Snatched

Ch.27. Old Friend

"Who the hell are you." I say, hoping that I sound relatively strong, compared to how I really felt.

"I admired you once, did you know that? Once, when you were a little girl..." He says, more to himself than me. "But then things... changed, and you grew up to be just another ignorant damsel."

"I asked you," I pluck up the courage I have left, and take a few steps forward, "who are you..."

He finally meets my eyes, a flash of something glints in his eyes, guilt? Sadness? Hurt...? Yet before I could register this the glimmer had gone leaving a snarling monster in its wake.
"It's such a pity you know. We could have grown up together, you and I. Only recently did I discover you alive and well, and of course... Hanging out with them." It was almost as if he spat the last word in my face, as I flinched back in fear.

He makes a noise that sounded like a muffled laugh.
"You don't have to fear me, I am the one bringing the world to its senses. I am bring us scientific discoveries of the centuries," he glances away proudly, but I can tell these discoveries weren't natural.

I take a step, then a second, then a third, until I am little over a meter away from the cluttered desk.
"Who are y-"
"I am, well, I was known to many as Dark." He cuts in, with a voice so powerful, the last strain of bravery had decided to pack their bags and leave.
"Sit."

At this point, I was prepared to do anything to ensure my safety, so I sat. The chair in front of his desk was soft, so much so that I almost forgot the circumstances.

"You look a little pale, I will get someone to fetch you some water... Seeing that you mustn't have had enough water before..." He mumbles surprisingly stinking with politeness, and stands up. He walks past my chair with a sense of elegance, but also with power. I try to say something but my mouth, and mind, is completely silent.
"You don't have to be so suspicious, it's going to be alright..."

He reaches the doors quickly, and lunges them open. I jump up as soon as they close and try the knob, absolutely locked, almost as if it hadn't been opened in years. How? I ask myself. With no other choice, I decide to head back to sit down, and to inspect the desk. I try to concentrate but end up slumping on the chair in silence.

His red hair, his familiar features. Why did he talk as if I was a child? Suspicious? Why was everything so confusing. I start to think, I hope Jack made it; he could be already on his way, with supers from all around the world, coming to rescue us.

I snap out of my daydream as the door slides open, a familiar face peeks through. Mark! The kid I met in the cells. He strides in with confidence.
"What they hell are you doing here!?" I whisper, twisting around to face the him. "Where's the other guy? and where am I!"

"What if I told you that... the Boss, wasn't a bad guy? You could learn a thing or two from that... um... handsome devil" he says, with confidence that I hadn't heard him express previously.
"What the heck are you talking about?"
He sighs, as if he was disappointed in what I said.
"I, uh, He is more powerful than you can imagine. You could be just like him! He could teach you everything he knows. He knows so much more than those buffoons you call your friends..." his words drips with venom, he was much different from before.

"I... I don't understand? You're working for 'Dark'." I say as I slowly stand up to face him. He was still a whole 20cm shorter than me, with a very childish face, but it was as if he held authority of one of the dreaded Snatchers.
"Oh Summer... you don't believe me do you. He can do-"
"No." I say, with surprising confidence, "You lied to me...! I trusted you!"

"Wha...? Oh yeah... Look, I had to get you away from them. The stupid Agents mixed you up with the others and I had to..." he seemed to disappear into his thought, "Then you...That's the one thing which I haven't been able to obtain..."

My gut tells me to stay quiet, to let him talk. He may give some answered without even meaning too, as long as Dark doesn't show up any time soon... Mark starts pacing slowly, as if I wasn't even there. I slowly take a seat onto the chair I was sitting in earlier.

"The tall one called out and I made a mistake... you're so suspicious. I blame it on him... he's always been the favourite. Then I got tired of waiting so he came back... I was gonna try to tell you... reason with you. Even from the start my only goal was-"

He stops and throws his left hand through his pink fluffy hair then down to cover his mouth. His alert eyes dart over to me. He sighs loudly, drops his hand from his mouth and takes a step towards me. His eyes held a glimpse of curiosity and hope as his eyes wander over me to rest on my face.
"I...I'm sorry." He whispers, " I'll... we'll... he will tell you the truth soon enough..."

He turns his back on me and makes his way to the doors. I jump up try to walk after him.

"Stop." Mark whispers, loud enough for me to flinch, "You are a very special person, not in the way you thing though... you aren't going to do the cliché story thing where the hero saves all her friends even though she thought she was useless. Sa... uh, Summer... I'm not the villains here. I'm the one who's trying to bring justice for us. Your under a delusion, and I can make you better."

He opens the doors just wide enough for his small body to wedge through. I have to remind myself that this is just a boy, he isn't a monster. I could handle this.

"He won't stop, you know that right? You don't even know his real form... or what he really wants with you. It won't be as nice as it seems at first..." He turns to speak to me, this time he's somehow more innocent. His voice sounds like a broken child, playing with a broken toy. "The real me is stronger when I'm like this, but he always comes back. Dark will not give up. You have to save them, you have to save them all. You have to save me... You have to save him."

And with that he was gone, leaving me to an empty silence, with echoes of lost words. Darkness seems to surround me as I head back to the chair. My eye lids finally flutter shut.