by Dave Ferraro
Chapter Two
After they cut the guy down from his chains, he regained consciousness again, taking in the scene with what Shanna assumed was shock. Nothing seemed to reach his eyes, as if his soul was dead.
He’s in a lot of pain, Shanna told herself, watching him. She swallowed hard, recalling her own experience, seeing her parents murdered before her eyes when she was a little girl, demons burying blades deep in their stomachs. Squeezing her eyes shut, she realized that this boy had had that same thing happen to him. The older man and woman were most likely people he’d known. Probably his parents. The monsters had displayed them on the table in front of him, so he could watch them suffer. Shanna’s parents had been lucky, as they’d died quickly. This boy’s family hadn’t been so lucky. They’d been tortured and mutilated for hours, perhaps days, in front of their child, who’d had no choice but to watch.
Hunter helped two other scholars cut the shackles from his legs and hands, without any protests issuing from the victim. As another scholar came in with a robe to wrap him in, Shanna took it from her and walked up to the boy as Hunter pulled the last of the chains from his wrists. She carefully helped him into the robe and pulled it tightly closed. The boy looked into her eyes as she did so, but he still didn’t seem to see her.
“Come on,” Hunter said, placing a hand on Shanna’s shoulder. “They’re going to take him somewhere safe.”
Shanna glanced back at him. “Where?”
“A safe house nearby. They’ll treat his wounds, get him cleaned up, then try to piece together what happened in this room, if he remembers anything.”
Shanna nodded slowly. “I want to go with him.”
Hunter frowned. “That’s hardly necessary. He’ll be well-”
“I want to be there,” she interrupted, more forcefully. “I know what he’s going through. He needs a friend right now, a familiar face, someone who knows what this is like. He doesn’t need pointless sympathy and an interrogation.”
Holding her gaze for a moment, Hunter relented. “Fine. I’ll let Valor know where you’ve gone. But you have to let the scholars do their job. No interference.”
“I won’t get in the way,” she assured him, then smiled. “Thanks.”
Hunter nodded and followed as the other scholars led the boy out of the room.
As they walked through the warehouse, Cameron caught sight of her and jogged over. “Hey, what’s going on?” he asked, taking in the guy covered in blood. He frowned as he put a hand on her back and it came back sticky. He looked down at his scarlet hand. “Blood?” He looked up at her with concern, turning her around to get a good look.
“It’s nothing,” she assured him. “I slipped and…I just got covered in it. It’s not…it’s nothing to be worried about. A shower is all I need.”
He nodded reluctantly. “Alright.” He smiled. “Leave it up to you to get covered in blood just by walking around.”
She looked up at him distractedly and offered him a half-smile. “I’m going to help the scholars, make sure he’s okay,” she told him.
Cameron looked surprised. “Oh, okay. Good luck then.” He watched as she left, without so much as a backward glance in his direction.
Once outside of the warehouse, they loaded the guy into one of the vans and forced him to sit down.
“He’s dehydrated,” one of the scholars told her as he hooked an IV up to the man. “He’ll be okay though.”
Shanna nodded absently as another figure entered the van and took a seat beside her.
“Hey, Shanna.”
Shanna turned to see Felicia next to her. “Hello, Felicia. I haven’t seen you in awhile.”
“Yeah, well, I’m here now.”
“Any luck picking up anything inside?”
Felicia shrugged, brushing her wavy black hair back over her shoulders. “I got a few images that I’d rather forget, but it just seemed like one big monster party.”
Shanna nodded.
“Hunter thinks I might be able to help with our one witness.”
“He’s the only survivor then?”
“Yep. The others were either already dead before we got here, or were killed hastily by the monsters as we stormed the building.”
“But they left him untouched,” Shanna noted, looking down at him. He’d closed his eyes, as if sleeping. He almost looked peaceful. “They probably think it’s more torture if they keep him alive with the memories of what they did. More interesting not to kill him.”
Felicia sighed. “You’re taking this rather personally. It’s hitting a little close to home, isn’t it?”
Shanna shrugged. “I guess you could say that.”
“Well, if he’s one of the lucky ones, he won’t remember any of this after a few days.”
“Lucky?” Shanna scoffed. “I don’t know which would be worse: not knowing what really happened to my family, or remembering in vivid detail. Either way, he’s not going to be able to put this behind him anytime soon. He’s going to live out the rest of his life feeling this…weight.” She swallowed hard.
Felicia put an arm around her, but didn’t say anything else. For that, Shanna was grateful.