"You should make yourself pretty."
She looked up from the bed.
"Go away, you old pimp." She sneered and didn't move.
Roy growled from the door, but it didn't even bother her.
He walked into the room, grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the bed.
"Listen you little bitch!" He growled in a low voice. "You. Are. Mine! You do what I tell you! And I'm telling you, that you have a customer coming up in ten minutes!"
Lilian smiled.
"No." She just said and gave him a wide smile.
He lifted a fist to her face, but she stopped him with her forefinger.
"Ahahah..." She said and wagged her finger in front of his face. "Customers don't want damaged goods."
But then Roy smiled and let her go.
She sat down on the bed, and watched him closely.
That smile didn't promise well.
"I'll send the customer up." He said calmly with a smile and exited her room.
She fell back on the bed with a huff.
She pulled out her phone from under her pillow.
She needed out now, she had evaded having a customer, since she came a few days ago. But there was no way in hell, she was going to be a prostitute again.
She texted Ashley, so she would know that she was coming.
Two seconds after she had send it, a text came back.
You can't pick looks, so use your knifes to crave the look out of the door.
Ashley didn't know anything about lock picking, and she didn't spell like an eight-year-old, so the that could only mean...
Danny?
A second later an answer came.
Yes. She could almost see him make a determined nod, as he wrote the text.
She smiled. Now she just needed to get rid of the customer, then she could get out.
She got up from the bed and looked at herself in the mirror.
She added some makeup and pulled at her nightgown, so it showed as much of her legs as possible.
She heard the slow, but eager footsteps of a new customer.
The door creaked opened and a middleaged man stood in the door, he was clearly new to this.
Roy was just behind him, the look in his eyes were clear.
Don't mess this up.
She just gave him wryly smile.
The middle aged man smile at her, obviously thinking she was smiling at him.
"Can you handle this, Lilith?" Roy said with a mocking smile.
She almost cringed at the name, but managed to stop herself.
Instead she just nodded slowly as she kept her eyes on the middle aged man. "Yeah …" she whispered. "I know just how to handle this."
She licked her libs, as she took hold of the man's tie and pulled him into her room.
She glanced over the man's shoulder, as Roy closed the door behind him. She heard the lock click.
Now she just needed to get rid of this guy.
She guided him to the bed and pushed him down it.
She got on top of him.
He protested, wanting to be on top.
She shushed him and kissed him.
He stopped protesting.
She slowly took off his tie, and while she was distracting him with her mouth, she wrapped it around the headboard.
She lifted her head, for just a second, to make sure it was wrapped and knotted correctly.
The man huffed. "I was told I could be on top."
She was shock, for a moment, she wasn't used to the customers talking to her, but then again it was his first time.
She place a finger on his mouth and shushed him again.
"I'll show the pleasure of bondage and dominating women." She whispered seductively in his ear.
She heard his eager huffs. He was agreeing.
She bit his ear, and unbuttoned his shirt.
When she had gotten it off of him, she went back to the tie and rabbed it around his wrists, tying his hands to the headboard. He didn't protest.
As a reward for that she licked his chin and ran her tongue down his neck and further down his chest.
She was about to throw up, when she reached his stomach, she moved further down on the bed.
Even through his pants she could tell he was getting excited.
She took off his belt and pulled down his pant, leaving him in his underwear.
Then she rabbed the belt around his ankles and tightened it, as hard as she could.
He grunted in pain.
She smiled and crawled on top of him again.
She wondered for a second, if she should … relieve him … because he was so good at helping her.
But she decided against it. It would take to much time.
Smiling wryly she picked up his shirt, that was hanging of the side of the bed.
As she kissed his face, she wrapped the shirt up.
Then she stopped and stuffed the shirt in his mouth.
Then she gave him one last kiss on the cheek and got off of him.
He protested through the shirt. She just rolled her eyes at him.
She took out one of her knives, the man's protest got a panic to it. And it got louder.
She put the knife to the door, and made a line around the lock.
"Ohh," she gasped loudly. "You're such a good boy."
The man was silent for a moment.
She smiled and and began carving the lock right out of the door.
The man started protesting again.
"You are so good," she got so into character, that she flipped her hair.
She could hear the man was confused, but it … would be weird and a waste of time to try to explain it to him.
She signed.
Carving the lock out was harder that she thought.
That meant she had to keep pretending, that they were going at it, until she either got out, or Roy came in saying time was up.
She hoped for the first.
She pressed the knife hard against the door.
She huffed after minutes of scratching at the door. The man just couldn't shut up.
If she had time to stop, she would, but an old, dirty pig like him didn't deserve her time.
She stopped for a second to look at her phone.
Ten minutes after eleven.
Danny's last text had been a few minutes before eleven.
Ususally a 'meeting' with a customer was half an hour. That meant she had about tweenty minutes before Roy came. She had about one tusind and two hundred seconds left.
She counted down, with each second she carved at the circle around door lock.
When the man's muffled protests got to loud, she would loudly say some lewd nonsense, to keep suspicious people away.
When she reached eight hundred and thrity-three, she had a deep circle, and she could feel the wood was weak beneath her knife.
She let out a final gasp, as she broke through the last piece of the wood.
"So good." She breathed and shook her head with a smile.
She then pushed the lock out of the door. It fell to the floor with a bumping sound.
Then she turned the handle, and the door opened without a hitch.
She put away her knife and stepped out into the hallway, without looking at the man.
She tiptoed down the hall, careful not to make too much noise.
She had a plan, but she had to reach the kitchen, without being seen by Roy.
Suddenly another girl came out of a room.
Diamond, she thought the girl's name was. She had bruises all over her arms and shoulders.
The girl looked at her, surprised.
"Don't you have a guy?" She asked. "You were pretty loud."
Lilian shrugged.
"He fell asleep." She said, hoping no one could hear his mumble down the hall.
"Then was are you doing here?" Diamond asked, as they walked down the hall together.
"Hungry." Lilian just said.
Diamond nodded and rubbed her bruises. "Me too."
"Where's Roy?" Lilian asked carefully, not wanting to get the other girl suspicious.
Diamond looked at her confused.
"He's on the third floor, or something like that..." she said, shaking her head. "Maybe he's found some new girls..."
Lilian nodded pensively.
"Why?" Diamond asked.
Lilian could have bit her own tongue off. What was she going to say now?
Lilian signed, as they walked down the stairs to the kitchen.
"He's just giving me a hard time..."
She glanced at over at the other girl.
The look in her eyes were clear.
If she didn't want trouble, she should have stayed...
But she didn't say it.
Lilian had after all done, what all the girls dreamed of.
They reached the kitchen in silence.
It was just as dirty, as Lilian remembered it.
"What do you want?" The old kitchen woman sneered.
"Well I haen't eaten in two or three days, and I'm hungry." Lilian said in return.
The old woman's face turned a little soft, just a little, at the remark.
"I'll make you some eggs." She grunted in fake irritation.
The two girl's sat down at the dirty breakfast bar.
Lilian couldn't help, but smile at the old woman's back.
She had been a working girl, while Lilian's mother was still young. And had been the closest thing to a grandmother, Lilian had ever had.
She glanced to the backdoor. It was open.
"Can I go out and take a smoke?" Lilian asked and nodded to the door.
The woman looked up from her cooking.
"You smoke?" She asked suspiciously.
Lilian showed her a pack of cigarets.
The woman nodded and got out a lighter.
Lilian held out the cigaret and the woman lit it.
"You know, that can kill you." The woman said and went back to her cooking.
"It's not like there's anyhting worth sticking around for." Lilian said and blew smoke out the door.
She walked out of it.
"Stay where I can see you..." the woman grunted.
Lilian nodded and sucked the smoke in.
She kept an eye on the woman.
When she was to distraighted by her cooking. Lilian quickly stepped to the side, and pressed herself up against the brick wall.
As she continued to smoke, she silently slided along the wall towards the two meter high, steel fence.
She could hear the old woman rattle around the kitchen with a pan, mumbling.
She crept along the wall and was almost at the fence, when she heard a bang from the kitchen.
"Where is Lilian!"
It was Roy!
She dropped the cigaret in shock, but stood completely still.
"She right there." The kitchen woman said.
Lilian ran for fence.
When she reached it, she heard Roy bang against the backdoor.
He was right behind her.
She crawled up the fence, as he ran towards.
She just managed to get on top of the fence, when he got to it.
"Get back here!" Roy yelled.
She made the mistake of looking at him. He looked like a rapid dog.
Then she jumped down on the other side of the fence. And ran as fast as she could, while Roy was standing at the fence screaming for her to come back, to heavy to crawl the fence.
After running for a few minutes she hid in an alley, catching her breath.
She signed in relief, that she had gotten away.
Now she just had to walk back to the school, on the other side of town.
She looked down at her short nightgown.
She pulled it as far down over her legs as she could, and started walking.
She felt really bad. Like she was going to throw up.
She had a hard time opening her eyes, but managed to do it.
When she saw, where she was, her eyes got big with shock and fear.
She tried to move, but she was strapped to a metal table, that was at a forty-five degree ankle. So she was not quite lying down, but far from standing.
"Dad!" She yelled.
She heard footsteps, and her dad came into view.
"What is it, dear?" He asked, as he prepared a new syringe.
"Let me go." She yelled.
He just shook his head with a smile.
"You passed out. I need make sure it's not because the crystallization liquid." He said.
While he was talking, her vision got blurry.
"What?" She asked, dazed, when she heard something about a liquid.
Her dad beat a nail against the syringe. "Crystallization liquid," he explained. "Not original, I know, but it's the liquid that changes your cells, making them able to crystallize at will."
She tried to fight off the daze.
Her dad stuck the needle in her arm and emptied the syringe.
"No!" She yelled, at least she thought, she did. It was hard to tell.
Her dad shushed her.
"It's just a prick." He said, she could feel him removing the syringe. "Your going to feel a little woozy, but your going to be fine."
She felt her body convulse violently.
She could see her dad, standing there. He mumbled comforting to her, but after just a few minutes, she couldn't hear him anymore.
Her insides hurt.
But she couldn't do anything.
She floated in and out of consciousness, sometimes hearing her dad's voice.
Slowly her body relaxed.
Then before her vision cleared, she heard a familiar voice, no two...
They were Nabu and Herald ... arguing...
"Kole..." Herald whispered calmly.
"Stop being so calm Idiot!" Nabu yelled.
"What if someone hear us yelling and screaming and comes and sees a girl strapped to up in a lab, dazed, with two people standing in front of her?" Herald whispered.
Then she just heard Nabu mumble something.
"Just get her down, please." Herald whispered.
"How?" Nabu asked.
"Magic." Herald whispered in a weird tone.
Then everything went silent.
Only the sounds that reached her ears were mumbling, angry voices and metal being shaking.
"Kole!"
Her mind and vision cleared immediately.
Herald was shaking her, so hard that the metal straps, that held her to the table, made a clinking sound.
"What...?" She asked, suddenly remembering why and where she was.
Herald went stiff for a second.
"We need to get out of here," he said. "Your dad is coming!"
Nabu huffed. "Okay … Okay, I'll try!" He whispered irritated.
Nabu held out his hands out in her direction.
"Sesame open!" Nabu whispered.
The metal sprang up. And Kole, still a little dazed, slided off the table.
Herald caught her and pulled out the trumpet.
He played a melody. And from what Kole could see, something white and shimmering appeared in the room.
"Are we going home?..." She mumbled and clung to Herald.
"Yes..." Herald said. "We're going home..."
Nabu helped him get her through the portal.
He was excited to get back home again too.
They had barely stepped through it, before the portal closed itself. Leaving behind an empty lab to be found by the scientist just a few minutes later.
It had been three days, since he had talked to Joseph. He thought as he flipped through the book.
There! He finally found it. The manual failsafe.
He knocked on the glass wall, just once.
Joseph rolled his shoulder. He had heard him.
And of course Charlotte decided to come in at that time.
"Hey handsome," she said and put her arms around his neck.
He signed loudly.
"Hello Charlotte," he said disinterested.
"Don't be so boring..." she smiled. "All you do is watch your little science project, have some fun for once."
Wally glanced around the keyboards. There is was.
He smiled.
"You said the different between us were that I want to fit in, and you are above them. But … that's not true." He said and pulled away from her.
Charlotte looked confused, but then smiled.
"So you realise how pointless it is to try and fit in with these … mindless neanderthals?"
Wally shook his head, smiling.
He pushed the manual failsafe button.
The entire room was blinked red and a loud siren filled the room.
"The different is..." Wally yelled over the siren. "That you're ignorant. You look at his movement..." Wally nodded towards Joseph that was standing up straight, and walking directly towards the door. "And thought he was vulnerable. But you were wrong..."
Charlotte just looked at him, silent for once. So he continued.
"He was acting clumsy to fool you into thinking that he couldn't escape." He explained. "But he could probably have done that any time."
He slipped out of the labcoat and left it on the floor.
"Now if you'll excuse me, it's probably best I escape too." He explained and gave her one last smile before he calmly walked out of the room. With sirens blaring and the red lights blinking rapidly.
Ashley couldn't sleep.
It wasn't really that weird she hadn't slept since they had been kidnapped.
On the other side of the room Danny was snoring with his stuffed animal in his arms.
Ashley was confused at how an eight-year-old could be so comfortable in this situation. What had happened to him before, had made him so cold towards this?
Even when she had found him, after coming back after talking with the principal, he had just been sitting on Lilian's bed playing with a teddybear, like Lilian and Kole just were at school, and hadn't been missing for days.
He seemed like Elliot in a way, like he didn't know what was going on around him, or just didn't care.
But for her everything was just ... scary.
Every footstep out in the hallway, made her sit up and stare at the door for minutes.
The sound of a giggle made her stand up and scan the room with the light of her phone, before she turned on the lights and went back to bed.
Through it all Danny just slept on the floor.
It was strangely calming to listen to him snore.
She heard footsteps again.
With every step followed a clicking sound.
So the person was a girl?
The footsteps got louder, and she expected them to quieted down again. But they didn't. They just stopped suddenly. And was replaced by a knocking on the door.
Ashley was paralyzed with fear.
When there was a whisper.
"Danny..." it was barely audibly.
Danny sat up in his make-shift bed like lighting.
He didn't say a word, as he got up and ran to the door.
Ashley looked on in horror, as the little boy unlocked the door and opened it.
Then she signed in relief.
It was Lilian on the other side of the door.
"You are late." Danny said very seriously.
Lilian got in and closed the door.
She picked him up and laughed.
"Sorry Danny, it was harder to carve a lock out of a door than I realised."
The little boy cuttled up to her, and it was clear to Ashley at that moment, that Danny really loved his sister, no matter how cold he seemed.
Then Lilian saw Ashley.
"Hey..." she said in a gentle tone, which were unusual for her.
Ashley smiled and got up from the bed.
"Thanks for looking out for him." She said and put Danny down. "I know he can be … different..."
Ashley giggled and nodded.
Lilian sat down on her bed and signed.
Ashley noticed her short nightgown, which showed a lot of skin.
Danny crawled up next to Lilian and laid his head in her lab.
As she stroked the little boy's hair, she noticed Ashley's gaze.
Ashley straighten her back, uncomfortable with the sudden silence.
Then she opened her mouth.
"Where were you?" She asked.
Lilian stroked Danny's hair in silence for a bit, then looked up at Ashley again.
"Can we discuss this later?" Her voice was a desperate whisper. "Just not tonight."
Ashley nodded.
Whatever had happened to her, it had shaken someone as tough as Lilian, so it had to be bad.
Lilian lifted a sleeping Danny up and put him down on the mattress and tucked him in.
She looked up at Ashley from the floor and opened her mouth to say something. But was interrupted when a white, glittering whirlwind appeared at the foot of the beds.
Then Herald and Nabu stepped out into the room, half dragging a confused Kole out of the whirlwind, before it closed.
Nabu looked confused at the girls, who stared back, gasping.
"Why are you in bed?" He asked.
Ashley blinked and shook her head. "It's three thirty in the morning."
Nabu looked at Herald.
"It's night here." He sneered.
"Yes," Herald said, clearly not understanding.
Kole fell to the floor, but Nabu caught her just in time.
"Get her to lie down." Herald said.
Ashley helped Nabu getting her to her bed.
Kole immediately collapsed on the bed, not sleeping, but shaking, she looked like she was in a lot of pain.
"How can it be night here?" Nabu asked Herald.
"We went from Egypt to America." Herald explained. "There is a bit of a time difference."
Nabu got silent. Then he smacked himself in the face. "Of course."
"What?" It suddenly came from Lilian. "You were in Egypt?"
Nabu nodded.
"How did you...?" Ashley had no idea how to word the question.
"Well..." Herald said and rubbed the back of his neck. "The short version is, that I can open portals to anywhere in the world."
"How?" Ashley asked.
Herald waved his trumpet.
Lilian nodded slowly, like she understood.
"This is all so weird." Ashley said and looked at Kole who was still shaking.
Then they heard footsteps from the other end of the room.
Elliot stopped in the middle of a step, when everyone looked at him.
"Where did you come from?" Nabu asked.
Elliot pointed to the wall behind.
Ashley lifted an eyebrow at him.
"He means that he stepped through the shadow." Herald said.
Ashley and Lilian looked at him confused.
"Yeah … I thought that was really weird too." Nabu said with a strange smile.
Elliot stepped towards Lilian, who still kneeled beside a sleeping Danny.
He gently pulled her to her feet and then … hugged her.
Lilian was shocked. They had been together for a while, but Elliot would rarely even touch her, unless she made the first move, let alone hug her.
Elliot pressed her against his chest and rocked her.
It was good. He had been so concerned for her, but now it was okay.
Then he felt it.
The collective emotions of the four other people in room, made his seal stir, it pulsated and burned until it suddenly … snapped?
He broke off the hug as the black collar fell to the floor.
He kneeled down and picked it up.
"Okay, this keeps getting weirder … what just happened?" Ashley asked, holding her head between her hands.
Elliot stood up again and looked at the collar in his hand.
"It broke." He said.
Everybody froze.
"What did you say?" Nabu said.
Elliot looked up at him. "It broke. My seal broke."
"You can talk?" Lilian asked.
"Yes," Elliot said. "The seal made me mute."
"Okay..." Ashley said and shook her head slowly. "Keeps getting weirder."
Elliot scanned the room. Where was Jeri … Joseph?
He slammed his fist down on the bedpost on Lilian's bed.
It cracked all the way down.
Kole's body convulsed in shock. Ashley jumped, while the boys just looked on.
"What's going on with you dude?" Nabu asked.
"I comsumed some anger and concern." He said through grinded teeth. "So I a little … emotional..."
"I think, I liked you better without emotion." Ashley whispered.
"Wait … did you say? You … ate the emotions?" Lilian said.
"That's not important right now. Where's Joseph?" Elliot asked instead.
"It's still sound weird to call him that." Herald said.
"He's the only one we're missing." Lilian said deep in thought.
Suddenly they heard a hard knock on the door.
"Get to bed kids, it's the middle of the night and a school night." A man said from the other side.
They all looked at each other in panic.
"Yes sir," Lilian yelled, and they heard the footsteps grow silent.
"What do we do now?" Ashley asked.
"You heard the man," Herald. "We should get to bed."
"What?" Nabu looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"It's almost four in the morning..." Herald explained. "We have just been through a lot, we're tired, Kole's sick, we not sure of what, we have missed days worth of classes, and in the last half an hour we been shock time after time. What else do you want to do?"
"Actually going to bed doesn't sound so bad right now." Lilian said and laid down on her bed.
"Then … what do we do tomorrow?" Ashley said and got up from Kole's bed.
Nabu signed. "How about … we just go to school."
Elliot shook his head.
"We have to find Joseph."
"How about we go down to the principal tomorrow before class and tell her what has happen." Herald suggest.
The others nodded.
"Jer's going to fine, El." Nabu said, trying to calm him.
"He'll come back on his own." Herald said.
Elliot signed and nodded.
"Well..." Nabu said and stretched his arms. "Goodnight then."
Ashley followed Herald and Nabu to the door, Elliot stayed behind.
He looked at Kole, who seemed to have fallen asleep, but was still shaking uncontrollably.
"Can you keep an eye on her?" He asked Lilian.
She nodded with a little smile.
"Good..." He whispered and kissed her forehead.
Then he kneeled down and ruffled Danny's hair before he talked out the door with the rest of them.
"Goodnight." He said over his shoulder.
When they all had left.
Lilian laid down on the bed.
"Goodnight..." She whispered silently and fell asleep immediately.
Joseph hands gestured at speed of light, as they ran through the facility.
"If you're concern for your friend, he's already gotten out." Wally said, hoping that was what was wrong.
It seemed like that was it, because Joseph immediately stopped his gestures and focused on the the hall a head of them.
Take the next left. Miss Martian voice rang through his head.
"Left." He said. And they turned left as soon as possible.
Just a little longer and you'll be outside. Miss Martian talked to him through her thoughts. There's guards, so be careful.
We will. Wally answered through his thoughts.
Joseph started waving his hands again.
Wally signed.
It was really hard to rescue a talkative mute guy.
Then he looked ahead.
Guards!
That was what Joseph was trying to tell him.
Ten guards. It wouldn't take long.
He speeded towards them and knocked one unconscious with a punch. He tripped another punched him in the gut on the way down.
When he turned around, eight unconscious guards laid around Joseph, who just stood there smiling.
"Come on." Wally said.
The guards had tried to keep them from a door.
If they got through it, they would be outside.
As soon as they got through the door, Wally pulled Joseph to the side, so they stood pressed up against the wall.
"Listen..." Wally whispered. "We need to get on the other side of that fence. Then we're home free."
Joseph nodded, he understood.
Then the speakers on the fence came to life.
"Attention all personal, experiment 4-6-5-9 has escaped, he is believed to still be in the facility and has a lab assistant helping him."
Suddenly the space between them and the fence were filled with armed guards.
"Okay, you took down eight inside." Wally whispered. "Can you take a few more out?"
Joseph nodded with a confident smile.
Wally nodded too. "Then … let's go."
Joseph ran towards the men. Instead of using his powers, he used his fighting skills.
He kick one in the stomach, ripped the weapon out of his hand and threw it before giving him a chop to the side of the neck.
As that man fell to the ground another pulled him from behind.
Joseph got his arms free and reached behind him and found the man's neck.
He choked the man until he was unconscious and let go off him. And then moved on the the next one.
Wally made a small tornado that cleared a path to the fence.
"Joseph!" He called.
Joseph stopped in middle push and looked at him.
"We can get over the fence now!"
Joseph nodded. Then turned back to the man he had a hold of and pushed him, hard.
Grant was right, he was far too good at this kind of thing.
He ran towards the fence with Wally, along the way they had to get through the guards that were still standing.
When they got to the fence, Wally lightly touched it to make sure it wasn't electified, then they climbed the five meter tall fence as fast as they could.
Guards tried followed, but by the time they were halfway up, Wally and Joseph were jumping down on the other side.
Wally looked back at the guards, then at Joseph.
"Sorry about this." He said.
Before Joseph realised the guy pulled his off his feet and ran across the street and into an alley. He ran straight for a wall.
Panicly he forgot he couldn't speak and opened his mouth and formed silent words.
Then the guy slowed down and then what seemed to be some kind of spaceship appeared out of nowhere.
The guy, who's name he still didn't know, ran up the small hanger and into the spaceship.
There the guy put him down.
His legs felt wobbly, but he found his balance after a moment.
"Okay, we have him, let's go!" A big guy with a domino mask and a black suit with a blue bird on his chest.
"Yes." A green woman, who sat at what could a be control station, said.
He almost fell back when the spaceship took off.
Where were they taking him? He thought.
A chair came out of the floor behind him. They wanted him to sit down?
He didn't.
Had he been freed from the FBI just to be kidnapped by … the Justice League? If so … what would they want with him?
"Joey." He looked up, as a blond man stood from a chair in the front the spaceship.
Joseph couldn't help but smile.
Grant!