"Morning, Zack. Did you sleep well?" said my Mum.

I rubbed my head "Eeh yeah. What time is it?"

"Almost eleven o' clock!"

"Oh! Guess I should get up then!"

Suddenly, the sound of gunshots filled the room.

"What's that?" I shouted, terrified.

The door burst open, and my mother screamed.

Before I could say anything else, Antonio and his men walked in.

"Die" said Antonio, pointing his gun at me.

"Nooo!" I shouted.

I suddenly sat up. The sweat was pouring off my body and I was sweating like mad. But it had just been a dream. I rubbed my face and leaned back against the wall, while trying to keep calm.

The last thing I had remebered was back in the alley, trying to run away from the killers, before getting hit in the back by a bullet. Now (not surprisingly), I was back in the base once more, but not in my room; in the cold smelly basement I had been put in the first day.

Why and how was I even alive? I had been shot, for goodness sake! But after thinking it through a little, I took in account that maybe it had just been a tranquilizer dart, because my back didn't even hurt in the slightest.

Well, however I put it, my escape had been a great fail. A fail that had cost the life of my best friend. Oh, Barry! Every time I thought about him, a shiver went up my spine. He had always been a decent guy. He was different than the rest of the ugly, cruel, savage assassins. But now he was dead. My best and only friend was no more.

These criminals were just too powerful. Barry had even sacrificed himself to save me, but in the end, it had all been for nothing. For these type of people, this was just life. Another day, another murder. It's what they did, after all.

I couldn't cope with it. I just couldn't. So I sat there, grieving Barry's death, the hours passing by.

But after a while, my attitude started to change: My sorrow and tears were wiped away, replaced by an anger that boiled in my veins with frustration and pure hatred.

Antonio had ripped my life apart. He had separated me from my family and forced me to become something that I had never wanted.

He wanted a killer? I was going to give him one. He had killed my friend, so now, it was my turn: I was going to kill him.

***

The door unlocked and opened. I looked up, to see that Antonio was there.

"What?" I asked,  looking bored.

"You're coming with me" he answered, taking out a gun "Let's go!"

I got up and did what he said.

"What are you going to do with me now? Kill me?" I said with a sneer.

I didn't even mind the punch in the back I got as a response. In fact, maybe it would be better if they shot me in the head, then I wouldn't have to bear with them anymore. But for some reason, I got the feeling that they weren't going to do that, because they could've done it back in the alleyway, when they had the chance.

"Keep walking" growled Antonio.

We walked through a few corridors until I we arrived at the staircase where I had gone the night before with Barry. But Antonio just pointed through the set of double doors, to the right. One of the other men with us unlocked them with a swipe card and let us through.

I almost gasped at what was on the other side. We found ourselves in a big room, full of machines and things I didn't recognize. That's when I realized that we were in a science lab.

"Why are we here?" I asked slowly.

"Wait and see" said Antonio with a grin, his eyes gleaming.

Suddenly, a strong pair of hands grabbed me by my arms and pushed me down on to a chair.

"What the-" I said.

More people came with ropes, and tied my hands to the chair.

"What are you doing?" I said, wriggling to get free. 

But it was useless. They were too strong, and they ended up bounding my hands and feet. I could barely move.

The chair somehow reminded me to a dentist's one, which was sort of comfortable but leaned back.

"Hello, kid" said Baldie, appearing out of no-where.

"Alright, get the equipment ready" said Antonio.

People bustled about, wheeling machines and doing other things.

"It's ready" said someone.

"This won't hurt one bit" said Baldie with an evil cackle.

I spat at him. "Get off me, you filthy psycopath!"

Suddenly, something plunged into my body, just at the right side of my neck. It was a long needle. My eyesight went blurry for a few seconds and a shot of pain went through my body, but I recovered instantly.

"What on earth was that?" I asked.

Antonio then appeared in my vision.

"Okay, Zack" he said "I'll be honest with you: we've just planted a bomb in your neck"

"What? Are you crazy?!" I shouted at him.

"No, I'm not. The only reason we did this is because we want to control you"

I glared at him with hatred.

"Just in case you try to escape again, all we need to do is press this button" he continued, holding up a little object with a big red button on it "And straight after that... you die. The whole thing only lasts about sixty seconds"

He then abruptly started to laugh out loud.

"This guy's completely whacko" I thought.

"Isn't it great what technology can do these days, right? Amazing." he said "Anyway, I would chose my moves carefully, if I were you Zack. Remember..."

He dangled the little button in his hand, with a cruel smile on his face.

I hated him. I hated him with all my heart. 

"One day, you are going to pay for this, Antonio. I said menacingly "You are going to pay"

"Ooh, scary" he said sarcastically "Men, take him away!" 

"You are going to pay!" I repeated frustratedly, as the killers untied me and dragged me out of the lab.

"Oh yes, and Wade" he said to Baldie.

So that was Baldie's name. Pff, Wade. What a rubbish name.

"Beat him up" said Antonio "See if you can get some sense in to him"

Wade grinned stupidly, and helped to drag me all the way back to my ugly basement.

"C'mon Zack" he said "Let's have a bit of fun!"

I screamed before the fists began to rise and fall over my body.