Chapter Eighteen

*Not edited* Not proofread*

Chapter 18– Piss off now:

I turn to the young boy behind the glass, his small arms chained above him by the metal shackles that are nailed into the ceiling, his boney legs barely grazing the floor. He has no clothes on his tiny frame, bright red, crimson blood the only thing covering his once pale skin. I know him.

"Attention group one!" His voice is so loud, so evil. It rings through my ears, down to my stomach, making me feel physically sick. The speaker continues to display the sound of his malicious voice, though I pay no mind to his words, my attention solely focused on the small boy slightly swaying back and forth in his restraints.

"This is what happens when you try to escape. . . Enjoy the show."

The speaker cuts and the room goes quiet, the people around me too scared to say another word. I don't know how long we wait for, but it can't be too long before a couple of guards enter the room the boy is in and unchain him from the restraints. My palms sweat and my heart races in anticipation as I watch the scene unfold. The boy struggles and screams, his loud shouts coming through the intercom.

He pleads at them to stop, yells at them to let him go as he cries and thrashes against them. His small body isn't strong enough, though, not against the two large guards. They strap him down to the clinical bed that is wheeled in moments later, securing his legs into the leather restraints, doing the same with his wrists afterwards.

His scared, shaking body makes my stomach churn as his loud cries suffocate the air around me. They wheel in a metal table filled with different tools on it and bile rises in my throat. The things on there cause permanent damage, and if a subject is damaged beyond the point of full recovery, they're useless.

Once they're useless... they're dead.

Realising that they're going to kill the boy with slow, precise torture to cause maximum pain, my fists bang against the glass, pounding with a force so strong it shakes the panel. "¡Déjalo!" I shout angrily, desperately, my voice cracking. It's frustrating to know that they won't let him go, no matter how hard my fists hit the window, or how loudly I yell.

I continue to scream and shout as they carve into his skin with different tools, cut off different parts of him. He fades in and out of consciousness, switching between sobbing and passing out, and everybody in the room turns away.

But I don't.

I watch the whole thing with unblinking eyes as I give up trying to make them stop. It's no use. Instead, I memorise every detail of the two guards I haven't seen before, every tool they use, and swear to myself I'm going to have as much fun doing this to them as they had doing it to the defenceless boy strapped down to the table.

"Everybody learnt their lesson?" The creepy voice comes over the speaker once again, riling me up and making my anger skyrocket. "None of you are leaving here. This is you're new life. Get used to it. Anybody that tries to leave will get the same treatment. Dismissed."

My eyes follow the camera in the room that has a small dot of a red light blinking next to it, letting me know it's on and we're being watched. I frown at it with disgust before slowly, a small smile casts over the bottom of my face and my head tilts to the side.

I think I'm going to have fun with him the most.

I stir awake and open my eyes, the ceiling coming into my blurry view. My head is pounding and there's a horrible throb behind my eyes and my neck feels stiff. I feel like utter shit. Especially after the dream that leaves my stomach twisting painfully.

I rarely dream about that boy in the room. He wasn't anything of significance and I haven't thought about him since the last random nightmare I had about him a couple of months ago.

I don't remember his face anymore, only that he had the palest blue eyes. The features of his face are a blur and the more I try to picture him, the more my head hurts.

He was young, though, I remember that. I think he was on the same cell block as me, but I can't be too sure. He wasn't there for long before he was killed for trying to escape. He wasn't the only person to try and leave but he sure was the last. The example that was made of him had the other subjects too scared to ever attempt to leave.

Apart from me.

But the difference was, I actually succeeded. Although, I was smart enough to not do it on my own and I had a pretty good partner in crime. Or at least that's what Jace called himself. I doubt I would've been able to leave without him; I probably would've ended up like the kid that tried to get out alone.

___

"Ah, Chevy, I feel like I haven't seen you in a while," Glenn offers me a wide smile as I walk into the garage. I don't say anything much in response, just offer a nod in acknowledgment to let him know I heard him. "I got a car for you out back if you want to take that," he wipes his hands together as he speaks, gesturing out towards the back of the shop.

"What's wrong with it?" I ask, tying my hair up with a scrunchie. Jace said something about the hair ties being too harsh on my hair and that these scrunchie things were what I should be using. I didn't take his advice and continued using what I always had until he threw all my hair ties out and replaced them with what I'm using now.

So fucking overbearing.

"Everything," he scoffs. "I've actually been waiting for you to come in to fix it because you seem to be the best mechanic I've had," he states with a weird look on his face, like he's extremely happy about that fact. I ignore it. "If you could get it ready by the end of the week, I'll give you a bonus."

I roll my eyes. "You got the parts?" He nods his head. "Then I'll have it ready by the end of the day. And keep your bonus, viejo, I don't need your money."

"It's always a pleasure, Kody," he tells me sarcastically. "Now go on back and get to work."

Walking past him without another word, I head to where the piece of shit car is at the back.

Glenn really wasn't lying when he said it felt like it had been a while since he last saw me, considering I can barely remember the last time I was here for a full day. I've come in a few times over the weeks, but the days have been pretty tame so I haven't really been needed. The deal was I only work on the days it's busy or — after Glenn saw how good I was at the job— when a real broken up car comes in.

I was offered a full, part-time job here, but I declined the offer. I don't really need the money and I'd rather not spend my days with people I don't need to be spending my days with. Jace also said I might not be ready for it mentally, seeing as I can hardly deal with school without wanting to slash somebody's throat open, and I think he might be right on this one.

"Well look who's back," Mike comes up to my side, looking into the engine I'm working on. He has his hands shoved in to his pockets and his overalls are tied at the waist, revealing a grease-covered white t-shirt.

He does this a lot. Whenever I'm in, he always wanders over and bugs the shit out of me for no apparent reason. He gets easily distracted, I've noticed, and it seems every once in a while he has to take a break from whatever it is he's doing before going back to it in order to keep his concentration. I think there's a word for it— like it's an actual mental issue. Jace has something similar, but I can't remember what it's called.

"Who?" I question back, not really paying attention to him. I've become accustomed to his presence and he's the only one I seem to tolerate. The other workers don't interact with him much, they seem to leave him out and distance themselves from him, but I don't quite understand why. Despite how annoying he is, he's not malicious in any way, nor is he rude or too overbearing or talkative. I've definitely met more irritating people, with personalities much worse than his, so I don't understand their problem with him.

"You," he replies, fidgeting on his feet. I shoot him an annoyed look and he stops. "Finally fixing this piece of shit then," he observes me as I continue to work.

"Do you need something?" I look at him over my shoulder, watching as he blinks excessively. I'm sure that's another one of his issues, too. I don't know if it's a nerves thing, or some sort of twitch, but I heard one of the guys take the piss out of him for it, so I assume it's something more than just a quirk.

Though, after the guy almost lost his fingers when I 'accidentally' slammed the hood of a car down on them after he made a poor joke at the blonde's expense, he started to keep the comments to himself.

"No. I was just bored over there. Tyre change," he explains briefly, and I nod my head, getting back to my main focus. "So where have you been lately?" He continues to make conversation as he leans against the from of the car. "It's been ages since I last saw you, I swear."

"What is it with you and Glenn?" I mumble rhetorically. "I don't need to see you every fucking day."

Mike huffs, "Well I know that. I'm just making an observation, chill out."

"Don't you have a job to do, blinky?" A voice calls out from behind us, interrupting what I was going to say. "Stop flirting with Kody and do what you're being paid for... unless you are being paid."

"You don't have to be disrespectful, Joe," Mike mutters with an embarrassed blush to his tanned cheeks as I turn around. He does that a lot, too. "We were just talking."

My eyes find Joe's buff figure as he stands with his arms crossed, the muscles straining against the sleeves of his overalls. He rolls his brown eyes at the blonde guy and scoffs. "If she can't hack it, she shouldn't be working in a place like this, blinky. Nor should you, if we're being honest."

My jaw clenches as he blatantly disregards my presence, though still talks about me as if I'm not standing right here.

"She has every right to work here," Mike defends before I can say anything. This is the first time I've seen him stick up for himself (or technically me) so I stay quiet and let him handle it for now. I'll add my two cents in when it's appropriate.

"It's not a place for a little girl," Joe disagrees as he walks towards us with large strides. He's muscular, but he isn't the tallest, though the height he does have is made up mostly of his long legs rather than his short abdomen. "Or ADHD, twitching dumb fucks like you."

"Back off, asshole," I intervene as he gets too close to Mike who's gone quiet. The blonde might be tall and in good shape, but he's easily intimidated and skittish. "Or I swear to God this time you'll lose the fingers."

Joe glares down at me and slaps my hand away, causing me to shove harshly at his chest in retaliation. He stumbles over his feet as he takes a few steps back, not expecting my push or the force behind it. I notice him getting pissed off and can't help but wiggle my toes. I've wanted a reason to break his jaw for some time now.

Wow.... Jace really was right— I'm not stable enough to be working full time.

"You know, all because you're a girl doesn't mean I won't hesitate to hit you back," he snapped angrily, steadying himself as he catches his balance.

"C-come on, Joe, chill out," Mike says softly, trying to diffuse the situation. He takes a step in front of me like his stuttering ass is going to be able to do anything. "This is all just unnecessary."

And while I agree that, yes, it is all very unnecessary, I'm not going to give up the opportunity to punch the smug, ugly prick in the face.

For weeks I've had to watch him stroll around the place like he fucking owns it just because he's Glenn's brother in law— or some bullshit like that— talking shit about everything and everyone. Not only is he the most annoying, obnoxious, self-centred, despicable human being I've ever fucking met, his face also bugs the shit out of me.

It's just one of those faces I just want to rearrange. So smug and ugly.

"Beat it, blinky."

"Don't— don't call me that," Mike snaps weakly, causing me to roll my eyes at his back. "And I'm not leaving her here with you, so you can get that idea out y-your head."

Joe snorts, pushing Mike out of his way. Before he can get to me though, Glenn comes out of his office and calls for Joe. "What do you think this is? A high school playground?" He barks angrily, seeing the three of us standing around. "Stop gossiping and get back to work."

"What high school even has a playground?" Mike asks himself quietly under his breath as Joe turns to leave after shooting us a nasty glare. I roll my eyes at the both of them— each childish in their own way— before getting back to work. "Sorry about him, Kody," Mike apologises, the nervous stutter gone and his voice back to normal; no longer weak or intimidated. "He's an asshole."

"I know he is. But you need to stop acting like a little bitch whenever he speaks to you. It's pathetic," I tell him harshly, watching from the corner of my eye as he lowers his gaze and rubs at his chest. He does it when he feels called out or awkward.

"I know," he sighs dejectedly as I lean over the engine again. "He just... Nevermind. But thank you for sticking up for me. No one's ever done that before aside from Glenn, and I appreciate it."

"Piss off now."

He laughs. "Don't work yourself too hard, Kody."

*

When I leave the garage, it's later than the usual closing time. The November sky darkens early anyway, so around this time it's pitch black. I know when I get in I'll still have to have that dreaded conversation with Jace about what happened on Saturday, but I'm still not really up for it, so I decide to take a longer route back.

I've been able to avoid Jace for two days now. On Sunday I went into the garage, even though it was closed, to work on the car I had been fixing up for myself because I hadn't had the chance to do much of that lately. On Monday I had school, though I ditched that to spend the day at the gym and a couple of hours in the shooting range. And today I spent my time wondering around town before I went into work.

Now, though, I doubt I'll be able to avoid him anymore, but the longer I can put it off, the better.

I take a turn into the local park, the swings blowing in the harsh wind and making the chains squeak and groan. I've never been here before. I pass it a few times on my way to and from places, however, I have never seen a reason to pass the gates. It's quite a big park and the play stuff looks updated and new as well as having freshly painted benches, but I still find it distasteful.

I remember Nine telling me about the swings when she used to tell me stories about her life before the facility. She mentioned her dad taking her to a park, but I never knew what she was on about no matter how much she tried to explain it. Essentially, it was like trying to describe colours to a blind person.

"Kody," I hear her whisper, but as I look around, she isn't to be seen. I roll my eyes in annoyance. Of course she'd appear the second one simple thought crosses my mind. "No, Kody, seriously, now's not the time to ignore me."

I shake my head, willing her voice to go away as I cross the lengthy park. It's hard to understand her with all the other whispers intertwining with her own, but I manage to hear her clear enough to notice the worry.

"Kody, you need to listen. Someone's—."

And before she can finish what she was going to say, I feel a pair of arms wrap around me from behind.

___

Author's Note

So I was actually going to give you all a double update and wait for the next chapter to be ready to upload them both.... however I decided I wanted to leave you guys on a cliffhanger because I'm feeling bitchy this morning (:

Just kidding... but not really because I am genuinely gonna leave it here for the time being.

Also, I noticed a lot of you have your own ideas of what you want to happen in this book (mainly just little scenes and stuff like that) however, I do have a few plans for this series already and not a lot of leeway to add in random parts because I'm already unsure how I'm going to fit everything in as it is.

But... I have decided to take your ideas into consideration and, if you'd like, add them in as bonus chapters at the end (giving you credit of course).

That being said, let me know now if you want something of that sort to happen with one of your ideas so I can get it sorted, because obviously I can't just add in a random chapter at the end and have it not fit in with the storyline, so I'd have to mention it briefly in one of the chapters beforehand... does that make sense?

Anyhoo, let me know :)