Voltage

Four

Warning: Death. I don't know who's sensitive to that kind of thing.

[Imogen's POV]

    The tunnel that lead to the Dark Room was very dimly lit, so that Imogen could only see a foot or two in front of her. Imogen hated the Dark Room more than anything else. It was a large circular room located somewhere beneath the city, hidden so well that nobody had even heard of the room or the screams of those tortured there. The tunnels that lead to it were long and took complicated turns. Imogen was always to be accompanied by someone when she was obligated to go. Her father took her to the Dark Room on certain nights to show her the reality of her future. Eros believed it would toughen his daughter up. There was an eerie silence as Imogen and a group of her father's men walked towards what may be considered the nightmare of many.

At her arrival to her front door after the Reese Hale encounter outside her university, a group of her father's workers had told her she was needed in tonight's 'meeting.' But Imogen knew that all these 'meetings' meant the same thing and ended the same way. Her father hadn't seen her talk to Reese, had he? No, he wouldn't deal with that kind of issue in the Dark Room.

     She almost couldn't hear her footsteps hitting the damp floor over the sound of her heart beating in her ears. So she did what she had been doing since she was thirteen and her father started taking her to show her the cruel reality of life. She tried to imagine what part of the city they were under. She tried to see what buildings lay above them and what families were laughing and smiling. Sometimes, the companies that occupied the buildings above her head had large pipes and power boxes with the company name on them. This gave Imogen a clearer mental image as to where she was in the city. Like her father, Imogen knew the city by heart.

    As if reading her thoughts, a young man next to her, spoke softly to her. "T-Mobile," he said and pointed at a power box that was up against the bricked wall to their right. Imogen turned to look at it and nodded, then looking up at the boy. She easily recognized him as Eli. Eli had silvery white hair and bright blue eyes which made him distinguishable even in the tunnels.

   Eli originally worked for the museum as the gift shop cashier, but after he accidentally stumbled upon very classified information that was carelessly left laying around, Eli was sworn to loyalty to Mr. Cadwell, now revealed as Eros to him.

"And yet, we don't have service down here," Imogen whispered to Eli, landing herself side glances from the other men. Eli chuckled and must have noticed the glanced. He realized his duty wasn't to chit chat with the Big Boss' daughter. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked straight ahead as he walked, their conversation coming to a halt. Imogen wished he hadn't stopped talking to her. Eli was nice company and she wished she could talk to him more. And she was desperate to keep her mind off whatever awaited everybody in the Dark Room. Her mind flashed through every memory that had engraved itself into her brain that ever occurred in the dreaded room. The memories of screams and blood didn't stop until she was in her place at her final destination.

Like always, it was dark and cold in the Dark Room, hence the name. The large, circular room only had one light and it was right in the middle, illuminating a single chair. Imogen's heart tugged and her stomach turned when she noticed a woman in the chair. The woman had tan skin and long dark hair, though her face was turned the other way. Imogen couldn't distinguish who it was and didn't recall knowing someone who could resemble the woman.

A door slammed shut and Imogen tensed up. Eros sauntered into the room. He was dressed in his super-villain costume; a dark velvet hood that almost touched the floor and covered his entire body, beneath it he wore all black and the black mask on his face made him indistinguishable. Imogen had to remind herself that that man was her father. Her father who had raised her and fed her and made her who she was today. She wasn't anything without him. His footsteps echoed loudly against the floor as he fell in place in the circle of his men. Everybody in the dark room, besides the woman, were lined up against the wall, facing the person who dared get on Eros' bad side.