CHAPTER
Twenty-one
I slowly open my eyes not sure of what I'll see when I open them. My eyes sting from the sand that was in it, but there is no more sign of sand which relieves me. My eyes scan the room waiting for something to come into focus. Then the metal bars come into view and I wish they hadn't. The rest of the room quickly follows suit and now the room is in perfect view. It's some sort of holding cell. I had no idea they even had holding cells but at this point it wouldn't even surprise me if they had a domesticated Bigfoot doing their dirty deeds.
I sit up in the uncomfortable bed and walk towards the bars. I look both ways but can't see more than a few feet each way down the hallway. There's no one there that I can see and I realize that if there is no one here to stop me I can just short warp onto the other side of these bars. I back to the middle of the room and gather my energy. I take a deep breath and release it slowly. I expel my energy to warp but nothing happens.
I figure I must just still be a little groggy from being knocked out. I attempt to shake some life into my limbs. I know I need to hurry because I may not get another chance like this to escape. Once I escape I make it my mission to find Cynthia and Tristis and release them. Then we start our lives on the run tonight. No looking back.
Again I focus my energy the same as before but this time I put more force behind it. Still nothing and I feel even more drained than before I started.
What is going on? Have I lost my powers?
I try to move the sheet on the bed with my gravity pull but they remain motionless. Despair and confusion sets in as I sit down on the corner of the bed.
"Frustrating huh?" I hear the recognizable voice come from right outside of my cell. It's Valde.
"What have you guys done to me? Where are Cynthia and Tristis?" I try my best to sound as intimidating as I can being locked behind bars.
"Locked up, not unlike yourself," he says letting down his cover revealing his taught stance in the hallway just outside my cell bars. "Pretty impressive isn't it? Yeah, you see, there's something in the walls and bars that inhibit our abilities. Some kind of dark matter that counters our manipulation on gravity." He runs the side of his fist along the bars ringing each one as it passes from one bar to the next.
If that's true, how will I ever manage to escape from here?
"Why are they doing this to me?" I ask pleading for some understanding. I thought we were covering our heads well and just blending in. While the truth is we are traitors to the society, I can't find a logical reason they would suspect us at this point. We haven't disobeyed at all. We show up to where we need to be on time, every time.
"It turns out your little sabotage plot has been found out. You know Briggs I've always known there was something off about you from the very beginning. Percy saw it too," his eyes meet mine and there's an unsettling feeling that rushes over me. His eyes are glazed over. They aren't the same vibrant color I remembered them to be.
"That's not true Valde. We were close. We cared about each other. We were friends." My words come out sincere but I don't think he sees it.
"Quiet!" His fist slams into the metal bars ringing them, sending an echoing chime down the hallways. "I was not, nor ever will be friends with a traitor to the society!" His voice is filled with anger and his head shakes from the intensity of his words.
I retreat a little further into my cell knowing that there will be no way I get through to him. Not now. Possibly not ever. He may be lost to his delusions indefinitely.
"What sabotage plot are you talking about?" I ask curious to see what his answer is as to why I'm even here in the first place.
"Like you don't know," his words are a matter of fact and I truly believe that he believes I know.
"I am curious however Briggs," he cocks his head to the side and licks his upper lip. "What made you not follow through with it and risk everything? You had to know you'd be found out eventually, right?"
I search my brain for connections in what he is saying and portions of our escape plot against the society and find nothing tying them together. I am at a loss for words but luckily Valde doesn't wait for an answer before elaborating more on his question.
"Was it for the girl...Hm? Just couldn't do her in I guess. Well don't worry I will finish the job for ya buddy." He says with a twisted smile.
"Abrigail?" I say to myself.
She's alive? But how? I activated Angron...
"Where is the key Briggs?" Valde asks, again thinking I know exactly what he is asking of me.
"The key?" I say not piecing together the questions quite yet.
"Don't play dumb with me Briggs! I could tear you apart in seconds if I wanted to!" Spit flies from his mouth spraying through the metal bars.
His composure returns to him, "You know you can only delay the inevitable. There is no stopping what is to come. They have others that will finish what you couldn't." He moves in close to the bars and presses his face right up against them, "And just between you and me, I'm gonna enjoy ending your world Briggs."
He pulls away from the bars just in time as I send a fist flying right into the bars where his face was. A crunching sound resonates in the cell as I pull my hand back in pain and agony.
He chuckles as he begins to walk away.
"Valde don't! This isn't you. This isn't him. Who are you even? What are you?" Part of me wants to believe that a small part of the Valde I knew still exists inside. Deep inside locked away just waiting to be summoned back to consciousness.
Valde stops and marches back to his spot in front of my cell. He slams his feet together and swings his stiff, flattened hand up to his brow. "I am Valde the Abolisher, of the Sumus Exitium! We are the destruction!"