77 HOURS

four

HOUR 38

    The double doors being busted open woke up the two agents. Against Eight's will, she looked up at Six instinctively. She watched his eyes trail from the doors over to her, following the footsteps she heard behind her. She could tell by the way the footsteps sounded heavier and faster paced, that it wasn't Lloyd who was interrupting their beauty sleep. Although, Hansen does have a flair for the dramatic and loves to enter any room with a bang! She followed the footsteps in her head, listening as they stopped directly behind her. Something sharp bit at her skin, causing her face to twist knowing that it wasn't a bug. A large syringe plunged into the base of her neck, injecting a tranquilizer which spread to her brain almost immediately. The last thing she recalled was Six shouting and thrashing around until she lost feeling in her limbs and her eyelids grew so heavy she couldn't hold them open anymore. Men in dark suits would drag her out of the room, separating Eight from Six-- Never a good sign.

    When she woke, she was in a different room. This one had no windows, the doors were now 15 feet in front of her, and the ceiling was a tad higher than the original room she and Six had been in. That was also how she knew she had been moved, Six was nowhere to be seen. They must've separated them as either an intimidation tactic or to kill her. After all, she had no useful information for Hansen, but killing her out of Six's sights would be uncharacteristic of Lloyd. He's a man who likes an audience and what better audience than his victim's partner? No. She wouldn't be killed, well not yet at least. So why was she in this darker, and larger room?

   She then noticed that the chains around her wrists were different. Instead of the 18mm chains which tied her wrists to the arms of an antique chair, she now had been handcuffed to the chair, with about a foot of slack which allowed her to move her hands around a lot more than she was previously able. She still had very limited mobility, though. The thicker chain was still wrapped around her ankles and abdomen. The tranquilizer left a buzzing headache that lingered even after waiting for 20 minutes for someone to enter the room, and she could hardly move her arms still. All around, she felt weak, but she wasn't sure if that was due to the injection or from the bruised, bleeding, malnourished state that she was in. At least she wasn't dehydrated anymore. Lloyd had given her the kindness of fluids, and he would need to give some to Six, soon too if he actually wanted to keep the man alive.

    Eventually, when the doors busted open for the second time that day, it was in fact Lloyd who walked through, and he pushed a cart in front of him with a cloche protruding on top.

"You're awake." He stated with a smile, pushing the cart forward. He wore a cream-colored knit sweater, the sleeves rolled neatly at his elbows. His rust-orange corduroy slacks were more form fitting and paired with them, a pair of Tom Ford loafers. The staple piece of his outfit though was a red apron which was draped over him and tied neatly in the back. Eight wasn't letting herself believe that there was actually food underneath the cloche. No. It was probably some sort of device he would use to torture her some more. "I hope you don't mind the relocation. It was necessary for the plans which I have today. But in the meantime, I slaved away cooking your breakfast. Well, it's past noon, so more like lunch. But It's the thought that counts." He shrugged and with a wave of his hand, he lifted the metal dome from the plate and revealed a well-plated dish of eggs, bacon, and various fruits. Her mouth started watering almost immediately, but she closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly shut. She tried reminding herself that this was in fact some kind of mind game Lloyd was playing. Maybe the food was poisoned. Maybe he would chuck it at the wall again. Anything to not let herself get her hopes up.

"Why?" She asked with none of the humor which lingered in her voice normally.

"Well because you've been such a well-behaved hostage." He grinned.