Aloveen Rising

27. Surging Emotion

Icy water drenched Ethan's clothes ripping him from his sleep,

"I won't ask you to get up again," the voice said coldly,

He slowly sat up and shivered, the room was dark and his eyes were taking too long to focus but he could see the outline of a person in the darkness

"What do you want from me? he asked,

"I'm just here to make sure you are conscious for questioning," the man was quiet for a moment, "Do you want something to eat?" he asked grudgingly,

Ethan shook his head feeling helpless, "No, I want to know where I am and where are my friends?" His eyes finally adjusted to the darkness but the man was in the same outfit as his captors from earlier, they looked at each other briefly. The man turned around swiping his wrist near the door, there was a beeping sound and a door clicked open. He stepped through the door and closed it once again leaving Ethan in darkness.

Ethan fought to keep his frustration under control and paced around the room. The walls were smooth concrete, there was a sink and a toilet made out of metal but aside from that the only other thing in the room was a camera up on the wall. He glared up at it for a while then huffed and continued pacing, he decided the room was probably soundproof after pressing his ear against the door for what felt like hours. His captors had removed his phone and his keys leaving him with nothing but the clothes he was wearing. He probably didn't need those either, the cold water had soaked into them making him colder than the concrete floor removing any chance of him getting warm.

He slumped against the wall and wondered if his friends were doing any better than him, he had a strange feeling that he was deliberately being kept apart from them. There was a click and the door opened spilling light into the room,

"Come with me," the man said from the doorway,

Ethan nodded, it was the same man from before. Ethan felt silly but he was relieved to see him again, he'd been kinder than the other captors Ethan had met. He stood up and followed the man into the hallway, the door clicked shut loudly. He looked around, the walls were made from the same kind of concrete but in the light, he could see it was new. It was still clean and white,

"Where am I?" he asked again but this time he didn't expect an answer and the man didn't give him one and instead walked down the hallway, Ethan hesitated then followed him. They passed several doors and turned onto a different hallway twice until they came to a set of wooden doors. He eyed the guards standing outside nervously, they weren't that scary but both held carbine rifles. His guide knocked on the door and Ethan heard a muffled voice say something, the man opened the door and gestured for him to go in.

He walked in and looked around the room, it was a nice office. The furniture was all a deep brown wood but the room seemed fake, it felt dangerous and Ethan's chest began to constrict as his nerves grew. He studied the man sitting at the desk, he had his head down as he wrote. He had dark black hair and Ethan was certain he'd be tall if he stood up. Ethan had a sinking feeling as the doors shut behind him and then the man looked up and Ethan's fear enveloped him,

"Hello Ethan," Max said with a sinister smile,

Ethan's brittle confidence disintegrated and he backed away, the urge telling him to run roared in his head but he couldn't move,

Max laughed, "Don't look so terrified, people will think I've hurt you,"

Ethan shook his head, "I don't want to be here,"

Max's smile changed, "I don't care what you want, you know that,"

"Let my friends go, whatever you are planning to do to me there's no need to involve them," He ducked when Max flung an ashtray at him,