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ALMOST A YEAR EARLIER

Riley stirred. It was dark. He was in bed. He didn't remember getting in bed.

He sat up, fell back almost instantly, wincing in pain. The side of his skull was on fire. His hand flew up, felt the tender area above his ear carefully with his fingers.

And remembered.

He sat up again, ignoring the wave of nausea coiling in his gut. He had no idea where he was, but he needed to get out.

Riley crawled out of bed, hand to his head. With a sudden jolt he realized he was covered with blood, and it was most likely his own. Trying his best to put it from his mind, he stumbled towards a dark shape of the door. White flecks dimmed his vision, but he ignored them as well. He wanted out, gone, away.

His hand closed over the doorknob, the metal cool against his skin. But a quick twist indicated it was locked. But it didn't stop him from rattling the door in frustration.

The windows. He tripped over something in his haste, cursed. It was too dark to see anything. He was virtually blind. His eyes weren't adjusting to the darkness.

The windows all had thick iron bars running in a lattice formation.

Riley turned around, his mind racing for an escape. He leaned against the wall, tried to find his bearings. His hand patted along the wall, searching for a switch.

His fingers found a plastic fitting, then the room lit up. Riley was blinded.

When he could focus, he very nearly fainted.

He was in a hotel room. An enormous bed in the middle, a sitting area with a wide-screen TV, and across from him, another door that he'd missed. Probably a bathroom.

But the most surprising was that somehow, all his stuff was there. His seven laptops stacked on the metal lab table from his home office and gracing an entire wall was his entire workstation - his cables, transmitters, all his tools… everything.

The room spun. On the floor by the bed were a few boxes. One of them was half-open and he could see his old alarm peeking from the top.

He'd stepped into the Twilight Zone. This must be magic. How else could this be possible?

His head ached, his vision faded and he slumped against the wall. Outside, he heard footsteps, quiet voices. They paused outside the door and a rattle of keys echoed. A voice in his head screamed at him to hide, but it was too late.

The voices became louder, and a key twisted in the lock. The door swung open. He couldn't see. He couldn't see. His head spun.

"You hold him down, I'll administer the sedative." A hard, strong woman's voice.

"I don't think that will be necessary. He looks pretty incapacitated." Softer, amused, female.

"Still, don't let him move."

Riley felt a pair of strong hands grip his shoulders and something stung his arm. He tried to twist away, but the hands gripped tighter. Then the world seemed to mellow, the grip on his shoulders lessened. His head felt as if it was floating.

"Is he going to be okay?" A new voice. Deep, coarse, man.

"He'll be fine." The second woman. "A little concussed and bloody, but head wounds always bleed a lot. Did you have to hit him that hard?"

"I wasn't sure, but I didn't want him waking up on me halfway through and having to knock him out again."

"Quit standing there smugly and come give me a hand. You're going to have to stay with him." The first woman. "Check him a couple times. He needs to be well enough tomorrow…"

The voices trailed off, and Riley drifted away.

-

When Riley woke up again, his head felt even worse.

He didn't open his eyes at first. He heard the rustle of paper close by, kept his breath steady. There was someone in the room with him.

"It's okay, I know you're awake."

Riley cracked open an eye. A woman sat in an armchair close to the bed. The second lady from earlier. She had an open magazine in her lap. She cocked her head, reddish-brown hair falling around her square face.

"How are you feeling?"

Riley sat up quickly, didn't answer.

"Where am I?"

"You're safe now." She smiled. "No one's going to bash your head in anymore. How's it feel?"

"Where am I? What are you going to do?"

"Hey," she said, stood up, letting the magazine drop to the floor. "You're okay now. You can relax."

Riley's breath caught in his throat as she pushed him back down.

"What do you want with me?"

"Right now?" she smiled. As if it was supposed to put him at ease. "We need you to rest. Jim's going to come in later and she wants you to start today."

"Who's Jim? What do you want me to do?"

She smiled.

"Sleep. We'll explain everything later."

Riley didn't sleep. He closed his eyes and wished he'd wake up and realize that this was all just a nightmare. A terrible, feverish bad dream. He'd wake up and be on Ben's couch and he'd be watching a documentary on whales.

"Okay," she said. Riley sat up. "It's nearly seven. You should get up now, have a shower."

Because he was too terrified of what might happen if he didn't, he obeyed. And found that even his clothes from home had found a place in the closet.

Fifteen minutes later, he was sitting on the couch, head in his hands, the auburn-headed woman keeping a close watch on him. He didn't wait long. Soon there was a knock on the door and two people walked in. An older woman with short black hair and a big man with wide shoulders and disturbingly green eyes.

"Hi," the woman said briskly, held out a hand as if they were meeting for an interview and hadn't kidnapped him. "I'm Jim. This is Danny, and Katie. We've been appointed to inform you why you've been brought here."

Riley uncertainly took her hand.

"Danny," Jim said to the big man. "Sit down. Katie."

The three people sat down and stared at Riley for a moment or two.

"Well." Jim smoothed her jeans with her palms, pressed her lips together. "I've never done this before. They should have asked a welcoming leader to do this. Someone like that would have been able to make you feel comfortable."

"I'll start," Katie, the brunette said and leaned forward. "We're part of a group called the Analysts. We need your help to modernize our systems."

Riley's eyes widened.

"You didn't have to drag me away in the middle of the night to do that," he said. "If you'd asked nicely, I would have done it. No problem."

The three people shared a glance.

"Our information is a little… sensitive," Jim said, "We can't risk anyone finding out about our operations."

A tight ball of fear settled in Riley's stomach. They were criminals. They were going to kill him once they were done with him.

"What exactly do you need me to do?"

"We have a list of specifications here," Jim said and handed Riley a sheet of paper. "But basically, we need you to create a security system that won't be detected by the feds, and won't be hacked into. We have very sensitive information that, if out in the open, the entire organization could get shut down."

"Um…" Riley cleared his throat. He didn't want to ask this question. He knew the answer. "What if… what if I… didn't…" He looked up, hoping they were getting his drift.

Another look passed between them. The women looked embarrassed, but Danny kept his jade gaze on Riley, slowly cracked his knuckles.

"There will be consequences," he said slowly, deliberately.

"Okay," Riley said, cleared his throat again.

"You'll be staying here, in this room, until you've proven to us that we can trust you. Only then will you be allowed out." Jim flattened her lips again and looked away. "If you betray us, we will find out and Danny will complete what he started last night."

The fear must have shown on Riley's face, because Katie's suddenly adopted a sympathetic look.

"Um…" Riley said, looked down at the paper in his hand. "This… shouldn't take more than a few days. Can… can I… go home… then?"

"No," Jim said decisively. "You're part of the community now. This is your home." She gestured to the things around the room and the boxes on the floor. "We've brought some of your stuff here, to make you feel more comfortable. You should feel comfortable. Katie will stay with you for the first few days and make sure you don't get into trouble."

Even though complete and utter desolation passed over Riley's face, the statement had hardened him somehow. He was going to break out of this prison.

"Have you been… watching me?" he asked slowly. "Before you decided…"

"Not us," Katie said. "Our other members."

"I'm… going to be missed, you know," Riley said, determination suddenly in his voice. "My friends will know, they'll find out. They'll find me."

"They won't," Jim said. "No one knows you're missing yet. We're staging it so it looks like you've vanished into thin air. Your apartment is being cleaned out as we speak. Your bank accounts too, we've placed all your money in new accounts. Benjamin Gates and Dr. Chase will be devastated, but they'll move on."

Riley stared in horror.

"No," he said softly. "You can't do that to Ben and Abigail. You'll destroy them. Please. You can have all the money. Just let me go. I won't tell anyone. I promise."

"We can't allow that," Jim said, her voice hard. She stood up. "Katie will find you something to eat. We'd appreciate it if you could start as soon as you can."

They left Riley alone for a few moments. He couldn't do anything. It felt like he was frozen to the couch. Afterwards, he cursed himself and realized he could have commandeered one of his laptops, sent out an SOS signal or something. But he didn't. He didn't know how they knew he wouldn't do anything. He just sat there and realized his life was falling apart. And it was going to affect everyone he knew.

"Hey," a voice said above him. "You okay?"

Katie smiled down at him. She held a tray in her hands, then placed it in front of him. Coffee and Cheerios. He didn't want to ask her how she knew it was his usual breakfast.

"I'm not really hungry," he said, buried his face in his hands.

"You need to eat something," she said, sitting down across from him.

"You can't do this to me," he said, shaking his head. "You're… you're just… you're taking me away from everything, everyone I love. And you're going to put them through hell."

"It wasn't my decision." Katie spread her hands. "I can't do anything about it. So eat your breakfast, then you can have some painkillers. Just see this as an extended holiday."

"A holiday…" Riley scoffed, and it threatened to turn into tears. "I can't. I can't do this."

"You have no choice."

-

Hours later, Riley dug the palms of his hands into his eyes.

"What are you doing now?"

He knew he shouldn't complain. He'd been the same when he was learning.

"Are you going to do this all the time?" he said, turned to Katie, where she was leaning close, watching the screen over his shoulder. It was driving him nuts.

"Yeah."

"I'm going to take a break."

He pushed up away from the table. It was covered with papers he'd been scribbling on, working out codes and trying to come up with a program that would keep hackers like him out. He was working from the other end. He couldn't count the number of times he'd told Katie that they should have kidnapped someone from Homeland Security.

"Okay." Katie leaned back in her seat.

Riley stretched, gazed out the window. At least he had a little view. Three floors below, a small garden with a big tree in the corner and a marble fountain in the middle posed as if for a picture. It was enclosed, the rest of the house reaching all the way around it, forming a courtyard. As he watched, a small kid screamed and ran laughingly towards the tree.

"Kai!" a girl called, ran after him. "Don't climb up that tree!"

She was too late. The little boy had already scaled up the first few branches and sat grinning down at her.

"Alright, come on down, then," the girl said, folded her arms. "If you're big enough to climb up, you can climb down. Come on."

There was a slight pause, and Riley could hear the boy start to cry. The girl sighed, started up the tree.

"Are you never going to learn?" she chided. "How many times do I need to come rescue you before you realize you're not big enough to climb trees yet?"

"Who're they?" Riley asked as Katie came to stand by his side.

"Children of members who… passed away. They stay here. This is the special community." She glanced at him. "And you're the most special. You have no idea the special treatment you're getting."

"What do you mean?"

"You've got this whole suite to yourself. If it were normal members staying here, there'd be ten people living in this room and even more using the bathroom."

"Oh." Riley blushed despite himself. "Sorry."

"No need to be. You kinda deserve it. You're the only one forced to stay here, the others are all doing it voluntarily."

There was a slight pause. Both knew what the other was thinking.

"How did they die?" Riley asked.

"Alex, she's the girl… her parents died in a bombing in Paris a few years ago. And Kai's mom was killed by her boyfriend. He's in jail now."

There was another silence.

"You'll get used to it here," Katie said. "This is the best community to live in. We have a very good atmosphere. We have to keep it family-based for the kids, they still go to school. We all have dinner together, etcetera. When you've proven yourself, you're going to join us. Just don't go and ruin it."

"What kind of… organization is this?"

A shadow passed unnoticed by Riley over Katie's face, then vanished.

"We believe that the Bible is more than a guide or a way of life. There's a hidden message in the pages. From God's lips himself. A secret mission for all Analysts."

Riley was about to scoff, but swallowed it at the expression on Katie's face.

"I… I don't believe in God." He turned away from the window. Religion was a sensitive topic for him. He shied away from it as best as he could.

"You're going to hell, then," Katie said matter-of-factly.

"Don't believe in that either."

"What do you think happens after you die, then?"

"You… die. Your body rots. End of story."

"That's very sad." Katie turned to face Riley, who'd picked up where he'd left off. "I'll pray for you."

"Don't bother," Riley said, pored over a section of codes. "If there was a God, He wouldn't have let this happen to me. He wouldn't have let me my brother hate me. He wouldn't have given my parents jobs that resulted in me being raised by nannies until I was nine, or forced me to grow up on my own."

"Oh," Katie said. "I'm sorry. But sometimes, God gives us tests. He tests our faith. Do you think it was you that caused Benjamin Gates to punch your boss lights out and give you the best job of your life?"

"Uh," Riley said. "Yeah. Now shush. I need to concentrate."

This is really digging deep into me. I'm serious. It touches on my own insecurities and stuff I don't want to think about. Don't laugh. It's true. And for those of you have no care in the world – this is the sensitive subject I was warning about…