Covered in Darkness

By QG

Editor: Aria

Chapter Two: Confinement

I gradually awoke to something cold and wet dripping onto my hand. I drowsily opened my eyes and saw water droplets falling onto my open palm. Pulling my hand out of the water, I put it to my temple, which I began massaging. A soft groan escaped my throat as I tried to numb the dull, throbbing pain in my head that had begun when I had awakened.

As I tried to reduce the pain in my skull, I thought. What had happened to me? Where was I? My mind was clouded and my thoughts jumbled. I remembered I had been in some sort of vehicle, a truck maybe. And someone had been yelling my name. There was a feeling of darkness, emptiness engulfing me, covering me. I had been controlled, driven to enter that truck. Then I recalled pain, a searing, burning ache in my head, and I had screamed until my lungs felt weak. Then something heavy had hit me and...

Suddenly, with a sickening feeling, I realized where I was. Ignoring the aching pain in my head, I quickly sat up and looked around, confirming my suspicions. I was imprisoned in someplace dark and cold, most likely in the Digital World, hidden away by Arkenimon and Mummymon.

I felt like crying as I lay back down. No one knew where I was and my parents were probably worried sick about me. I wasn't sure what the Chosen Children were thinking about me, after I had let myself be taken like that. I prayed they knew that I had lost control, and were coming to look for me. My thoughts dwelled on what was to become of me. I hoped with all my heart my captors weren't going to do what I thought they would...An involuntary shudder passed over me as I wondered what tortures I was to be put through if they wanted me to give in to evil again.

"Ken, stop it!" I nearly shouted at myself. "You're making yourself more afraid than you need to be. Maybe...maybe they're just using you as a hostage, to lure in the Chosen Children. And, once you rejoin them after they've rescued you, you can all jogress and defeat Arkenimon and Mummymon. And then you can go home and be with your friends, and you'll be happy and safe again."

I knew in the back of my mind that I was only deluding myself, rationalizing the situation to make it seem better than it was. But...but I wanted to believe myself. I didn't think I was ready to face the horrors I just knew I would have to endure. And I was trying to hold on to something. Hope. If I could pretend that everything would turn out perfectly fine, I could keep hold on the hope that it might actually do just that. If I had hope, I could use that to my advantage. If I knew there were something joyous to look for, people who cared enough about me to rescue me, then I wouldn't give in. I would have a weapon I could use, so long as I held onto it.

But would it be enough for me? Would I really be able to resist for however long it would take before the others came to rescue me? Did I have that strong a will? My mind swam with questions. I lay there, wondering if I had the strength to defy evil, for a long time. My body soon answered my questions for me by drifting off to sleep.

* * *

When I awoke again sometime later, my headache had all but disappeared. I sat up and stretched; my muscles were stiff. Curious, and because I had to put any frightened thoughts of Arkenimon out of my head, I decided to look around at my lodgings.

Calling it a room was a bit of an overstatement; it did, in fact, seem very much like a prison cell. It was very dim, and the lack of windows made it impossible to tell if it was day or night, as well as how long I had been there. I couldn't make out much in the low light of the cell. I was sitting on a hard stone floor, though what it was crafted of I couldn't tell.

From what I could make out on the windowless walls hung chains and shackles, rusted to an iron brown. As I gazed at them, I got the most frightening picture in my mind of myself, chained and beaten, with no one there to help me...I shook my head to clear it of such thoughts.

The cell was small; it could accommodate three reclining adults at most. Water periodically dripped down from the ceiling, making small puddles on the floor. It also ran down the walls, helping to rust the chains and giving the entire cell a dank and damp appearance. There was a huge door in the center of one wall, made of heavy, black wood that was, in all likelihood, bolted shut. The entire cell felt cold, wet, and black. It was almost as if they were already trying to control me...I once again had to clear my thoughts. My mind kept linking everything back to the evil feelings inside me...

After taking in what the cell had to show me, and determining that the only way out was through the door, I waited. Waiting had always been a hard thing for me to do. Feelings of anxiety and nervousness would always grow inside of me until they reached an unbearable peak. This time it was even worse. I had never before had to wait to find out what was going to happen to my life. Never had to wait to discover if I was to live or die, be tortured or simply used as bait. I was getting more frightened by the second. When was I going to know what was to become of me? I could only pace around the cell in my impatience and anxiety.

As I slowly walked around the cell, trying to fill the time with something until I found out my fate, I heard the strangled cry of a Digimon in pain from somewhere outside. Old feelings resurfaced as I slowly sank to the floor. A sensation of coldness passed over my body and I hugged my knees to keep warm. How many times had I heard that same scream? How many times had I caused a Digimon to cry out in pain like that? I hated myself for what I had been, for all the suffering I had caused.

But under the hate for myself were thoughts of Wormmon. I realized how incredibly worried I was over my little Digimon. I had never shown any emotion towards him while I was evil except, of course, contempt. But he had stood by me the whole time, and still loved me through it. After he was returned from the dead to me, I had been trying to repay him for the kindness he had shown. Now that I was away from him, I was full of questions about him. How was he doing, in my absence? How was he handling my lapse of control over the evil that lay inside of me? How was he coping with my capture? With every new question I came up with, I grew more and more worried about him. I soon lost track of time and didn't notice anything else until I heard the door open.

"I see you're awake, Kaiser." I spun around to see who it was. A tiny beam of light streamed in from the open door, only enough to silhouette Arkenimon's form in the doorway. I narrowed my eyes at her as I stood.

"What do you want?" I asked, trying to sound slightly annoyed and angry, while inside I was absolutely terrified. Terrified of what she was going to say next, praying it wasn't what I thought.

Arkenimon grinned wickedly, her teeth glistening in the semi-darkness, and stepped forward, the door sealing closing behind her. My façade of annoyance was dropped as she grasped my shoulders and leaned in close to my face. Her nails dug into my skin. I trembled in fear under her grip, which only made her smile broaden.

"What I want," she spoke softly, yet sadistically, "is to hurt you. And keep on hurting you until there's no room left for anything else but pain. Pain...and darkness."