Chapter Ten: The Prison
Midnight was dragged down hallway after hallway. He tried to get out of Bardolph's grip a couple times but was only hit over the head by Bardolph's giant fist.
Eventually they came to a large set of doors. One of Bardolph's men opened them revealing an office-like room. The woman with gold eyes was sitting at a large desk. On either side of her was a Faunus kid about Midnight's age. On the left was a girl with red hair and fox ears. The way her long hair fell reminded Midnight of a sleek fox tail. Her cheeks were splattered with freckles
On the right was a boy with charcoal hair and wolf ears. He had green eyes and looked down at Midnight with a sad expression as if he were apologising for something. Both kids wore white prison uniforms over a red shirt and collars with three blinking lights around their necks and little black circles clipped on their Faunus ears.
"Where are the others?" The woman asked when Bardolph dropped Midnight on the floor.
"My apologies, Mistress. We have underestimated the four of them. Two have escaped."
The wolf boy and the fox girl looked at each other hopefully. The woman gritted her teeth than said, "No matter. Grimm'll eat them before they make it back to one of the kingdoms. All we have to deal with now is the remaining human." She looked at Flax.
"Don't…" Midnight coughed, still recovering from multiple blows to his head. "Don't even… think… about hurting him…"
"Oh, hello my kitten." The woman smiled. "You would be most useful to me. But sadly," She lifted an instrument that looked like a recorder. "I don't know the right notes for cats. It should be something simple." She began playing every single combination of notes possible, only stopping when a sudden high-pitched buzzing noise rang in Midnight's ears.
He tried to cover his ears, but he couldn't cover both his Faunus and human sets. All he could do was groan and swat at his own cat ears. The woman continued to play her instrument and the buzzing got louder. Finally she stopped and it faded. "Beautiful!" The woman cried. Midnight was grabbed from behind and someone latched a metal collar around his neck. He struggled and kicked as they tried to clip the little black things onto his ears. They finally pinned him down and attached them. Once the men pulled away he tried to pull the black things off. Something beeped on the collar and it sent a wave of painful electric shock all over Midnight's body! When it was over he fell to the floor, too stunned to move.
The woman began playing again. But this time there was no buzzing noise. Midnight felt nauseous. His thoughts became clouded. He felt like there was something he needed to do. He needed… to stand up first. Then walk to the desk… he could see a human there. She had some kind of stick in her mouth. Midnight placed his hands on the desk and looked down at them. He felt something touch him on his head. The human rubbed him on his head and ran her fingers through his hair. She removed the stick from her mouth.
Midnight suddenly realized what he was doing and scrambled away from the woman. What did she do? He put a hand to his head, still dizzy. Two men took him by his arms and held him steady.
"Midnight?" Flax asked. "Are you… okay?"
Midnight shook his head. He definitely wasn't okay. "You see, Bardolph." The woman said, stepping around her desk. "I don't need to use the human to manipulate him." She gripped Midnight's chin, digging her nails into his cheeks. "I can do it myself just fine. The human is of no use to me. Just dispose of his body in the forest. Leave it to be eaten by Grimm. That way his corpse will never be found."
"No!" Midnight yelled. "If you kill him I'll tear your throat out!"
"Oh, silly kitty." The woman laughed. "I'm not going to kill him." She forced Midnight to look at Flax. "You are."
She quickly pressed a couple numbers on the keypad on the strap around her wrist. The little black things on Midnight's ears buzzed a little. The nauseous feeling returned and he stared at the human in front if him. This one was male but also juvenile. Midnight felt threatened by its presence. It needed to be destroyed before it did any harm. Midnight lunged and grabbed it by its throat, pinning it against the wall. It choked and struggled. It moved its mouth as if trying to communicate.
Suddenly Midnight became aware of what was happening. He let go of Flax and looked behind him to see the fox girl wrestling with the golden-eyed woman. The keypad strapped to her wrist had been ripped off and thrown across the room.
Midnight looked back at Flax who had sunk to the floor, coughing and gasping for air. Midnight pulled Flax's arm over his shoulder and made a run for the door. Bardolph didn't let him get very far. The giant Faunus's fist smacked him in the side of his head.
Midnight was sent sprawling. His vision was blurring and he could feel himself drifting in and out of consciousness. He could see the fox girl. She'd been slammed against the wall and the wolf boy was kneeling next to her. Their collars lit up and they appeared to scream. This was when Midnight's hearing came back.
The woman snapped her fingers and motioned for the two Faunus kids to follow her. They obeyed and she led them over to Midnight. "Show him around will you?" She asked. "He needs to familiarize himself with this building. He's going to be here for a while."
They put Midnight's arms over their shoulders and dragged him out of the room. No… Midnight thought. Flax is still in there! "Flax…" He managed to say. He tried to struggle out of their grip but felt too weak to move. "Flaxen…"
"I…" The wolf boy suddenly spoke. "I'm really sorry… I just… I wish…" Midnight looked up at him and could see small drops of water rolling down his cheeks and off his chin. "Zeff…" The fox girl murmured. They arrived at a door and the Faunus kids pushed it open.
The room was huge and the floor covered by an enormous soft, comfy-looking carpet. It was dotted with blankets, pillows, what looked like thicker yoga mats and about thirty scared looking children. Every single one was in a white prison uniform and they were all Faunus about Midnight's age. They all looked up from what they were doing and stared.
"Newbie?" A tall boy with small deer antlers asked. The fox girl nodded.
"Bardolph… gave him a hard time." She said. She and Zeff lied Midnight down on one of the mats, which was surprisingly comfortable. The fox girl went over to a cupboard and pulled out an extra blanket and pillow. She placed the pillow under Midnight's head and draped the blanket over him.
Several other kids began crowding around Midnight. He tried to sit up but his arms were shaky and he could barely support himself. "Just stay down." The fox girl said. "You're going to hurt yourself."
Midnight shook his head. "Flax." He said again.
"Flax?" A little girl asked. She was small and had caramel hair. She had some kind of furry rodent tail.
"His friend." The fox girl explained. "He's a human. Mistress wants to kill him." The small girl gave Midnight a sad look. "But…" the fox girl said. "Mistress was angry because two of his other friends escaped. Maybe that means we're all getting out of here soon. We can all go home." She sounded so hopeful.
"Yeah…" A skinny girl said sarcastically. She had short brown hair and faint white spots on her cheeks. "And maybe pigs will start flying tomorrow and pink unicorns will be riding rainbows in the sky. Face it we're in the middle of nowhere. It'll probably take days before they get back to one of the kingdoms or any kind of civilization for that matter. They'll probably starve to death first."
"You don't know that, Shika." The fox girl cried.
"Amber, your hopefulness has been getting on my nerves since the day we met! We're never getting out of here! We're probably all going to die once Mistress is done with us!"
The fox girl… Amber's eyes began filling with tears. "So what if I'm annoying? At least I care about what happens to us! What's so bad about wanting to go home? Is it a crime to miss my family?"
Shika went silent after that. "Your friends…" Amber said to Midnight, wiping her tears away. "What are they like?"
Midnight couldn't help but answer her. She just wanted to believe escape was possible and help was on the way. "Strong." Was the first word Midnight could think of to describe them. "Fern… is stubborn. She won't give up. If there's no food she'll find some. If they need weapons Hazel can make effective spears just out of wood. They can make it."
Amber smiled but the tall boy from before looked confused. "Fern and Hazel?" He asked. "Aren't those girls names?"
"Yeah. So what? You don't think a girl can fight?"
He opened his mouth and closed it again. "Sachie, you're a real idiot sometimes." The rodent girl said. "Girls can fight just as awesome as boys. We kick butts like bosses."
"You sure talk a lot for someone with such a small mouth, Sagira." Shika growled obviously annoyed.
"Don't worry." Midnight said to all of them. "I think Amber is right. Fern and Hazel can get back to some kind of civilization and send people to come get us. That means you're all going home."
Their faces lit up with excitement and hope. Well except Shika. Her face displayed no emotion at all. But Midnight was pretty sure she was overjoyed on the inside.
"Oh, bravo." Said a voice from the door. Bardolph was leaning against the frame. "You made them all feel better." The room seemed to suddenly get larger because all but the five kids around Midnight scrambled away into the farthest corners.
Bardolph strode over to them and lifted Midnight by his shirt. "Not that it'll do much good." He smiled and let go. "Let me tell you something, kids. You probably never would have known this without me telling you. But miles of forests surround this facility. Forests so full of Grimm that even other Grimm won't go there. So even if your friends had enough food and water to make it back to one of the kingdoms it would be a waste. To escape means to die a very painful death full of claws and teeth. Your friends are most likely already dead." He laughed at the distraught looks on the kid's faces.
"So keep in mind, children. The day you finally go home will be the day fish learn how to climb trees."