Bred in Captivity

Thoughts of Madness

It was dark again…in my place. It was dark in all the places now. The wanted us to sleep. But we couldn’t not yet. I was still hungry. I shifted in my seat looking down at my empty Bag of Red. They still hadn’t given out the second Bag. The first one was so we wouldn’t die. The second one was a reward. We always got a Bag on the third day.

It was the third day.

I waited.

It was cold. They had shut the soft light closed…the chemical men weren’t happy with us. The others were upset. Hunger seeped through my walls…and I couldn’t stop their thoughts reaching into my head. I couldn’t stop what I already felt. I was scared. I was scared that I wasn’t going to be rewarded. I was annoyed that the new boy had ruined my reward. My thoughts swept through my head. The hunger made it worse.

I could ignore the pains as long as I didn’t feel anything. If I ignored the pain in my teeth. if I didn’t think about my hands. I ignored the blood leaking out onto my jacket.

Drip.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Drip.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Drip.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

I listened to the droplets hit the floor then slide into the puddle. It was making at my feet.

Being fed always made the drips worse.

Thoughts suddenly stopped. I listened…trying to find the Wiggly Chemical Man. If he knew what was going on then that would be best….he was easy to listen to. I slowly sent a thought out to Bright Light Chemical Man…being twice as careful as I was  seeking out Wiggly Chemical Man. He was much more open to my thoughts.

I frowned.

Wiggly Chemical Man was upset. Still. It had been three hundred and fifty nine counts. And he was still locked away in a room. Emptying out his Bag of Red from his stomach. I cut all contact with him. I didn’t like that he was wasting. I didn’t like that. I didn’t get enough Red and he goes and gets rid of all of his because he felt bad.

Bright Light Chemical Man was panicking. I focused in on his thoughts. Being careful….being soft.  But he couldn’t feel me. He was in pain…like when they pulled the black stuff on my hands…but not on his hands. More like his stomach. I stood up. Looking at the door that blocked out the soft light. The Chemical Men were panicking. I felt out the thoughts of the others like me. There was something…going on.

I didn’t understand.

Did they not have enough Red?

Did they poison the Red and that was why Wiggly Chemical Man was hurting and getting rid of his Red? But that didn’t make sense.

I was still hungry.

I wanted more Red.

I waited. Trying to piece it all together.

I reached out trying to find Peirce.

I knew where he was, but I didn’t like touching the other minds to get to his. But they were quiet tonight. They knew that something was going to happen tonight. The Chemical Men were scared. And in pain. We fed off of it like we did the Red. It tasted sweet.

“Peirce?” I asked quietly. Trying to keep it quiet.

“Good evening my dear.” He was happy. He was still in his place, but he was pacing moving…he was feeling like I did when he got the first taste of red after nine days of punishment. Like his place was suddenly less dark. And less cold. And it hurt less.

“What is wrong with the Chemical Men Peirce?”

I felt his teeth descend over his lips, like he was going to rip apart the Bag of Red. “Oh, I don’t really know my dear, but I have a funny feeling about this whole experiment of ours.”

“What does that mean?”

“Hm. Well I’ll have to get back to you on that .But I’m sure that it will be better then sitting in these cells for our entire existence.”

I thought about that for a moment. Not being in theses places. “Where else is there Peirce?” I didn’t want to be in the place with the chairs. And I didn’t want to be in the place with the chemical men…not when they liked to hurt. I guess I would like to be in the place where they keep the Bags of Red. I could have one whenever I liked. I wouldn’t be hungry for a very long time. I thought that that would be nice.

He laughed, I felt the others tremble. They weren’t expecting Peirce to be in such a good mood. He projected his thoughts, he wanted them to be afraid. He was enjoying the Chemical Men panicking he wanted them to be afraid. He wanted the others to feed off of him. He wanted them, everyone to be feeling like they did right now. He knew that something was happening. He was happy that about this. Everything was happening just like he wanted it too. “Well you’ll just have to wait my dear.”

He broke contact. Closing me off again. I shifted uncomfortable. Now I was alone. I could still feel Peirce feel the emotions radiating from him. I felt the Chemical Men they were running around now. They were trying to keep everything under control. But I didn’t understand what was going on. I didn’t understand why these emotions to be filling my place. I wanted them out. I wanted everything to stop.

I started pacing.

I walked. Fifteen. By fifteen. By fifteen. By fifteen.

Over and over again.

I didn’t like this.

I wanted it to stop.

I stopped.

I reached out. Feeling out the minds. I wasn’t being soft. I was being bright. I was searching as hard and as fast as i could. I wanted to know everything that was going on. Wiggly Man was still puking. Bright Light was in pain. He was trying to lock down the places but he couldn’t stand. I didn’t know how he got injured but he wasn’t going to last long. Peirce was still in his place. All the others were in their place.

Why was Bright Light trying to lock down the palces if no one had left.

I pressed my face against the door.

I wanted to know.

I had to know…

But there was nothing I could sense.

Peirce was laughing now. I could feel the others flinch away. “Here we go.”