HIVE: Otto's Past 2: The School
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In 'Blackmail and Breaching' I said that the School was in the middle of a forest. I finally decided to stop being lazy and research it and found out that it's actually in a DESERT! Death Valley, Arizona. Sorry for misleading you guys but I'm gonna stick to a forest in Montana because that'll go with the plot! So yeah :)
As soon as Otto woke up, he really wished he hadn't.
He was sat in a helicopter, his hands cuffed and the seatbelt done in such a way that he couldn't reach the release. The windows showed an expanse of impenetrable, dark water, which melded into the sky so you couldn't see where one ended and the other began. There were Erasers everywhere, clutching their rifles in their claws and sneering at Otto when he caught their eye. He quickly looked away, his skin crawling.
It was happening again. The School had kidnapped him again. Except, this time, it wasn't Mr Littleton who had taken him-
It was Max.
She was sat across from him, shackled and belted in just like him. Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared at the ground, and she kept biting her nails. Otto had never seen Max so tired, with the dark circles under her eyes and the slump of her shoulders.
She looked defeated.
Otto dug his nails into his palms as a whirl of emotions battered his brain. He felt pure, undiluted rage at Max, for betraying him and delivering him to the scientists. He was slightly sad, too, that she had done this – and disappointed. But at the same time, he felt sympathy. Sympathy!
Oh, this is too confusing.
"Max," he said, meaning to sound angry, but his voice cracked with emotion. Max's eyes flickered and, slowly, she raised her head. The cut Raven's katanas had made was bleeding, but otherwise she was unhurt.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm so sorry. B-but you have to understand-"
"Don't worry," he sighed. "I guessed. They blackmailed you with The Flock's lives, didn't they?"
She nodded slightly. Otto closed his eyes and leant back, a huge weight lifted off his chest. Max had done it for the good of their family, and that's all he needed to know.
"I would've done the same, you know," he said to her, smiling faintly. He glanced at the Erasers and leant towards her. "All is not lost," he whispered. "With a bit of luck, we can break free and rescue The Flock."
The desolation in Max's eyes disappeared, to be replaced by her usual glitter of determination and cunning.
"You're right," she said, her voice hard and firm. She smiled confidently. "We've beaten the scientists once-"
"And we can beat them again," Otto finished with a grin.
Outside, dawn was starting to poke over the horizon.
xxXXOtto+MaximumXXxx
It was late evening when the School came into sight.
"We're here," Otto said under his breath, as the helicopter dipped low over the forest and sent the leaves flying. He saw Max clench her fists.
The School looked just like it had from the satellite: four squat, dirty white buildings, all joined and encircled with barbed wire. A single, ordinary-looking road was the only way in and out of the area. The dense forest continued for miles, cut only by the road and a bulging river, until the jagged white peaks of the Rocky Mountains rose up in the distance.
They were truly isolated.
The helicopter soared over the fence and landed in front of the main entrance. A tall woman strode through the double doors, flanked by two Erasers holding sub-machine guns. The Erasers in the helicopter undid Otto and Max's seatbelts, keeping guns trained on them the whole time. Then the door slid open and they were pushed onto the grass.
Otto tried to stand up, his heart thudding, but a boot landed squarely on his back and forced his face into the dirt. His hands were cuffed behind his back so all he could do was kneel there, breathing heavily. He could hear Max beside him, equally distressed.
"I must say, Max, you did a fantastic job!" a woman said in an American accent. She talked pleasantly, sugar-coating every word. "You succeeded where Littleton failed."
Max snarled. Two black, high-heeled boots appeared in front of Otto, inches from his face.
"Hello, my dear boy. What a pleasure to finally meet you! I am Ms Loom."
He said nothing. He remembered what Mr Littleton had said six months ago, about the School's boss. She was called Ms Loom and she was The Flock's mother.
This woman was his mother as well!
"Get his head up!" Ms Loom snapped, "I want to see his face!"
The Eraser who was holding him down yanked his head up by his hair. Otto grit his teeth against the pain, refusing to cry out.
Before him was an immaculate woman in her early forties, with sleek, black hair and bright-red lipstick. She was wearing a spotless white lab coat and trendy black boots. She would have been beautiful, but the cruelty and hardness in her eyes let her down.
This woman was pure evil.
She was appraising Otto, taking in his blue eyes, spiky hair and the occasional white feather poking out his pyjama top. It had only just struck him that he was wearing his pyjamas! Only a blue shirt and black shorts. He felt horribly vulnerable.
"Very handsome," Ms Loom purred, her eyes glittering. The corner of her mouth lifted in a sly smile. "Just like Leo, your father."
Otto's mind reeled. His father! His father! He was called Leo! Was he still alive? Was he okay? Where was he? Was he a scientist?
"He's dead," she said flatly, reading his mind. "Fell out of his apartment window. Very tragic."
Otto swore. He could tell from her smile that his father hadn't fallen to his death accidentally.
"You murderer!" Max hissed.
Ms Loom's smile faded and she nodded to an Eraser. It came forward and punched Max in the face, then did the same for Otto. All Otto saw was a clawed fist surging towards him, then his head snapped back and his vision filled with stars. Blood started flowing where his skin had broken.
"Lock them in the cages," Ms Loom said coldly, all sweetness gone.
Dazed, he barely noticed when the Eraser lifted him up and half-carried him through the double doors. He was dragged down a load of pristine, white corridors, then into a room. The smell of disinfectant made him sneeze. Before he knew it, his face slammed into the back of a cage and the door was locked behind him. He heard Max growl beside him as the Erasers forced her into a different cage.
"Max! Otto! Oh god, are you all right?"
Shaking his head to clear the fog, Otto looked round to see who had spoken. The rest of The Flock: Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Angel and Gazzy, were hunched up in cages opposite him and Max.
"Are you all right?" Fang asked again. Max grunted something, wincing as she touched her bleeding forehead.
"We were punched," Otto explained. He had a pounding headache.
"Max...?" came Angel's young, worried voice.
"I'm fine," Max said in a strained voice. She wiped her bloody hands on her jeans. "I'll survive."
The door burst open and two scientists came in, followed by three Erasers. Their wolf-like faces twisted as they bared their canines at the teenagers, but they didn't attack. The scientists came straight for Otto.
There was a needle in their hands.
Otto pressed against the back of the cage, but the Erasers were too quick and strong, grabbing his left arm and pulling it through the bars.
"Let go!" he hissed, but their grip was like iron.
"Leave him alone, you stupid animals!" Max yelled in outrage.
"Let go of him!" Iggy shouted.
The Erasers ignored them, twisting his arm so it exposed the inside of his wrist. One of the scientists swabbed his skin, then the other raised the needle and slid it into his vein. It stung, and the sight of it sickened Otto, but there was nothing he could do.
He'd been worried that they were injecting him with some sort of dangerous drug, but instead they were just drawing his blood.
Finally, the syringe was full and they withdrew the needle. The Erasers let go of his arm and he immediately drew it against him, glaring daggers. The wolf-men snarled at him, then turned to leave.
"What will happen tomorrow?" Nudge blurted before they left.
The scientists stopped, surprised to be asked a direct question.
"Ms Loom wants Avian 4 all day tomorrow," the scientist with the needle said briskly. "To be experimented on and examined. Then she'll want all of you in the evening."
The door swung shut behind them.
"That doesn't sound good," Otto murmured. He slumped against the bars of his cage and groaned.
"As long as you do what they say, they won't hurt you," Fang told him.
"And at least you'll be out of these stupid cages!" Gazzy added. "My muscles are cramping!"
"And you'll have a better chance than us of escaping," Max said quietly.
Otto ran a hand through his hair. "I know, I'll try. And as soon as I'm free, I'll come for you guys."
They all smiled at each other. They could make it; they could survive this. They were one big family and everyone would look out for each other.
We have a chance, Otto thought. A small chance, but a chance all the same.