Chapter 32
When the guard had his back to me, I seized the moment, forgetting my well-laid plan. I snagged his gun out of its holster and bolted. But at the end of the hallway, a metallic door stopped me.
The guard grunted as he caught up, dragging me back to my cell by my hair. My scalp still hurts from him pulling too hard. He informed Caleb, who had come to visit.
“I can’t let bad behavior go unpunished. You’re making it impossible to keep my word. My patience and goodwill have limits,” he tsked.
The good image that asshole has of himself is astounding. He was so damn eager for me to make a mistake, and I did—because rationality shuts down when your mind focuses on survival.
I don’t know how long I have been here. The moment I tried to talk to the guard, he shoved me back so hard, my body hit the cement ground. All I have been offered since then is a bottle of water.
At least I got something to drink, but my body yearns for something to eat. After going for too long without food, my stomach stopped rumbling, as if my body had adapted to this life-or-death situation. Fact is, I am getting weaker.
I can’t sleep on top of this lack of energy. I seem to drift into a maze of disarrayed thoughts, but I always remember why I have to stay focused. Caleb said he would wait for Blake to come before he started with my torture, but he lied.
After my failed attempt at escape, everything changed. It’s either pitch dark, or the moment I finally fall asleep, the lights blaze on, blinding me. They flicker until I’m dizzy with vertigo. Then, sounds blare from speakers hidden somewhere in the walls—so intense and shrill that I curl into a ball in the corner of the room, palms covering my ears, and rocking gently to soothe myself. The sensory torture always takes me by surprise, denying me any reprieve. But there is one sound that maddens me: drip, drop by maddening drop. I have no idea where it’s coming from, but my sanity threatens to snap.
Caleb visits me once a day. He’s visited twice, so today marks three days since I have been here.
When the door opens, he struts inside, and I ball my hands at my sides, imagining what it would feel like to squeeze the life out of him.
“How is my guest holding up?”
I bare my teeth at him, and he adds, “I’m getting bored, so in a few days, I’ll give my son a sign.”
No. I don’t want him here. Blake needs to stay away from this place. I have to act before that, even if it costs me my life.
“Knowing him, he’ll come alone because my stipulation will be clear.”
I can’t hope Blake won’t do it when I would do the same—in a heartbeat.
“I have a new serum I would like to test. I finally had a breakthrough. I can turn Blake into an obedient soldier. And my first order will be to kill you. Then, I am going to give him the antidote to show him what he has done. He was always such a good experiment. Sadly, he had to betray me.”
“Fuck you, you demented monster! I’d kill you before you touched him.”
I march toward him, but the guard intercepts me and shoves a stun baton into my chest. A shock wave goes through me, rocking my body until blackness owns me.
When I come back to my senses, the stench of sweat envelops me, and I realize it’s coming from me. A layer of grease covers me from head to toe. I am in the same clothes I came in with. If I look the way I smell, I must look horrible. I can’t believe that’s what I am thinking about right now.
Standing up on shaky legs, I slide down the wall, an unfamiliar sound erupts. My hands instinctively move to cover my ears, but this one sounds different. Then horror crashes over me—Blake found me. My friends are here for me. But the asshole doesn’t lie, and if any of them get caught, Caleb will do exactly what he promised.
I spring up and pound at the door, but no one answers me. I have no way to warn my friends of the impending danger, and that thought is more debilitating than everything I’ve been through. I scream so loud, my throat will be sore for days.
When the door finally opens, Caleb steps inside.
“Blake must really love you. Pathetic. He found you sooner than I expected. I wish I had you as a motivator for him back then. He would have been exemplary in obedience and duty. But now we’ll never know.”
“Please, he’s your son. What would his mother think of that?” I try to appeal to his conscience, even though I doubt he has one.
“That bitch would have made him weak with her soft heart. I had to kill her. That car accident was my first attempt at conditioning, and it worked. I used to administer her very specific doses of scopolamine and barbiturates through her coffee, spending hours bringing her to a subservient state. But I soon realized that while it worked, it required constant monitoring and follow-up, as the effects didn’t last long. It took me years to perfect the process and to discover more effective serums. Until I got it right.”
He is truly a monster. Tears well in my eyes, thinking of Blake as a sweet and innocent little boy who lost his mother, the one parent who might have given him the love he deserved. I wish I could hug him and promise him he’ll always be loved by me.
“He’ll never be like you. Blake has a heart, and that’s something you can never change.”
Challenge flickers in his eyes. “We’ll see about that. Now, let’s greet him.”
The guard drags me up by my elbow, pulling so hard my shoulder might dislocate.
When the elevator doors open at the end of the hall, there he is, my man looking lethal in black combat apparel, oozing power as he stands there, bigger than the world in a gladiator stance. Covered in blood and with a gun in his hand, he’s a man with single-minded focus. He’s also alone. Where are the others?
The guard presses the gun to my temple, and Caleb says, “Put the gun down, or I’ll blow her fucking brains out.”
“No,” I cry out, but it’s too late. Blake lowers it anyway.