The Return - A Michael Vey Fanfic

Chapter 52

I could feel the beads of sweat as they resonated from my forehead and dripped down my face. Quentin was sitting at his computer, typing furiously after yet another failed test. Tara had left after what seemed like the millionth test, leaving Quentin and me alone. I had hoped that Tara leaving would make the situation better since there'd be one less murderer in the room but, if anything, it made it worse.

"What is wrong with you," Quentin growled.

I let out a weak groan in reply, though it was make of a plea than anything else.

"Pathetic," Quentin muttered. He stood up and my heart jolted.

I start shaking my head violently. "P-please," I stutter. "I- I can't."

"You can and you will," Quentin said. I watched in fear as he filled yet another syringe with a strange green liquid. He angled it toward my arm, brining it down slowly. Every single one of my muscles tensed as it drew nearer.

The point of the needle had just touched my skin when some sort of device wet off in Quentin's pocket. He set the syringe down to look at it and I immediately relaxed. Well I relaxed as much as I could. My heart was still beating rapidly and my muscles were aching but I didn't feel death sitting on my shoulders.

I looked over at Quentin just as he put his phone back in his pocket, grinning. "It seems as if your friends decided to pay a little visit," he said. "I would let my guards take care of them but, that wouldn't be proper for me to do as the host, now would it?"

I glared at Quentin, wishing looks alone could kill. I couldn't believe my friends had come back, and now, Quentin was making a mockery of them.

Quentin walked to the door, opened it and stepped halfway out of it before he turned back to me. "Don't go anywhere while I'm gone," he smirked, as if I could get out of these hundreds of bindings I had been put in.

Quentin closed the door behind him and I finally fell back onto the bed, breathless. If I could die right now, I would. I wish I could, but after the first test, Quentin had determined that electricity kept me energized. He kept me hooked up to an electricity source and has been constantly feeding me electricity. Not enough to help give back the energy I have lost from his tests, but enough to keep me alive. If the electricity was not flowing through me right now, I probably would be dead. The electricity was the only thing that was keeping me alive.

I closed my eyes, mostly just happy to have a few moments of peace from Quentin. My mind quickly drifted to my friends though. I began to wonder why they even came back, what Quentin was going to do to them, and whether they thought I was dead or not. I thought about the next time I would see Raymond, hoping he wouldn't be mad that I had followed them here and traded myself in for them.

I tilted my head to the side, allowing my breath to slow. I had just begun to feel myself drifting off when the door swung open. My heart sank. Quentin was already back. Part of me wondered why he had to come back so soon, but the other part said it was a good thing because it meant he was no longer with my friends.

"Emily?" A voice said softly. I immediately realize it wasn't Quentin's. It was Raymond's.

My eyes widen and I try to roll over, only succeeded in turning my head.

"Raymond?" I wheezed, staring up into his dark brown eyes. I never thought I'd be so happy to see them. I never thought I'd be so happy to see everyone here, in Quentin and Tara's torture room.

Raymond quickly skimmed my body and immediately, his eyes filled with worry.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Hold on," Nichelle interrupted. She was over my Quentin's machines, studying them fiercely. Confidently, she pressed a button on the machine then cranked the lever next to it all the way up.

The small amount of electricity keeping me alive suddenly began to rise. I could feel it flowing all around me and through me, giving me back life. I arched me back, drinking in as much of it as possible until I could feel my body become one with the electricity. I had so much electricity within me that I could no longer tell the difference between me and it. There was no me or it. I couldn't feel the pain of Quentin's torturing. The exhaustion was gone, muscle pain was gone, even the fear I had felt was gone. All I could feel was pure, raw energy.

Eventually, the machine was powered down and the electricity was taken away. I flattened back into my bed, staring at the ceiling with my eyes still closed.

"You can get her out now," Nichelle said. I waited as Raymond undid my bindings, not wanting to freak out yet. As soon as Raymond was done, I leaned up, allowing him to wrap me in his arms. I buried my head into his shoulder and started crying.

"Do you see now what I meant when I said there were worse things they can do to you than kill you?" Raymond asked softly as he stroked my hair.

I nodded, hoping he'd be able to translate it into a 'yes.'

I pulled away from Raymond after a moment, digging my hands into my eye sockets to stop the tears.

"Are you alright now?" Raymond asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I muttered, nodding again. "I just... I didn't imagine that to be as bad as it was."

"What did they do to you?" Ethan asked, his face contorted with anger.

I shook my head.

"That's not important," Raymond muttered. "Let's just be glad that she's fine."

Ethan nodded. I expected him to say something about my ability to absorb electricity but he didn't look in the least bit surprised about it. Neither did Jacob. I smiled gratefully to both of them, happy that they hadn't brought it up.

"Come on," Raymond said. "We need to get out of here." He helped me off the bed so that I was once again standing next to him, my eyes only at his shoulder level.

"Thank you," I said softly, talking about more than just him helping me
off the bed.

"It's my pleasure," Raymond grinned.

I was just about to walk past Raymond when I heard a small grunt from him and I gasp from Mackenzie. I felt a cool, thick liquid against my hands. Looking down, I realized that what I had felt was blood. At first, I thought it was mine, but the blood was on my hands, which is not somewhere I could be stabbed. I looked up at Raymond and into his cold, hard eyes, which had not two minutes ago been filled with hope, worry and life.

The blood was coming from Raymond. Raymond had been stabbed in the back.

"Raymond!" I gasped as he slumped towards me. I caught him by the arms, slowly lowering him to the ground.

I looked up to see who had stabbed Raymond to see Ryann standing there with a bloody knife in hand and a twisted grin on her lips.