dot.

24: Plan B

  "So, here's the plan."

  Dot leaned in, listening intently to the the words that spilt from Felix's mouth.

  "When Tiro comes in to feed us, I'll slip out and make a break for it. He's let me out before, so he won't be expecting me to run. I'll tell him I want a shower or something."

  "You say this place isn't very heavily staffed? If so, I could potentially just run around for a bit and find the exit. We got Tiro to give us this crayon, so I could use it to draw a path on the walls to find my way back. If the worst comes to the worst, I could take Tiro in a fight. Disrespectfully, he's built like if a scarecrow and a stick man had a child and decided not to feed it."

  Dot wheezed and typed on his card, eager to discuss the plan furthur. 'how wil you get me owt', he asked.

  "This is where the plan drops off. I have no idea." He admitted, stratching his head and biting his lip. "I don't know if this place is backed by a company, the government, a private sponsor... or if it's just Nimue herself. I hope it's the last one. If so, I'll report this place and have you free in no time."

  'wat if it dosent werk'

  "Then... I don't know."

  'you wil leve me and i wil be stuck here i dont like this plan'

  "Yeah. Fair enough." Felix was disappointed, but mentally scratched out the idea and tried to think of another one. "Maybe I could ask to call my mum and give her a sort of code? I doubt they'd let me speak to her, but it's worth a try. I didn't tell my family where I was going before I came here and it's miles from home, so there's no hope of search parties finding me."

  'maybe plan one but you cary me'

  "We could try that. But Tiro won't let you out to go shower. Do you even shower?"

  He shrugged. Occasionally, Nimue would give him a bath, but it wasn't very frequent. From what he could remember he'd never actually had a 'shower' before: truth be told, he had no idea what that actually was.

  "Weird. I'm gonna be honest here, I'm out of ideas."

  He began to tap on his card again, managing to type out a 'you culd' before the door swung open and Nimue stepped into the space.

  "You." She said coldly, pointing a harsh finger at Felix, "Come with me."

  "I thought I was meant to stay with Dot?" He responded, uneasy about leaving him behind with no protection.

  "Dot will not be harmed in your absence. It's yourself you have to worry about." She stormed over and grabbed Felix by the wound on his shoulder, peering at Dot out of the corner of her eye and wincing in a moment of weakness before pulling Felix up to his feet with a surprising strength.

  "Wait-" He started, but was unable to finish as he found himself being dragged towards the door and away from Dot.

  The hybrid looked on keenly, wanting to dash after them but knowing that his leg would never be able to manage the feat. And besides, there was no way he'd be able to stand up to Nimue when the time came.

  "Come." Nimue shoved Felix through the door and locked it behind her, sparing a final pained look at Dot before turning off and away, down the corridor.

  "Hey hey hey- where are we going? What's happening?" Felix struggled to keep up with the woman as she dug her thumbnail into the wound on his shoulder, making sure any attempt to escape would only cause him pain.

  "In." She spared him no explanation and directed him with a rough push into a room that was fully equipped with medical tools and other strange machines that Felix had never seen before.

  Tiro, who had been fiddling with some sharp-looking tools on a nearby stainless steel tray, looked up as Nimue entered and grabbed Felix's wrists without a word, taking advantage of the pain the wounds on his shoulders caused him and angling him down onto a grey, flat table, where he strapped the man down. Then, he flipped the top half of the table upwards using previously unseen hinges, turning it into a chiar with a shrill squeak.

  Felix was too confused and frightened to talk now, heart racing as a thick anxiety built up inside him, hindering his ability to think straight.

  Plan B was in action.

  " Prepare the equipment." Nimue ordered, and Tiro lept to follow the command: arranging all the tools he had seen sitting on the stainless steel tray earlier into a particular order before handing it to his boss, along with a small saw and a bulky pair of pliers, looking rather out of place amongst the othet delicate tools.

  "Are we using painkillers?" Tiro questioned, reaching for a small vial that sat within one of the many white cupboards that lined the walls.

  "No." Nimue replied, ensuring all the tools were in order and tightening all the straps holding Felix down- especially the one on his right wrist.

  "Hey, what, what are you going to, to do?" Felix finally found his voice again, speaking in blunt, disjointed sentences that made Nimue smile and hold up the tiny saw with a sickening giggle. "Guess." She said, and placed it back down onto the tray with all the other tools they were planning to use for the procedure.

  "Hold on a minute." She seemed to remember something, and sprinted from the room for a few moments, leaving Tiro and Felix alone.

  "What's happening? What are you going to do?"

  "Uh..." Tiro looked down at Felix's right hand and tapped on the pinkie finger. "Cut it off."

  "Cut it off? Why?" Felix felt the blood drain from his face as he imagined the near future. "And with no painkiller?"

  "Look, I can't tell you why," He peered at the door to ensure Nimue wasn't about to walk in on their conversation, "But I'll do everything I can to try and get you some painkillers. It's not... bad, I guess, but it's also not good. Hey, you might even end up liking it eventually."

  "But what is it? Tell me." Felix felt his throat begin to close up as if grabbed from behind by some giant, invisible hand, clenching his neck so that he couldn't take a single breath. "Please."

  "I can't." Tiro leant down close to him, keeping his eyes on the door. "But if you don't want this to hurt, make a point to Nimue that Dot likes you, and if she causes you pain, he will hate her even more. I don't like to manipulate her like this, but," He glanced away from the door to make eye contact with the terrified man, "I'm not entirely comfortable with this either."

  "Well then." Nimue burst through the doors, dressed in the trademark labcoat Felix had met her in as Tiro jumped away from the man. "Let's get this thing started, shall we?"