Untouchable (ON HOLD)

Untouchable Ch. 13

“It hurts so bad!” Jason moaned from the bed, kicking his legs. The shackles pinning his arms and legs to the bed had been removed and upgraded – to a single bracelet-like cuff on one arm and one leg.

            “Let me go! I wanna go home!” Jason's voice had been consistent and loud for the past two days, yet after Annie had left, except to loosen his shackles and stitch his wound, no one had heard him. He had been completely alone and had tried to keep himself occupied. Jason spent the first hour he had alone trying to flash himself out. That was a terrible idea, as he spent the next two hours sweating and cringing in pain from being shocked. After he recovered from that, he ran around the room looking for any kind of exit, but there were no windows and the doors locked from outside. He tried to unlock the cuffs, but they were extremely tight and seemed to require a combination of passcode and magnetics to unlock.

Jason continued to cry out claiming he was in pain and lonely. Neither of which were really true. Even before he got the stitches, Jason's wound had started feeling better. And now he couldn't feel anything at all; it was strange. And as for lonely, Jason hated everyone here for what they did to him and his friends. Except poor Annie. He hoped Alex, Angie and the doctor knew where he and Annie were. Her story was a sad one, yet Jason couldn't help but wonder how she had become a part of all of this, without her father knowing, and with him being who he was. Jason quieted down while he thought of this, and became so lost in thought that he didn't hear the door squeak open.

            “Jason?” Her soft female voice echoed in the silence, startling Jason. It was Annie. She shuffled nervously over to him.

            “I'm sorry everyone’s ignored you these past few days. Um... So if you stayed locked up in here you're going to keep on being loud and upset, right?”

            Jason stared at her incredulously. “Of course I am.”

            “Well, they've decided to give you 30 minutes. Zander's research experts that is. You've got 15 minutes to let anyone you want know you're safe.” Jason's eyes bulged out and Annie continued. “They've asked you not to reveal your location. “ Annie gave Jason a fleeting look that said the exact opposite thing.

            “I can just leave?” Jason asked in disbelief. Annie nodded weakly. “But what about-” He held out his shackled arm and leg.

            “Oh. They will be temporarily disabled. For thirty minutes and thirty minutes only. And if you aren't back here in thirty minutes, it will shock continually, and those shocks will be much, much stronger. They've asked me to stress that.” Her eyes darted around the room furiously.

            “Annie? Are we being watched right now?” Jason leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder. Annie's eyes drifted to the top right corner of the room and Jason followed her gaze. A small black ball hung in the corner and as Jason squinted, he realised it looked a lot like a camera.

            “You'd better get going now.” Annie leaned over to Jason and whispered to him. “I've seen your friends, and I don't know where they are, but they're safe. I promise.” She slowly edged away from him and nodded to Jason. The last thing Jason saw was her shooting him a pleading glance as he closed his eyes and imagined Dr. Carlson's office. Moments later he was there. Immediately, Jason scrambled around the office, frantically searching the entire Center. It was completely empty. All the papers that had been thrown haphazardly about the desks or pinned to walls had been removed. The place was completely silent.

            Jason cried out in frustration and quickly flashed himself inside his bedroom back at the home he was renting. The room was empty, and the home was silent, and Jason realised that this was probably best. He wouldn't have known what to say to his roommates if he'd seen them now. They must've thought he dropped out. Jason himself wasn't even sure if he was going back to school whenever this was all over. Besides, his friends hadn't seen him in weeks and he hadn't left them any contact information. I'm a terrible friend, Jason thought to himself. I just wanna go home...