Red Project

Part 3

"What are you aiming to find out about gargoyles?" Brook asked. He figured maybe if he told some things that it might make the research go faster and they could take him home.

"It would be wonderful if you tell me what you know of your kind." Irene insisted. "In a while, we'll also give you your first meal here."

"I'm not hungry." Brooklyn glared.

"I figured you need time to settle in first. But you need to eat to keep your energy up." Irene said.

"What are you going to do if I don't want to eat?" Brook demanded sarcastically.

"Brooklyn, we want to be fair to you while doing our research. If you refuse to eat because of nausea or something, that's one thing, but if you refuse to eat because you're starving yourself is not good for your health." Irene proclaimed. "I'm going to leave you now to let you settle in more and get you a meal." She said, then left.

Brooklyn then went about feeling the floor of his cage. It was a hard solid. Then there was the other wall behind his bed. He went over to feel it for weaknesses. It too was a no go. He couldn't even sink his talons into the wall or floor.

"This is just great." He muttered. He went back to the bed and sat down. He would be bored stiff just being stuck here in this cell. Is this what he would be kept for? A research project? He wrapped his wings around himself to try to soothe himself.

A while later, Brook felt the stirring of hunger in his belly, but he ignored it.

Not long after, a different human came into the room outside the cell. "Good evening, uh, Brooklyn, is it?" The man greeted him. Brook nodded.

"I brought you some water and some food." The man stated.

"I'm not hungry." Brook lied.

"You asked what could happen if you didn't want to eat. We could always tube feed you, Brooklyn." The man replied.

Brooklyn didn't want that. "Right. Just thought I'd ask, but I won't let you get near me again now that you've let me up."

"Oh, we have our ways to get you to cooperate. That's why we always have our own guards with us." The man explained. Then in stepped one of those guards. He had on a blue uniform shirt with brown pants. "The guns these men carry are loaded with tranquilizer darts to drug you if you don't cooperate or try to fight us. And our boss really does want to work with you consensually. Will you allow that to happen?"

Brooklyn figured that the more he cooperated, the sooner he could be released to go home. "Fine. Yes, I'll do it." He gave in.

"Good. But for now, here's your first meal. From the look of your teeth, we figured a meaty meal would suffice." The man stated, then slid the tray through the opening in the floor.

Brooklyn could smell the food from where he was sitting. The scent made his stomach growl in hunger. "But how do I know it's not drugged?" he asked.

"Just eat the food, Brooklyn, unless you want to be tube fed." The man blurted. "And those of us who feed you are not going to leave until we see you eat it."

The gargoyle knew he didn't have much choice in the matter then. He sighed as he reluctantly got off the bed and went to get the food tray off the floor. He took it back to the bed and keeping it on the bed, he picked up the plate with the pulled pork on it. There was a plastic fork in it he could use if he wanted, which he did.

Brook was more famished than he thought he was as he ate all the pork. Then he washed it down with the bottle of water. He didn't finish the water as he wanted it for the rest of tonight. He never knew when he might get another bottle of water. Then he put the plate on the tray and gave it back to the man on the other side. "Thanks." He said in gratitude.