Shadows of Reform (Probably being edited)

Chapter Fifteen

A dreary morning it was, But Jason could hear the water crashing against the rocks and walls in the space behind him. It was finally over, and he sat on the ground outside, juggling his knife in his hands and contemplating what they were going to do next. For some reason, he could not understand why they captured this city and not the capitol first. They only had the capabilities for one of the two, unless the Order had another base with the exact same amount of troops he had seen on his arrival. 

"Nice work Jason. I'll help get this man to the nurses." William arrived at the gates to the fishery, surprised to see the efficiency that Jason worked with. "Seriously, I would hate to have you as my enemy." 

"I once was. Remember that." Jason apparently wasn't in the mood for conversation. His adrenaline was still active, and he really wanted to let it loose on something. But there was nothing left to kill. Instead, he used the rest of his time watching the place to clean and strip his handgun. There was a fine art to crafting a weapon, and despite the cracked wood grip and heavy front, Jason knew how to hold it perfectly. His fingers slid over the polished smooth surface, grasping the chamber and barrel firmly, making sure all the pieces fit into place. Nothing better for him to calm down. 

Jason thought of his sister, how she was supposedly safe miles away from here, how Dragger placed her with some dancer who worked at one of those horrible joints, how she probably had no idea what was going on... 

Jason didn't realize that he was grating the pieces against each other in his growing rage. He stopped, and finished the construction of his prized weapon. Now he was feeling better. 

"Jason! You might wanna hear this!" One of the soldiers ran towards him with a small radio. Jason listened closely. "Say it again." 

The words screeched across the air, into Jason's ears. "We have a few prisoners, locked up down below. Listing them off as follows: One blond haired young child, around ten years; one tan female, thirty years, black hair; one fifteen year old girl, brown hair..." Jason stopped listening.  

"Where are they?"  

"What? Just thought you should know we found people." The soldier was confused. 

"Just tell me." 

"Sir, you should stay here--" 

"Where is she?!" Jason screamed. "I mean, where are they?" 

"Head back to the main base, in the dungeons below. And I do mean dungeons." He laughed, but Jason was not around to hear him laugh. He was already gone, dashing among the paths back to their new base, where he hoped he did not find who he was looking for, but at the same time, he did. 

------ 

They stood outside the base, watching the prisoners from below as Jason strolled up. Both men tensed when he came closer, inspecting them and the people who they were watching. "Where is the girl?" 

"Which one?" 

"Brown hair, fifteen..." 

"Still downstairs. She has quite an interesting story, I must say." Jason rushed past, into the building. He forgot where the stairs were, and in his haste he became panicked. The rooms melded into each other as he ran, and soon Jason could not differentiate between them. Stairs went up; hallways drove him deeper, until he stopped. Why was he going so fast? There was no way to tell. Jason turned to go back the way he came.  

The stairs were right behind him. Jason shook his head and descended them to the floors below. They were terribly dark and musty, and he had to stop and let his eyes adjust on occasion. Why would they keep Melody down here? 

"Hey! Stop moving!" He could hear a shout from the cell in the far corner. He rushed forward to greet them. He did not like what he was confronted with. 

There was a young girl, strapped down in a chair. The man who towered over her was imposing, asking questions with a commanding tone. 

"It's not hard. You tell me what you are doing here, who you are, and we let you out. So why don't you speak?" 

"I was told... not to speak to strangers." 

"Then you'll never get outta here! Talk!" the man slapped her across the face.  

"Hey now! Stop that! What the Hell is going on here?" Jason rushed in before waiting any longer. 

"Um, interrogating one of the prisoners, sir!" 

"Why?" 

"To make sure we can actually release them. We don't want a murderer being let out to come back at us." 

"Let me see this prisoner then." 

"Yes sir." The interrogator stepped aside, giving Jason a closer look of the girl before him. His heart sank. It was not his sister, more a facsimile than anyone he knew. Jason began thinking rationally, and spoke softly to her. "Please. I have a sibling who is your age. You couldn't be here for anything too bad, right? Just tell us what got you in here." 

"I stole." She winced as she spoke, as if she expected to be brutally hurt. 

"Now you fight for a greater cause." Jason used his dulling blade to slice her bindings, then turned to the guard. "Get her cleaned up, and bring her up top with the others." 

He nodded, and picked her up from her seated position. They walked off. 

Jason felt a bit better, but he was still worried.