People in black suits with gas masks soon slipped into the office.
"Get Lightman, Foster, Torres, and Loker! You know what they look like... bring any other people to me and I'll say yes or no."
Several people mumbled something and ran off to different places.
"I have Lightman and Foster right here," the main guy - Trace - announced.
He laid his two fingers on Cal's neck and then on Gillian's. "They're knocked out... heart's beating slow. We have two hours at most."
Two men came forward and lifted Gillian up off the ground.
"Careful," Trace said. "Don't drop her or anything."
"We have the pretty girl and tall guy here."
Trace stared down at Loker and Ria and nodded. "Yup... bring 'em out to the truck. Be careful with the girl."
"We got... a kid... two men and another woman."
Trace stared at the kid - Emily - examining her face. "This one's Lightman's... bring her along. Leave the rest. Let's go."
Cal stared at the screen for another minute, expecting something to happen.
"That's all," Ben said.
.:.
"This is so much scarier without him..." Emily whispered, squeezing her legs closer to her chest.
Gillian put her arm around Emily's shoulders. "It's alright... don't worry..."
"Where is he? Did they bring him back to the office... or home...?"
"He's safe. I'm sure of it," Gillian assured her.
.:.
Cal stared at Gillian admiringly. "Look at her," he whispered to Ben. "She's amazing."
Ben chuckled and said, "We didn't get a view on you until you were all in the same room... What happened when you woke up?"
"I was alone," Cal mumbled.
"What do you mean 'alone'... Loker, Ria, Emily, and Gillian were all there."
"Not with me, though. I was in my own seperate room, but we could communicate."
"Explain."
Cal woke up on the cold, hard floor with a killer headache.
He moaned painfully and sat up, leaning against the brick wall. "Hello?" he called out. His gravely voice carried out and echoed against the walls.
He stood up slowly and leaned against the wall again for support. "Hello?"
.:.
Emily's eyes fluttered open. It was dark. She couldn't even see her own hand waving in front of her face.
She heard the echo of a 'hello' from somewhere far away.
"Dad?" she called out. "Dad!"
There wasn't a response. She stuck her arms out, feeling for the size of the room.
.:.
Loker coughed. "What the hell...?" he asked himself, finding a wall. "Hello?" he asked. He also had a pounding headache that made it hard for him to move.
He stood up and stumbled back until he fell onto a wall. "Hello?" he asked again.
The wall was cold and wet. "Lightman...? Dr. Foster!"
.:.
Gillian woke up, feeling dizzy and out of it.
She could hear fading echoes of someone speaking, but wasn't really sure what they were saying.
"Cal...?" she asked, listening closely for a reply.
.:.
Ria had awoken not too long ago.
She was lining the wall, waiting for an end so she could estimate the size of the cold room.
She heard people yelling, but couldn't exactly make out what they were saying.
.:.
Suddenly, in all five rooms, lights flashed on.
Eli and Cal were both blinded and fell back to the floor, grabbing their heads in pain.
"You're all awake," a voice boomed.
"What the hell is this?" Gillian yelled.
Everyone could hear her now.
"Gillian?" Emily asked, looking around the room.
It was a large room. But it was empty apart from Emily and a blanket that she hadn't noticed on the far wall.
"Emily?" Ria asked. "Yell out your name if you're hear!"
"Gill!" Gillian said.
"Emily."
"Ria."
Two moans came from the boys.
"Lightman and Loker... shouldn't you two yell out your names?" the voice asked.
"Cal..." he said, squeezing his eyes shut.
It was very quiet, but everyone was listening closely, so it could be heard.
"Eli?" Ria asked.
"Yeah..." he mumbled, holding his head.
"What's wrong?" Gillian asked.
"Dad, where are you?"
"Calm down," the voice ordered. "The gas effects males much more different than it does females. It gives them a painful headache and weakens their muscles, which holds them back from being able to attack or do something else violent. They'll be fine."
"Dad!"
"What...?" Eli asked. A couple minutes before it was just the headache.
"When the lights came on... Eli and Cal both fell straight to the ground in pain. That's because the light sent a message to your brain, which was already confused and in pain, and it sent waves of shock through your muscles, causing them to shut down, or not work nearly as well. It will last at least a day. If you get out of control... we will simply use the gas again."
Cal frowned and rolled over, staring up at the roof. "Why is it wet...?" he asked.
Gillian could hear the pain in his voice better than anyone. "Cal, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, love... Why is it wet?' he asked again.
"I don't know. Condensation."
"Why are we here?" Cal asked.
"First... Let me introduce myself. My name is Trace."
"Who the hell are you? Should we know you?"
"The more you talk, the more engery you're taking from your weak muscles," Trace said bluntly.
Cal rolled his eyes and shut his mouth.
Gillian looked around her empty room. She walked over and picked up the blanket. "So... why do you have us?"
"Well... It's quite simple."
Trace began pacing, holding the microphone to his mouth.
"Where is everyone?" Emily asked.
Trace sighed and said, "You are all actually right beside eachother... First is Gillian. Then Cal. Then Emily. Then Ria. Then Loker. If you look along your walls, there are little vents. You can talk through those vents."
"Why aren't we all together?"
"Because you can interact more when you see eachother. This way... you can talk... but I can hear what you are saying."
Cal looked around the walls and spotted the vent.
"Gill!" he coughed. "Go to the vent!"
"Which side are you on?" she asked.
"The only side there is...You're the first perr..." He got really dizzy again and started seeing things in double. "No..." he whispered.
The vent was close, so Cal crawled over and leaned against the wall. "Gill," he whispered.
"Cal, are you okay?" she asked, finding the right vent.
"I'm losing it..."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... I'm getting dizzy... everything hurts."
"Did he ever tell you why he took you?" Ben asked.
"Nah..." Cal whispered, shaking his head.
"Oh... well he told us."
"Let's hear it," Cal said.
A/N: Soooooo...? Review? Smile? Eat some mac and cheese?