I slowly blink my eyes open to the sight of darkness. Well, mainly darkness, but there's a single dim light hanging above me like in the interrogation scenes in movies. Creepy.

I look around the small room and turn my body to the left, surveying every inch of this strange place. That's when I feel resistance holding me back.

I look down at my arms, which I notice are tied tightly to the chair I'm in. Instinctively, I look down at my feet, which are also tied up.

Fucking perfect. How am I supposed to wander around and try to find a way out if I'm tied up? Wait-

Why am I tied up? And where am I? How did I get here?

Suddenly, I hear a door open and slam shut, followed by footsteps coming down what sounds like stairs.

"Ahh, finally awake," A skinny man says as he descends a flight of stairs. You can't even see the staircase from the darkness in the room.

"Hungry?" He asks as he comes to a stop in front of me.

I don't respond. I just glare at him while he continues to smirk at me.

"You must be. You haven't eaten anything in 5 days." He walks over to the right and grabs another chair, pulling it in front of me. "And if I recall, the last thing you had was a greasy meal from a shitty diner, right? You don't want any real food?" He sits down.

Okay, it's one thing to hold me hostage in a musty basement, but it's a whole other thing to insult Albert and his diner.

"Okay look, slick, you can do and say whatever the fuck you want to me, but don't you dare ever drag any of my friends and family into this. Now I don't know what exactly you're doing here, but if you piss me off, I promise you're not going to like the outcome. And also, if I would've known that I'd be kept from eating for 5 days, then I'd most definitely go back to-"

Wait a damn minute.

"I've been here for 5 days?!" I start thrashing around. God, I wanna kill this guy. "Tina's probably worried sick! What the hell's the matter with you?!"

He just continues looking at me with an amused expression on his face. After a moment, he outstretches his hand.

"Sebastian Smythe."

I look down at his hand and back up at him with an eyebrow raised. He keeps his hand out, almost like he's waiting for me to shake it. Unbelievable.

"Really? You want me to shake your hand?" I ask. He nods. "How the fuck am I supposed to do that with my hands tied, you moron?"

He raises an eyebrow at me, which infuriates me even more.

"You can get out," He says, hand still outstretched.

"Okay then, wise guy, you mind telling me how? Because with how tight these things are, I don't see them coming off anytime soon."

"There are aluminum wires spread through the rope. You can control metal…so you can get out."

Okay. How the fuck does he know about that? I don't even know if I can control the metal, it could just be attracted to me. Besides, that only happened once…in my own apartment. Is he like stalking me or something?

"I don't know what you're talking about," I look down at my wrists, and sure enough, there are aluminum wires threaded through the rope.

"Sure you do," He nods his head, still looking at me expectantly.

Now I start to panic a little. First of all, how does he know about the metal thing, and does that have to do with why I'm here? Second, I don't know what this metal thing is all about so if my fate lies on whether or not I can untie myself, I'm screwed.

"Alright, Sebastian. You can stop now."

I recognize that voice…the strong accent sounds vaguely familiar. I can't see the owner of said voice yet because he hasn't come into view in the light.

Sebastian pulls his hand back and rolls his eyes, clearly disapproving of the voice's command. As the footsteps get nearer and nearer, he stands up straight and waits for the man to approach.

When a skinny man in a green suit steps into the light, I immediately recognize him. It's the guy that was sitting on my car! The one that decided to kidnap me.

I can feel my blood start to boil at seeing this man. Does he know what he did? What he caused? Tina's probably not sleeping, searching for me everywhere. She's always been a bad worrier when nothing's even wrong, so the thought of what she's going through right now spikes my anger like never before.

I can feel my body start to vibrate and my limbs start to heat up. I clench and unclench my fists and breath deeply to try and calm myself down, but I'm too wound up.

In my effort to calm down, I don't even realize that the ropes around my arms and feet start to loosen.

Sebastian starts smiling widely at me and the man in the green suit just stares with a serious, blank expression.

"I told you!" Sebastian exclaims as he turns towards the other man.

The man in the green suit just puts a hand up, effectively shushing him, as he continues to watch me. I'm staring directly at him, and if only I could shoot lasers from my eyes, he'd be toast right now.

Once I feel the cold air on my limbs, I know I'm free, but make no effort to move.

Everyone stays silent for a while, the man in the green suit and I never taking our eyes off the other.

"Santana Lopez," He speaks after a minute. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rory Flannagan and you are in what is called my-"

"Okay let me stop you right there," I interrupt and hold my hand up. "One, I can't understand anything you're saying-so if you hope to communicate with me, you should probably learn to speak proper English. Two, I don't give a fuck who you are, what you're doing, or any of that shit. I just want to go home. So if you'd be ever so kind as to shut the fuck up and let me leave, that'd be very much appreciated."

Sebastian's eyes go wide as he looks over to Rory. Rory just stares at me with a small smirk before continuing with his speech.

"My name is Rory Flannagan and you're at my compound just outside of Albuquerque. This should be an exciting time for you, Santana. It's not every day I personally leave to go recruit someone."

"Recruit…recruit for what? Are you making a reality tv show or something? And if that's the case, you can shove that idea back up your ass, where it obviously came from, and let me go." I give a sarcastic smile.

He looks down at the ground with a chuckle and puts his hands in his pockets. He shakes his head back and forth before looking back up at me.

"It's funny you think you have a choice," He says menacingly. "Sebastian, bring her along."

Sebastian waves his hand around in the direction Rory begins walking. Against my will, my body stands up and starts walking in the same direction. Holy shit, is he controlling me?

"How the hell are you doing that?" I ask shakily. This whole exchange is really starting to freak me out…I don't want to let them know that, though.

"That's one of Sebastian's powers. He can control minds. Albeit, he's limited to what all he can do, but it's powerful nonetheless." Rory says, walking up the stairs in front of me.

Wait, he has powers? Like - like a superhero? Or in this case - a villain.

When we reach the top, Rory opens the big wooden door which leads to a brightly lit hallway. Huh…wouldn't have expected the same building to look this nice compared to how the room I was kept in was.

The hallway is decorated with many modern art pictures. The walls are a light shade of green, with the ceiling and floors being light gray. As we walk further down the hall, we start to see many doors with nameplates on them. What the doors lead to, I have no clue, and I'm not even sure if I want to know. It's not until we pass a door with my name on it that I become curious.

"Almost there," Rory says suddenly. "I know you're eager to see where we're going, and probably curious as to what this all is about."

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad," Sebastian says beside me, smirk still in place on his face.

"You know, I probably wouldn't be thinking that…had you not kidnapped me and held me hostage for 5 days!"

"Technically we didn't hold you hostage," Sebastian puts up a finger, sassily. Alrighty, gaydar is going off the charts now. "You were knocked out, so we let you rest. And we tied you up in case you had a reaction to the serum and flailed around. We didn't want you to hurt yourself."

"I'm sure that sounds nice and caring to you, but did you ever think that maybe people like to rest in something much more comfortable than a wooden chair?! Seriously? You see someone knocked out and you think 'Let's tie her up in a stiff chair to let her rest' instead of maybe thinking to put me in - oh I don't know - a bed?!"

"Enough!" Rory exclaims as he turns around. I notice his face is a little red, which makes Sebastian look extremely scared. Should I be worried about that?

"I've had it with your bickering! Now, we're here, so if you two would kindly shut up, I can show you why you're here, Santana."

Neither of us say anything more, but just nod our heads.

"Good. Thank you," Rory says as he brushes his suit off and takes a deep breath. He turns around and puts a code into a keypad outside of a giant metal door.

This is the first time I'm noticing the door, too. I must've been too caught up with Sebastian to notice. It almost looks like a garage door, but it has a green lightning strike in the middle of it.

After Rory puts in the code, the keypad turns green and the door opens. I was expecting it to lift up, but the door splits in half and slides to the side, similar to an elevator.

Walking in, the room's mainly dark, but there are a few dots of light scattered throughout the room. Rory disappears to the side for a moment and flicks a switch, causing the lights to turn on in the room.

Well, this isn't what I was expecting to see.

Scattered around the room are tanks, or chambers, of some kind with wires sticking out the top. The tanks are filled with some gas, so it's hard to see exactly what's in them until you get close.

"Right this way," Rory says as he starts walking closer to one of the chambers.

As we near, I can see Sebastian getting excited as a grin forms on his face. We come to a stop a few feet away from the chamber and Rory puts his hand on a sensor located on the front. The sensor scans his hand and lights up green after recognition.

"Handprint confirmed," An electronic voice speaks out as the gas starts to dissipate within the chamber.

Holy…fucking…shit…

Inside the chamber is a man that looks to be about my age, with a tube down his throat and wires connected to a bunch of spots around his body.

Looking around the room, I see about 20 more chambers almost identical to this one. The only difference was each chamber had a different name and number written in green above it.

"Well, what do you think?" Rory's looking at me expectantly with a bright smile on his face.

Is this dude a fucking psychopath? Who would smile at a sight like this?

"Is he dead?"

"What? No, of course not! He's just sedated right now. Don't worry, he can't feel a thing. The gas in the chamber keeps his body preserved, the wires are connected to important parts of the body that need to keep functioning to keep him alive and stable, and the tube is there to assist in his breathing."

I gesture to the rest of the room.

"And…every one of these chambers, i-is filled with other people like him?" I point back to the man laying unconscious in the tank.

"That's right," Rory says excitedly.

"Sir?" Sebastian raises his hand slightly. "I know we only use them for expeditions, but do you think we could bring them out to show her?" He raises up on the balls of his feet.

Rory narrows his eyes and seems to think it over for a moment.

"I think that's a fantastic idea, Sebastian," He nods his head in approval. "This is why you're my right hand man."

Sebastian grins widely and watches with excitement as Rory walks back over to the front of the room where a large control board is located. He presses his hand to another sensor, which lights up green and voices recognition again. He then opens a cover, which was protecting a large red button, and presses it.

There's a loud metallic clank that sounds throughout the room, followed by the sound of air rushing out of somewhere. Then all the doors to the chamber start to open slowly in unison. Once they're fully open and locked into place, the chambers start to rotate so that they're completely vertical.

After a moment, the men inside start to step down out of the chamber and onto the ground. They're all in matching outfits. Navy blue athletic tops and bottoms with red stitching and outlines. On the left breast is a red symbol that looks like some form of a cursive D.

Rory then moves from behind the control board and into the center of the walkway, making his presence known.

All the men then turn to face him and bow down on one knee, almost like they're waiting for a signal or command.

"Training room," Is all Rory says. The men then stand back up and nod their heads in unison before disappearing into thin air.

This place just gets more freaky and confusing by the minute.

"Shall we?" Rory asks as he motions towards the door, allowing me to walk out first followed by him and Sebastian.

Okay, at least the creep seems to have some form of manners.

"Sebastian, why don't you lead the way?" Rory says as he puts in a code to the keypad again. I assume he's enabling the security feature on the door again.

"Gladly, sir."

Sebastian waves his hand in the air again, forcing my body to move.

"Would you stop doing that?" I grumble. The only response I get is a laugh from him.

We walk for about 5 minutes, turning down different hallways every so often. This place is like a fucking maze. Sebastian comes to a stop in front of a large window that peers into what looks like a gym of some kind.

Inside, I see the men from the chambers punching bags hanging from the ceiling, sparring with each other, or just lifting weights and working out.

"This is our training room," Rory speaks as he walks up beside us. "Where the magic happens."

"What magic?"

"This room is where they get trained, hone in their skills, become elite warriors."

"Warriors for what?"

"Anything I need them to be. They run off my command. What I need to be done, they do."

There's silence for a moment.

"Who are they?" I ask, still watching the men inside.

"Santana Lopez…meet The Warblers." Rory says with confidence.

My eyebrows scrunch up and I turn to face him.

"Like the bird?" I ask, an amused expression coming over my face.

"W-well yes, I suppose so. It's just a fitting name for them."

I couldn't help but release the laugh I was holding in.

"They're The Warblers? Like the songbird…"

Rory lets out a huff of air and turns his head to look at The Warblers.

"Seriously? You couldn't have thought of a better name for them? Like...well, actually I can't think of any that sound good because they're birds."

"The name is beside the point!" Rory exclaims, and I can see he's getting flustered. "Don't you see how dangerous they are? They all obtain capabilities that you can't even comprehend. Look at them. What do you see?"

"Well, to be honest, I see an army of twinks…and trust me, that is not a good thing. I didn't want to say anything when I first noticed it, back in the room with their chambers, but now that I know they're called The Warblers, it's even funnier," I say with a chuckle.

"Okay, enough!" Rory exclaims again, but this time it causes the walls to shake and the decorations to rattle.

"You know, you're going to get enough of upsetting him," Sebastian whispered in my ear.

"And what's he going to do? Send his Warblers to sing me a song?"

"You want to know what I'm going to do?" I look back over to Rory, whose face is an inhuman shade of red. Oh shit…maybe I should've kept my mouth shut.

"I was going to give you the opportunity of a lifetime, Santana, but now I realize you don't deserve it. You don't deserve to be a part of this organization, and you certainly don't deserve to hold the power you possess." His feet start lifting from the ground.

I turn to Sebastian, who has fear set in his eyes but still has a shit-eating grin on his face. Rory then raises a hand up to my face, and I close my eyes tightly in anticipation of what's about to happen.

I just escaped death one time, and I don't think the universe is going to let it happen again.

All of a sudden, I hear a loud crash and two yells of pain. I open my left eye slightly to see what's going on.

The entire wall that was to the left of us is gone. I open my eyes fully and look around. Sebastian is laying on the ground, unconscious, and Rory is pushed up against the wall fighting against…flashes of light?

I just stare at the commotion before me, in awe but also confused about the whole thing. Suddenly, the flashes of light stop and a man in a blue and silver suit appears. He punches Rory twice and slams him up against the wall, firmly holding him into place.

Alarms in the building start to go off, but I can't find it in myself to move. Where the hell would I go anyways? I don't know my way around this place, and the last thing I want to do is run into someone who can see me running away.

"Hey! What the hell is going on in here?" I recognize this man from that day. He was the big guy that was with Rory.

"Karofsky, mind your own damn business!" The man in the blue suit yells at him, still pinning Rory against the wall. With every second that passes, Rory seems to get slower and weaker in his movements.

Karofsky jumps forward and moves in the direction of the man. The man disappears and a flash of light appears, then Karosky is knocked hard to the ground, and then the man is back to holding Rory against the wall. All within a second.

I shake my head slightly. I have to be dreaming because there's no way this is reality.

"Santana!" I hear someone yell to the left of me. I turn my head to look at who called me. My eyes went wide.

"Quinn?!"

"Come on, we gotta get you out of here!" She outstretches her hand.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I yell back.

"That doesn't matter now! I'll explain later, just come on!" She gestures her hand, signaling me to hurry up and grab it.

I turn back to the scene in front of me and see Karofsky getting up off the ground. As he gets up, we make eye contact. Now it seems like he's forgotten about the man in the blue suit, and only has his eyes on me.

As he starts to head my way, I snap into action and run to Quinn. As soon as I make contact with her hand, she entwines our fingers and starts running.

"Okay, the jet's right outside. Artie's already in it ready to take off." She says as we sprint through the building. She seems to know her way out of here pretty well.

"Are you sure you know where you're going? This place is like a maze."

"Not my first time," She says a little quieter.

I turn around slightly to see Karofsky come back into view. He's catching up rather quickly, which causes me to worry.

"Quinn, he's catching up!"

"We're almost there, just keep running."

Shortly after, a door comes into sight. Quinn continues to run at it full speed and somehow manages to open it smoothly so we can run out. After we run through the threshold, we're met with the blazing sun and a small field surrounded by trees.

Quinn pulls me to the left and I see a jet sitting there, engine ready for takeoff. As we get closer, Quinn turns to look and sees Karofsky still behind us.

"Artie!" Quinn yells. "Close the entrance ramp! - No, we're going to make it on just fine, but if you don't close it now we're going to have unwanted company on the flight back! - We'll be fine! Now close it!"

I see the ramp leading up to the plane start to raise up and close. We're about 20 yards away now.

"Alright, we're gonna have to jump."

I just nod my head.

"On the count of three, jump as high as you can, okay?" I nod my head again. "Ready? One…two…three…jump!"

My legs are extremely tired from how long we've been sprinting, but I put every ounce of power I have into pushing myself off the ground.

When I pushed off the ground, I felt a small force under my foot. It almost felt like I was floating in the air. I started to move ahead of Quinn, and I became the one leading her into the jet.

Instead of landing on the edge of the ramp like I had expected, we landed inside the jet and were able to watch it close instead of having to run up it to safely get inside.

Right before the door closed, I saw Karofsky jump up and try to grab hold of the edge, but he missed and fell back to the ground.

Quinn let out a breath of relief and turned to head toward the front of the plane.

"Alright, Artie. Take us back to headquarters," She said as she collapsed in the co-pilot seat, looking tired and out of breath.

/

Hey, guys!

I want to say thank you so much again for reading! The reviews being left always put a smile on my face.

I know this one's a couple of days late, but this was my final week for the semester so updates should be more regular now!

As always, I love and appreciate your reviews, so feel free to leave one but don't feel like you have to! :)