The old lady was home before the next show could start and she was quiet, which was never a good sign. She cooked dinner without uttering a word, allowing the tension to build. At one point she walked up stairs and knocked on Ronnie’s door, but he didn’t answer.
We all sat around the table for dinner, minus Ronnie, who never came out of his room. I thought that after getting beat so bad, he would want some food but he never came down.
“It does not matter if someone is making fun of you or anything like that you never fight. I have to fill out all kinds of paper work on every issue that comes up, and fighting is no different.” The old lady passed the pasta around the table.
None of us said anything; we just ate and let her lecture on about all the work that she has to do to keep us here. It always seemed to me that we were more trouble than we were worth; but once I caught a glimpse of one of her paychecks from the government. It was well worth the headache. That didn’t stop her from complaining though.
The three of us cleaned up the meal while the old lady got comfortable in front of the TV. I always hated the crap that she wanted to watch, so I went to get ready for bed right after our chores were finished.
I took a hot shower. Before I left the bathroom I stopped in front of the mirror. I looked at my face and thought about what Ronnie had said. He thought that I am not worthless.
I had no idea. I had no idea at all about anything. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know why I turned away from Ronnie, I knew that he was going to kiss me, but I felt like we shouldn’t. We didn’t fit right together at all. He was nice, loving, but more like a brother.
I looked over at the hand towel that was still soaked in his blood. I couldn’t understand why someone could have feelings for me. I closed my eyes and decided that thinking about it wasn’t going to solve anything.
My room was always cold; the hot air never seemed to make it all the way down. I climbed into my bed and pulled the covers up to my arms. I turned my computer on and started some music that helped me sleep. The food was heavy in my stomach making me sleepy, but making it hard for me to get comfortable. I tossed and turned for a while.
I heard a soft knock on my door. I turned over to look at my clock. It was two in the morning, “What?”
“Can I come in?” The door was cracked and I could see Ronnie’s eye in the doorway.
“I guess.” I pushed myself up into a sitting position, "its kind of late isn’t it?”
“I know but I wanted to talk to you.” He seemed kind of weird.
“Can’t this wait till morning?”
“Come on.”
“I’m all ears.” I rubbed my eyes and gave him all of the attention that I could muster in my half sleeping state.
“I’m sorry that I came on so strong. I just want you to remember that you are a wonderful person and you don’t need to let anyone take advantage of you.” He sat on the end of my bed.
“Ronnie, I am thankful for what you did for me. It was stupid, but I understand why you did it. Don’t think twice about what happened earlier. You surprised me, and I’m just not ready for that kind of relationship yet. I’ve seen all these kids at our school rushing through love, and I want to take things slowly.” I took his hand, “I want to get out of this place, and out on my own. Want to meet my parents? Sorry, I don’t have any…”
Ronnie smiled and stood up.
“What? What are you smiling for?”
“Oh, nothing.” He turned to walk out of the room, and as he reached for the door knob, the door flew open knocking him to the floor with enough force to send him sliding across the floor.
“Ronnie!” I yelled, as a man in a long, black coat, helmet, and night vision goggles shot at Ronnie with a gun. It wasn’t a real gun, it was far too quiet, but he turned it on me next, and shot me in the stomach.
“We have units one and two.” The man said.
I looked down at the dart and everything started to go black. My head hit the ground, and shortly thereafter everything was dark.
Chapter 3: Dr. Cid
When I opened my eyes I couldn’t see anything. The room was not lit very well but when I moved my arm, two lights above me flickered on. My eyes burned a little when the light hit them so I covered my face with my arm.
I was half lying on a steel bench and half lying on a concrete floor. I had whole body chills from my head to my toes from the damp cold in the room. The room itself was divided down the center by a wall of thick metal bars. The only way in or out of the room was on the other side of those bars.
Kenny was lying on the bench next to me. He was beginning to stir.
Ronnie was lying on the ground next to the bars and Sandy crumpled in a heap on the other side of Kenny.
“How long have you been awake?” Kenny sat up squinting around the room.
“Not long.” I pulled my legs up onto the bench with me and wrapped my arms around my knees. I rubbed my arms trying to warm up.
“What the hell is going on?” He felt his way around the edge of the room while his eyes finished adjusting. He took hold of the bars in the center of the room with both of his hands and tried to shake them.
“This isn’t like the cell in the police station back home.” He smirked. He had been locked up one time overnight because he had stolen a car to go for a quick joyride. That is what he told the police anyway; he was really trying to run away.
“What’s different?”
“These bars are about three times thicker and I’m not sure, but I think these might be made of carbon fiber.”
“Fascinating.” I let my head fall onto my arm. I didn’t care if this cell was identical to the cell in the police station back home.
“On top of that, these people are a lot more interested in what’s going on in here.” He pointed around the room to four different cameras that cover every square inch of the room.
“Ugh, why are we here? What have we done?” I threw my head back against the wall just a little too hard. I closed my eyes as my head was flooded with a head ache.
“Do you remember anything from the ride here?” Kenny paced around the room.
“No, not really. I woke up once or twice. Once I know we were in a truck piled up in the middle of the floor. The road was rough. The other time I opened my eyes, it didn’t feel like we were moving, and I couldn’t see anything. Everything was blurry.” I couldn’t get warm no matter what I tried.
“I think we were on an aircraft.”
“Where are we?” Ronnie spoke through clenched teeth. He shifted his body to lean against the bars, coughing with each movement.
“Your guess is as good as ours.” I said.
Kenny walked over to where Sandy lay and sat down beside her head. He gently lifted it and placed it in his lap. Then he began to stroke her hair.
“I think under the circumstances all we can do is wait.” He said.
“How do you feel?” I asked Ronnie.
He held onto his gut and clenched tighter with each movement.
“Horrible, and I’m not sure what did the most damage, the door, or Josh’s beat down.”
“Before you came down to my room did you notice anything out of the ordinary?” I asked.
“Nothing, and I was outside before I came down to your room.” He rubbed his eyes, “I waited for the old woman to go to bed before sneaking into the house.”
“The old lady…” I paused, “I wonder what she is going to do about all of this?”
“I don’t think that we can count on her doing anything.” Sandy remained still and kept her eyes closed.
“Why is that?” Ronnie asked.
“I was still awake as they tossed me into the truck. They torched the house and I didn’t see the old woman anywhere.” She explained.