Vial #127

Chapter 15: Traitor at Dawn

My face goes ashen with the command. Slowly I put the gun down, my actions based on total fear.

"Now Emma, get out of the car," he states. When I swing my legs over and turn my head, I stare at a gun barrel, less than two feet from my head.

"Walk, not too fast but not too slow, to the cabin, and don't try anything or I will shoot." I face the path carved between the trees from years of travellers walking upon it. I think of Stef, still tucked away in the blankets in the car. Maybe she'll save us, at some point when she figures out where I've been taken.

My movements seem slow and forced, like stiff joints in a machine. The cabin comes into sight and I veer off the path towards it.

Suddenly, there's a knife up against my neck. The surface is cold, sending shivers down my spine. "We ain't stopping here, keep going." I turn my body back in the original direction. The path becomes less defined as we go on. Several minutes go by in silence as I maneuver my way between the trees.

Eventually I come to a fair sized building made of cement and wood. "Turn around. Move up against the wall, NOW!" he slams my chest against the wall and air is knocked out of my lungs.

Bill places a pair of handcuffs around my wrists so tight that I can feel the circulation in my hand fading away. Next, he forcibly turns my body around. A dark eye cover is placed around my face, followed my some sort of bag. The air inside is stale, my lungs rejecting the foul odour.

Next he places his hands on my shoulders and guides me to a room. The floor is hard, each steps sending out sound waves, echoing off the walls. He stops my body in the middle of the room, fastening my arms above my head in chains. I'm left standing alone on my tippy toes. My body feels stretched, each moment it's like another layer of molecules are teared apart.

"Guys, are you there?" I ask in hopes that someone is here so I don't have to go through this alone. This man was messed up. In a world where the population was already being eliminated, he decides to do this?

"Emma, is that you?" a tiny voice, barely audible sounds out.

"Yes. Sadie?" I say in hopes that my ears are correct.

"Yeah, he took the others to a different room. I was alone for hours, no food or water." I am so confused. How long was I asleep? I swear I just arrived at the river and saw Bill fishing. How could he have done all this?

Already my arms are aching from the blood rushing downwards. I try to stretch out my body so I can rest of the soles of my feet but the chains prevent any comfort. The bag on my head is filled with particles, rushing into my nose, challenging my breathing.

"Aiden? Jackson? Will?" I question the darkness in hopes that my voice will travel through the walls and reach them. Nothing happens. Sadie and I stay put for what seems like days but I know that in reality, it's only hours.

Eventually, the door opens and heavy footsteps surround the room. "Why are you doing this to us? We did nothing to you," I beg for him to see our innocence.

"That's what they all say but you're all liars!" he snarls. With that cue, a stiff punch hits my abdomen. The air is blown out of my lungs, causing my insides to stiffen. I have never been hit like this before in my life.

"What you say to me? What?" he demands. I stay silent, hoping that he'll just walk away. "That's right, and now what do you say to me?"

"I'm sorry," I say, my voice breaking unevenly with certain syllables. I say what I need to say.

"That's right," he coldly walks out of the room, abandoning us again.

I feel like where he hit me, there's a deep purple bruise forming. My muscles feel torn, worn away by his violent touch.

A while later, screams are heard through the walls. I cringe, knowing that somewhere out there, one of the boys is being hurt by this monstrous man. Then suddenly the door opens abruptly, and Bill walks in and then swishes off the bag from my head. He unties the eye cover. My heart is racing but I don't say a word. Slowly, my eyes adjust to the lighting. The room is concrete. In the middle is a drain. To the left is a barred window separating us from the outside world. Faint red whispers crawl up the wall from previous prisoners. Who is this man?

He walks over and tugs on a pulley. In turn, the chains around my arms tighten, raising me off my toes, leaving me dangling just barely above the floor.

I groan as my shoulders are violently pulled up, stretching my muscles to a thin thread. My stomach is on fire from the previous blows. I look over to Sadie. Her one arm is strapped upwards, her stump hanging by her side. I remember Stef, still in the trunk, covered in blankets. Maybe he didn't get her, maybe she'll find away to save us I keep hoping.

"Do you think he has Stef?" I manage to whisper, nearly silent. She opens her mouth to reply.

"No talking," Bill's voice is loud and mean. Immediately Sadie's mouth shuts, in fear of what will happen next. "If you don't listen, I will beat you senseless."

Sadie looks down at the cold floor, a single tear rolls down her cheek, dripping on the cement below. "I said to be quiet," he says and stomps up to her, their faces inches apart. Sadie turns her head to the side, avoiding eye contact.

"Look at me," he demands. "I said look at me!" He reaches out and grabs her jawbone, forcing it upwards. "You ain't listening to me, you know what happens next?"

His arms punch at her body, leaving bright red marks all over her arms. Eventually, they turn purple, blue and yellow but still he beats on. Blood gushes from her nose. I think that it might be broken. Her body is fragile and barely hanging on.

"Stop it, just stop!" I blurt out before I can stop myself. "We don't deserve this; this madness. What kind of sick person does this to innocent people?" I yell, frustration coursing through my body like adrenaline.

Slowly, he backs away from Sadie, and instead turns his head towards me. His eyes are filled with bitter rage. Then he walks over and begins with me.