Shields

Chapter 25: Cell

This one's short, but the next one will be longer. xD Enjoy!

All of the mice converged on the cheese, running faster than should have been possible. I stared at them, suddenly aware that I hadn't eaten in forever. Hunger gnawed at my stomach and I bit the inside of my cheek, not sure how to keep the cheese from being devoured.

"Reach inside, Demetriot. Find the source of your power and pull it out of you. Focus!" Wilkson said excitedly. The mice got closer to the cheese, navigating the maze expertly.

"You don't even know how this stuff works, so do me a favor and shut up," I snapped.

I closed my eyes and thought about what had triggered my power last time. I couldn't concentrate with the mice skittering below me, every sound they made like a cannon going off inside my head.

I pushed out the noise and focused on just thinking of one thing. Protect the cheese. There's a barrier around it that nothing can penetrate.

I opened my eyes, still focusing on putting a barrier up around the cheese. The mice reached it... and kept going. It was gone in minutes and I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't control whatever strange abilities I had and there was no way I'd let Wilkson put someone else's life on the line to trigger me again.

"You weren't trying hard enough!" Wilkson accused.

I stared at him, unwilling to let myself become angry. Stay calm and let him say whatever he wants. It doesn't make it true.

"You don't even care, do you? You just want to be left alone, don't you? Well fine, you can be left alone!" Wilkson hissed.

I continued to stare icily at him. "Guards!" he yelled. Two of them came running in and stood at attention. "Take him to our darkest, dirtiest cell and leave him there for a few days. One small bread roll and a cup of water every day, no more. And make sure he has to fight the rats for his food. If he won't cooperate, we'll make him."

My stomach growled and I looked back at the mice. They'd all collapsed in a heap where the cheese had been. Serves you right. You should know not to eat things that are poisonous to you.

The guards each grabbed one of my arms and started walking me away. I let them. There was no point in struggling anyway. I'd promised to cooperate and I wasn't going to break that promise. But that didn't mean I was ever going to talk to anyone here again. They could do anything they wanted, but they weren't going to get me to lose my temper.

They locked my in a pitch black cell that reminded me of the one from the simulation. I moved to the corner and sat down, watching the darkness.

After a few moments, scuttling sounds could be heard from the other three corners of the room. Rats. I thought. Wilkson really wasn't kidding about them, then.

They came over to me and started crawling over my feet. After a moment of just crawling around on top of me, they decided I was food. The first one sank its little teeth into my leg, penetrating my thin jeans and drawing blood.

I cursed, jumping to my feet and upsetting them. I wasn't going to get any sleep if they bit me every time I tried to. Unless that's why he put me in here. He wants me to figure it out and he probably won't let me out until I do. I realized suddenly. I started pacing. There wasn't any point in putting me in here unless he had a camera that allowed him to see me even in the darkness. Which meant he was probably watching me now, waiting for my next move. Well I hope your patient, Wilkson, because you're gonna be waiting a while.

I smiled a little. I could survive this. He was feeding me, even if it wasn't much, and if I actually did figure out how to create my barrier, I would just refuse to do it. Two could play at this game, and I planned to win.