Secrets in The Ashes

Chapter 10

The chapters from here until further notice will be from Will's perspective...

When I wake my head is heavy and groggy from this morning when I was drugged. Thoughts of Loz struggling puncture my sizzled mind and I start to move. I realise my hands are in cuffs and attached to the bed I am laying it. I grin and try to use my powers. Then I get a sharp pain in my right wrist and my hands start to go numb. Once they go numb I can't use my powers. I groan and bang my head against my pillow. I need to get out of here.

I lay in my bed for hours, just the whirr of a machine to my left breaks the silence. My head pounds and I keep my eyes closed, blocking off the harsh light. I have tried several more times to use my powers, to no avail. At my fifth time, I get a shock that laces up my arms, paralysing them. And that's what they are at the moment, paralysed. I drift off the sleep. 

When I wake, I am not attached to the bed so I can move when and where I want. I sit and swivel to the edge, the cuffs still latched onto my wrists, cutting in. When I get the edge I let my legs hang off and look at what I'm wearing for the first time. A large t-shirt goes down to my knees, hanging off my neck. I feel self-conscience as I try to move it up. Dark grey jeans fit snuggly over my legs and my feet are bare. I stand and feel my legs buckle strain after not walking for a while. I walk around my room. The machine I heard to my left is somehow taking my pulse and how much I breath. Being the jerk I am I stop breathing. The machine beeps at me and I struggle to contain a laugh. Then I remember Loz and I don't even smile as I get my breath back. I hear a key enter the lock of the door and it swing open. I cower slightly as I realise it is the man who Zeddicus called Otakar walks in, grinning, followed by Zeddicus himself.

'Well, I hope you are enjoying yourself here! I'm so glad you came. Otherwise, we wouldn't have anything to hold over her head.' Zeddicus grins. My face falls as I realise what he says is true. If I didn't go after her she would use her powers without a second thought. I sigh, scowling.

'What do you want? Because if you just came here to torment me, you can bloody well leave.' I say, looking him straight in the eye. Zed clenches his jaw. 

'We need your smarts.' he sighs and rolls his eyes. 

'Well, you certainly do.' I mumble and Zeddicus gives me a death glare. 'Oh, and no. I'm not helping with whatever you want me too.' He grinned, obviously pleased that I said what I said.

'We thought you might say that.' He snapped his fingers and a T.V I hadn't noticed before switched on. I walked closer to see what he was threatening me with. A gun is pointed to Loz's head. I stop breathing. Her eyes are closed and there are large bags under her eyes. I can't even tell if she is breathing. 'He will pull that trigger, William. So, what do you say?'

'What do you want me to do?' I spit.

I am brought to a large room, Otakar pushing me along. There is a large screen and after the lights are turned off a slide show starts with Zed talking about what he wants me to do. 

'We want an empire, with only the fittest. We will be doing the weak a favour by killing them. We shall create a large dome and add 15 people in. Now we need your smarts to help make it so only the best survive. We need challenges, obstacles and different situations to test them. One by one they will all die. Once one is dead, another replaces. Once we have established if one is strong, we shall pull them out and introduce them to us. We shall call this large empty place the Dell.' He paused and clicked on something, showing a 3D image of a large field. 'There will also be monsters.' Zeddicus clicks onto something else, getting a horrid image up. 'These are Reapers. They have lobster like back legs and long, fox-like front paws. Their body and head are that of a goat. They eat humans.' A sickening grin spreads across his face.

'No! I'm not going to help you build something that will kill hundreds of people! Shoot her! I can accept the death to compensate for hundreds!' I scream, struggling under Otakar's strong grip. Zeddicus's face drops. He didn't expect me to let him kill Lauren. Neither did I.  He stalks towards me, face twisted in rage.

'You bloody will do it!' He screams and slaps me across the face. I struggle to get to him so I can break his jaw. 'I will torture her! Make her suffer!' He knows he has no leverage.

'I can deal with the guilt of one suffering. Not hundreds.' I growl and jerk out of Otakar's grip. I rush towards Zeddicus and bash him with my heavy handcuffs. Before I know it, Otakar's arms are around my neck. I struggle to breath as I kick this way and that. Fear grips my gut. Zeddicus stands, blood trickling down the side of his head. One hand cradles the wound while the other punches me in the jaw. I groan. He then knees me in the stomach, making me loose what little breath I have. I wheeze as I vision goes blurry. 

'You will bloody do it.' Zed hisses and I kick out a leg, hitting him somewhere I'm not sure. He groans and punches me in the side of the head, making the room spin. 'Bring in the viral.' he whispers, but I hear. I kick and struggle, trying to get away. Someone enters the room. By now the room has stopped spinning. I small needle with a black liquid inside is brought towards Zeddicus. He grabs it and grins. 'Have fun.' he spits and plunges the needle into my arm. I scream and my vision gets black spots. My vision goes black before flashing back. The room spins into focus and I see Zeddicus standing to my right. I am free of Otakar's grip. Then, suddenly, the room seems to enclose getting closer. I feel my breaths quicken, my eyes becoming wide. I turn around and around as the room gets smaller. I scream.

I have had claustrophobia as long as I can remember. I scream and scream until my throat is raw and my lungs hurt. But still, the room closes. 

'Please!' I scream, 'Make it stop!' Tears prick my eyes as I curl up inside myself, the walls pressing against my side. No one moves, no one says a word. I scream and scream, letting the tears fall. I hear footsteps to my right and I try to look up, but the walls are pressing too hard. A hand grips my shoulder and jerks me a bit to the right. I feel The side of the wall dig into my side and I struggle to breath. A sudden pain erupts from my neck. A needle gets pulled out. My head flops adnd my vision fades. But still the walls continue to close.