The Stars Will Catch Me

Chapter 33

"I told you . . . You're not getting anything out of me." 

This marks round three of pain serum. 

Nakpuna stands with his hands folded behind his back. He's fortunate that he has that IV in him and that I'm still incapacitated by the remanants of extruiating pain from the night of torture. If not, I would have found a way to bash his head into the concrete wall until I could see his brain. 

He nods, staring down at my withered up figure on the floor. "Yes, I have heard you but I cannot understand why you continue to withhold this information. The operation failed. You are trapped here. Why not make your stay more pleasant by telling me which of my employees have betrayed me?" 

I don't know the answer to that question but I do know about Aaron and Neverland. If I gave him that information then surely that would be enough to get him to leave me alone. But I could never dream of doing that to them. I wonder if Tina and Ruslan are also being tortured for information too. I shutter. 

There's only a spark of the fire that had been burning through me prior but the exhaustion it left my body in is almost too much to bear. Even moving my lips is a challenge. 

"If you're going to kill me, just get on with it." 

It's not something I would have imagined I'd say. It's not like me. It's not me. After hours of being lit on fire without the actual fire and stabbed without the knife, dying doesn't seem so much of a cop out. It's a gift I deserve if this is what the rest of my life is going to be. 

Nakpuna crouches down to be level with me. I want to reach out and punch him but I can't even make my pinky move. 

"I'll be transparent with you. In fact, I will let you in on a little secret." 

Maybe I can spit in his face. That shouldn't take too much energy. 

"I had yet to activate the nanobots in the last injection I had given you. I was letting your body get accustomed to the foregin body in your system. Then you ran away and I decided that maybe if you realized your abilities, they would terrify you. I hoped that would draw you back." 

It didn't. 

"Before I did that, I had gone over some previous patient files. The files of those who had also mysteriously gone missing. I activated those. Wherever those kids are, they either realized their abilities or died." 

His words almost give me the energy to sit back up - almost. 

I think of Aaron who said he had started to be able to fly only weeks before I came onto the island. I think of José who died so quickly from something as common as a fever. Nakpuna must have jabbed him prior to getting him on the physical ship. He wasn't rescued from Nakpuna in time after all. 

He truly did kill José. 

The burning sensation is back and though it is only felt on the surface of my skin, it is just as strong. 

"Died?" It's the only thing I can get out without becoming overly emotional. 

"Yes. My old creations were very much a complete failure or a complete success. The majority were failures. You can imagine how many kids we had shuffling in and out at that time." 

My lips tremble. I hate how he speaks casually about things as sensitive as a child's life. 

"You're evil." 

He smiles. He actually smiles. "Perhaps but I will be evil, rich, and esteemed by the end of this so what does that label really matter?" 

Some people are really this shallow. Some people are really this demented.