CSI: We're at the home stretch now. Fair warning, the very end of this chapter might not be the best, but I did want this chapter to be at least 1k words because any less than that felt too short and I needed some way to have Casey start a plan.
TW: Violence
━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━
Tuesday, 28th April 2015
SENDING PEOPLE THROUGH PORTALS IS ALMOST TOO EASY, it's almost anticlimactic. Casey practically mastered the art of it yesterday, so much so that she is apparently ready for Phase Two. She isn't there today, as she still stands in the training room, though she's sure she'll be moved onto it soon enough. She hasn't uttered a word since her first success with the man, even though she wants to ask Everley where she was yesterday. Her only words have been short, one or two-word sentences to inform Doctor Hargreaves as to where the man had ended up.
Today, she's sending a little boy through portals. He wears clothing similar to Casey and Everley, though his is black and he doesn't have a jacket. On his front, in small white lettering by his heart, is the number Twenty-Three. Casey doesn't want to think about what that means.
Twenty-Three looks a little older than Everley and a little younger than Casey, so she guesses he's six or seven. He seems nervous, more so than the man had been. Casey can understand why; he's probably looking at the soldier training Everley and back at Doctor Hargreaves and then wondering why he's been taken into this room and if they're going to kill him.
Casey puts three fingers up, using them to count down and give Twenty-Three a slight warning before dropping him through a portal. She sends him to her room, hoping it'll calm his nerves slightly.
"Where is he?"
"My room." Her words are just loud enough to be heard. Doctor Hargreaves leaves the room, returning not long later with Twenty-Three.
───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────
Wednesday, 29th April 2015
After an overwhelming success with Twenty-Three, Casey finds herself standing in a new training room. This one is a little smaller and much emptier; only a clock and her blue thing lie in the room. She stands across from a soldier, her breathing uneven and shaky with fear of the unknown. Her feet stand on plush, padded tiles, almost sinking into the floor. The walls are made of the same material. Casey racks her brain for what the purpose of this room is.
Suddenly, the soldier sends a punch to her cheek. She dodges by pulling her head back an inch in confusion, though that confusion soon fades with the realisation of what this room is for.
Combat training.
With the realisation, Casey quickly takes a few steps back, balling her hands into tight fists as she prepares to fight. She receives a punch to the stomach as she waits too long to throw a punch of her own. She gasps, arms wrapping around her stomach instinctively and sinking to the floor.
She expects kicks to be sent her way, though, instead, she hears a harsh, "Get up. Do better."
Casey rubs her stomach before pushing herself to her feet, an uneasy expression on her face. Left hand in a tight fist, Casey extends her arm in a weak attempt at a punch; the soldier catches it easily, pushing her arm backwards and sending her elbow into the padded wall behind her.
She doesn't give up, not hesitating in sending a swift kick to the soldier's shin. He grits his teeth, so Casey knows she did well. She sends another kick, confidence rising a little too much.
As she goes to send a punch, she misses, falling forward and onto the floor. She rolls over so she can easily get up and continue fighting, not wanting to stay on the floor.
The fight continues; sloppy, weak punches and kicks flailing all over from Casey as she tries over and over to attack the soldier, only to be knocked to the floor after a couple of so-so hits. After a few rounds of combat, Casey retreats to the corner, picking up her blue thing and shaking it up. She puts it in her mouth and presses the button, inhaling deeply and allowing the air to sit in her lungs for a few seconds before letting it out. She repeats it once more.
They continue for a while longer until the clock reads half-one in the afternoon. Casey's food is brought into the room, grey mush wobbles inside the bowl as it's placed on the floor. She can't get away with not eating it today, so she picks up a handful and eats it, a disgusted expression evident on her face. Her toilet break comes after she's eating, as she'd been allotted one earlier, even though she didn't take it.
Casey walks into the bathroom and locks the door behind her, pausing before turning around. The door locks from the inside. It would be a good place to escape from, she thinks as she slowly backs away from the door. She washes her sticky hands in the sink, shaking them to wash them as she looks around for a camera. There's one just above the light — her face contorts into a disgusted grimace — facing the door, so her quickly forming plan will have to take that into account.
But it will be possible; she's sure of it.
───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────
Casey sits on her pillow, legs tucked to her chest and arms wrapped around them tightly; she holds them together by fiddling with her index and ring finger on her left hand. It helps her think, which she desperately needs right now. She's thinking of her new escape plan, though she doesn't know the best way to go about bringing Everley.
Of course, she's not going to leave the girl, but they train in different rooms again, so it's not so easy to simply take Everley away.
Her thoughts are arguing about the very topic, it seems. One moment, she has the best plan including Everley, next she's arguing with herself over why the plan will not work. She closes her eyes, hoping for it to help concentrate her thoughts, though it only strengthens the raging argument inside her head.
I can use a portal to bring her along.
The soldiers will see, it won't work, stupid.
I can portal to Everley and then leave.
Right, and when a soldier grabs you and asks what you're doing, what will you do?
Maybe I won't bring her. It won't hurt to wait until I'm safe before bringing her.
No, it won't, except for the part where they'll probably kill her.
Right. Maybe they won't, though. It'll just be her left, they'll have no choice but to keep her alive and safe.
Oh, like how they kept us safe. She won't die but she'll wish she's dead.
Unsatisfied, Casey slips further down her mattress, tucking herself under the covers and rolling onto her side, retiring her thoughts of escape to another day. The longer it takes her to plan, the less chance she has of being captured and brought back, so she doesn't mind pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind for a little while.
