In tradition of my last fiction this time around all chapters, including the title will be the name of songs and this time around the inspirations will come from Three Days Grace a phenomenal band that I have listened to for years. I hope you enjoy this sequel to Save One and that it lives up to the first.
Enjoy!
_Hal_
He had no idea how long he had been imprisoned.
Night and day seemed to blend together and the resistance that had been his constant companion had rotted down to nothing more than a withered rose; all color that had once made this creation of nature beautiful and filled with possibilities had been sucked out by the inhumanities of the world.
The room he was being held in was dank and cold, no furniture of any kind and the rhythmic echo of water dripping onto the concrete floor was slowly driving him mad.
No one and nothing had come to see him since he was put in here. They were probably trying to psych him out, if the aliens used that kind of technique or they intended to keep him here until he died from starvation and/or thirst.
When they had first brought him to their new base he was still feeling the after effects of the pulse that had driven through him so he wasn't able to make out the area of the land they had taken him to. But from what he could hear he could tell that the aliens were working on something, the scraping of metal against metal and the random orders for groups of harnessed children to transfer something supported that theory.
It was following a rather painful blow to the head that he was knocked unconscious and when he awoke he found himself in this room that he suspected may have been a meat locker at one time due to the metal hooks that were hanging from the ceiling.
He was currently hanging from one of the cold rusted hooks, his wrists wrapped so tight with a metal chain that his hands felt practically nonexistent. Along with his wrists his ankles were wrapped together with a thick rope of chain that weighed his body down. Even with his enhanced strength he was still too weak from the ambush that had brought him here to do anything more than to lift his legs about an inch.
The image of Maggie being thrown away from him by an alien weapon was on a constant loop in his conscious and unconscious state. He had long since stopped trying to fight the images and had become numb.
He wanted to die. He wanted to close his eyes and all the pain, the raw emotions that plagued him and the demented being that took great pleasure in taunting him would fade away. Heaven, Hell, nothingness it didn't matter, just so long as he was in a place where he couldn't hurt anyone else.
His internal musing was interrupted when he sensed the malicious presence of the doppelganger in front of him. Leering down at him no doubt with that annoying smirk of its.
"Come to mock me some more?" he didn't bother lifting his head, too tired and no longer concerned with dealing with the doppelganger.
It chuckled, "Actually, surprising as this may be, 'mocking you' as you so put it has become rather droll. It's like kicking a corpse, the being that once inhabited the carcass has long since left and all that remains is a bloated, oozing stain that no longer has the capacity to feel anything; so where's the fun in that?"
It's footsteps echoed away from him until he heard the rattling of hooks, "if you're so bored why don't you just leave? Nothings holding you here"
"Well I would but that would require a physical body and seeing as I am not in possession of one, that obviously isn't going to happen. And also, I made a vow to make you suffer to and beyond death, and I always keep my promises" a high pitched squealing sound grated feverishly on Hal's eardrums and he looked up to see the doppelganger swinging on two hooks across from him like a little kid on a playground.
Their conversation was halted when the two steel doors creaked open and a male teenager that I had never seen before marched inside with three skitters following behind him. The procession ended when they came to a stop in front of Hal, giving him a closer look at the guy before him.
The guy was wearing a baggy black sweatshirt with faded jeans and work boots that were scuffed with use, his hair was nothing more than a buzz cut but what really set off the bad vibes in Hal was the empty, almost black eyes that were staring back at him. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was probably their new 'favorite' harnessed teen.
"Hello Hal, I'm glad to see your awake" an unnerving smile formed on his face that almost rivaled the doppelganger's.
For the longest moment Hal was silent. He knew that in the past he would have thrown scathing remarks at him and the promise that whatever the aliens were planning the 2nd Mass. would stop them but now his mind was an empty abyss.
Seeing that Hal wasn't going to respond the harnessed teen continued, "you're probably wondering why we haven't killed you yet, well the answer is because we still have use for you. Don't get us wrong, we would love nothing more than to rip apart your skin and grind your bones down into dust but as I stated before, we still need you"
Hal watched as the harnessed teen paced in front of him, forefinger and thumb pressed against his chin like he was deep in thought. Of course the aliens weren't done with him. It was like a favorite pastime of theirs, kidnapping members of his family and doing horrible, violent experiments on them and throwing in gruesome torture sessions.
At this thought the horrific image of the doppelganger torturing Maggie came to mind and he bit his lip so hard that it started to bleed. Combined with this image and the thought that they were possibly going to make him hurt more people he broke his silence and with it some of his faded resilience returned.
Head now down, blood from his split lip leaving drops of blood on the floor, he spoke "you tried putting a harness on me before, two in fact, and neither one managed to completely detain me so whatever your planning know that I will find a way to stop you" unfortunately his words didn't have as much impenetrable essence as he would have liked and instead came out breathy and meek.
"Well that's not entirely true, is it? I do believe that one of the those 'harnesses' continues to control some part of you still, that being the one that was implanted into your neck. You still see it, don't you?" the last part was whispered directly into his ear and his eyes widened in shock.
How the hell could the aliens know that?
The teen chuckled, "don't look so surprised, did you really think merely taking the harness out would free you of us completely? From the moment it was implanted its systems began to download into your brain and upon extraction and in human terms it's "backup system" was activated, leaving you with a permanent imaginary friend"
Permanent...Permanent...Permanent...
The words kept rolling through his head, taunting him with the reality of the life ahead of him, which judging by the harnessed teen's words would only be as long as they had a use for him.
Appearing beside him the doppelganger couldn't stop the glee from pouring out with its words, "you hear that buddy? Best friends for life!"
Ignoring the doppelganger he looked up at the harnessed teen, whom he had yet to learn his name and had a feeling that the teen would probably never give one, "so what the hell do you still need me for?"
"Unfortunately we have yet to duplicate the success on any other children and as a result many of them have died from the rejection. What we need to figure out is what makes you so different" the three skitters were now surrounding him and he knew that something was about to happen.
The chains above him rattled and before he had time to brace himself he dropped to the ground and his head made direct contact with the floor and left his head ringing in pain, blocking out most the other pain that was plaguing his body which was both a blessing and a curse. As soon as the chains around his ankles and wrist were released his blood began to circulate to the rest of his body and only added to the pain he was feeling.
Before he could get his bearings he found himself being lifted from the ground and being almost cradled in a skitter's arms. The sensation of moving continued and the ceiling above him started to move in the opposite direction until he was finally looking up at the night sky.
Though that's not all that took up the sky that night, in the fast approaching distance he could see an alien spacecraft. He had no doubt in his mind that that was where he was being taken and once he boarded it pain would become a second skin.
The closer they got to the ship the more Hal realized that once he was on that ship virtually all chances of him escaping went out the window. He was aware that his dad had managed to do so on more than one occasion but he wasn't his dad, he wasn't the all conquering hero that returns unscathed.
When it came time to board the ship Hal decided that if the aliens were going to take him he was going to make damn sure that they had to make him bleed because otherwise he would be going down a coward. Gathering all the strength that remained in his weakened body he roughly elbowed the skitter holding him in what he was sure was the throat.
Surprised by the sudden attack the skitter dropped him and he rolled to the ground, he didn't have time to wait for the pain to subside if he was going to escape he had to move now! So quickly getting his feet under him he took off at full speed, dodging the skitters that tried to grab him and skidding to the side when a blast from an alien weapon almost took his head off.
His body was screaming at him to stop, to lay down and let it take in oxygen but he kept running, slipping and skidding along the way but his feet continued to move. A skitter almost managed to grab him but he used a chunk of adrenaline and plowed a fist into the side of its head, causing it to crash to the right and collide with two skitters that were chasing after him.
Coming up he could see a patch of forest, all he had to do was make it the woods and he could lose them in the many trees and brushes that grew there. For a moment he thought he was actually going to get away, he was going to get to see his dad and brothers again and-
When only a foot or so away from reaching his potential freedom he was collided into and forced face down into the dusty soil, inhaling dirt and coughing in the process he was unprepared when he was flipped over and looked up at the face of the harnessed teen who had a satisfied smirk on his face. He really want to punch the guy in his annoyingly smug face, come to think of it the doppelganger and this guy could be twins and that was a scary thought.
"I have to give you credit for trying, you got pretty far too but you just weren't fast enough. I'm willing to let this 'incident' slide but if you try something like this again I promise that I will send a troop to the second mass. with the sole purpose of wiping out your entire family" he threatened.
"And how do you plan on finding them? They're always moving, always covering their tracks" he felt pretty certain that he had called the teen's bluff but his confidence dropped by the smug look on the teen's face.
"Our means of knowledge have evolved since the last time you were with us, now we have the capabilities to know every move the 2nd mass. is planning leaving plenty of room for us to advance our army" grabbing him by the arm he pulled Hal up and shoved him into the chest of a skitter who this time was carrying what looked like some form of alien restraints. He was proven right when the restraints were snapped on his wrist that consisted of a metal of some kind that was twisted up in chains.
Moving his wrist to get a feel of how strong the restraints were he was disappointed to find that he could only move about an inch.
"Since you can't be trusted you will remain restrained until we board the ship and are in your new cell" the teen stated and on his signal Hal was once again lifted into a skitter's arms and brought back towards the ship where this time he was boarded onto it.
For the first time, in a long while, he found himself praying and whether god was listening or not he hoped that his family would remain safe and continue fighting no matter what happened to him.
A/N: Hey guys, I know its been awhile since Save One ended and I was working on another project but right now that other project has hit a road block and I've decided to come back to this story. I'm really excited about the plans I have for this fiction and I really hope you guys enjoy the ride and don't worry all the other characters will be in this story along the way.
Another reason that I've decided to return is because I've noticed an extreme increase in harnessed Hal fictions and I just had to come back and show what I could do.
Please review!