The Red River [ON HIATUS]

Chapter 4

I again woke in another room. I really need to stop blacking out. Taking a look around, I saw the walls were all white and it was a bit cleaner than the last room I was in. There were no clues telling me where I was. I don’t know if I was in a different compound or just down the corridor of where I was before. I started to panic a little as my instincts took over and I tried to find a way out. My arms were in cuffs that were connected to long chains attached to the wall. As my brain was racing, I realized that I was alone in this room, leading my brain back to the important issue at hand.

Zedlin. And as if I had called for him myself, a door flew open and in walked Zedlin and Malikhi. Damn was I getting sick of seeing his face! Zedlin’s clothes had changed but he still had that blasted blank look on his face and in his eyes. Malikhi whispered something in his ear looking malicious as ever and walked over to me.

“Oh you’re gonna love this” He smirked and reached to inject a green fluid into my neck.

“What the hell is that?” I asked not wanting to die like this

Malikhi’s smirk was replaced with a look of annoyance as he put the needle back into its container then into his pocket. He then pulled out a key and took hold of my arm, leaving me even more confused. Was he going to let me rot here on the floor?

“Leave it to me to have been assigned to one of the most annoying hostages” He complained, reaching for my other arm after unlocking the cuff on the former.

“Do you ever shut up?”

“Just tell me what the fuck that was!” I glared

“Just something to keep me safe for a bit” He stated.

Nice to know he needs to be kept safe from me. Although I don’t see how a little shot is going to keep him safe from me. As soon as my other wrist was free from its cuff, I went to attack him but my body wouldn’t comply. What the hell’s going on? No matter how hard I tried, my body wouldn’t move. Had he paralyzed me? If that were true, wouldn’t I be on the floor then? I had no idea what was going on, but I wasn’t going to stop trying. Zed and I didn’t go to all of this trouble for nothing. Malikhi’s smirk made reappearance as he walked back over to Zedlin, told him something, and exited the room. Still as confused as ever, I looked straight at Zedlin.

“Zed” I said almost inaudibly, looking him straight in the eye.

There was no reaction to the name. He only started walking to me. There was still a bit of hope in me that Zedlin was still in there somewhere, I just needed to find a way to bring him back. When Zedlin reached me there was a moment of nothing when I thought that maybe he remembered me. That thought quickly vanished when he grabbed me by my shirt and threw me against the wall. Is this what Malikhi had told him to do? I thought of the shot as Zedlin went to throw a punch and my arms instinctively went to block. Had it worn off? Was it supposed to do that?  Zedlin went in for another punch when I grabbed hold of his wrists. There was no way in hell I was going to hit him. He is like family to me and right now he doesn’t know what he is doing.

“Zedlin look at me” I tried. Maybe I can get him to remember.

“I do not take orders from a hostage” He replied without a blink.

“But Z, it’s me! Try to remember! You know me!” I tried again.

There was a quick shift in his face that vanished as soon as it came. Maybe I imagined it. But what if I didn’t? Maybe there’s a way around the brainwashing? A loophole Maybe? Maybe if I keep trying, he will remember. There wasn’t much time to linger on the thought, because Zedlin went to attack again, and this time I wasn’t paying attention. His fist connected with my stomach making me double over. One advantage to knowing Z for so long is the fact that I got to know his fighting style and could predict a move before it happened. At least that’s one thing he got to keep. Knowing his plan, I moved out of his way before his knee could come up and meet my jaw. Once up, I tried to restrain him, but Zedlin was much stronger and was able to take hold of me and pin me to the floor. Zedlin then straddled me and kept punching me. He kept going, blow after blow more blood seemed to gush out of my face and more things kept emitting a loud crack. I knew I was losing a lot of blood and that made me too weak to be able to push him off. Maybe I’ll die here in the hands of my best friend.