Vidare 16: Room 0

"Please!" Garrett screamed from his cell as the metal doors slid open.

Kai held himself tightly to keep his body warm in the metal and concrete cell he was kept in. Scratches from previous captives were cut into the walls, with some leaving behind blood as they tried to scrape their way to freedom. One light overhead, one vent on the wall, and a large metal door was all he could make out as he shuddered and panted in terror.

A large metal collar had been affixed to his neck tightly, and the skin around it was raw and aching to be freed. Garrett continued shrieking as he was carried down the hall, his limbs flailing and kicking for anything he could reach as they took him to the pristine white steel door on the opposite end of where they arrived from.

"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.." A large thud of the door cut him off and from behind it, Garrett could be heard screaming even louder as he begged not to be strapped to a chair. Kai muttered and restarted his prayer three more times, burying his hands in his hair as he felt tears begin to drip. "Oh god what am I going to do?"

He had been awake for what felt like hours, but the isolation and dim light was beginning to seep in and play tricks on his mind. "Oooh..what?" He heard a familiar voice through the vent and stood up, hysterical in his excitement.

"Ari!" He called out to the metal.

"Kai?" He heard her sit up, the dose of whatever they were given wearing off slower in her body. "What the fuck?" She tugged at her metal collar.

"Don't fight it! They shock you if you fuck with the collar!" He grinned and stomped his feet in happiness. "I was scared you were dead." Kai heard the shock of the collar go off through the vent and winced, Ariana now groaning.

"Kai where are we?" She asked sleepily.

"No idea. They drugged us and took us here. Garrett is awake, but they're torturing him in the other room." He sighed.

"Derrick?" She asked with fear in her voice.

"No Derrick, Jason, or Miles." Kai looked at the old and stained mattress they had provided for his room. "Any chance we can get out of here?"

Ariana stood, looking around as she touched her cell. "I don't think so..." She tapped on the walls. "Solid concrete. I think we're underground but I can't tell."

"Why did they raid our house?" Kai asked the walls around him.

Ari groaned in frustration. "Who fucking knows."

More screams filled the air from down the hall for a few minutes, and then silence. With a clang the metal door at the end of the hall opened once again, and being dragged out by two guards was Garrett. The heavy panting and dripping of blood could be heard through the vents. Kai leaned forward to his cell door and tried to make out what he could through the small food slot as he pushed it open.

Both of Garrett's legs were covered in blood, and the boy was dragged all the way to his cell and slammed inside. Tired, bloody, and painful breathing of their friend was still audible after they slammed the metal door shut. Kai waited until the guards had departed and called out to his friend. "Garrett, please tell me you're alive."

Ariana and Kai listened but only heard his panting. "Garrett, can you hear us?" They screamed out one after another.

"Stop...yelling." He slowly answered in a dull tone that made Kai strain to understand it.

"Oh thank God." Kai whispered as tears dripped down his face. "Don't die on us, we're gonna get you out of here!"

Garrett's rasping laughter could be heard from his cell, and the sound filled Kai with sadness. "Sure." He gasped.

"What the hell do they want from us?" Ariana called out.

"M...m.." He stuttered in response, and for a minute he coughed and spat blood on the floor. "They...want...Miles."

Kai sat back in confusion. "Miles?" Garrett only panted and struggled for more breath. "What the fuck do they want him for?"

"No...clue." The response made Kai sit and stare up at the light as he thought diligently. Internally he cursed his ally for whatever he might have done to catch their attention.

Hours dripped by as they waited for more, with Garrett struggling every minute to keep awake. "Don't...let...me...die...in...my...sleep." He gasped, sliding to the floor and coughing up more blood.

Ariana and Kai tried to stay quiet to let him rest peacefully, but after a confusingly long amount of time, the door at the end of the hall opened once more. Three guards came to Kai's cell and began to open the lock, and as they did, he stood and readied his hands to fight. When the door opened and they were visible, he was struck in the chest with the two darts of a taser. Seizing and shaking his body hit the floor, with the guards turning it on two more times and chuckling to themselves before they lifted his body.

Dragging him down the hall, Kai's drool hit the floor. He was taken through the metal door and into a shining white tiled room with a large chair in the center. With his energy sapped from the taser, he could barely kick and fight back against them as they sat him in it, and strapped him down limb by limb. The guards took their place at the back of the room, and in walked a woman in a black suit. She wheeled in a tray of tools. Pliers, scalpels, knives, and even a hammer.

She was silent as she wheeled them closer and closer to the chair, her face blank as though she was going to file paperwork. "Who the fuck are you?" Kai yelled.

Her tone was cool, and her eyes hidden behind shades as she adjusted her tie. "I'm going to ask you once civilly, where is Miles and the rest of your comrades?"

"Why Miles?" Kai asked, but instead she heaved a heavy sigh.

"He's unfortunately going to bring about the end of the world if you don't give me him." She said plainly.

"That's horse shit." Kai laughed.

She leaned close to Kai. "I have it on good authority."

Kai spat right in her face, and with a look of rage, she grabbed her scalpel and held down his hand. Slowly she pressed the blade into his knuckle, and with a loud crunch the left middle finger was cut off brutally. Kai screamed as hard as he could, his lungs feeling like they would break as tears ran down his face.

The agent tossed the body part aside and watched as Kai shrieked and tried instinctively to pull away from her. "We gonna talk now?" Kai sobbed as she asked him the same question over and over again. "Where are they?" She punched him in between each time she asked. The blows stacked up until his nose was running heavily with blood, and his face was feeling heavy.

"I don't know." He begged. "I don't know at all. They could have gone anywhere." His face was swelling rapidly from the hits, and the agent over him just wiped off her knuckles and gripped him by his jaw.

The agent left the room and returned quickly with a large metal rod in her hand. "Tell me where Miles is." She said coldly.

"Are you drunk or something?" Kai exasperatedly asked. "I already told you I have no idea." Walking behind Kai, he saw the flicker of a fire beginning. "You gonna burn the room down now? Or are you just going camping?" He chuckled. "This is so stupid."

Despite the pain, Kai put a large smile back on his face, but the confidence started to fade as he heard the agent pick up the metal rod again. She walked up to his chair from behind and pressed it to his back. Kai screamed so hard he thought he would pass out. The smell of burning flesh filled the room quickly. "Where are they Kai?" She bellowed. Aside from his crying and screaming, Kai didn't form any more words.

Once again she heated the metal rod, and pressed it to his back to burn him. Kai screamed until he couldn't breathe. Each time she would ask him, and each time he would stay as quiet as possible through the pain. After the sixth time she tossed the rod to the side and faced him.

"All of this stops when you tell us where your comrades went." She said coldly, eyeing the tray of tools.

"I don't know." Kai whispered, his heart pounding in terror as he watched the agent who picked up the scalpel once again. "You're wasting your own time."

"How long do you think you can last?" The agent grinned. "I could take my sweet time with your body." They took a slender finger and dragged it along the jawline of Kai.

Kai felt a deep laugh echo out from his belly. "Cut the flirty, creepy, necrophilia vibe. I could give a fuck what you do to me. Just go get the metal rod again, at least I didn't have to look at your face." He spat blood on her shoes.

"So that's how we're gonna play?" The agent had a wicked grin. Taking her gun from her holster, she pressed it to the leg of Kai who only stared up with rage on his face.

"Fuck you." He whispered, bracing himself for the pain. The gunshot rang out and went cleanly through his leg, and this time the corners of his vision went white as he gasped and cried. "You psycho bitch!" He screamed.

Minutes passed as she watched him bleed and cry. Kai was beaten by the agent for another few minutes until her fist was bloody and tired, and finally she looked to the guard. "Take him back to his cell." She whispered in rage.

***

Kai fell back against the cell wall as the guards tossed him inside, his right middle finger still bleeding heavily from the severing. He groaned and gasped as he tried to focus his power, muttering his prayers. Slowly, the bleeding came to a stop, but the broken stub was still tender. Removing his shirt, he wrapped his hand tightly. "Kai? Are you there?" Ariana called out to him. "Are you okay?"

Kai took stock of the bullet wound in his leg, the destroyed finger, his broken left arm that wouldn't respond, and the heavy burns on his stomach. "I'm...alive." He panted.

"Can you heal yourself at all?" She asked with worry in her voice. Slowly the panting of Garrett could be heard as they listened for each other.

"Not much. I got something to stop bleeding though." He chuckled. "Can't exactly grow a finger back though." His sorrow in his tone filled the air and Ariana was silent for a minute.

"Even if they take all your limbs I'm still gonna love you." She said quietly.

"Thank you." He replied sadly. "I love you too. We get out of here, and we're gonna have a conversation about the future okay?"

Ariana was quiet again, but the sniffling in her voice was clear that she had started crying. "Yeah. I'd really like that. Just stay strong."

Kai sighed. "Don't cry. We're gonna be okay. I bet the others are looking for us right now."

"But why do they want Miles?" She asked through the vent.

Kai chuckled. "She said he will end the world."

"That's fucking insane." Ariana looked around her cell once more. "He's an asshole but he's not going to end the world."

"Agreed." Kai threw his hands up.

Ariana was quiet for a minute. "Maybe there's a way to disable the collars." The tugging and clicking sound of pulling at it echoed, and quickly the sound of a hand taser being fired off could be heard. Ariana hit the ground panting and kicking the floor in rage.

The metal door at the end of the hall opened yet again, this time, with guards carrying little bowls of rice that they slid one by one into the food slots. "Dinner." They said quietly, and walked back down the hall.

Kai eyed the food with hesitation, but the roar of his stomach mixed with the pain had him willing to do anything. Lifting the bowl, he shoveled the rice in with his finger as gently as he could, licking the bowl clean when he could get no more. "I don't even know how long it's been since we ate last." He grumbled.

Ariana was still feeding herself before she let the plastic bowl clatter to the ground. "Maybe over a day?" She offered a time frame through the vent.

"Depends on how long we were drugged." Kai grumbled. He started to inspect the cell with new motivation from the recent food. The walls looked like they had been chipped away from previous prisoners trying to work their way out. The door was spattered with old dried blood, and the light that hung from the ceiling was nothing more than a bulb in a socket with a wire running down. Kai conveyed all of this to Ariana as he searched. "Is your cell any different?"

"No." She growled. "They didn't even give us a bucket to shit in."

Kai thought for a minute. "Which means we're either meant to die here...or something else."

"Something else?" Ariana asked, the scraping sound of her sitting back on the floor underneath the vent audible.

Kai looked back down at his wounded hand. "Why go through the trouble to capture us and not Miles? If they didn't find him, they could have just shot us."

"So we're bait...or we're recruits." Ariana said solemnly.

Kai sighed and narrowed his eyes. "I've heard stories where people disappear and the next time they're seen, they look just like the agents."

Ariana spoke more confidently. "Well they've taken you and Garrett, I'm next on the docket for torture."

Kai felt the stinging on his back. "Don't fight her or shit talk to her. It only makes it worse. Just grit the pain as best you can."

"If they turn me Kai, you put me down." She said bitterly.

"Shut up." He growled back at her.

"I mean it. You put me in a grave before you let me -"

"I said shut up!" He screamed. The cell echoed for a minute and then there was silence. Kai and Ariana didn't know what to say, so once again the hours started to tick by. As the door at the end of the hallway opened, Kai's heart started to flutter with fear and adrenaline.

He heard the guards approaching, and getting close to his food slot, he propped it open and started to shout for them. "Take me again! Not her!" He bellowed. He continued to scream but the men didn't listen. They marched right to Ariana's cell, and Kai heard as they opened it and tased her repeatedly. "No...please no..." He begged to the floor.

With her legs limp, Ariana was dragged back down the hall and into the torture chamber as Kai wept. A few minutes went by before the screaming started, with Kai wrapping himself in his own arms to try and block it out. The sound shook him to his core as he heard his partner cry out in pain.

"Don't...cry." Garrett panted. "She's...strong."

Kai got as close as he could again to the food slots so he could yell across. "How are you holding up?" He tried to ignore the screams and listen for Garrett's voice.

"I...think...I'm...fading." Garrett could still be heard struggling for every breath.

Kai beat his head against the door in frustration. "Keep talking to me."

"I'm so...scared." He cried quietly.

Kai stopped hitting his head and looked up at the ceiling. "I am too. But if I know Jason, he's gonna round up everyone he can to get us out."

A soft and gentle voice called to Kai from within his cell. "Kai." She said, turning his attention to her with a sharp look. Before him stood the angel he had told Ariana about, and the one who first guided him to his path of being a miracle worker. Kai knelt and bowed before her, only to have her smile. Her golden hair matched her robes that elegantly covered her features. "Don't be humble, I've heard your calls for help."

"Thank you so much." He felt tears coming to his eyes as the warm glow that wrapped her body spread through the cell, illuminating it completely. "I've been so scared."

Kneeling, the angel put her finger to his jaw to have him look up at her. "You will be led to hope soon. You will be tested and given a task once you are free of this place. Your time is coming Kai. We have watched you suffer as you care for others, and you're almost ready to receive what will separate you from the others."

"I'll do whatever you ask." He said, his eyes wide in awe at her beauty.

"Wait for the blue flower. Then lead your friends back to safety." She smiled. "I will ease your pain just enough that you can have this task."

Kai shook his head diligently. "No, not me, help Garrett!"

"You are suffering." She said calmly.

"And I'll suffer as long as I have to, so please, don't let him die. I'll do anything you want." He felt the tears beginning again and slowly she wiped them from his face.

Her shining green eyes and warm touch caressed some of the pain away instantly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Please, do whatever you can to help him." He held out his hands, and with a bow of her head she took them. "Please...save my friend."

The light from inside the cell grew brighter as they closed their eyes, stretching further and further until the cell was blinding. Kai felt the hands of his guardian angel slowly pull away, and when they were gone, the cell slowly faded back into focus. Once again he was all alone, but in the distance he could hear the breathing of Garrett get easier. Kai took his time to kneel and pray for all of the people he could think of. It wasn't until his prayer was finished that he noticed he hadn't heard the screaming in a while.

As if because he had noticed, the door at the end of the hall banged open once more, and the heavily panting body of Ariana was dragged back to her cell. Tossing her on the floor, the guards opened Garrett's cell next. "Don't die, you get the next round." They mused.

"Fuck you." Garrett uttered clearly. His throat sounded like it wasn't full of blood anymore, and he even shouted it again at them. Kai was only waiting to make sure Ariana was okay, and once the guards left he got under their shared vent.

"Ariana?" He called out.

"Uh huh?" She groggily answered.

Kai swallowed hard, worrying that they had removed something from her like they did to his finger. "What did they do to you?"

"They took me out for ice cream." She bitterly answered. "Sorry. I'm in a lot of pain." She sighed and got comfortable to avoid her wounds. "They didn't ask me about Miles, they asked about Jason."

"They what?" Kai was baffled now. "Why Jason?"

Ariana could be heard throwing her hands up and then slapping the wall behind her. "Same shit. Supposedly he ends the world."

Kai thought for a second. "So they don't know what they're looking for...they're just on orders."

"Or someone from our group, or our whole group does something cataclysmic." Ariana added. "Maybe they aren't cleared to know why, or we have someone in higher authority who is pulling the strings."

"With them, it's always someone way above their pay." Kai spat. "So they capture us, and try to find the rest."

"Probably for a promotion." Ariana groaned.

Kai thought about possible ways out. "We could give them false info."

Ariana laughed. "We'd be killed if it was wrong."

Kai smiled to himself as he thought of his angel. "At this point...I'm not so sure we're going to die."

"Oh yeah? Tell that to Garrett." She shot back angrily. "Sometimes you're a little annoying with that faith."

Kai felt himself grinning. "Can't help it." He shifted to keep his leg from going numb.

Ariana adjusted so she could curl up on the cold concrete floor. "I'm gonna crash. Can you stay awake for a little bit and keep watch?"

"No worries." Kai answered. "Get some rest." Sitting alone in his head, he folded his hands, and prayed to pass the time.