Cranial《Book 1》

Chapter 7

There was a click as the door across from Smii7y opened. His body hurt from not being able to get comfortable with his arms behind his back, and he was cold from his ability not working. It had been a couple hours since the jailbreak, and Smii7y couldn't catch a wink even though his body pleaded for rest.

Riser and the general came in through the door. "Where did they go?" Riser asked harshly.

"Even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you." Smii7y spat at him.

"Make this easier on yourself because either way, we are catching them again." Riser said. Smii7y rolled his eyes. "Fine then. You won't tell us where they are, then you'll be used as bait." Riser grinned when concern fell on Smii7y's face.

"T-they won't fall for it." Smii7y said uncertainty.

Riser chuckled, "You seem so sure. A guard said he heard one of them saying they would come back for you, so I think they are."

"He hasn't been here long enough. He knows nothing." The general said. Riser hummed in agreement, and the two headed for the door. Smii7y was left to the silence and his own thoughts once again. At least that meant the others escaped.

There was a squeak, and when Smii7y looked up, he saw two rats just looking at him. Their fur was scruffy and dirty. "Eww." He mumbled. The rat on the left suddenly changed into Tucker.

"That wasn't very nice." Tucker said with a smile.

"Tucker!" Smii7y exclaimed. The other rat changed into Eli.

"Glad Riser didn't do anything to ya. This is weird, though." Eli gestured to the cuffs. He touched Smii7y's shoulder and then the cuffs. Ice spread over the metal, and then Smii7y tugged on them, and they snapped apart like glass. He rubbed his raw wrists and felt his ability return. Warmth spread through his body.

"You guys came to bust me out?" Smii7y asked.

"I wish. We were only supposed to survey the facility above, but we wanted to make sure you were okay." Tucker said.

"The main hallway is still blocked, so you're still blocked in." Eli said, "But you have your ability now, so you can use it to bust out of here, maybe. Or Tucker could turn into a huge rhino and bust through everything."

Tucker chucked, "Or not, Byze would lose his shit on me."

"It won't matter much. They check on me every half-hour." Smii7y said.

"Damn. They really don't want you getting out." Eli said.

"Well, duh. It's the last bit of pride Riser has left. Must have hurt him in the abilitor collector community to lose so many powerful abliltors." Tucker said.

"Wait, what? Abilitor collectors?" Smii7y asked.

"Yeah. We meet these other abilitors, who were planning to break us out, but we beat them to it, and there are numerous facilities that collect abilitors and fight them. I guess Riser was building quite the fight team with all of us." Tucker said.

"That is insane." Smii7y said.

"It is, but don't worry. We will get you out before they do anything." Eli said confidently.

"About that..." Smii7y started, but there was a click as the door opened, and the general came in. He froze when he saw Tucker and Eli.

"They are back!" He shouted and grabbed the zap stick on his leg. Eli touched Tucker's shoulder, and they both quickly turned back into shaggy rats. The general was about to zap one of them, but Smii7y froze the floor below his feet, so he slipped on the ice. Tucker and Eli squeezed through a small crack in the wall. Two guards had come in and restrained Smii7y. Smii7y was too tired to fight them. The general got up and glared at Smii7y. "You'll pay for that, you freak." He hissed.

"General? What is going on?" Riser asked, coming into the room.

"Two abilitors came in here as rats. They were helping this one escape." The general explained. The two guards had Smii7y in a new pair of handcuffs and were securing him to the wall again.

"That is great news. That means they'll come back for him." Riser grinned.

"No!" Smii7y snapped.

The general smirked, "I suggest we give them time to build a "plan", and then make this one easy to get to and set a trap."

"I like it." Riser laughed, "You're in charge of catching the lot of them, General."

"Yes, sir." The general nodded, "Seal that hole up. No more rodents. " Smii7y sighed as they left the room. The two guards argued about fixing the wall before finally deciding to block it up with some rubble from the hallway. They left the room, and Smii7y struggled to get comfortable.

He managed to get his arms under himself and slide them around his feet so he could have his arms in front of him. The guard didn't seem bothered when they came to check on him, so he was actually able to lean fully on the wall. He rested his head on the wall and thought about what Tucker had told him. They had met other abilitors outside the facility, and they were planning to break them out and that there were underground fighting for abilitors.

Smii7y closed his eyes to try and make himself sleep. He instantly fell asleep from the rest his mind craved so badly.

He stood in a clearing surrounded by tall pine trees. There was an old shed next to a stone ledge. A fire crackled below the stone, and a guy sat next to the fire. He had black hair and odd ember eyes behind glasses. "Hello, Smii7y." The man said.

"Uhh, where am I? Who are you?" Smii7y asked.

"Well, I figured meeting in the facility wouldn't be very welcoming, so I brought you to my place. In the dream that is. I'm Nogla." Nogla said.

"Dream? Wait, what?" Smii7y asked.

Nogla chuckled, "A part of my ability. I can visit people's dreams."

"Are you one of those abilitors that were trying to break us out?" Smii7y asked.

"You've heard of us?" Nogla asked.

"Tucker came to talk to me." Smii7y explained.

"Ah yes. My team and I vowed to help abilitors escape from the facilities. We met your friends." Nogla said.

"Are they alright?" Smii7y asked.

Nogla nodded, "We helped them."

"Good." Smii7y relaxed.

"But," Nogla continued, "They went off to try and free you. I feel they will get caught again."

"They will. It's a trap. They want to use me as bait. You can't let them." Smii7y said urgently.

"I figured as much. With how convinced they were of breaking you out, I was worried they'd use that against them. I'll try to stop them but they are very persistent." Nogla said. Smii7y felt honored that his friends wanted so badly to get him out, but he couldn't let them be caught again. "I'm not saying that we will leave you there forever, Smii7y." Nogla started to explain, "I will help them come up with a plan, but they're running in there blind."

"No. I'm okay with this. I don't want them to get caught." Smii7y said.

"I won't let them. You have my word." Nogla said.

Smii7y then woke up. He was in the small white room with shackles around his wrists. The fluorescent lights were bright and blinding. He sighed and leaned his head back again. He had just spoken with another abilitor through a dream. He was still imprisoned.

There was a click from the door, and Smii7y figured it was just another guard coming in to check on him. Riser came in with a much taller and thinner man behind him. He was also wearing a suit and had silver hair and a mustache. "This is him." Riser said, "The ice abilitor. We believe he is more powerful than we think."

"I'll take him." The other man said.

Word Count: 1327