Nightmares

Nightmares::Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Containment

“Aayk . . . Ayk ep . . . Ake up . . . Wake up.”

I felt something tapping my cheek and I groaned, moving away.

“There we go,” a male voice said, “Come on, all the way.”

There was more tapping on my cheek and I forced my eyes open to see a blurred black object. I blinked a few times to make the picture clearer and realized someone was in front of me.

“Good, now that you’re awake,” he said.

I looked down at myself and saw I was tied to a chair, my hands bound behind me and my ankles knotted to the chair’s front legs. “Where am I?”

“No questions,” the guy said. I noticed the slice in his cloak over his arm and saw white gauze underneath; the guy that had gotten on top of me.

I looked around the room but it was empty except for a small figure tied to a chair across from me on the other side of the room. “Ike?”

He looked up and I saw he was crying. “You’re okay,” he said relieved.

I thrashed under the rope that held me to the chair and the harsh fibers burned the bare skin of my wrists. “Who are you? What do you want?” I asked the guy before me.

“I said no questions.” He leaned over me but even with his closeness I couldn’t see his face. “Listen carefully, because I will only say this once. You will answer our questions or we’ll torture this poor young boy over here until he’s dead, and you will watch. Got it?”

I looked past my captor to Ike who was white as a sheet and terrified.

My captor grabbed my chin, forcing my eyes to look back at him. “Got it?”

I grounded my teeth but replied, “Yes.”

“Good.” He stepped away and another cloaked figure that was hiding in the corner came out with a dagger and walked over to Ike. The stranger put his hand on Ike’s shoulder and he flinched.

“What is your name?” my captor asked.

“Theria,” I answered reluctantly.

“No, your full name.”

“Eleutheria Raven Nyxen.”

“Interesting. Your age.”

I gritted my teeth. “Seventeen.”

He trailed his finger across my jaw. “Perfect.”

I yanked away.

My captor walked over to Ike, circling him like he was prey. “Now what is your relationship to this little boy?”

“He’s my younger brother.”

My captor lifted a piece of Ike’s hair as if to inspect it closer. “Cute. What is your name?” he asked him.

Ike hesitated.

My captor kneeled down to Ike’s level and grabbed his chin. “Name. Now.”

“Ike Gregory Nyxen,” he squeaked out.

My captor came back to me. “You live in the center colony, yes?”

I nodded, keeping my eyes on Ike and the dagger the other stranger held.

“Tell me, Theria, where are the weapons hidden?”

My gaze snapped to my captor’s shadowed face. “Why?”