Lego House

xix. Angelo

Autumn walks around, everything a blurred mess in front of her. It looks like the hallways, but without all the people. Her head twitches from side to side. She takes one more step before falling to the ground. She hears Jarrett's dad cuss as she shoots up, breathing heavily. She is strapped to a metal bench by the waist. She's careful not to say anything, as she's currently meant to be under his command. "What did you see?" he says, his voice harsh.

"The hallway out there. It was blurry, though. And my head kept on twitching. I walked a few steps before falling and then waking up here," she says, trying to keep her voice as monotone as possible. She sees Jarrett through the observational window. It's not a mirror in this room, it's just a proper window. His face looks pained. She shoots him a careful hand signal. He taps his wrist as if to say later.

He slaps his head with is palm, grunting. "Damn it! What did I do wrong?" he yells, slamming his hands onto the metal table. "It should be working." He balls his hands up into fists slowly, his hands turning the palest white as he clenches his fists. "Yeat, take the girl back to her room. And the boy. Top up their injections first. Just – get them out of my sight. Both of them."

Autumn is escorted out of the room, her vision blurred and her limbs limp. She is soon joined by Jarrett, who glances at her briefly, looking angry and sad and annoyed all at the same time. The soldier behind them, Yeat, does not say a word. He just walks and walks, knowing that the two of them already know where they are headed. "Scan your eye, please. Security purposes," he says, sounding exasperated. Autumn wants to turn around, punch him, and yell at him that they know. They have been in that bloody room enough times to know.

There are no security cameras, so there are extra safety precautions needed to be taken before entering. No one must enter unless they are being injected with the mind control serum or are doing the injecting. And – injections must be topped up at least every three hours just in case. Autumn wonders if the just in case is because Mr Maust isn't falling for that last hour Autumn and Jarrett have being themselves but pretending to be controlled.

As they walk in, the door shuts behind them. Yeat doesn't follow. Autumn stands close enough to the door to hear what is being said. There is another soldier. She hears the words but very faintly and quite muffled. "Maust told me to take over." The door opens moments after, and a tall, sturdily built, dark skinned male enters the room. He is wearing typical soldier attire. As soon as the door shuts, he exhales loudly. "Okay, we don't have long."

"What?" Jarrett asks, slipping up on his monotone state. Autumn glares at him, making the new soldier laugh.

"Miss Trestail, nice Mr Maust – I'm Angelo Dawn." He has a nice smile, is what Autumn notices. Jarret and Autumn just stare at him, confusion evident in their expressions. "I have asked evil Mr Maust," he laughs a little, "to be in charge or the two of you. In charge of your injections for sadistic mind control, in charge of your training. Also in charge of a little comic relief, if that's okay with the two of you. You both look like death."

"Oh, I would very much rather be dead," Autumn says quickly. "And it's Autumn, not Miss Trestail. Please." She extends her hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr Comic Relief."

"It's Angelo," he says, grabbing and shaking her hand. "I'm here to help, though, just so you know. Before you go all crazy and try to kill me."

"I think you're insane, Angelo," Jarret says. "My father will murder you."

"Not if I don't get caught. The two of you haven't been caught yet, faking that last hour or so of mental freedom." Jarret's lips part as if he is about to say something, but Angelo cuts him off. "If you don't want my help, I will kindly allow you to be injected every three hours and lose control of your mind. I won't tell anyone of your little secret, but I won't be able to help you get out of here or get strength either. If you do want my help, I can make it look like the injections are happening every three hours. And we can develop a game plan as we're in here for fifteen to twenty minutes every three hours. So, what will it be?"