Truth Stealers (Thief's Signal: Book 1)

25

He was in the box again. This time, tied to a metal chair, with his arms behind his back, locked into specialised handcuffs made out of materials Nimio didn't even know the names of.

He looked around; the same, pristinely polished white walls of the box glared back at him. But this time something was different. Something scratched the back of his mind: a memory. But this time it was not a memory he wanted to remember; it seemed he had purposely guarded it from himself.

Nimio grimaced. What was his sub-conscious trying to tell him? He had the feeling that it was bad, something he wanted to forget.

"Remember this?" Drigs' sinister voice crept up  from behind. Nimio squirmed in his chair, twisting around to see where the voice had come from.

Drigs' laughed at his botched efforts. "I knew you would. This was where it all started, for me and you. This was where we made our plans."

Something hung in the air, a message from the past. The room had changed; it looked clearer now. Or perhaps Nimio was looking through clearer eyes. But he didn't think that it was because of his meta-abilities. It was something else. The tone of the room had changed. It spoke of horrors. Then Nimio remembered what it was. Fear.

"Do you remember what we did here?" Drigs asked again. Nimio twisted in his chair again, then gave up. He was too tired.

"Hmm, maybe you need a reminder."

A slot in the ceiling opened up, and a long metal arm slid downwards.

"Of course, you must at the very least remember this same box from Meta Mechanics Developmental. Where your scum friends the Preachers hold base."

Nimio remembered that. It was only three or four days ago now. Or was it a week? He had lost his sense of time. It was these walls. They distorted everything, gave no support, just allowed his own mind to eventually trip up.

The metal arm whirred closer, and slowly unfolded, revealing razors and needles and tiny knives. Holy shit. Nimio tensed, and his eyes widened.

"Oh, ho ho. Come on, you must at least remember this guy? He was your best friend. Look, I'll show you how he works."

Nimio shook his head. A tiny metal spear advanced to Nimio's face. He leaned as far back as possible in his chair, fighting to stay away.

"I call this one the stinger."

The blade darted forwards. Nimio jolted left in his chair, as the metal instrument missed his face by a centimetre. He stared at the metal blade.

"Oh, now that's cheating. Have you really forgotten the rules?"

Nimio noticed the wall behind him coming up. It was slowly unveiling another room, exactly like his own, separated only by a glass wall in between them.

"How about we go through them again?"

Nimio froze with the sudden realization of what was on the other side.

******