Bad Masters
Chapter 3
It was cold. An icy breeze seeped in. He didn't know where he was… or if he wanted to know where he was. He just knew his head hurt. That was all. Other than that, he only felt need to sleep. His eyes stung like he had been crying for a long time - but he couldn't remember any reason for feeling emotional. His mind was almost blank.
His head… it hurt. He pressed his hand on the sore part… a lump. Nothing serious. He opened his eyes. A wall. Almost black in the dim light. He stared at it for ages not knowing how to react. He rolled onto his back and looked the other direction. It was like a basement. A small window close to the ceiling was the only source of light.
He clambered onto his feet. Standing up too fast caused a wave of dizziness to come over him, but gathered his senses and looked ahead. There was a door. He looked at it suspiciously, as if something would leap out from behind it and attack. It was a damn scary looking door, anyway. The wood was mouldy and black in places and there was a hatch at around eye-level. This unsettled him… it reminded him of a prison cell.
To the touch it was damp and cold. Wes's fingertips nipped at the touch. At first he thought he might be able to break the door open, but it was more solid than it looked. He assumed worms couldn't live in wood that cold. Then he looked for a keyhole. Perhaps he could try picking at it - like in the movies. But there wasn't one. It must have been on the other side.
So there was no way out that he could see. The window was too small and too high up and there was nothing he could stand on. He tried looking out the hatch, but he couldn't slide it from his side. He banged on the door a little. He heard it echo around the room. Then he waited. Nothing. No reply. Then he tried again, only he did it this time until his fist hurt a little.
"Hello?" His voice echoed off the concrete walls of the cold room.
When there was no reply Wes stumbled back from the door. He rubbed his face with his hand, trying to re-awaken himself so as he could think more clearly. It was difficult but he knew he'd have to think rationally in order to sort himself out of this mess. But it was easier in theory to act calm than in the reality he was stuck in.
Wes ran to the door and banged his fist repeatedly on the splintered wood. He slammed his hand flat to allow for silence. He listened.
"What the hell?" A voice called Wes to attention.
"Hey! Over here!" Wes called. He almost smiled as the clobber of footsteps grew louder and nearer.
The hatch slammed open. "What!" A pair of dark brown eyes met his.
"Hey, pal. Let me out!" Wes tried to keep his cool but the tension was getting to him. "C'mon! What's going on, where am I!"
The man's eyelids drooped in an inconsiderate manner. "You are our hostage," he smirked as Wes could tell by the tensing of his cheeks, "And you are gonna back down and shaddup!".
Wes stumbled back from the volume of the man's voice, but ran back to the door before the man could walk too far away. "Hey, hold on! Please! I need to get home! It's important!"
The man looked round at Wes. He shrugged, not caring, and scratched his stomach before proceeding to walk away from him. Wes thumped on the door, causing it to rattle on its hinges. "I…." Wes stopped sharp. He remembered the robbery.
"I have a rare pokemon!" Wes yelled. He waited, hoping the man would show interest. He stopped for a moment, what seemed to Wes like an eternity. He turned his head around and grinned insanely.
"He he… rare? You're not bullshittin'?" He approached the door again.
"It's in my apartment. Its an eevee." Wes's voice shook. A pain built up in his chest… like the fear they would harm his eevee if they got their hands on it. "But I won't tell you where my apartment is."
The man scowled at him, his bony face only visible as a silhouette in the light from the corridor. "… So… you want to make an agreement?"
Wes nodded quickly. He began to sweat, like this man were about to throw his chances away without a second thought. "Please… I'll give you Eve…" Wes swallowed hard, "… as long as you let me go."
A sinister smile crept along the man's face.
As Wes and two men marched up the apartment block stairs, Wes couldn't help thinking he could be sending Eve to her death. He had nothing planned, as his best ideas were always last minute. But this was one situation he could not escape from. He couldn't even cry for help. Holding a gun to his back the two men would begin to laugh and joke along with Wes as a by-passer made their way down.
Wes couldn't even play along. He stared at the ground as each step passed by just too quickly. He wished he could stop time, or even reverse it. He imagined what might happen to Eve. Best case scenario would be she gets sold on to some wealthy lord who pampers her for the rest of her days. Worst case scenario - the triple evolution stone experiment.
One of the men growled, "That had better not be your place." He nodded to the door which was slightly ajar. The snib had been hacked out. A warm breeze blew out from within.
Wes stopped and stared at his door. He just couldn't believe it. Everything that had happened was all too much. For this to have happened Wes felt was too cruel. He stumbled forward, not quite seeing straight. He shook his head and ran in. The place was a tip. Eevee hair lay everywhere. Broken glass, stains, a door off the hinges.
But no sign of Eve.
"So, pal. Where's the fucking pokemon!"
