Perspectives

Chapter 43

"Hey!" Piper growled as she was roughly thrown onto the bottom of some kind of container made almost entirely of glass. She looked up just in time to see a metal slat sliding shut electronically over the space she had just fell through, trapping her within the confines of the box. 

Fear began to grip Piper as she felt herself reliving the nightmare she'd had nights ago. Everything Kalen, Devon, and Celia had done to prevent this exact scenario from happening had been in vain. 

Piper's blood chilled as Layton's face suddenly appeared in front of one of the glass walls, a satisfied sneer on his face. "Funny how something so insignificant can cause so much trouble." He leered. 

As much as Piper wanted to retreat as far away as possible from the gigantic face, she forced herself to walk right up to the glass to scowl out at the giant. "If I'm so insignificant, then why'd you go to all the trouble to catch me." She shot back. 

Layton's smirk turned into an annoyed glowering. "You will have to take that up with Lord Rothgard, I've wasted enough time conversing with our new lab rat." With that the giant face pulled away. Piper saw him take a seat at a desk on the other side of the room and busy himself with a holographic screen.

With Layton no longer looking directly in on her, Piper began to feel a torrent of tears threatening to pour over. She'd overcome so much to get back home, but it had all proven to be for nothing. She had no energy left to hope anymore. Piper fell down into the back corner of the cage, knees pulled up to her chest and head buried in her knees. It wasn't long before her cheeks were drenched and her chest was heaving in sobs. 

For the next hour Piper bawled non-stop. After she ran out of tears, she simply laid sprawled out on the ground miserably. If there was such as thing as fate, it had clearly decided this was where Piper was meant to be, no matter how much she had tried to fight it. Even Devon and Celia couldn't help her now. 

Piper was pulled out of her wallowing by the sound of the electronic door to the lab room they were in sliding open. She lifted her head slightly to see an unfamiliar giant man walking into the room. He looked to be middle aged, with brown hair speckled with gray. There was something instantly intimidating about him. Of course all of the people from Amasis were at least somewhat intimidating, but the intensity of this guy set of immediate red alerts in Piper's head. She clambered up to her feet, pressing her back up against the wall of the cage. 

Layton shot to his feet at the stranger's arrival, hurriedly straightening his jacket as he got up. "Sir, I--well I was under the impression you weren't coming for another half hour." Layton stammered. Piper would have been happy to see the jerk looking so flustered if she weren't afraid of the greater evil causing it.

"I cancelled my previous arrangements." The man stated simply. He glanced over Layton's shoulder, his gaze quickly focusing in on her. Piper's heart stuttered as those dark eyes zeroed in on her. A barely decipherable smirk appeared at the corner of the man's lips. "So this is the human then." He said, stepping around Layton to approach the cage Piper was trapped inside of. 

"Yes, sir." Layton replied, though Piper could tell the man wasn't paying attention. 

Piper's breath caught in her throat as the man got up close to the glass as Layton had. "You don't even look to be an adult." He noted immediately. Piper despised how those eyes stared in at her like she was some kind of zoo animal. "Intriguing." He murmured. 

"Lord Rothgard, would you like me to put together a team of scientists to study the human?" Piper heard Layton ask. Her blood ran cold. This was Rothgard. The man responsible for nearly everything that had gone wrong since her coming to Amasis. 

A burning hatred took hold of Piper as she looked into the eyes of the perpetrator of her misery. "You son of a bitch!" She screamed, charging forward to slam her fists against the glass. "You demented, evil, bastard!" Rothgard retreated back slightly from the glass, a somewhat perturbed look on his face, but he otherwise looked unfazed. 

"Are you quite certain this one isn't rabid?" Rothgard asked Layton while continuing to watch Piper.

"I haven't preformed any tests yet." Layton replied. "I assumed you would prefer I wait, sir." 

Rothgard rolled his eyes before pulling away from the glass. "I was being sardonic, Layton." He drawled. Piper watched as Rothgard grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it up close to the lab table Piper's cage sat on top of. "Before we begin with the studying, I would some time alone to question the human." Rothgard stated. 

"Are you sure you wouldn't like a professional interrogator--" Layton began to argue but was quickly cut of by a sharp glare from Rothgard.

"I've prepared a list of scientists I want assigned to study the human, I want them assembled here in an hour." Rothgard ordered before waving a dismissive hand at Layton. 

Layton made his way out of the room quickly, leaving Piper alone with the man that could only be described as her greatest enemy. She watched him with contempt as he sat down in the chair, scooting it in close so that his face hovered near the glass of the cage once again. "Let us skip the pleasantries, shall we?" He said, the ghost of a grin on his lips. "There are several things I need you to tell me, but first let's start with that miraculous escape of yours." 

Piper stared out at Rothgard with murder in her eyes. For now the rage was ruling over the fear, but she didn't know how long that could last, she felt like she was living off an adrenaline high that was bound to come down any second. "My teachers always said if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Piper spat out, failing to keep her tone steady.

"We've already apprehended one of your accomplices, but I'm not convinced he was working alone." Rothgard stated, ignoring Piper's comment. 

"Well let me know if you ever figure it out." Piper hissed, forcing herself to keep eye contact with the giant. 

Rothgard's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "This is far from a negotiation." He told her. "I don't offer you anything in return for your compliance." 

"Then why the fuck would I tell you anything." Piper shot back.

"Because I believe you're quite fond of oxygen." Rothgard replied, picking up a small remote control off of the table. 

"What are you talking about?" Piper demanded as Rothgard pressed a button on the remote. Piper heard a mechanical sound around her but didn't notice anything happening. She glared out at Rothgard. "What are you playing at?" She growled, slamming a fist into the glass. It was then that Piper began to notice the thinness of the air. No matter how deep of breaths she took, somehow she just couldn't suck in enough air. 

Piper fell to her hands and knees, her chest heaving violently as her lungs desperately tried to bring in oxygen. Her face was turning paler every moment, and all she could do was make strangled choking noises.