Under Loch and Key

by Kathryn Cockrill

  “Eli, are you okay?” I crouched down next to him. He didn’t seem angry now, just scared. I’d been so used to Eli comforting me that I almost forgot what it was like for it to be the other way around. He nodded but didn’t relax. There wasn’t much I could do at the moment, not when we were so far away from home. I took off my jumper and balled it up. “Maybe you should try getting some sleep? I’ll stay up for a few hours.” He nodded again, still staring into the distance, but he let me push him down, resting his head on my jumper. I moved over, turned the light off and sat in one of the chairs, able to see both the door and the window from the faint moonlight. Nothing seemed to be moving outside and after a few minutes Eli’s breathing settled into something deep and peaceful. I tried to resist the call of sleep, my eyes heavy in the darkness, but eventually my head lolled to the side as I drifted off.

  I woke to Eli shaking my shoulder.

  “Ari.” He hissed urgently, “Something is outside.” I woke up immediately, blinking off the last vestiges of sleep. I could hear the scuffling as well, against the wood of the building.

  We shouldn’t have stopped.

  Feeling around for my backpack, I pulled out the first thing I could to use as a weapon. It turned out to be the torch. The shuffling increased, coming from directly under the door now. I tightened my grip on the torch, waiting for the inevitable break in. Instead, the shuffling stopped and a couple of seconds later a braying howl filled the air.

  It’s a fox.

  I almost rolled my eyes. Eli had relaxed as well. I let my hand drop, the torch falling back into my backpack. We were okay. I squeezed Eli’s hand, waiting for him to squeeze back. He didn’t. A split second later, he crumpled face first into the floor, hitting the wood with a concerning thunk.

  “Eli?!” A laugh came from behind me in the darkness and my voice dried up in my throat.

  “He can’t hear you sweetheart.” Rick. I tried to scramble up, but strong hands pinned me down against the harsh wood of the chair. There was another movement in front of me. I couldn’t tell how many were in here, but I knew I didn’t have a chance against even one of them. “You really shouldn’t have run away. You know that was a stupid move. Not only have you failed, but you’ve ruined any cautious truce Eli had. He is now my prisoner. And you my dear, are little more than collateral damage.” The person I’d sensed in front of me moved again and I struggled against the hands but they stayed firm. I tried to calm my breathing, but the darkness was amplifying the anxiety I was feeling.

  “She could be useful.” It was whispered behind me. I knew it was Caden, but I didn’t know why he wasn’t all for me being killed.

  “She’s expendable.” I shivered at the lack of emotion.

  “Not to him.” It was delivered with the finality of someone who knew they had won their argument. The hands pinning me down relaxed slightly and someone moved through the darkness again.

  “You’re lucky Caden has taken it upon himself to act as your spokesperson. But I agree with him. You could be useful. Eli has taken a turn for the worse recently, especially with his episodes and we need something to control him. I can’t keep placating him. I need him to move forward with the Lycan Project and I don’t have time for him to think he is in charge.” There was a tapping sound, like fingers drumming on wood, “So Miss Farrow, where does that leave us? With you in my hands, I think. Caden, take her and Eli back to base. I’ll meet you there.” He stalked across the floorboard, kicking the boxes out of the way and opening the door. Moonlight streamed in, momentarily illuminating him but he quickly shut the door again. There was a beat of silence, then a rush of movement. Caden was in front of him, his face so close to mine that I could feel his breath on my lips.

  “You were an idiot to think you could get away. Haven’t you learnt that? We will win.”

  “And yet you keep saving me. Why is that?” I couldn’t help it. I wanted to goad him. He laughed, stepping back.

  “There’s something about your prize being claimed by someone else that makes a guy do crazy things.” I knew he wasn’t talking about me, but about killing me.

  He’s a dick.

  Before I could think up a retort, I felt a needle press into my neck and the world fizzled into darkness.

  Chapter 16

  When I came to, the first thing I noticed was that my wrists were restrained. I could feel the rough fibres of the rope against my skin. Blinking against the heavy fog of my brain, I looked down to see thick lines of rope tying my arms to a chair. The memory of the needle came rushing back in and I struggled against the ropes, trying to find some give in them but it was no use. As I struggled, I realised I could see a lot of my skin through my swimming vision. I was only wearing my bra and underwear.

  “Not fun is it?” Caden’s voice broke through my struggle, “Waking up to find yourself tied to a chair.” He bit the words at me, but I couldn’t see where they’d come from. In fact, the only thing that seemed to be illuminated in the room was me. When I didn’t respond, he carried on. “I can see it from your side though. It’s quite satisfying to watch.” He trailed off with a throaty chuckle. There was a shuffling of fabric behind me, the sound of denim scraping across a rough surface, before his face appeared by the side of me. Blearily I turned my head, still woozy from whatever drugs they’d pumped into me. As I did, the world wobbled and I quickly tried to right myself, but all my limbs were tied down, leaving my head spinning.

  “Why…couldn’t…you…just…give…up…” Each word was difficult, the letters snaking up my throat and hooking themselves on my tongue. Caden let out a snort and crouched in front of me, his grey eyes the only part of him that wasn’t wavering in my gaze.

  “I thought you’d have realised by now that I don’t give up. I’ll play the long game. It would have been satisfying to do away with you straight away, especially after all the trouble you’ve caused me with Rick, but then Rick came up with an even better suggestion. You probably won’t agree.” I caught a glimpse of his perfect teeth through my dizziness, but I couldn’t keep them straight. I knew that whatever they had planned was going to be painful and I knew that I was probably going to die and with my head spinning like a carousel, there was nothing I could even do to think my way out of it. “But first, let’s give you a little backstory, shall we? Since we’ve got a bit of time to kill before the main event.”

  He stood up and dragged a chair over, the legs scraping against the floor with an ear-splitting screech. I winced against it, but I couldn’t cover my ears, no matter how hard my fingers strained against their bonds. He lounged in the chair, one leg hooked over the arm, grinning at me. This was the Caden from the Loch, no doubt in my mind. That’s how I knew he was going to kill me; the fervour in his eyes as he looked at me. Whatever help he’d given me, whatever feelings he may have once had for me, had clearly been an act, a way to get what he wanted, his revenge. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, taking a couple of deep breaths. I didn’t want to face whatever was coming whilst I felt like I was on a Waltzer at the village fair. When I opened them again, the spinning had lessened, now a gentle wave that crashed over me every few seconds. I could deal with that. Caden was watching me with amusement. We stared at each other for a couple more seconds before he clapped his hands together,

  “Right. Let’s start the show, shall we?” He paused, as if he was waiting for a response. I spat on the ground in front of him. “Charming. I think the very best place to start is with the real story of your dear brother Eli, not the pile of bullshit he gave you in Rick’s office. I mean the kidnapping is true. But when he got here and realised what was going on, he wasn’t scared of it. He was excited. He wanted to figure out the puzzle. Those other creatures you found in the lab, they weren’t requested. He just started to experiment with what he could do.” I shook my head, unwilling to believe that Eli would do that. That wasn’t my brother. “Shake your head all you like sweetheart, but it’s true. Of course, it got worse after he started experimenting on himse
lf.”

  My stomach dropped like a lead weight.

  “Yeah, I can see you knew something was wrong. It wasn’t anything crazy, but he started using the different human components that he’d been attempting with the animals, like the growth accelerant, on himself. He made himself stronger and smarter and faster. To begin with, Rick was thrilled, and Eli was given more freedom to experiment. But, as most of the studies had shown, some of these human components came with unknown side effects. Eli’s behaviour became erratic; one moment he was the same boy we’d taken from his room in the middle of the night, the next he was in such a fit of rage that he was a danger to anyone around him. I think even Rick, crazy bastard that he is, could see Eli was on a path of self-destruction. But there was no way he was losing his chief scientist. So, he came up with a mixture of drugs that would calm Eli down every time he had an episode and essentially managed to control his outbursts…”

  Just like another one of the monsters… No. Eli’s not a monster.

  “But in Eli’s mind, nothing was wrong. He started talking about you, almost constantly. He had overheard one of my reports and was suddenly obsessed. He was convinced you would come for him. Rick couldn’t let that happen; he would lose any control he had over Eli if you showed up and yet, somehow you managed it. If I didn’t hate you, I would admire you Ari. You’ve somehow dealt with a lot of shit to get here; it’s a shame it would never have worked. I don’t even know why Rick decided to bring Eli to you. It was like he thought it would somehow fix Eli. Well…” he fixed me with a look, “It obviously didn’t. You were lucky Eli didn’t have an episode and hurt you.”

  I thought back to the lab and Eli’s anger. I couldn’t focus on everything else Caden had said. I didn’t want to believe what he was saying, but I’d seen Eli turn into someone I’d never known in an instant. It made sense. Since I’d seen him again it was like he was almost my brother, but there was something keeping him from being the brother I’d lost. Other bits of it made sense as well, like his bullshit reasoning for letting them do horrible things to the animals. He hadn’t really seemed remorseful, even when I confronted him. He just seemed to want to cover it up from me. I’d seen him passionate about his projects before, all through school, but I had never imagined it would get to this, to this crazed zeal that removed his humanity. As my mind raced through all the new information, Caden lulled into a charged silence. When I finally met his eyes again, he looked expectant,

  “How… can I trust… you’re telling me the… truth? You weren’t… even here. You… you were off…playing pretend…with me.” At least I could string a couple of words together this time. Caden’s jaw clenched, expression coated in… disappointment?

  “I watched the security footage and read Rick and the other scientists’ reports when I got back.” He waved a hand in the air, as if it was inconsequential. Then his eyes narrowed, “For some reason, you decided to try and escape. I think you broke something in Eli. He suddenly wanted to be the older brother he used to be to you; it was like he mentally renounced who he has been for the past three years, trying to cover it up from you so you wouldn’t think of him differently. I don’t understand it. Although I never had siblings, so maybe I never will. But you know Eli wouldn’t have been able to stay your brother from three years ago forever, right?” he raised an eyebrow at me and sighed when I didn’t reply. “You’re not completely stupid, so I know you realise that. How did you think we wouldn’t find you? If you’d run back to your parents? I’d love to know what your plans were. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time for that. See, our problem now is, whatever you broke in Eli, we can’t fix. He’s refusing to do anything, screaming that he wants to see you. Given how badly that went last time, obviously we aren’t going to let you two be in a room alone together. But he’ll get to see you. Eli might have been the bargaining chip before, but now it’s your turn. In order to get him to co-operate, we need him to understand that there will be consequences and, since the only thing he’s focussed on is you, well…” he trailed off, smirking.

  The consequences will be me.

  I’d known it since he’d started talking. It was all leading up to a grand reveal, that I obviously had a key part in, given that I was tied to a chair. That was never going to be anything good. But the only thing I could take from this, if I was a bargaining chip, I would have to remain alive, at least for now. Caden moved suddenly, swinging his leg down from the arm of the chair and leaning forward, propping his elbows on his knees, hair falling into my face. He had it down now, the ends reaching mid torso.

  “Given, my dear, that you are the bargain, it’s also to be said that you won’t get to see Eli. But…” he stood up and grabbed something from behind me, placing it on a nearby table. I squinted to make it out, “He’ll be able to see you.” He pressed something and a little red light started blinking,

  It’s a camera.

  There was more movement, some rattling and scraping and then Caden reappeared, setting something down by his side. He flashed me a grin,

  “I think it’s time that you and I show Eli what happens when he doesn’t cooperate…” the words were uttered directly into the camera, the red light a pin-point flame in the darkness. He leant down next to him and pulled something out, showing it first to the camera and then me. The blade glinted under the harsh lightbulb above me, slithers of light dancing on the sharp edge. I tried to push down the fear. I didn’t want Caden to see it. His eyes were storms now, raging, ready to create chaos.

  With slow, deliberate movements, he moved the knife towards me, placing it on my cheek. I sucked in a breath that I know he heard from the low chuckle that drifted through the air. The knife was dragged lightly down my face, curving around my jaw and the soft skin of my neck. I could feel my pulse jump out to greet it, my heart hammering as he paused for a second, enjoying it. But he didn’t strike; instead he continued to drag the tip of the knife down my chest, feather-light, until he reached the edge of my ribcage. His head turned to look at the camera for a split second before snapping his face back round and slashing the knife down my ribs. White-hot pain lanced through me, the knife leaving behind a line of fire in its wake. I gasped as he moved away; I could see a thin line of my blood clinging to the edge of the knife. I didn’t think it was deep; it wasn’t meant to be. He needed to cause me pain, to use the nerve-endings and a gradual build up.

  I resolved to keep my reactions to a minimum. Eli was no doubt being forced to watch and if I cried out, it would only make it worse. Caden wiped off the knife with a small rag, making sure he did it in full view of the camera. Once it was cleaned, he turned his attention back to me, sliding the knife under my chin to force my head up,

  “What should I cut next?” His voice was low, but I knew the camera could pick it up. He licked his bottom lip, moving my head left and right with the blade, pressing just enough for it to hurt but not enough to draw blood. “Your pretty little face? Mmm, I could enjoy that. How about I carve a line from here” he moved the knife, quick as a whip, to the edge of my eyebrow, “to here?” and dragged it down to the corner of my mouth. I pressed my lips together. I wasn’t going to answer him. He grinned even wider and looked over his shoulder, “What do you think Eli? How would your poor little sister look with her face slashed up? I don’t mind… I’ll enjoy it.”

  Before I even had time to steel myself, the knife was back on my ribs, another gash parallel to the first. I managed to stop my gasp, biting down on my lip. I could feel the blood trickling in hot lines down my torso now. “How long do you think it would take her to bleed out like this Eli? I’ll just keep cutting and cutting… how long can your sister last?” Slash. Another line. I made a sound at the back of my throat. I heard the knife clatter down onto something and looked up to see Caden pick up a pair of pliers. He gripped my mouth, hard, forcing it open. I twisted my head in his grip, but he just held on tighter, still wearing that grin. He tapped the top of the pliers against my teeth, eliciting a clacking sound. �
��What if I pulled out her teeth? That would make her scream, I guarantee it. Would you co-operate then Eli? If I…” he gripped one of my canines with the pliers, “Pulled this out?” I closed my eyes, waiting for the pull. He chuckled instead, releasing my tooth and putting the pliers back on the tray.

  I’d started shivering. The room was cold anyway and my lack of clothing, combined with the fear of what he was going to do had caused my body to react. I clenched my hands to try and hide the shaking, but he saw.

  “Oh look, she’s shaking. How much do you love your sister Eli?” I glared at him as my teeth chattered. He blew me a kiss and picked up a larger, longer blade. “I don’t think teeth pulling is enough, do you?” Kicking the chair away, he knelt down in front of me and tugged at the bandage on my leg, unwrapping it. As it fell to the floor, he sucked in a breath, “This looks bad Eli. I’m sure it’s incredibly painful. What would happen if I did this, I wonder?” I screamed as he drove the knife into the edge of the wound, slashing upwards through the stitches. I tried to stop, but the searing pain beat through me. As he pulled the knife back, I could see it was coated in thick, dried blood, scabs clinging to the edge of the blade. Tears began streaming down my face as I gasped in air around the pain.

  Breathe…one…two…it hurts so much…

  Caden didn’t clean the knife this time. Instead he ran it down my cheek, leaving behind a wet trail. I cringed away from its touch.