The room has been enclosed in a dim, hopeless silence since Troye left. It wasn’t exactly the brightest of places before but now every second passes in a sluggish haze. It’s hard to accurately measure time here, but I’m guessing it’s been about two days since he was taken. I’ve tried to close my eyes and drift away a few times but my sleep is disturbed. I don’t have nightmares but I don’t have dreams either, it’s like I’m asleep but I know I’m asleep. I get no rest from it. No meals have been delivered yet but they keep us stocked up with plenty of water. Every time someone new brings it in I go through the same routine. I beg them to bring Troye back, pleading on my knees, sometimes even blatantly bargaining with my life. The first few times the others tried too, but now Zoe just cries until she's sick, Joe punches the walls until his knuckles bleed and Connor mumbles to himself whilst tugging at his hair violently. I can’t blame them for crumbling, Troye was our glue, and now he’s gone we’re falling apart.
It strikes me as strange that no one else has woken up yet. We were all given the same drugs, I’m assuming, so why the huge difference in the time they take to wear off? Soon I’m sure I’ll begin to worry about it, if i'm still capable of caring, but right now I’ve got a bigger priority. “Tyler?” Zoe’s soft voice creeps into the air. “Tyler!” I simply groan in response, not even lifting my head. “Tyler Oakley, somebodies coming!” I swiftly meet her eyes which are glowing with the new found hope that we haven’t simply been left here to die. “How do you know?” I whisper, raising an eyebrow. “Listen closely.” Sure enough I can make out distant footsteps marching towards us. My stomach swirls with a mix of anticipation and dread. I want Troye back, but it’s a two part deal with facing Levi again.
I turn to find both of the Suggs cocking their heads at me expectantly. Oh, they’re waiting for me to tell them what to do. I guess if anyone was going to take the leadership role it would be me. “Okay, everyone put your backs to the furthest wall from the door. Don’t do anything stupid, just wait it out.” Connor shuffles backwards without a word, prompting the siblings to follow. As minutes drag by the volume increases until I can make out two sets of raucous clomping boots and one pair of lithe, graceful feet ambling down the stairway. Great, so Levi is being trailed by two ogres it seems- and where does that leave Troye? I feel someone’s sweaty palm make contact and their nimble fingers intertwine with my own. Zoe’s always been able to find comfort in human interaction so I squeeze back tightly, grounding myself.
Metal clanking emanates around us and the steel door slides open eerily to reveal four figures looming outside. Levi struts in first, his greasy forehead shining under the fluorescent lights. His mouth is carved into a wicked smile that doesn’t quite reach his squinting black eyes. Behind him are two firmly built men with stoic faces and bulging muscles, they’re not my main focus though, oh no, not even close. Securely locked between their arms is Troye. He weakly lifts his limply hanging head so we can make a judgement as to whether or not he’s okay. Clearly he is not. Connor emits a strangled cry thick with some kind of emotion that I can’t put a name to, his teeth bearing and fists clenching. Its’ clear that we can’t fight these bastards but we can sure as hell loathe them.
The eyes that were once innocent and pure now seem closed off and burdened. The sky blue orbs we’re all so used to have been darkened to the rich colour of midnight. Troyes cheeks are hollow and his face gaunt making his strong jaw line shockingly rigid and devoid of colour due to the unnatural porcelain paleness of his skin. His soft rose lips stretch into a lazy grin as he watches me, Zoe, Connor and Joe take in his features. It doesn't seem right in this moment. “Not all that adorable anymore hey?” He chuckles. I keep my mouth firmly sealed at this because I don’t want to blurt out what I’m thinking, which is that yes, he is still adorable, but now I would also like him to pin me up against a wall and…well you know the rest.
Levi seems to find the whole exchange very amusing because he emits a maniacal giggle. “Amazing isn’t it? What you can turn a person into?” My eyes hesitantly flicker back to Troye whose grin I realise has a hint of cruelty and malice to it. “I’m quite proud of this one actually, and when the boss arrives later, I think he will be too.” Now I know something is wrong because Levi is boasting about what he’s turned Troye into. Joe senses it too, I notice, as he flattens himself against the wall. “Zoe.” He calls, his voice wavering “Come here, don’t go near him.” She turns around from reaching towards Troye with her lip trembling. “H- He’s not the same is he?” Connor shakes his head numbly before slouching back onto the floor. “No. I don’t think so.”
At this point a chill runs through my body. Four of us are on the left side of the room and four are on the right. Troye should be over here by now but he seems completely comfortable sandwiched between the two grunting giants. He taps his foot impatiently and Levi seems to realise how long this whole exchange is taking. “Oh, right, yes.” He makes a signal to the human boulders and they begin picking up the bodies of our unconscious friends. “Woah, what the fuck do you think you’re doing!” I yell, bounding towards them with no real plan, after all I’m Tyler Oakley. Levi sighs, “Troye, tame him or I will.” A pair of empty eyes slice into me and that alone is enough to make me back down. “We’ve decided that your buddies are taking too long to wake up so we’re going to do it ourselves. They’ll be back soon, and not to worry, we won’t be messing around with their minds like we did with Troyes.” He babbles, releasing crucial information nonchallantly. “Now, if you don’t mind, we’re off. Have fun with your reunion.”
The heavy door slams shut with a cold finality leaving us cowering away from someone who we’d never have expected to be afraid of. Troye raises a fist as if to hit someone and then drops it with a sudden realisation of whats he's doing. He begins wailing aimlessly, salty tears trailing down his haunted face as we sit in shock. He continues on like this for a while until finally I can't take it, i'm about to crawl over and enevlope him into a hug when Connors shattered voice asks the question we've all been wondering. “Troye, what did they do to you?” He’s the bravest of us all in this moment. The three words that follow are all it takes for Zoe to run up and wrap her slim arms around the fragile boys shaking frame.
“Th-They broke m-me.”
Looking at the purple bruises littering every inch of his visible skin, I have no doubt that they did.
I'm just hoping he can be fixed.
A/n - This may be shit it's 3:06am right now, if it's bad i'll fix it in the morning. I just really thought i owed you guys an update. Anyway, hope this is okay- i don't think it's too horrific. Jeez i was about to spell that with a double f. Okay, goodnight. For real now.
