He'd been crying for so long that he didnt think he'd ever be able to cry again. His eyes felt hollow and broken. He was so tired of being left in the dark, of being restrained and afriad. Drake tugged at the shackles for the hundreth time since he'd been left in the small room, he knew that they wouldn't lossen, but he couldn't stop himself from trying. His arms had long since gone numb from being above his him and his shoulders were throbbing. His jaw hurt from the ball gag that had been stuffed inside of it.
He wasnt sure if he'd slept at all. He'd had his eyes closed all night to prevent the fabric from the blindfold from hurting them. He hadn't dreamed at all, though, he was sure that any dreams he had in this place wouldn't be welcome. All he could do was wait for the time when he'd be let out of this room.
His body tensed as he felt his stomch quiver. He felt panic rise as he realized that he had to go to the bathroom. He tried to call out to anyone that might hear him, nearly begging while he tried to get their attentio. They couldnt just leave him in there without knowing that he'd need to go. They couldnt expect him to hold it all night...
He continued to plead as the drool slipped around the gag, trailing over his chin. He called out over and over again, but noone came. After a few minutes passed he let his head fall against his chest in shame and disgust. Fresh tears found their way to his eyes, falling into the mix of drool and urine around his knees.
Drake was forced out of sleep by the sudden sound of the door being opened followed by a few quiet snickers. A fresh wave of shame passed over him as he felt eyes upon him, laughing at him. The blindfold was pulled away from his eyes, bringing in a burst of light that hurt his eyes.
"Look at the new guy." The closest of the two men snickered.
They both looked to be a little older then Drake with closely cut hair and cruel eyes. each was wearing dark blue jeans and a black tee-shirt. A thick metal collar tightly locked around their necks.
"Ain't nothing special." the secound replied, reatching into The room and unlocking the shackles.
The moment they were no longer holding him up, Drake fell forward, barly able to hold himself up. The feeling was returning to his arms, all pins and needles on the flesh. He fought back tears as the stinging numbness traveled over him and feeling returned.
The closer man grabbed his arm and pulled him roughly to his feet, ignoring his whimpers as the sudden movement tore at his stiff muscles. They didnt bother to remove the gag as they each held one of his arms and lead him back to the study near the stairs. He didnt try to fight them off, he didnt have the strength.
Brendon looked up from behind his desk and smiled. "Good morning." He said casually as he moved closer to Drake, closely inspecting him. He looked over him more thouroghly then he had the day before, feeling his arms and legs, touching his hair and face. He smiled as he unlocked the buckle on the gag and carefully pulled it out from Drake's mouth.
Even with it out, it was hard for Drake to close his mouth. His jaw ached from the constant force of holding the large ball, a pain that had nearly brought on a new wave of tears.
Brendom placed the gag in a tray on his desk, the drool still left on it glistening in the early morning light. He then pulled a collor similer to the ones the other men had on from a drawer in his desk, snapping it snuggly onto Drake's neck and locking it with a key he kept on a chain around his neck.
"There's a tracking device embeded within your collar, along with a shocking mecanism. Try to escape and you will recieve a modest dose of pain and an apropriate beating once found." He said as he turned back toward his desk. "Get him cleaned up and put him with the others."
"Yes sir." The two men said in unison as they dragged Drake toward the basement stairs.
They unlocked the sturdy door and flipped on the lights, leading him down a carefully crafted set on stone stairs. It was the nicest basement Drake had ever seen. It ran nearly the entire length of the house with polished wood flooring and black and white stripes painted evenly over the walls. The small, barred windows were set near the ceiling, allowing a brief view of the grass outside. Toward the middle of the room another set of bars stood like the enterance to a cage. Behind them were an assortment of mattresses, some empty, others with sleeping bodies hidden beneath nice blankets.
Drake could see eyes watching him from beneath those blankets, the sadest eyes he'd ever seen...
They turned him back toward the stairs where yet another door was. Within it was a large bathroom decorated in shades of golden yellow and sky blue. A large mirror hung near the double sink accompanied by cups with toothbrucses and hairbrushes. One of the men stayed outside while the other went in with Drake.
"Get cleaned up." he ordered, gesturing toward the shower.
Drake felt uncomforable with the man still in the room. Slowly, still trying to gain control over his legs he turned the water on, waiting for it to heat up. He didnt want to get undressed infront of this guy, so he stood beside the shower, waiting to see if the man would leave.
"I havent got all day" The man growled as he turned toward Drake.
"Do you have to be in here?" Drake asked meakly.
Without warning the man hit him across the face, light enough to hurt, but not to bruise. "Get in and make it quick." He snapped.
Drake didnt say another word as he took off his clothes and stepped into the shower, wrapping his arms around himself as the water washed away the filth from the previous day. He cleaned it all away, wishing that he could wash away everything that was happening with it.
"Times up." The man called from outside the shower.
Drake was handed a towel which he quickly wrapped around himself before stepping out of the shower. His clothes were gone. "My clothes..."
"They've been thrown out." The man said, pointing to a new set that had been left on the counter.
He turned toward the door, giving Drake a small bit of privacy as he dried off and got into his new clothes. A plain black tee-shirt that fit tightly across his body and a pair os loose black pants. He watched as Drake used the toilet, laughed at the way he blushed shyly. Drake had never been so uncomfortable.
After he was done the man grabbed his arm and pulled him out from the bathroom and toward the bars in the middle of the room, unlocking them long enouth to push Drake inside.
"We'll be back to get you in four hours." He said before they left, turning out the lights and heading up the stairs.
Drake looked at the now moving forms on the beds, three of them all sitting up as soon as they saw that the other men had gone. One of them got up and turned on a singular lightbulb the hung from the ceiling in the middle of their 'room'.
"What's your name?" The satanding boy asked Drake.
"Drake." He replied, looking at each of them.
"I'm Zane." Said the boy who'd turned on the lights. He was Drake's height, with shoulder length black hair and deep grey eyes.
"Damien." Said another boy with short blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Ash." Replied the last boy. His red hair shone brightly in the dim light, his eyes such a deep brown they almost looked black.
All of them were wearing clothes similer to his, and each had on a collar like the one he wore.
"Were you kidnapped too?" Damien asked, moving a little closer to Drake.
"Yesturday." Drake said, not wanting to think about it. "How long have you guys been here?"
They took a moment to think.
"About a year and a half, i think." Zane said.
"two years." Ash replied.
"a year..." Damian said, tears forming in his blue eyes. He was easily the youngest person here.
"They bring in someone new every six monthes. Alot of us don't make it that long..." Ash said.
"What about those other guys?" Drake asked, turning back towards the basement stairs.
"No idea." Zane said. "They arent like us, he gets them at auctions, all ready trained. That's why they dont get locked up like we do, they're all ready obediante when he gets them."
"I think they're taken in as little kids and trained to be perfectly docile, like dogs." Ash said. "they're slaves, like us, but they get more freedoms then we do."
"They're mean..." Damien said, hiding his face in his knees.
Drake nodded his head. "What happens now?" He asked, sitting down on an empty bed.
"We wait till about eleven thirty, then they feed us, shove pills down our throats and we start work." Ash said bitterly.
"Pills?" Drake asked, his stomach turning at the thought.
"Ritalin I think." Zane said. "Keeps us quiet, they put flouride in our water too. I dont know what the other pills are, but they mess with your head, over time you forget everything about ife before you were here...friends, family..."
Damien started crying, and drake felt like joining him. Everything they had told him drove deep. He didnt want to forget...
"Get some rest." Zane said softly, "the first day is always one of the worst."
The light was turned off again and they all lay curled up in their beds. Damien's soft cries echoed against the walls, expressing the hurt and despair they were all feeling. Drake fell into the deepest sleep he'd had in the last twenty-four hours, letting it take him into dreamless rest.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Audrey sat at the police station with Walter, filling out a missing persons report with tears in her eyes. They still hadn't heard from Drake, and noone had seen him. There was no response from his phone when they tried to call it... She didnt want to think about the things that could be happening to him.
She'd been questioned about Drake's mood before he dissapeared, if he might have just run away. No, he wouldnt... She knew better then that, knew that something terrible had happened. Now she had to fill out these damned papers, to wait untill anything was found. Until he was found...