THE HUNT

Twenty Two

    It's been quiet these last few days. I've gone back to the same routine from a month or two ago. No interaction except for a droid which brings me meals.

    It's over, Hunter.

    I lay on the floor in the centre of my room, staring up at the ceiling. There's nothing interesting about it, but at least it's not a wall.
   
    All of a sudden, the lights turn red, and an alarm blares. I sit up with a gasp, covering my ears, but that hardly does anything. The door to my room opens, and two stormtroopers rush in, grabbing me by my arms. They pull me to my feet, and then out from the room.

    "Hey!" I try to fight them, but my arms are heavy, and my feet feel like rocks. "Let me go!" They stay silent, tugging me down the long hallway which I know leads to Kylo Ren's throne room.

    This is it. I think. He's finally done with me. The alarms make my mind fuzzy, and I shake my head, closing my eyes. When I open them, I'm in front of the throne room door. It slides open, and I get pushed in roughly.

    It's too fast. It's happening too fast.

    The memory of Casius' and I's barracks being infiltrated the way my room just was fills me with dread.

    This is just like when we were caught, but this time I'm going to die.

    The moment the door slides shut, the red light vanishes, along with the alarms. I look around, noticing the Knights of Ren staring me down. I avoid Ren's gaze, focusing instead on the figure kneeling in front of him.

    As I get closer, familiarity hits me.

    Imrie.

    I stop walking, gaze fixed on my best friend. He looks up.

    His cheeks are hollow, and there's a gaping wound on the side of his face. His hands are bound so tightly with think metal restraints that blood stains the edges. He opens his mouth, lips glistening with crimson.

    "You gave me up?" His voice is weak, and a tear etches its way down his cheek, cutting a line through the grime on his face. I still can't force myself to move. "Did I ever mean anything to you?" He coughs, blood splattering on the floor in front of him. "Or are you just a coward?"

    "Imrie-" My voice catches, and I see Kylo Ren's boots in the corner of my eye approaching.

    "I promised I'd find him." Ren says from behind me, bending down so his lips are right next to my ear. "And I don't break my promises, Hunter."

    "Please." I manage. He chuckles, pulling my hair behind my shoulders. His touch is gentle, almost intimate. "Please don't do this."

    "I won't." He assures me. I hear the sound of metal against metal, and he presses a large, heavy object into my hand. "That's your job, Zilla."

    My finger moves to a switch I didn't know existed, and red light explodes in my peripheral vision.

    I angle the lightsaber towards my best friend, stepping so I'm in front of him. He looks up at me, eyes dull. As if he's already dead. A thick tear rolls down my cheek as I step forward, still not looking at Ren. I lift the weapon, screaming in my mind for Ren to let me go. To free my body.

    DONT MAKE ME.

    PLEASE, I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.

    NOT HIM. ME. KILL ME.

    PLEASE.

    Before I can drop the saber over Imrie, Ren steps in front of me, gripping my shoulders. His jaw is set, and he pushes me to the ground. It's padded, and the weapon falls from my hand.

    "Stop screaming!" He hisses.

    I let out a heavy sob, shaking my head.

    "Please." My voice breaks. "Please don't make me."

    "Get up." He grabs my arm, pulling me from where I lay, somehow back in my bed.

    "Wh-"

    He silences me with a look, pulling me down the hall to his room. I try to fight him, but he's too strong. I'm sobbing loudly, but as he opens the door to his room and shoves me in, a new form of panic takes over as he wordlessly pulls me over to his bed, pushing me onto the mattress.

    "Stop fighting." He growls. His tone frightens me into stillness, but sobs still hiccup through me.

    "Please don't-" The fear of what he might do to me is like ice in my stomach.

    "Go to sleep, Hunter." He snaps. "These walls are reinforced and soundproof. Have nightmares all you like."

    Nightmare.

    I don't think I've ever had a dream so horrible as the one he supposedly just woke me up from.

    As he steps into another room, I realize that his hair is tied up, and he's wearing a loose tank top.

    He must have also been asleep.

    If the walls are soundproof, how did he hear me?

    And a better question:

    Why are they soundproof?