"R...Ryuu?" My brother gasped in disbelief.
"Hi, Taiga,"
His arms flew around me as he returned my hug, him sobbing as well.
"I've missed you so much!"
"Me too... But... how are you alive?"
"Well... After you were gone I was about to cross over, when.. I decided not to. I followed you around for a while, hoping that he'd resurrect me as well, but Matt had used up most of his ghost seeing powers when he brought you back. Then, I went looking for another like him, and found a woman who could bring me back like Matt. And... Well... Then this happened,"
I had to smile at his determination to reach me, but the circumstances in which we had met weren't exactly pleasant. The van stopped abruptly, sending us both rolling and hitting against a wall. Moments later, it restarted, then rounded a sharp corner. We were being battered around.
"Ryuu... Are you alright?" A dazed voice came from the opposite end of the truck, which had stopped.
"Yeah, I'm alright,"
Behind me, the doors opened, revealing sunlight which burnt my eyes in stark contrast to the pitch darkness of the van. Rough hands grabbed me and pulled me out, forcing me down onto the ground. Behind me, Taiga was screaming my name.
Handcuffs clicked into place, a gag tied around my mouth and I was dragged to my feet. Taiga was nowhere to be seen.
Looking around, we were in a large building made of concrete, the walls ceilings and floors identical. A sharp prod in the back told me it was tike tomove.
Entering through another door, my breath caught. A long line of prison cells on either side of a thin path, a dark red liquid seeping out from under some of them which may or may not have been blood and a strange silence that hung around the room. I was forced into one such cell, crying out as the door was slammed.shut.
"Ryuu! Help!" Taiga's screaming became audible again. I slammed my body against the heavy door, the handcuffs slicing into my skin. His screaming abrubtly cut off and I tried my best to yell, but the gag stopped me.
Slinking to the floor against the door, I choked out a sob.
"a...aiaa!" I attempted to call his name again, but to no avail. Instead, I focused in the handcuffs, trying to escape their cold grasp, but only resulted in it slicing more of my flesh.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
I didn't know how long I had been in the cell when they finally came back; it felt like days. Hunger clawed at my stomach like claws, but that was nothing compared to the thirst. My mouth was completely dry, a pounding headache warning me to drink. Trying to stand, my legs gave way, reminding me of how weak a human body was.
The cell opened and five men flooded in, forcing me against the wall. When I half heartedly resisted, a fist came into contact with my eye and another into my cheek. Something sharp was pushed into the back of my neck.
"That should be enough," a cold voice laughed, showing me a needle, "You can no longer heal... Any cuts you recieve will not heal until it wears off."
The gag was removed, and I made shapes with my mouth with relief.
"What do you want?" I attempted to growl, but it came out small and terrified. Chuckling again, the man leant close and whispered in my ear.
"Shh. Just play along, I'm going to get you out of here..."
Eyes widening slightly, I gave a small nod.
"Now, with me," he roughly grabbed my arm, "Everyone else, you can go to your posts."
He marched me towards another corridor, my legs constantly giving way and my muscles screaming in protest. I was astounded by the amount of us; I had always thought that I was the only resurrectee. This at least explained the disappearance of many ghosts.
We reached a room covered in white tiles, the smell of bleach penetrating my nostrils and making me wrinkle my nose. In the centre of the room was a large metal table with five leather straps. Two for the arms, two for the legs and one for the head.
Forced onto the table, the leathers straps were tightened until they cut into my skin and the one around my neck almost choked me.
"You... You said you were going to help me!"
"I am, you little shit," he growled, bringing a scalpal into my line of vision, "but first I need to make you look like a corpse!" He laughed slightly.
"W..Wh- argh!" He sliced the blade across my cheek, blood collecting in beads on my skin.
"Don't speak. Its annoying."
I gritted my teeth as he made several more slashes, each one less painful than the last as I got used to it.
Then, he brought out two needles, one with blue liquid and one with red.
"This," he indicated to the blue one, "will knock you out and slow your breathing so that you appear dead, and this one, " he held up the red, "will make your eyes glaze and your skin turn pale. Isn't modern science so fascinating?" He was becoming increasingly excited, large hands shaking with anticipation.
"You'll feel a little prick, but I'm sure you're used to that!"
"Wait!" I whisperer urgently, "Why are you doing this?"
"Because you're only human. The Serpents believe that resurrectees are in defiance of nature and therefore are nothing but rubbish to them. They believe they are cleaning up the streets. This... Its so wrong."
"But why me?"
"because you're fresh meat. You are still strong enough to get out of here and get help."
He gave me the once over, "at least, I think you're strong enough..."
A loud growl came from my stomach, and he sighed.
"Good luck. You're going to need it. Once you're 'dead' I'll carry you out in a bin bag and leave you on the road. When you wake up, its up to you."
Nodding in understanding, I braced myself for the injection. The first one entered in my shoulder, the second into my neck. Then, everything went black.
