Chapter 8
Sophie sat staring at the door of the room waiting for Moreau to return. It had been hours since she had arrived and nobody had entered the room since she had been brought here. Like Nate she had been left in darkness. The room was windowless and Moreau had switched off the light when he had left. She knew this was a technique to confuse a person, to make them unaware of the passage of time and to keep them disorientated, not knowing exactly where they were. She heard the key turn in the lock and immediately stood ready for whatever happened when the door was opened.
Moreau opened the door and threw the light switch blinding Sophie momentarily with the brightness that bathed the room.
"Ms. Devereaux you will please come with me." He said and held his hand out to indicate that she should exit the door before him.
Sophie moved forward and walked through the door. She was met by two armed men who were pointing their rifles at her. She ignored them and turned to face Moreau.
"Keep walking." Moreau told her as he moved to her side and took her arm leading her out of the house again and towards the barn they were holding Nate in.
Sophie did not resist. She knew this was probably her time for torture, but at least she would see Nate again. Moreau led her to the door of the barn and one of his men opened the door and switched on the lights. They entered the room and Sophie immediately cast her eyes at the cage Nate was being held in. She saw him sitting propped up against the bars of the cage staring open eyed straight ahead. He made no move as they entered. He did not even acknowledge their presence. As they approached the cage Sophie knew something was terribly wrong. He looked dead and her heart stopped at the thought. He was pale and unmoving. She tried to pull away from Moreau and get to the cage but Moreau held her tight this time, preventing her from running to Nate. He walked her to a chair that was placed a little way away from the cage. She was forced into the chair her arms were stretched along the rests and put into the metal locks attached to them. Her feet were then also secured to the legs of the chair. Sophie did not offer any resistance to the men chaining her, her eyes were fixed on the figure of Nate who still had not moved or spoken since they had entered the room.
"It seems Mr. Ford has left us…" Moreau said as he too looked over at the man in the cage. "Pity…but still…" Moreau said turning to Sophie and enjoying the look of pure devastation at his words. "Oh no Ms. Devereaux, he is not dead." He said and watched as Sophie's expression changed from one of devastation to one of confusion.
"What do you mean…?" Sophie whispered looking up at Moreau.
"Have you ever heard of catatonic states…? Ah I see you have, well it seems Mr. Ford could just not handle what I did to you."
"You didn't do anything to me…" Sophie said looking back at Nate.
"Yet…" He said darkly. "But reality does not matter Ms. Devereaux only what he believed." Moreau explained to her. "You see he believes that I…had…you." He said slowly.
Sophie gasped slightly. Moreau had told Nate he had raped her.
"Yes…and then I explained to him that I would be handing you over to my men when I was done with you…"
"Oh Nate…" Sophie whispered.
"His reaction was priceless…" Moreau laughed. "My men found him like this. Here but not here…alive but dead...a challenge."
"What…what do you mean?" Sophie asked looking at Moreau again.
"Well Ms. Devereaux, I wonder if I could bring him out of that place he has gone to. I mean if he was to see you…punished...we may bring him out of his stupor…I have not done with him yet, and it would be a pity if he did not see the end coming." Moreau explained deadpan to her.
Moreau moved over to the cage and opened the gate. Indicating to his men to collect Nate he moved to one side as they entered. Two of them grabbed the man and dragged is slack form out of the cage and placed him on the table that was set up to the side, the men laid his body out then moved away.
"They do tell me that electric shock therapy applied liberally could also assist to snap him out of the stupor. Of course it could also kill him…we shall have to see."
"You said you wouldn't touch him again…"
"Oh Ms. Devereaux you knew that was a lie…did you really think that I would turn my attention solely to you?" Moreau asked as he moved to stand in front of the woman again blocking her view of Nate's prone body. "No…you and Parker and Eliot and Hardison…you are merely pawns and I will use you all to make him suffer. He has to pay for what he did to me." Moreau told her then laughed at her. "You must all die yes…but he must suffer, and I want him to watch you die, slowly and, forgive me, painfully, but it is him who did this to me and he is the one who must pay the highest price for that."
Moreau turned back to Nate and approached the table. He took the paddles that one of his men handed to him and moved to hover over Nate's torso. Before he could apply the paddles to Nate one of his men approached him and whispered in his ear. Moreau nodded and gave him instructions which sent all three of the men in the room moving out of the barn.
"It seems Ms. Devereaux that the rest of your little group has made an appearance, just as I expected. You will excuse me of course while I tend to our visitors."
Sophie watched as Moreau left the room and then cast her eyes back to the innate form of the man lying spread out on the table, still unmoving.
"Eliot's here Nate…they are here and they will get us out, just please hold on a little longer." She said softly. Nate did not react, he did not move and Sophie felt her eyes filling with tears as she stared at the Mastermind. Then she started talking to him telling him that Moreau had done nothing to her, that it was a trick. "I don't know if you can hear me Nate, but please, please don't give up, don't go so deep that you can never come back, please Nate…" She begged him before she stopped to listen to the gun fire that erupted outside, signaling the arrival of the rest of the team.
Thanks again for all the reviews. I am very happy that I am able to keep up with my posts in such quick succession. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter and the story as a whole so far. Your comments and thoughts and speculation is always welcome.
