10. Screams

A piercing scream rang through the air. Joe couldn't cover his ears fast enough. His head swerved, looking for the source.

Silence.

He let his hands drop. "What was that?" He mumbled to himself, still searching the hallway.

He had been searching for some lunch. He was starving- as most teenage boys are- and their so called "luxurious" kitchen wasn't stocked very well.

The screams picked up again. Joe flinched and placed his hands over his ears again. It sounded like someone was being tortured, brutally.

The noise died down again, Joe stared at the walls. Where was it coming from? The walls were solid stone. A few banners hung here and there, marked with strange symbols Joe didn't recognize. There were no doors or rooms for someone to be behind or in. Were the shouts simply coming from the air?

Once again, the screams returned.

Joe bolted down the hall, desperate to get away from the awful noise. Halfway down, he heard a door slam. The silence had returned.

Joe froze, too scared to look at was behind him. Very cautiously, he turned, his eyes closed. Slowly, they opened.

He didn't know how to react. Behind him, a figure sat, knees pulled up to their chest, back against the wall. They were shaking, their shoulders moving up and down quickly as they tried to catch their breath.

Joe felt pity for the person. Were they the one that was being tortured? He began to pace over towards them. As he got closer, he saw the figure was a girl. Her head was bent, the hood from the sweatshirt she was wearing fell over her face, so he couldn't identify her.

"Um... Are you okay?" Joe mentally slapped himself. That's a stupid question to ask someone who just got tortured.

The girl didn't respond. She continued shaking. Joe thought he heard her mumbling to herself. Something about blood and a dream?

He examined the wall behind her. There was no door there. Where had she come from?

Joe calmly bent down beside her. Gently, he put his hand on her shoulder.

The girl shrieked and jumped away, eyes wide and panting.

"Sydney?"

She looked at him as if he was holding a gun to her head. Her breathing slowed, and she seemed to recognize him at last. "Joe? What are you doing here?"

"I was- Are you okay?"

Sydney shook her head. "You need to leave. Now. You're not supposed to be here."

"But-"

"Please! Just go!"

"Sydney-"

Sydney went stiff. Her nails dug into the heels of her palms. Blood began to trickle down her wrists. She bit her lip, hard, causing her to bleed from there as well. Her eyes turned solid green.

Joe scooted back. "What the-"

"Shit."

Joe jumped. Skyler stood behind him, an angry yet concerned expression on his face. He ran to Sydney and pulled her into his arms. He murmured something into her ear. Sydney seemed to be oblivious to his presence. Skyler shouted over his shoulder, "Nicole! I know you're there! I know you can here me!"

A hole appeared out of the floor. Nicole stepped out of it nonchalantly, as if everything about this situation was normal.

"Yes? What is it? I'm very busy."

"How much did you give her?"

Nicole looked at Sydney as if she just now noticed she was there. "Just the usual. Why?"

"Why? Look at her! This is the hundredth time this has happened!"

Nicole shrugged, unamused. "Sometimes the drug takes awhile to wear off."

"Seems to me like it's still in full effect."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Help her! You know what she sees! You're torturing her!"

As if on cue, Sydney's screaming picked up again.

"There's nothing I can do. The drug wears off on its own accord. And it's not my fault she can't pass this test. She needs to learn how to control this things. It must be done."

"You've been doing these tests for three years! She isn't going to be able to get over the things she's done! The things you made her do!"

"She must not give up."

Sydney's screaming increased. Joe had no idea how these two could carry on a conversation, no matter how argument-y it was.

"Nicole!"

"I'm sorry. Take her back to her room. She'll draw a crowd here."

Joe blanched. Her daughter was having some sort of freakout and her mother was worried about people seeing?

"When she returns to normal, please, let her know we will be trying again tomorrow." Before anyone could argue, Nicole left.

Skyler's eyes followed her as she left. Skyler clenched and unclenched his fists. He stared at Sydney. His anger seemed to disappear. He stared at Sydney and his anger dissolved. He tentatively stood up, never not keeping an eye on her. Sydney's screams had turned into mumbles of gibberish. Skyler bent over, and as gently as possible, lifted her off the ground. He only struggled for a moment before his training kicked in and he held her with ease.

"Are you going to help? Or are you just going to stand there and gawk?"

Joe started. He hadn't even known Skyler knew he was here. "Uh..."

Skyler rolled his eyes. "Come on." He pushed past Joe and moved down the hall.

"What was that?" Joe couldn't keep it to himself any longer. He wanted- needed to know.

Skyler glanced down at Sydney, almost like he expected her to answer. "If Syd wants you to know, she'll tell you. I'm not going to say anything about it."

"Okay... Can you at least tell me why you were there?"

Skyler eyed him out of the corner of his eye. "Syd told me Nicole wanted to do more black box training today.

"Black ops training?"

"Black box training. It's... pretty brutal." He looked at Sydney's clenched and mumbling body in his arms. "This happens almost every time, so I went down there to check on her. Good thing I did too. Why were you there?"

"I was exploring... for food."

"Ah." Skyler's mouth turned up a little.

They reached the solid wall that led into the god's rooms. Skyler pulled out a small silver ball from his pocket.

"Where did you get that?" Joe asked.

Skyler stared at him like he was stupid. "Syd gave some to me. That way, I can come visit her in her room whenever I want."

Joe pulled out one of his spheres, swallowed it, and was inside next to Skyler, still holding Sydney, a half second later. Skyler started up that stairs. Joe followed.

"Do you mind?" Skyler nodded towards Sydney's door.

Joe stepped forward and opened it up for him. Skyler walked inside. Joe's breath caught in his throat. His room seemed like a shack compared to Sydney's.

Luxurious didn't even begin to describe it. It was ginormous! Joe looked up and saw the ceiling was at least fifty feet up. A large diamond chandelier hung down, illuminating the room. Almost everything seemed to be glowing. The entire room was painted a deep red with gold trimmings. Sydney had matching gold, red, and ivory furniture all over the room.

Skyler had set Sydney down on her bed, which was huge as well. Her bed was in it's own separate room with red silk curtains tied back on the sides instead of a door. It had to be the biggest bed Joe ever saw. It made california king beds look puny. Her sheets looked like they were made of satin and were a cherry red color. She had about a hundred plush pillows on it as well. On the sides of the bed, two candle lights were mounted onto the wall, and a candle lit chandelier hung low from the ceiling. The whole area cast an eerie glow.

Skyler sat down on an ivory colored chaise lounge in the center of the room.

"What do we do now?" Joe asked.

"Now, we wait."

AN: Sorry for the late update, I had finals to study for and didn't have the time. Now I'm on winter break though, so updates should go back to normal after this. :) Anyway, next chapter is a good one. It was... interesting to write. ;) Review!