The Summoner Series - Book One - DUALITY

Chapter 8: Jack - New Faces

I was still sitting in the car next to Bruce with two people dressed completely in black with guns on their lap. I wasn't sure where we were going, but it felt like we were driving in circles. I saw the same tall buildings, but it could just be because every run down building looks just like another one three blocks down. I didn't dare try to make conversation with them. I didn't care if there were tranq darts, rubber bullets, or explosive rounds in those guns. I liked long odds, but not ones that weighed my life in the balance. I just sat there next to a mountain of a man who stared silently ahead, staring down the other two buff men across from us.

It took another five minutes of awkward silence before the car started to slow down and come to a stop. I looked out the window to see which building the car stopped outside of. I didn't recognize it, but the strange part is that it looked almost brand new, except that it looked like it was purposely torn down in some places so it could blend in better. It would have fooled most people around String City, but I knew the city inside and out. No one did anything this suspicious without me noticing, which is why I was so concerned that I never noticed this new building. Maybe I was losing my touch.

There were people dressed just like the men who abducted me and Bruce waiting outside of the building and waiting to escort us into it as well. They opened the door closest to the building and pulled Bruce out first, then me, all while having the two people from the car point their guns at our backs, even though our hands were still cuffed behind our backs.

One guard from behind me asked another in the front, "Where are we throwing these two?" We passed the threshold of the door and passed into the first floor of the building, which was bare of any sign of living.

"Throw them in the same hall as the other two we picked up. If we threw all four of them in the general well, I'd be afraid that all hell would break loose."

"Sure, boss," The guard replied, timidly, "But the only cell left is right across from those two."

"Better than have them beat the living out of every other subject." We walked towards the elevator and the guards followed us in. One guard hit a button to go to the second to bottom floor and a panel with a handprint appeared. The guard put his hand on the scanner, it lit up green, and the elevator started to move downwards.

No one said a word for the entire ride down. It was a new record for me since I always liked to talk, even if I was just talking to myself and keeping myself company. But this was the first time I was afraid to say something. Normally, even if something dangerous would come from something I would say, I would speak my mind, however I guessed that a bullet wasn't worth the cost of trying to crack a joke or two.

The elevator finally slowed and came to a stop. The same elevator doors opened and the guards behind me and Bruce nudged us forward. I had the temptation to say something like "Hey, watch the suit, it costs more than your yearly salary," but I still had enough common sense not to die in a musty hallway lined with cells packed with inmates. The guards kept walking us down the hall to the very end where there was an empty cell to our right. The guards in front opened the cell, the guards behind unlocked mine and Bruce's cuffs, and we were shoved into the cell. The guards soon left afterwards, and I finally let a sigh of relief wash over me.

I made his way to the back of the cell and sat on one of the two beds in the cell. I looked over at Bruce who was still standing near the cell door, just standing and staring. "Say, Bruce, why don't you sit down? Take a load off. We got nothing better to do anyway."

Bruce cocked his head and consideration, then walked to the nearest edge of the bed and sat down, but he still had a rigid look on his face. "This doesn't make any sense." He still held that stoic look from the helicopter crash.