Brianna Acero and the Second One's Return

78. This isn't the end

The boy smiles, and the next second Dominic takes the claw away from Kalen's head. The boy must have told him somehow, spoken to him in his head, because Dominic looks back at the camera and smiles, nodding one last time before leaving the room. Kalen sags against his restraints, head lolling to the side. I choke back a sob at the agony written on his face.

Two men come into the room and unstrap him from the table, covering his hands in some special gloves that I suppose they use to avoid another fire incident. They learn quickly, these people, I'll give them that.

"I knew you would come around!" He flaps his arms, opening and closing his hands excitedly. He hurries to turn off the screens and hurries back over to me.

"What am I helping you with?" I whisper, defeated, not wanting to look at him in the eye.

The idea of siding with these criminals makes me nauseous, but if it means keeping my friends safe, I will do anything.

"It's a simple task really," he says in such a way that it sounds like he is trying to cheer me up.

Why is this kid so keen on me being happy?

"And if I refuse?" I ask, already expecting the answer.

The boy shrugs, as if he had expected the question as well.

"Then we will have to do what you just saw to all of your friends, every day. Until it gets to be so bad that they will be begging for death to take them."

I shiver, the image of my friend's lifeless eyes staring at me forming in my head. Once again, I'm not sure if it has appeared on its own accord or if the boy has somehow forced it into my mind.

"So, what am I helping you with?" I inject every ounce of resentment and loathing into my voice at what he's asking of me.

But the boy doesn't seem to catch on, clapping his hands together, coming back to sit cross-legged in front of me. The light from the screen falls on his face, and I realize now that his hair is the same fiery red as my own.

"We need to find someone, and we need your help to find them."

"And if I help, nothing will happen to them?" I jerk my head towards the screen.

"Even better," says the boy. "They will be set free."

My eyes widen in disbelief.

"They would never leave without me," I say, knowing that I would never leave without one of them, but the boy seems to know what I'm thinking, because he assures me that they will be, if--

"If they think you are dead, they will have no choice but to leave. Their desire to avenge your death will take them right back to your precious compound."

My heart stops, sweat running down my temple.

"And how would you convince them that I was dead?" I whisper, and the boy smiles.

"With a decoy of course. We needed to punish Jade somehow, she did get caught after all, and she didn't expect it to be real anyways. She did her job perfectly! And now your friends get to live because of it. Dominic already has the video ready and everything. He knows you, Brianna, he knows you won't let the people you love get hurt because of you. He will show your friends and then let them go."

Now what am I supposed to do? Let my friends think I'm dead, and work for these maniacs, or refuse? But if I refuse, then they will die. Dominic is right, I can't let anything happen to them. I know the choice I must make, and I hang my head in defeat.

"Okay, tell Dominic he has my word, I will do whatever I can to find this person."

The boy giggles, clapping again, turning on the screen once more.