Chapter Twenty Seven

*Ariya*


As I slowly opened my eyes, my head felt heavy. I could feel something metallic in my mouth. My arms were above my head. Metal around my wrists. There was metal around my feet as well. I lifted my head and tried to look up and behind me but hit something metal. Turns out I was attached to a table but the table was upright, like I was standing. I looked around. I was in an empty room. No one was around. The only window was on the door. The door looked to be controlled with a key card. That meant I would probably have a very limited number of visitors. I looked up and pulled at the chains around my wrists. No luck. It didn’t even budge. That could only mean I was extremely weak right now. But I didn’t feel a crazy amount of hunger. Not like I thought I would. I felt weak, but not hungry.
Boss walked in, “Oh good, you’re awake finally. I didn’t think you would be out that long.”
I went to say something but realized I couldn’t because of the metal thing in my mouth.
“Oh right. Yeah. About that. Wasn’t sure if you’d wake up crazy or not. We gave you enough blood to make sure you healed because you just were bleeding everywhere. You really weren’t prepared for the amount of gravity pressure I put on you so you landed so wrong. You broke your nose, your arm, some ribs and cracked your skull. I had someone put all the bones back in the right place, we gave you a little bit of blood at a time through an IV to heal you just enough and then stopped so you didn’t get all your strength back. But I wasn’t sure if you’d wake up just starving or if you’d wake up somewhat normal so we put a metal bite guard in your mouth, kinda like they did with horses, to make sure you weren’t able to bite someone. Oh and the chains, yeah, you’ll have to get used to those for a while until you’re a little more trustworthy. Precautions you know?” Boss explained to me.
He was extremely talkative and it threw me off. He usually talked but he didn’t usually bother explaining things to people. It was almost like he was trying to be hospitable. Boss walked up to me and I stared at him unsure of what he was going to do.
“If you don’t move your head forward a bit I can’t take the bite guard out of your mouth so you can talk.” Boss said, waiting.
I moved my head forward, complying with his direction. He reached around and unbuckled the bite guard. He stepped away from me and pulled it out of my mouth as he stepped back. I gasped for air for a second.
“You look like you want to ask me questions, Ariya. I’m nothing if not civil, so how about this, you ask a question, I’ll ask a question. Refuse and the conversation is done and your little doggy gets his first taste of torture. Deal?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, “I don’t know everything though.”
“I figured as much. Unlocking your memories will surely take some time. Refusing is different than not knowing the answer.”
“How will you know the difference?”
“That’s your first question, Ariya.” Boss said slyly, “I’ll know because of this serum. If you lie, your eyes will glow and I will know. That also means you have to be willing to let me inject you with it.”
“I didn’t know we had that. And I don’t really have a choice. Even if I didn’t want you to inject me with that, it's not like I can get away from you.” I told him, pulling at the chains around my wrists to make a point.
Boss smirked at me, “You’re absolutely right about that one.”
Boss walked over to me, syringe in hand, and injected the contents into my neck. I gasped as it burned. I felt a fog come over me. My thoughts were slower. I felt vacant in my mind. I closed my eyes tight, trying to gain some sort of focus.
“It’s my turn to ask a question now, Ariya. Do you remember the attack from 14 years ago?”
I looked at him confused, “Yes…but after you asking me that and Keo’s comments I’m beginning to question myself.”
“I’m sure you’ll know everything in time. It’s your turn.”
“How long have I been unconscious?”
“Less than 3 days. 57 hours to be exact,” I looked at Boss wide-eyed. “What do you remember about the attack from 14 years ago?”
“You say 57 hours like I’m not supposed to be shocked…I remember the fire, the screams, walking outside. Apparently I ran into you, but I don’t remember you. I don’t remember that. I remember Drake calling out for me. I remember Drake telling me he’d find me but that I had to go with Caleb. That I had to be good for Caleb. I don’t really remember everything else, except for my brother dying. I thought it was just because I’d repressed it.”
“You probably did. But I think Drake had more to do with that than you repressing it. I’m surprised you remembered that much. You were 9 years old if I remember correctly. Oh, and 57 hours is pretty impressive given the damage and blood loss you had.”
“Why did you attack us that night 14 years ago?”
“I’ve answered that question to you before, Ariya. You guys are monsters. You should be wiped from the planet. You have more power than people can even imagine and you’ll live forever if no one tries to kill you. There’s barely a weakness to your kind. Which means you can do anything you want without fear of being stopped. That type of power shouldn’t exist for just anyone.” Boss said, I got the feeling he was holding something back but I didn’t push. I just made a mental note of it for now.
“You’ve known me for years now and you still believe I’m this monster that is going to destroy the world, even though until recently you had trusted me without question.” I said softly.
“You broke that trust the moment you failed to tell me who you really were, Ariya. I believe it’s my question now. Who is Annarin?” Boss asked.
I looked at him and blinked in disbelief, “Annarin? Keo mentioned Annarin…I don’t know. I think Annarin is a dragon. But I…I can’t remember.”
“Interesting. Dragon’s went extinct hundreds of years ago. I doubt if that’s the case. But then again, anything is possible with you monsters.”
“You are ok with that as my answer?” I cursed under my breath realizing I just used my question.
Boss smirked, “I told you, if you lie, your eyes are going to glow. I can’t fault you for something you actually don’t know the answer to. But you just wasted your question. Can you speak to Drake and Caleb without being in the same room with them?”
I furrowed my eyebrows thinking about his question, “You’re asking if I can talk to them through my mind. I don’t know. I think so but I don’t know how to. I know Caleb did it with me once but we were in the same room at the time and I have no idea how to do anything yet really. Keep in mind, I just turned about 3 and a half days ago. The whole ‘I need blood’ thing kinda took priority at first.”
Boss ran his hand through his hair contemplating something, “Interesting.”
I waited a second to see if he would say anything more before asking my next question, “What do you have planned for me since I’m currently your prisoner?”
Boss’s eyes lit up with excitement, “Lots, Ariya. On Monday’s we’ll do questions like this which will also double as your recovery day. On Tuesday we’ll see how long you take to heal and how much damage you can take. On Wednesday’s we’ll see how much pain you can take through different experiments. On Thursday’s we’ll look for weaknesses you might possibly have. On Friday’s you’ll fight a prior team member so they can learn how to fight against your kind. On Saturday’s I’ll have Justin come in and tune you up as much as he wishes since you nearly killed him. On Sunday’s we’ll do any other experiment that we think of. But I mean plans can change, so don’t take it as a set in stone daily agenda.”
I gulped nervously. My stomach dropped as I prepared myself for what was to come. It was Boss’s turn for a question.
Boss looked at me wickedly, “What is the entirety of your plan?”