Truth & Lie

Chapter 25

Inside Huey's mind, two beings were fighting. The Duke and Huey. A barrier of metal bars separated them. Black, jagged rocks surrounded the entire plain and there was the soft crash of waves from somewhere.

Duke glared at his counterpart. Huey gripped the bars in his hands. "What's happening out there?"

Duke shrugged. "Black Heron is taking us to her lab for torture or whatever." Lately, the Duke had been coming out a lot more than Huey did. It was like he was trapped in his own mind now.

"What happened to Katie! You just left her there! What if she's not alright? She looked really hurt," Huey said.

Duke stared at the ground, a scowl on his face. "Why should we care? I bet it was all a charade from the beginning."

"Please. Let me out. We can't just sit by while everything falls apart around us!" Huey's beak quivered.

Duke scoffed. "Why not? There's nothing worth living for anyways."

Huey watched his counterpart with sad eyes. "Dewey wouldn't have gone down so quickly. Louie would've already found a way out of here. We have to escape for them."

"Well, they're gone!" Duke shouted angrily, his fists clenched. "And it's all FOWL's fault!" He began to growl a bit, like a rabid animal. Huey took a step back, just in case these bars weren't enough to protect him.

"Look, I know we've had our differences, but if we work together we could get out of here and stop FOWL." Huey fidgeted with his hands, slightly afraid of how his alter would react.

"Oh yeah? Us and what army? I thought you were supposed to be the smart one." Duke put his hands on his hips and paced.

Huey glanced down and sighed. "Well, what are you going to do?"

Duke crossed his arms, his ragged feathers falling over his face. "I don't know. Black Heron said she would torture us. Hopefully, that'll end it."

Huey's eyes widened. "You're insane! Don't you want to fight for something!"

"I don't know. Maybe. It would be fun to rip all those agents to shreds." For a moment, the Duke actually considered that option.

"Kill everyone, that's a brilliant idea," Huey said sarcastically. He sat down on a rock and leaned his head on his hand. "Then, once we're out of FOWL, we can go to prison."

"Well, do you want me to fight or not!" Duke glared at his alter, teeth bared. He paced across the bars, running a claw against it.

"Just... don't give up. I know you're rage and everything, but use that for good." Huey gave a sad smile, trying to convince the beast on the other side of the bars.

Duke scoffed. "You've forgotten who you're talking to. I'm anything but good."

...

Back on the outside world, Black Heron led Huey to her laboratory. The walls were a pearly white, a much brighter color than his cell had been. He winced, trying to adjust to the light. A weird smell hung in the air from all the chemicals from her experiments. The soft hum of computers filled his ears. In the center of the room was a table, covered with work-in-progress experiments.

She picked up a vile with blue liquid. "So, who wants to play 'guess what Black Heron will do to me'?" she said, smirking.

Huey avoided eye contact and crossed his arms.

She shook the vile in her hand, watching the liquid. "No one? Well, someone has attitude. It's not like you're family is dead or something. Oh wait."