I'm terribly sorry for the long wait. With school and all, I had very little motivation to continue writing. However, a wonderful person named KaylaMiceal has messaged me in an attempt to motivate me to continue writing. It worked, and now I am back! However, I am not alone. Kayla has agreed to write the story with me, and it is now a collaboration. We are both writing the story together, so make sure you send her lots of love and thanks!
Wakko lay curled up on the bed, his eyes brimming and face blank as he stared at the wall. It felt like hours had passed, but sleep was impossible. The words of his captor kept ringing through his mind with sickening clarity. What was going to happen to him? Was he really never going to see his family again?
They'll be looking for me, he thought, ordering himself to believe it. They will. They have to.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps reached his ears, then the clicking of a door unlocking. His heart pounding, Wakko scrambled upright and moved back as far as he could. He tried his best to put on a brave face as the door swung open to reveal the man who had last talked to him. He looked at him with a mocking smirk.
"So you finally decided to quit bawling?" He snorted, the humor leaving his face. "We'll see how long that lasts. Get up, you got a little appointment."
Wakko felt a chill run down his spine; he was pretty sure this wouldn't be like an appointment with Scratchy.
"W-what d' you mean?"
The man stormed up and grabbed his arm, yanking him off the bed.
"None of your business," he growled. "And unless you wanna make things a lot harder, you'll keep your mouth shut."
Wakko gasped as his hands were twisted behind his back and bound tightly, then the man gave him a hard shove. Wakko stumbled, barely keeping his balance. His body was stiff due to the lack of sleep.
"Move," the man ordered coldly. "And don't think of tryin' anything."
As much as Wakko didn't want to, without his toon powers he had no choice but to obey. He walked along the cold and dirty ground, doing exactly what the man told him to do; trying to struggle would only make his life worse. He'd never wished for his mallet as much as he did right now.
Wakko stepped out the door to his cell, shivering as a small breeze chilled his fur. The musty smell almost instantly vanished. The dampness on the floor was gone, and everything seemed a little bit cleaner. He took a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill his lungs. They were still indoors, but it almost felt like they were outside.
The outside of the cell was almost as boring as the inside. Everything was made of stone and concrete, and had a very plain look to it. There was nothing in front of him. They could only walk right or left.
Wakko looked to the left, seeing nothing but more cells and concrete. He looked to his right and saw the same thing.
How big is this place? How many other people have they taken? Wakko thought to himself, worried. The place was huge, and there were obviously more people there than just him. His fear grew at that thought.
This place is huge, and no one's found it yet.
"It's pretty big, eh?" the guard asked.
Wakko quickly put his brave face back on. He wasn't gonna give this guy any satisfaction whatsoever.
"Y-yeah. It is big," he mumbled. His voice was so quiet that the guard could barely hear it. He scoffed.
"Ha, well, you haven't seen anything yet."
The fear flared up again. Where was he? What did they want with him? Most of all, who were 'They'?
Wakko groaned as the guard pushed him to the left. He tried to look through the barred window on each cell, but it was no use… he was far too short. For a second he considered asking questions, but that was quickly ruled out as a bad idea. Being so far without a means to defend himself, making these people mad definitely wouldn't go well. Besides, he had a bad feeling he'd find out pretty soon.
His thoughts returned to his siblings and a lump rose in his throat, but he did his best not to let the sadness reach his face. If he'd just stayed in the tower like he was supposed to, he'd be with them right now and everything would be fine.
Why was I so stupid? Why didn't I just listen?
"Hmm, I don't recall saying it was 'okay' to stand there and doze off into space while I'm trying to take you somewhere." The guard spat, snapping Wakko out of his thoughts.
Wakko sighed. Stalling probably wasn't a good idea. He was gonna have to go to this "Appointment" sooner or later, he might as well get it over with.
He continued walking, with the guard closely eyeing him.
"Stop," he suddenly said.
He pulled a line of keys out of his pocket. The clanking sound of the metallic keys broke the almost dead-silence that had filled the hall. Wakko eyed the keys. He could do a lot of things with those, escape being one of them.
"What're you doing?" he asked. The guard's cold response made his eyes widen.
"You're not the only new kid."
What?
The middle Warner looked around at the other cells, his mind racing. They'd taken other kids too? He thought back, wondering if they might have done it while he was out cold in the van. Then an even more disturbing thought came. Could there be more kidnappers out there? This place was huge… most likely there were a lot of people working here.
If this is that TC group, it's way bigger than people thought.
The jangling keys interrupted his thoughts as the guard fingered through them and selected one. He shot Wakko a threatening glare.
"Don't get any ideas about runnin', got it? There's eyes all over this place."
Wakko looked around, attempting to spot any cameras or any other sign of life.
Nothing. Him and the guard seemed to be the only thing with a pulse in the entire area. Wakko was curious. With the supposed "Eyes" that were watching them, how come he couldn't see anything?
With the guards back turned to him, Wakko took some time to notice some things about him.
The guard looked to be considerably young in age, probably not even out of his teen years. Even though he was fairly buff, he was still rather small. Not anywhere near as small as Wakko, of course.
The guard didn't have any facial hair. He was somewhat pale-skinned, and his hair was a little bit longer than most. He was a human, of course. He'd figured that out a while ago.
"Holy shit this damn key isn't working!" The guard yelled, becoming more and more agitated as he continued to attempt to open the door.
Wakko chuckled silently.
Not too smart either.
The guard shot a glare at him, but Wakko just looked back with a completely neutral expression. Even without his mallet he knew ways to irritate people without getting in trouble.
Letting out an annoyed growl, the guard went back to the keys.
"Damn toons," he muttered. "Nothin' but trouble."
Wakko glared at his back.
Oh yeah? Who snatched who off the street here?
Finally the key turned, unlocking the door.
The guard hastily marched into the room. Wakko decided to stand back, deciding that the guard probably didn't want him to get in the way.
Wakko's ears perked up as he attempted to hear what was going on inside the cell. He couldn't hear much, just some quiet movement sounds.
Wakko's eyes widened as he saw a young boy getting dragged by the collar of his shirt. He look very young, couldn't be any older than seven.
He felt bad for him. He was obviously crying, due to the stream of dried tears going down his face. Wakko was a few years older and he was terrified, he can only imagine how someone as young as him must feel.
Once he escaped, he was gonna make sure each and every one of whoever was involved in this would spend the rest of their life behind bars.
The boy looked at him, and the fearful expression was replaced with surprise. He started to say something but the guard interrupted.
"No talking!"
The little boy began trembling, a few more tears escaping his eyes. Resisting the urge to do something painful to the guard, Wakko managed to give the younger boy a reassuring smile before he was shoved forward again.
"Now move, I don't got all day."
Wakko walked with his head down. Looking at the scared child next to him would only reminded him of himself. He felt helpless and utterly alone, and seeing how huge this place was lowered his expectation for rescue. If people have been getting kidnapped for a while now, then they should have been found by now. His only hope rested in his own hands.
He has to escape. He's going to. Maybe not now. Maybe not for a while. But he will.
