Playing With Fire (EDITING)

Broken

When I woke up again, I was zip tied to the pole just as I'd been the first time but more bruised and with a strip of gauze taped to my arm. I'd been sedated so heavily toward the end of the abuse that the near-overdose of drugs had knocked me out. When I opened my eyes, Kitty was gone.

Megan looked like she was freaking out inside. "She'll be fine," I reassured her.

"No. Not Kitty. She's going to break down completely," she insisted.

"It's not that bad, really. They just take some X-rays and draw blood. If she doesn't fight it, everything will be fine," I explained again.

She shook her head before saying, "Peter comes back today." A half minute of silence let that sink in before she added, "Besides, if it's so easy, why are you all beat up?"

I locked my gaze on the drain in the floor before replying, "Because once is already more than a lifetime's worth and this time, I'm not going down without a fight."

An inestimable amount of time later, Kitty was brought back and retied before both Brute and South left us alone. "It's a little after three," Kitty announced. "I caught a glimpse of the shorter guy's watch."

Ok, not bad. So they'd probably come for Doug next and then Megan but leave Kurt alone. He was no use to them in his current state. I sat back and relaxed as much as I could to think about an argument to use for Kurt's sake. Maybe get some medicine at best; a rag and some water at worst.

The next time the door opened, South wielded a knife as he shut the door behind himself. He knelt beside Megan and gave her a shot of the sedative he'd used on me earlier but not nearly as much. Each of us, except Kurt, was given a dose of the same amount of sedative before he cut our bonds. We couldn't move to attack and he knew he would be safe.

He retreated to the hallway outside and the door clicked behind him just as I regained the feeling in my legs. Good thing he was gone, because if he'd stayed, he'd be dead. Doug managed to rise to his feet, leaning heavily on his pole and the wall. Seeing this advancement must have given Kitty and Megan some energy because they too tested their feet.

With all the others drugs in my system, it was much longer before I could even sit up, forget standing. Finally with my hands free, I could get to the knife hidden so securely. But not yet; always best to surprise the enemy if possible.

We sat together in a tight circle around Kurt, preferring naturally to stay close. When the door next opened, a tray slid through the narrow opening. Five rolls sat on a plate beside a bottle of water and a bowl with three oranges. So they did care that we stayed alive.

When Megan reached for an orange, I caught her wrist. "Don't eat."

"Why not?"

"They're giving us food which means they want us alive. If we don't eat, they'll have to force us to eventually. But we can use this to bargain. After they realize we won't eat it and they start getting agitated, we make a deal. Help for Kurt in exchange for the rest of us alive. If they agree, we still don't eat until they hold up their end of the deal. And sufficiently too."

She nodded before asking, "Can we drink the water?"

"Yeah, we'll have to if we want to live."

In response, she grabbed the water bottle and unscrewed the cap before taking a mouthful and passing it to Doug. He accepted and passed it to Kitty who then passed it to me after having her share. I took a mouthful as well but twisted the cap back on when I'd finished.

"Someone got a rag or something?" I asked.

Doug nodded and untied a bandage on his arm, passing it to me. I tore it in half before squirting both halves with water and passing one to Kitty. She understood immediately and began to help wipe the dried blood off Kurt's face. When we'd finished, a long gash ran from the middle of the right side of his forehead backwards into his hair. Not deep but too long to wave off as easy to heal naturally even with an accelerated healing factor- which I didn't even know if Kurt had.

Eventually, exhausted and sore, we curled up together on the hard floor and fell asleep.

In what I assumed was the morning, we were rudely awakened by sharp kicks to the ribs. Brute stood over us, fuming over the uneaten food. "What? Freaks don't eat?" he taunted, kicking Doug again.

When I lashed back, Brute caught my ankle and twisted, bringing a sharp cry of pain to my lips but I bit down hard on my tongue to hold it in. He dropped my foot and took a step closer to me. When he knelt, I was prepared to whip out my knife and do whatever I could to slow him down so we could make a run for it; but when he knelt, he only leered at me before rising again and leaving.

"What? That's it?" Megan said, confused. "Just wake us up and then leave like that?"

"Guess so," Doug croaked. He held an arm across his ribs but didn't show any other signs of pain.

When the door slid open again not three minutes later, South entered and shut the door behind him. "Now, we can do this the easy way," he began, "where I don't hurt your injured friend here." He gestured to Kurt. "Or the hard way." He paused to see our reactions. "And I think you all understand what I'm saying."

As we nodded, he dragged Megan to her feet and she cooperated. She was returned in no time with minimum bruising and Doug was taken with the same end result.

And so a week passed (as far as we could tell time-wise) and we lived off the water provided for us each night. None of the food was touched no matter how hungry any of us was. But neither Brute nor South was ready to be making deals yet so we kept up the play. The others cooperated each time they were dragged from the room and came back in much the same condition as when they'd left. Soon, a definite rhythm was set and I began keeping time by this rhythm.

After my attack on Brute the morning he'd woken us, we were chained to our original spots to sleep again. I felt bad that the others were punished for something I'd done but these men wouldn't get away with treating us like scum; I'd make sure of it. I might not be an assassin but I know a few.