Rebel: A Monstercat Fanfic

057 - Alone

Song of the Chapter: Too Late - Rootkit (DnB)

Two very different parts ...

(Nitro Fun's POV)

I wake up slowly, feeling ... floaty. Am I dead? Something ice cold trickles into my mouth, over my tongue and down the back of my throat. It takes me a second, but I realize it's water and swallow it with difficulty. There's a bottle against my lips, and I swallow more and more until it pulls away. I moan softly, still floaty, and then the water splashes in my face and I'm wide awake. I yelp and my head snaps up, my eyes opening quickly and blinking in the bright light. Instantly, everything comes back; the memories, the terror, the pain -

"Wake up, little boy," the man says.

I cough and moan again, wishing I could just curl up on the floor and pass out again. I'm exactly where I was a few minutes ago. "What do you want?" I groan softly.

"I want a lot of things, very few of which I think you'd understand."

He moves to push that button again and I yelp, "Please don't hurt me! I'll do anything!"

He laughs, just tapping the button and sending a quick shock through my body. I shriek, but the intense pain fades quickly. He pushes something else, and the chains release me. My feet hit the floor and I crumple, banging my knees and hitting my elbows, almost curled up, but too weak to make it. I can barely breathe - my breaths are shallow, quick, and painful. I taste blood in my mouth, probably from where I must've bit myself, and spit it out on the floor before I choke myself. I can't swallow.

"You'll do anything, will you?" Jensen says. "Who is Phantom?"

That bolt of fear stabs into my heart again. "I swear I don't know," I whisper, and then let out a choking scream as the agony rips through me again, brief, but breathtaking. "I'll tell you anything else!" I gasp out between another shock. I can't do it. He's going to kill me. I'm going to die. "Please stop," I beg, my voice shaking and small. I can feel the tears slipping down my face, mixing with the blood from the gash on my cheek. "I'll tell you anything else. I'll tell you my name."

"I already know your name, Gus," he says, laughing. "Although ... I don't believe I pronounce it correctly." He kneels next to me and strokes my hair as I stay bent over, his cold fingers combing through the long tangled curls. Sometimes, he pulls, but I don't have the energy to cry out. "Say it for me," he says.

"Gustavo Rangel," I whisper, feeling as if I betrayed myself by giving out my real name.

"Mm, that's right. It has such a nice ring when you say it with your accent, doesn't it?" He keeps playing with my hair as he speaks. "What else can you tell me? Describe Phantom, since you so inconveniently can't seem to remember his name. Is he in our system?"

"I think so," I mutter. I can already feel the guilt in my chest. Anyone else would have taken it. Anyone else would have been strong enough. "He's a little taller than me," I say, my voice faltering. "He's smaller - smaller build, not very strong. He's a runner and has crazy, inhuman stamina."

"Describe his face," Jensen orders, twirling some of my hair around his finger.

I shiver and take a deep breath. It hurts to breathe. "He has longish, light brown hair that falls on his forehead and in front of his eyes. His eyes are  blue green - like the ocean." I close my eyes and picture him. I'm flooded with memories; how he smiled whenever Noisestorm did something stupid, how he laughed when we'd tell jokes, how he glared and dared anyone to challenge him when he said they could trust me.

When he said they could trust me.

They trusted me.

Look what I did to their trust.