Chapter 5
Dylan followed closely behind Rommie as they ran toward command. Like Harper, his thoughts centered on the announcement Rommie had made just moments before in his office. They had found Beka and they were going to get her back. He could only pray that once she was back with them and safe that this nightmare would end. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, some dark, evil voice was whispering to him that this was only the beginning of a nightmare that would haunt them all for the rest of their lives.
Shaking his head to clear away the voice of doom he was hearing, he concentrated on reaching his destination as quickly as possible.
'Hang on, Beka.' He thought. 'We're coming for you.'
Meanwhile
The pain was so intense she blacked out. But the respite of oblivion was brief as the poison worked its way deeper into her body, deeper into her very soul. After a couple of minutes, the chemicals began to interact with her body chemistry and worked as a stimulant to make sure she was awake and aware of everything around and within her. She could literally feel the poison seep into each and every pore of her body and she knew that it was killing her. They had used this particular poison on her several times. She remembered the first time she had felt it. She had thought she would die then. She wished she had.
Flashback
Beka struggled with the chains that held her. She was scared but she was also very, very angry. She had awakened shortly before with absolutely no idea where she was and only a vague memory of what had happened. She and Harper had been going back into the pitiful excuse for a town on that even more pitiful excuse of a drift. They were laughing and talking when all of a sudden someone had shot her. Just like that. One minute she was walking and teasing Harper and the next she was lying in the dirt with a hole in her arm. She remembered thinking briefly that it was very odd that some outdated weapon could actually hurt her after all the times she had dodged much more sophisticated weapons. She looked up to see Harper trying to reach her but at least half a dozen men had come out of hiding and were pushing him back, keeping him from her. One of them slugged him hard and she struggled to rise to her feet to stop the man from hurting her friend but fell back into the dirt with a groan. Looking up she saw the same man that had punched Harper inject him with something from a needle. That was the last thing she remembered until she woke up here, chained to the ceiling, with her shoulder bandaged and aching. She was unsure of how much time had passed while she was unconscious although it had to have been at least a day or two.
'And what the hell have they done to Harper?' she thought to herself.
Just then the door opened with a loud screech. Beka cringed as the sound set her teeth on edge. Several men walked into the room including the one she recognized as hurting Harper. Beka glared at him and the man quelled slightly. He had the distinct impression that had her arms been free he would have been dead.
A short man Beka instantly recognized stepped forward. Beka turned her glare onto him but unlike the other one, this man did not flinch from her angry stare. Instead, he laughed and reached out his hand to stroke her cheek. Beka turned her head from his touch and spat at him. He struck her hard, causing her head to snap back with a loud crack.
"Never do that again!" he snarled before snapping his fingers at the men behind them. One of them instantly stepped forward and wiped the spittle from his boss's face with his shirtsleeve.
Beka laughed as the sycophant instantly stepped back into the ranks of the other men.
"Wow, I am impressed." Beka said sarcastically. "What other tricks do they do? Wipe your ass? Aim for you when you piss?"
"I can see already that I am going to enjoy our time together." He laughed. "As for their tricks, I am sure you will get to know most of them really well over the next few days.or weeks" he added ominously.
"Oh, be still my heart." Beka said. "I can hardly wait."
"Enough! Why don't we just cut to the chase? You and I have a mutual friend and you are going to help me find him." The man said, walking to stand beside a small table.
"A mutual friend? Really? I am surprised. I didn't realize any of my friends had sunk so low as to have dealings with slime-balls like you." Beka said.
At a slight nod from his leader, the man Beka knew to have hurt Harper walked up to her and slapped her across the face. He raised his hand to slap her again but before he could, Beka acted. She brought her legs up quickly, using the man's own body for leverage, and wrapped them around the man's neck. Before anyone could react, she twisted. The man slumped to the ground at her feet.
"That's for hurting my friend!" she screamed. "Where is he? What have you done to him?" she demanded.
After the initial shock of seeing his second in command lying dead at the feet of the small, chained woman, the leader of the group of thugs began to clap.
"Oh, very good Miss Valentine. You really are as good as our Intel said. However, you now have left me with the tedious job of replacing my man. That really was inconsiderate of you."
"Yeah, my heart is bleeding for you." Beka drawled.
"Not yet, but it may before we are finished." He said menacingly.
Turning to a tall black man, he motioned for the body to be taken from the room. He picked up a small item from the table. Turning back to Beka, he said, "I had hoped to save this for a later time, after we had gotten to know each other a little better but I think you need to be taught that this isn't a game."
Walking over to her, he held up a syringe that contained an ample amount of neon blue liquid. Holding it in front of her face he asked, "Do you know what this is?" Not waiting for an answer he continued, "Of course you don't. It's my own little cocktail creation. I call it Blue Ice." He slowly inserted the long needle into her arm. "First it freezes your blood." He slowly started to push the plunger, letting the liquid flow into her veins.
Beka immediately felt an almost overwhelming pain start to creep through her body. It felt as though she was freezing and burning at the same time.
"Then it mixes itself with your bodies natural enzymes creating a very powerful stimulant." He continued to pump the vile fluid into her body. "But it only stimulates your senses and body functions. It leaves the rest of your body unable to move."
Beka's body began to tremble ever so slightly as the poison flowed through her. Blood trickled from her mouth as she bit down on her lip in an attempt to keep from screaming in agony.
"I have been told the pain it causes is quite extreme. One poor test subject even had his internal organs explode from the stress. It made quite a mess in the lab." He said, shaking his head in a mock mournful fashion. With one final vengeful look into her face, he flushed the rest of the poison into her arm and ripped the needle back out. "Within a couple of minutes, you will wish you had been the one carried out of here instead of my second." Turning, he left the room followed by his men. The loud screech of the closing door was drowned out by the sound of Beka screaming in anguish.
Dylan followed closely behind Rommie as they ran toward command. Like Harper, his thoughts centered on the announcement Rommie had made just moments before in his office. They had found Beka and they were going to get her back. He could only pray that once she was back with them and safe that this nightmare would end. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, some dark, evil voice was whispering to him that this was only the beginning of a nightmare that would haunt them all for the rest of their lives.
Shaking his head to clear away the voice of doom he was hearing, he concentrated on reaching his destination as quickly as possible.
'Hang on, Beka.' He thought. 'We're coming for you.'
Meanwhile
The pain was so intense she blacked out. But the respite of oblivion was brief as the poison worked its way deeper into her body, deeper into her very soul. After a couple of minutes, the chemicals began to interact with her body chemistry and worked as a stimulant to make sure she was awake and aware of everything around and within her. She could literally feel the poison seep into each and every pore of her body and she knew that it was killing her. They had used this particular poison on her several times. She remembered the first time she had felt it. She had thought she would die then. She wished she had.
Flashback
Beka struggled with the chains that held her. She was scared but she was also very, very angry. She had awakened shortly before with absolutely no idea where she was and only a vague memory of what had happened. She and Harper had been going back into the pitiful excuse for a town on that even more pitiful excuse of a drift. They were laughing and talking when all of a sudden someone had shot her. Just like that. One minute she was walking and teasing Harper and the next she was lying in the dirt with a hole in her arm. She remembered thinking briefly that it was very odd that some outdated weapon could actually hurt her after all the times she had dodged much more sophisticated weapons. She looked up to see Harper trying to reach her but at least half a dozen men had come out of hiding and were pushing him back, keeping him from her. One of them slugged him hard and she struggled to rise to her feet to stop the man from hurting her friend but fell back into the dirt with a groan. Looking up she saw the same man that had punched Harper inject him with something from a needle. That was the last thing she remembered until she woke up here, chained to the ceiling, with her shoulder bandaged and aching. She was unsure of how much time had passed while she was unconscious although it had to have been at least a day or two.
'And what the hell have they done to Harper?' she thought to herself.
Just then the door opened with a loud screech. Beka cringed as the sound set her teeth on edge. Several men walked into the room including the one she recognized as hurting Harper. Beka glared at him and the man quelled slightly. He had the distinct impression that had her arms been free he would have been dead.
A short man Beka instantly recognized stepped forward. Beka turned her glare onto him but unlike the other one, this man did not flinch from her angry stare. Instead, he laughed and reached out his hand to stroke her cheek. Beka turned her head from his touch and spat at him. He struck her hard, causing her head to snap back with a loud crack.
"Never do that again!" he snarled before snapping his fingers at the men behind them. One of them instantly stepped forward and wiped the spittle from his boss's face with his shirtsleeve.
Beka laughed as the sycophant instantly stepped back into the ranks of the other men.
"Wow, I am impressed." Beka said sarcastically. "What other tricks do they do? Wipe your ass? Aim for you when you piss?"
"I can see already that I am going to enjoy our time together." He laughed. "As for their tricks, I am sure you will get to know most of them really well over the next few days.or weeks" he added ominously.
"Oh, be still my heart." Beka said. "I can hardly wait."
"Enough! Why don't we just cut to the chase? You and I have a mutual friend and you are going to help me find him." The man said, walking to stand beside a small table.
"A mutual friend? Really? I am surprised. I didn't realize any of my friends had sunk so low as to have dealings with slime-balls like you." Beka said.
At a slight nod from his leader, the man Beka knew to have hurt Harper walked up to her and slapped her across the face. He raised his hand to slap her again but before he could, Beka acted. She brought her legs up quickly, using the man's own body for leverage, and wrapped them around the man's neck. Before anyone could react, she twisted. The man slumped to the ground at her feet.
"That's for hurting my friend!" she screamed. "Where is he? What have you done to him?" she demanded.
After the initial shock of seeing his second in command lying dead at the feet of the small, chained woman, the leader of the group of thugs began to clap.
"Oh, very good Miss Valentine. You really are as good as our Intel said. However, you now have left me with the tedious job of replacing my man. That really was inconsiderate of you."
"Yeah, my heart is bleeding for you." Beka drawled.
"Not yet, but it may before we are finished." He said menacingly.
Turning to a tall black man, he motioned for the body to be taken from the room. He picked up a small item from the table. Turning back to Beka, he said, "I had hoped to save this for a later time, after we had gotten to know each other a little better but I think you need to be taught that this isn't a game."
Walking over to her, he held up a syringe that contained an ample amount of neon blue liquid. Holding it in front of her face he asked, "Do you know what this is?" Not waiting for an answer he continued, "Of course you don't. It's my own little cocktail creation. I call it Blue Ice." He slowly inserted the long needle into her arm. "First it freezes your blood." He slowly started to push the plunger, letting the liquid flow into her veins.
Beka immediately felt an almost overwhelming pain start to creep through her body. It felt as though she was freezing and burning at the same time.
"Then it mixes itself with your bodies natural enzymes creating a very powerful stimulant." He continued to pump the vile fluid into her body. "But it only stimulates your senses and body functions. It leaves the rest of your body unable to move."
Beka's body began to tremble ever so slightly as the poison flowed through her. Blood trickled from her mouth as she bit down on her lip in an attempt to keep from screaming in agony.
"I have been told the pain it causes is quite extreme. One poor test subject even had his internal organs explode from the stress. It made quite a mess in the lab." He said, shaking his head in a mock mournful fashion. With one final vengeful look into her face, he flushed the rest of the poison into her arm and ripped the needle back out. "Within a couple of minutes, you will wish you had been the one carried out of here instead of my second." Turning, he left the room followed by his men. The loud screech of the closing door was drowned out by the sound of Beka screaming in anguish.
