?" I tried to communicate. He didn't answer, just moaned. We could now see the blood covering half his face, and the floor. "Ike?" Taylor tried. "My head..." he moaned, grabbing it. Slowly, he rolled over onto an elbow, and looked up. "Hey man, you ok?" Taylor asked. "Yeah, I..." he began. Then we heard the door opening again. The man that had been with Matt entered, and went for Isaac. He pulled him from the floor, and over to the chair again. Isaac sat there willingly - as if giving up - as the man restrained him. He soon left us again. Ike moaned. "Are you sure you're ok?" Taylor asked. "Yeah... I will be," he replied, and closed his eyes. "You were gone for quite a while," i said, watching him. He didn't reply. "What did he do?" Taylor asked finally. Isaac opened his eyes to look at him for a second, then closed them again. "They drugged me... beat me up," he replied after a short pause. Taylor sighed. "What about your face?" Amy asked tentatively. "My face?" he gave her a questioning glance. "There's blood all over it," Angie put in. "What?!" he exclaimed. I glared at her. "They reopened your scars, that's all," Taylor explained calmly, also giving her a warning glance. She just shrugged. Isaac sighed thankfully and again closed his eyes. "The drug should completely wear off soon," he said. We could tell he was beginning to feel sick, most likely as a result of whatever they'd given him. It did wear off soon after, and Isaac didn't look so sleepy or 'out of it'. Moments afterward, Matt re-entered the room. "Troy has asked me to be his initial... spokesperson as it were," he chuckled, looking around, "so I can tell you why you're here. Troy is Mike's older brother, as some of you should know." Not getting any response, he continued. "Troy had no previous knowledge of what was going on between us, and he didn't find out until about a month or two after a certain sibling's death. Naturally, you would want to know why... or who shot your brother," he said this with a pointed grin at Zac and Ike, "so one of the men here told him, and naturally, he wants revenge." |
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| Chapter 15 - First Blood |
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