Once Again

Chapter Fifteen - Darkest Place

Darkest Place

"But - what about what happened last time?" Puppet stammered. "Don't you remember?"

"Of course I remember," Rogue snapped. "That day is burned into my mind like a tattoo. Five Raiders dead, eleven severely wounded, and one with no recollection of what happened."

Braken.

"What happened?" Echo asked.

Both Puppet and Rogue immediately caught on. "We can't tell you."

"You can tell me," WRLD said.

"We can't tell anyone," Rogue said mysteriously. "Especially not Braken. If we did ... I don't know what would happen. Tris would lose his power over him and probably half the camp, and I'm pretty sure Braken would kill us all."

"I'm pretty sure you're just confusing him more," Puppet said.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Rogue demanded. "You know as well as I do that we cannot tell them."

Echo wanted to get angry. He wanted to fight and demand they tell him everything, but he knew they were only trying to do what was best for him and the rest of the Raiders, so he stayed quiet.

WRLD had other ideas. "I've been here for almost a whole year and nobody will tell me what's going on! Don't you guys trust me?"

"Of course we trust you, WRLD, we just ... " Puppet hesitated.

"We have orders," Rogue finished for him.

"I came here for answers. Orders or not, I'm going to find someone willing to help me." WRLD stood up angrily and marched to the door, yanking it open and storming out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Echo asked.

"I'm going home to find someone who won't keep secrets from me."

The two Raiders stared after him, but they didn't follow him. They just watched.

Echo watched him, too, feeling hurt and confused inside. He wanted answers, too, but unlike WRLD, he didn't have anyone to turn to. He felt like he was going to burst. Rogue had tried to answer his questions, but he'd only made it worse. "When are we going to rescue my sister?" he asked quietly.

Neither of them said anything.

Echo turned back to face them and stood up. "When are we going to rescue her? Puppet, you promised you would."

Rogue gave Puppet a disapproving look, and the other Raider shrugged helplessly. "Look, I'm sorry. I thought we'd be able to do it, but after being in there, with Her ... "

"Did She do it to you, too?" Echo said.

"Do what?"

Echo remembered Her demanding Puppet's consent, and determined that the physical scars were the only thing he'd gotten out of it. "Never mind," he mumbled.

"Echo, what did She do to you?" Rogue asked.

"Nothing. Really. Just ... hit me and eventually stabbed me, but the stars in Moonland saved me. Both of us."

"I think you're talking about something a lot more serious."

"It didn't happen to me. It happened to Braken. And I'm not going to tell you." Echo sat back down on the chair and crossed his arms, knowing he was being childish and immature, but he didn't care. He noticed Puppet's face pale at the mention of Braken, as if he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I see what you're doing, and it's not going to work." Rogue glared at him. "We'd like to tell you, we really would, but you just don't understand."

"Oh, I understand, alright," Echo growled. "You don't trust me. Neither of you. You don't want me to get any ideas. As long as you don't tell me, you have leverage."