Jay's body felt numb as she leant against the bars of her cage. She couldn't sleep. Morgan was gone, hopefully getting closer to freedom with each passing minute. The thought filled her with relief; whatever happened to her over the next couple of days, Morgan would be safe. Whatever happened. This brought her to the reason why she couldn't sleep. Her nightmares were filled with Washington. And soon her nightmares would become her reality once again.
She clenched her fist as panic began to take hold again.
Crow rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand soothingly.
When she'd woken up for the third time after Washington invaded her sleep, she had given up trying and struggled to sit up instead. She had told Crow that he might as well get some rest but he'd given her that knowing look and resolved to stay up with her, claiming that he wasn't tired anyway. She'd snorted softly; of course he was tired, Ghosts were always tired. But she was grateful for the company so didn't push it.
Eventually the night ended and the Ghosts were once again woken by the sound of metal pipes bashing on cages, and the harsh shouts of the Watchers. Jay wearily shuffled to the end of her cage, waiting for it to be unlocked. When it was, however, the Watcher paused and held out his hand. In it was a small pill.
He let it fall to the ground.
"Eat it." He said. Jay looked at it suspiciously, but picked it up, not daring to disobey him. "A gift from Washington." He sneered.
Jay dropped it as though she had been burned.
The Watcher's face flashed with anger. He picked the pill up and grabbed her jaw, forcing her mouth open. He jammed the pill between her teeth and ordered her to swallow, his hand placed over his whip as a warning.
Jay forced the pill down, nausea rising in her throat as she did so. When she was done, the Watcher used his finger to feel around her gums and under her tongue to make sure she had actually swallowed it.
Suddenly the room was filled with shouting. They had finally realized that they were missing a Ghost.
One of the Watchers picked up Jay's makeshift pick set from the ground and glared around the room at the Ghosts. His eyes were wild with rage as he shouted to the others. "Get these animals downstairs! Find the Cheap!"
In a flurry of panicked activity, the Ghosts were rounded up and herded down towards the shower room. There, they were lined up and forced to kneel with their hands behind their heads, waiting for several long minutes as the Watchers searched the complex up and down, scouring it for the missing Ghost.
Eventually a Watcher returned to the room. He was nervous, but walked up to the Watcher in charge, muttered something in his ear and backed away.
The Watcher in charge stalked up and down the line of Ghosts menacingly. "That new Cheap has not been here long enough to know how to escape on his own. I will give you all one chance to give yourselves up. Tell me who helped the Cheap, and I will ensure you are rewarded. Attempt to conceal him from me, and I can promise you, you will regret it."
The fear in the room was palpable, but no-one made a sound.
The Watcher waited thirty seconds before losing his patience; he smacked the Ghost at the end of the line so hard he fell backwards, then quickly kicked the next two over. "I'll start with these three." He shouted to the other Watchers, who dragged the three Ghosts from the room.
The remaining Ghosts knelt in silence, without moving a muscle. All that could be heard were the occasional muffled screams carrying down the corridor. After 10 minutes or so the three Ghosts were dragged back into the room. Only two of them knelt when the Watchers let them go; the other just lay in a trembling heap on the floor. Slowly, all of the Ghosts were taken, and returned, until the only three still to be interrogated were Crow, Jay and a Cheap.
