The Seven Revels

Nightmares

Quill remembered this. He remembered this all too well. Pain surged through his body, making his mind fuzzy, his vision turned red and everything felt out of sync. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He was so angry. He'd been doing so well; it had been nearly a month since the last incident.

"You act like I have a choice," he snapped at Garrett. What the hell did Garrett know about any of it? He'd never felt this kind of pain and confusion. And then there was that Burgess kid, acting all innocent, as if he'd never done a bad thing in his life. Bullshit. "It just... comes and goes and I can't-"

"Okay, just..." Quill started to pull himself to his feet. "Don't try to... Quill, don't!" Pain enveloped all of Quill's senses and he heard himself yell before darkness swallowed him, purging the pain.

Quill was twelve. He was walking down the street on a cold night, trying to find a decent place to sleep, when a car pulled up beside him. The dark windows rolled down, and the face of a boy peered out at him. He looked a little older than Quill, so naturally Quill took a few steps away.

"Everything okay?" the boy in the car asked, his voice dripping with innocence.

"Yeah," Quill said, trying his best not to sound as scared as he was. "Everything is great."

"That's good. What's your name?"

"Umm... Quill... VanDansk... Listen, I gotta go. My mom is gonna be wondering where I am if I don't..." The door to the car opened and the boy stepped into the wet street. He was at least five inches taller than Quill, with dark brown hair and cruel eyes.

"Come on, what are you so afraid of?" he asked Quill, grabbing the younger boy by the front of his shirt. "Why don't you come along for a ride?"

Without waiting for an answer, the older boy swung Quill into the car and the door slammed shut behind him, the driver hitting the automatic locks from the front seat.

"Hey!" Quill snapped. "What are you doing? Let me out, my mom, she's gonna-"

"Like your mommy cares," the older boy said, once again inside the car. "We just want to talk is all." He nodded to the driver, who hit the gas hard, throwing Quill against the backseat. Quill scrambled to pull himself up from where he had fallen.

"Let me go!" he shouted. "Where are you taking me?" He fumbled for the lock on the door, and the older boy in front shouted.

"Milo, stop him!"

Another boy, who's presence had, up to this point, gone unnoticed to Quill, grabbed the back of Quill's collar and pulled him backward. Quill turned and saw a boy even younger than he was release the back of his shirt.

"Why'd you make me touch him, Daniel?" Milo asked the boy up front. "He's dirty."

"He's a rat. You know where rats live, Milo?"

The answer to Quill's question hit him like a pile of bricks and he lunged once more for the car door.

"Milo!" Daniel bellowed. This time, Milo wrapped his arms around Quill's neck and leaned back with all his weight, pulling Quill onto his back. "Keep him still. Do you know where we're going, Milo?"

"No."

"What about you, kid? You know where we're going?"

Quill nodded, his breath choked off by Milo's too-tight grip. "Milo, lighten up a little. We don't want him to suffocate." The arm around Quill's neck loosened a little and Quill took in a deep, much needed breath.

"Please, just let me go. I just want to-"

"Do you know where rats belong, Milo?" Daniel asked, a little louder. Quill saw Milo look down at him with hungry eyes.