The Apple

Chapter 6

The floor is really hard. And really cold, too. My fingers stretched over the floor, searching for some warmth, but they found nothing. They stretched even farther and found something; someone's hand. I squeezed the hand, trying to wake myself.

Finally, I found the strength to open my eyes. Staring at the ceiling of cracked plaster, I wondered where I was. We had basically just lost the war. The bad guys had captured me, and would soon kill me for my telepathic powers.

I'm still staring at the ceiling when someone's head pops into view. "HI!"

I shrieked. "Don't do that to me!"

"Sorry. Hey how long have you been up?"

I thought for a bit. "I dunno. I've just been staring at the ceiling, wondering how long I'll last." I sighed. "Taylor, I don't want to die." I started sobbing. Always having to be brave was harder than I thought.

"Hey-don't think like that. We're gonna get outta here. Just you wait." He said, rubbing my back.

"How long do you think I have left?"

"I said not to talk like that." He said, frustrated. "We're going to get you out of here." A clanking noise startled both of us.

"Oh look." Said a raspy, slightly british voice. "The main event's up." A scraping sound came closer. "The boss wants you to have your strength up for tonight." He closed the door, humming a little tune.

I sat up. "Taylor, what time is it?" my voice shook, but I wasn't about to let myself cry anymore.

"Don't think like tha-"

"What time is it!" I yelled.

"Well," he said getting up "The sun's just rising, so probably 6:00."

"I have 14 hours. 14 freaking hours to do everything I wanted to do in my lifetime." I shook my head. "So much I won't be able to do, to see."

"You should eat." Taylor said, cutting me off.

"I'm not hungry. You take it."

"Neither am I" said Taylor stubbornly.

"Then give it to Nathaniel." I wasn't going to eat it.

"Ally-" Taylor started but then he shook his head. I turned my attention to Nate.

He looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake him. Hearing Taylor talking to someone I turned around. It was Zander. He nodded to me, and continued talking to Taylor. "Not you too." I said sadly. "What're you in for?"

"Trying to rescue a friend." He looked strait at me. "Almost got them too. Their cell door was opened by the time I got discovered, and by the time they got me, I was dragging them out of the prison."

I noticed that he had a watch. "What time is it?" I asked hoplessly.

Glancing at it, he said "Almost 5:00 PM."

"What?" then I turned to Taylor. "You said the sun was barley rising!" I got up and charged him, punching every part of him I could reach. "HOW...COULD...YOU?" I screamed breathlessly. "I had 14 hours, now I have 3!!"

I heard rustling behind me, but in front of me was more important. I was focusing every molecule of my being to punching Taylor. My shouts echoed off the walls, and I felt better. Until someone tried to wrestle me off of him. I shook them off and continued punching. His nose was bleeding, he had a split lip, and he was going to have a black eye.

Someone jumped on my back, which effectively brought me down. I struggled, but they put me in a headlock, and no matter how I flailed, I couldn't get out of land a punch. "Let go dammit!" I screamed. "I need to get even."

"I think you've gotten pretty even." They let me go. "Holy crap Taylor; what did you do to make her so mad?"

"I...Told her...the sun...was barley...rising." He said, gasping. "Zander's watch...said late...she was pissed."

I had calmed down now and wanted to say sorry, but I held it in. Then I crawled to the corner to sulk. Glaring at him, I steadied my breathing. Fighting and actually winning was exhilarating. I thought of the guys; Waleon, Nick, Liam, and the others. What were they doing right now? Searching for me and Zander? Or preparing for battle?

I wished they were here. One of them would know what to do. Especially Nick. "Help me." I thought, silently pleading. "Help us."

I felt like someone was trying to reassure me, and felt like someone was telling me 'hold on, we're coming.'

Feeling somewhat reassured, I turned to Taylor. "Sorry; you made me mad."

"No way. I would never have guessed."

I rose to have another go at him, but Nathaniel interjected. "Ok. Calm down." He pointed to both of us. "Shake hands."

"You sound like my mother." I protested, my temper rising again. Taylor turned away from the conversation, and continued talking to Zander. Footsteps echoed down the hallway toward us.

"Sounding like me is he?" said a voice that made my blood run cold.

"I meant my non-corrupt mom. The one that doesn't hate me." I said to her.

"Well, your mommy can't help you now. Let's get you ready." She opened the door and reached for me.

"I know how to walk. Oh, wait, you wouldn't know that." I said coldly. Then I faced the three boys. Hugging them, I whispered "I'm sorry." To each one. Then I left the cell, tears blurring my vision. My mom led me to a room where she brought me a gown; it was one of those flimsy ones that hospitals use. "Don't you have something a little more, well, form fitting?" I asked, stalling.

"I'm sorry, no. It's the best we could do under the circumstances. Now put it on."

Sighing loudly, I put it on. She then led me to a room that looked almost exactly the same as the one we had been in. I was the exact same except for one thing. There was a large metal table with iron restraints on it. I pulled nervously at the flimsy paper gown. "Don't worry; your friends won't see you in it." 'Alive' she added in her head. "Get on the table."

"I gotta go to the bathroom."

"I asked you about that 5 minutes ago."

"I didn't have to go then." I whined. I was stalling, prolonging the moment of my demise, so that maybe, just maybe, I could be rescued. She rolled her eyes and led me to the bathroom.

"Don't even think about trying to escape. Or killing yourself." In actuality, I hadn't thought about that; until she brought it up.

I entered the bathroom, locking the door behind me. Just in case, I shoved a rubber doorstop behind the door. Thinking of Nick, I tried to tell him to hurry. 'It's almost time.' I told him. 'Please hurry. I don't want to die.' I paced around the bathroom for a while, eating time. She was banging on the door, telling me if I didn't hurry up, she was gonna break the door down. I turned on the faucet, and then opened the door. I took away the doorstop, and came out.

"You took long enough," said my corrupt mother. She grabbed my arm and practically dragged me to the room. "Get on the table." I obeyed in my hopelessness, and scrambled onto the table. I laid down, and the metal restraints clicked shut on my wrists and ankles. Silently, I said goodbye and sorry to everybody I loved.

The anesthetic mask slowly lowered itself over my nose and mouth, and in a few breaths, I was pulled into oblivion. My last thought was of how pitifully short my life had turned out to be.