"Hector." The name came out unbidden. Sue covered her mouth to keep from crying out. Lifting her hand, she cast the light about but it would only reveal bare shadows of the room around them. As she brought it closer to the unconscious man, she saw first hand what he had gone through at the hands of those who had no care for life.
The door to the room opened and two figures came in. Sue gasped and watched with horror as the beaten man awakened and was subjected to cruel versions of his memories. A woman resembling Mara began singing a song slightly off key that was at once beautiful and angry. Desperate to escape his bonds, the sailor listened intently and followed the melody. The second figure was a young girl made to look like the child version of Althea. She joined the song as well and for a short time, the sailor lost himself in the off-center tune.
As he fell deeper into the spell, the faceless figures returned along with the bright lights. The women's song began to fracture as Hector's mind tried to keep up with their singing. He couldn't follow along. He didn't know the words. He tried keeping time with his hand but the pattern was wrong. Sue recognized it immediately.
When the sailor couldn't keep up, the door opened again and three figures entered. One pretended to be a doctor checking his wounds but was cut down by the other two. They advanced on the captive with knives drawn and Sue clenched her eyes shut to avoid seeing anymore.
When she looked again, the gray room had changed and the lights overhead were weaving in an odd pattern. It was disconcerting and made her very dizzy. She stumbled back against a wall. A warm hand touched her arm and she jumped. Turning to look, she saw the sailor pass her, striding toward his 'teammates'. He ducked as the woman with the red hair threw a knife at him. It stuck into the wall next to Sue and she trembled. The two men ran at each other and began to grapple, one to take the knife away and one to drive it home. Conflicting notes sounded in Sue's ears and she tried to block them out. The lights pulsed brightly once more and faded out.
Holding out her left hand, Sue walked toward the middle of where the room should be but it was the first room again, the one with the pictures. She approached the wall and bit her lip as she viewed the once beautiful display. The group photo had been torn and lay on the floor in several pieces. Mara and Althea's pictures had cracks in the glass and were hanging askew. The blank ones were still blank and untouched except for one. Going in closer, she raised the light and it flared. She watched as the picture coalesced and became clear. It was a tall man with startling blue eyes and charming grin next to Hector, both holding glasses and pointing at the picture taker. "Bobby…"
