Chapter 8
Cheating Death
Pogue was back in the cold, dark room in the basement after Chase had finished messing around with him. His cheeks were stained with tears and there were deep cuts on his back from Chase's fingernails. His whole body was shaking. This was how it always was after Chase finished with him. He couldn't walk properly or talk or sleep or anything. It usually took him hours to get himself together when it was over. This time, though, he also had trouble breathing and his breaths came out in short, painful gasps.
Pogue knew he was dying. Without light, any kind of light, light from light bulbs, sunlight, he was losing his powers. He tried using them the other day and nothing happened. He didn't know if that was just because he was too weak to use them or because they were completely gone. He assumed he hadn't quite lost them yet, that he was just too weak to be able to use them, because if they were gone he would be dead, not just sick. He was throwing up all the time and couldn't hold down food, not even water, so Chase just stopped bringing it.
He sort of felt like this was just a bad dream and he would wake up any minute. But he never did. And he knew if he was dreaming, he wouldn't feel any pain. And he felt a lot of pain, especially in his chest which felt like it was full of broken glass now that his ribs were broken...again. The first time, a few days ago, when Chase threw him down the stairs, his ribs were only a little bruised, not broken. This time, they hurt so much more, that he knew they were broken, especially considering how much pain he felt when they were only bruised.
Suddenly, he heard the front door fly open, and he immediately knew, in horror, that Chase was back from wherever he had gone. He frowned. He hadn't heard Chase leave, and it was only about an hour since he'd thrown Pogue back into this room after he was done with him. Pogue wondered if it was Chase, and if it wasn't, who was it?
"What the fuck are you doing?!" he heard Chase's voice yell, and he realized it was someone else. He silently prayed that it was Caleb, though he doubted it. He heard Chase and the other person talking, but he couldn't make out the voice. Then he heard the sound of a fight going on upstairs, and he knew it was Caleb, who else would fight with Chase? The fight went on for about 10 minutes, and then the whole house was silent. Then:
"Pogue?" Caleb's voice called. Pogue tried to call back but no sound escaped his lips. He was too weak. All he could do now was lie there and wait for Caleb to find him.
"Pogue, where are you, buddy?" Another voice shouted, and Pogue immediatly recognized the voice as Reid's. He smiled slightly to himself and tried to stand up. He immediately regretted it. A stabbing pain exploded through his chest, and he fell back to the floor, groaning in pain. This was probably a good thing, because it seemed that Caleb had heard him.
"Pogue?" he called again, and Pogue heard him coming over to the basement door. After a minute of fumbling with the lock, the door flew open and a bright light flooded the room. Pogue hissed and raised his hand, shielding his eyes from the harsh light. Caleb gasped when he saw his friend and rushed over to him, kneeling down next to him. Pogue looked terrible. He had dark bags under his eyes and looked like he hadn't slept or eaten in days. His cheeks were wet with tears and his face was drawn with pain and one hand was clutching his ribs. He wasn't wearing a shirt and Caleb spotted long, deep cuts on Pogue's back.
"Shit, it stinks in here, man." Reid muttered, coming down the stairs with his hand pinching his nose. Then he saw Pogue and stopped in his tracks, causing Tyler, who was behind him, to crash into Reid from behind. Then Tyler saw what Reid was staring at and gasped.
They then walked over, slowly, fearfully.
"You look like shit, man." Reid muttered, looking Pogue over quickly. He noticed Pogue's pants were unbuttoned and he frowned, sniffing the air around Pogue's body, using his excellent sense of smell. He picked up the scent of blood and semen, realizing in horror what Chase had done to him. "Son of a bitch." He hissed, his hands balling up into fists. "He fuckin' raped you!"
"Reid!" Caleb snapped, turning to him angrily. "Now's not the time!" He turned back to Pogue, who was looking at Reid with sadness in his eyes, and Caleb and Tyler immediately knew Reid was right. Gritting his teeth in anger, Caleb looked at Pogue, sighing. Then he frowned. He should have been able to feel Pogue's power radiating off him, like he could with the rest of the Covenant. But he couldn't. Shit, his powers were gone.
Standing up, he pulled Reid and Tyler away to tell them softly, "His powers are gone. We gotta get him to Gorman's NOW. I think he'll be able to him. When Reid and Tyler nodded understandingly, he turned back to Pogue, saying, "Cummon, man. Let's get you outta here." He said, wrapping Pogue's arm over his shoulders. "Reid, help me." He ordered, and Reid obeyed, pulling Pogue's other arm over his. Counting to three, Caleb and Reid both stood up at the same time, lifting Pogue to his feet, making him cry out in pain. They led him as gently as they could up the stairs and into the main section of the house, the living room, dining room, kitchen area. Pogue gasped at the site around him. Tables and chairs were turned over and broken, blood and shattered glass covered the floor, doors hung off their hinges. Staring around the room, at the blood in particular, he turned to look at his friends, and found they were bleeding, not badly though. Caleb had a deep cut above his left eyebrow and his lip was cut and bleeding. Tyler had a bloody nose and a few small scratches on his arms. Reid was limping slightly and had a deep gash on his forearm and a small scrape near his right eye. Other than that, they looked fine. Convinced now that his friends would be okay, said:
"Where's Chase?" Caleb looked at Pogue, worryingly. His voice was quiet and hoarse, as if he was speaking for the first time in weeks.
"Don't worry about that, man." He assured Pogue softly. "He won't be bothering us anymore." Pogue took a deep breath, wincing with pain when his chest heaved, bringing out the pain in his ribs once again. They led him out of the house gently and into the car, and then they drove off to Gorman's house.
