Frost And Flame

15

I'll be honest, I'm not even sure when Chevy left. It's not like I'm numb to the pain. Far from it, in fact. I still feel every blow. Everything is throbbing in unison, and everything aches in sync. I still feel fists slamming into my  chest, rough hands holding my head back by my hair, angry words ringing in my ears. But he's not here. And yet I feel it.

Why can't I just go into shock, like a normal person? I just need a break. This fucking sucks, that's for sure. I'm not sure I can take much more of this. I've been pushed too far before and this feels like that. It's different but so similar at the same time.

Distantly, I recognize that the harsh lights have dimmed until it's pitch black. I'm not afraid of the dark, especially not now, since I can be my own flashlight these days. I never was too afraid of what was in the dark either before. But now both make me terrified. For the first time in years, I'm not sure if I'll see light again. You never realize how important that is until it threatens to turn and never come back.

Sleep takes me away to a harsh land. A frozen tundra where four red sun's circle the sky. Giant trees loom over me in strange hues that have no name I know of. I hear things, in the distance. But I'm not sure what they are. They cone closer but never in sight. I'm running, but from what, I do not know. I hate dreams like this. Frightening and confusing, they make me feel so stupid when I wake up. But this time I completely disregard my dreams entirely.

The room is unchanged but I am not. It seems a doctor has been here because my arm is in a sling with a soft cast underneath. I've been bandaged and cleaned too. And most importantly there is a thing polyester blanket over me. Situation still sucks but man is this a step up from before.

"Hello?" I call out, hoping someone who isn't going to try to kill me will respond. My morning voice strikes again and cracks my cautiously optimistic greeting in half with two different pitches. That's embarrassing.  Luckily, it seems no one is here. I look around for literally anything else that has changed but I can find nothing new. So I guess it's time to play my new favorite game. See how wiggly your wrists abd ankles are.

The rules are simple. Your spicy brain decides you can't sit still so you squirm around until you either choose to stop or someone comes and makes you stop. The later is far more common than the former.

Sure enough, just as my ankles are beginning to feel raw, the door opens. The clicking of dress shoes on tiles is all I need to know it's Silver.

"Whats on the agenda today?" I ask him, my shoulders tense in anticipation. If he went and put a blanket on me, then I'm probably not going to due any time soon. But that doesn't mean anything. Not really. Not with him.

"Cleaning," Silver replies while unlocking the restraints holding me to the table. He stops and examines my left ankle which is very raw from earlier. In my defense, I was left unsupervised.

"You really are self destructive, aren't you," Silver comments. It's not a question.

He finished with the cuff things or whatever you call them and I wobble off the table. Everything hurts. Silver grabs my hair and pulls it back from my face roughly.

"Chevy really did a number on you, didn't he?" He comments again. This one was maybe a question. This guy is just really hard to read.

Silver lets go and I follow him out the door. I can't fight him and I can't get out of here without him. I'm practically the king of sticky situations but this one REALLY sucks.

I try to make a mental note of everything. Having the place mapped out will be a life saver in the future, I'm sure.

"You know that wont work, right?" Silver stops, without turning to me. That was definitely a question.

"What won't work?" I inquire

"This. You're planning on the quickest path out of here. But you can't leave." He still hasn't turned to me. Like some sorta mob boss or oh. Wait. Yeah, that checks out.

"Thats exactly what you would say if you wanted me to roll over like a dog. You can't keep me here forever, and eventually Im getting out of here." I insist. Silver smiles.

"Fine. I'll show you then." He chuckles, looking over his shoulder with evil in his eye. He changes direction and we end up back by my room. I guess I just lost field trip privileges.

"Pay attention." He says and we start walking. Two rights, down a flight of stairs, a left, a REALLY long corridor, up a flight of stairs, another right, through a hallway covered in doors with bars, a left, and then we get to Silvers office with the giant fish tank. I wasn't expecting that. I though he was going to show me something soul crushing.

"Look." He points to the fish. I see a huge oceanic sunfish and... is that a fucking thresher shark?? You can't just shove those two in a tank. They need a LOT of space. Which he seems to have. This is an aquarium sized tank and I cant even see the back wall. But other than that and some impressive coral growth, I don't see anything particularly great.

"What am I looking for?" I ask. Silver points up. I look to the top of the tank and- HOLY SHIT. The surface is at least 300 feet above me. And that's just what it is. The surface. This isn't an aquarium, this place is underwater in the middle of the ocean.

"Well that complicates things." I manage to say very calmly. He doesn't buy it though and his smirk is kinda hot but we're not doing Stockholm syndrome today, no thank you.

"Cut the shit. Anyways, the elevator is this way." Silver grabs my wrist with gloved hands and he still manages to cover my wrist in frost before I ward it off. He drags me out the door and down a hallway. We reach what seems like an airlock which honestly is at least 8 red flags.

"This is the only way up and it is guarded by this handprint scanner," Silver tells me and gestures to a scanner on the wall. That's easy enough. I've seen enough movies to know that I can just knock someone put and use their hand to grt through. If it isn't Chevy then I'm going to cry. I am looking forward to beating his ass again in a fair fight.

"And after the hand is scanned, I will be alerted with this remote. If I don't approve the request within five minutes, the airlock will flood with water and drown anyone inside." Silver continues. That... really complicates things.

He opens a locker and pulls out a winter coat and gloves, puts on the coat, and then holds his hand to the scanner. The doors slam shut and silver slowly puts on gloves before grabbing my arm and pressing the remote. The entire room shakes before slowly rising. The lift continues upwards for an unnaturally long time before finally screeching to a stop.

The doors open and I'm hit with a gust of wind as Silver drags me out of the box. As far as the eye can see, there's nothing but open ocean. We're on and island, it seems. A very small one by the looks of it. Even if I managed to get out of there, where would I even go next?

"There's nowhere to run, Frank." Silver gestures around. And he's right. I can't get out alone.

Hurry up, guys... I need help.