"Urgh," I groaned, sitting up and clutching my head in my hands...or tried to. One of my hands was handcuffed to a radiator. I tugged on them, trying to see if I could yank them off but of course I couldn't. Panicking, I searched the room for Josh. The room I was in was basically bare. Plastic sheets fluttered in the wind, the breeze coming from the broken window to my right. The floor was cold and grey, like the walls. I shivered, partly from the cold but also because of how much it looked like Triple's base.

'Josh!' I called out in my mind. There was no reply. 'Josh, please answer me!' Maybe we were too far away from each other? That's never been a problem before.

I racked my brain to remember what happened. Jackie and Jack and Harry. They betrayed us to Charles Hunt. The someone shot us...

My eyes fell on the sixteen year old boy at the end of the room. He was sitting on a chair, with his back to me, at a desk which was littered with computers. His long slender fingers glided across the keyboards at amazing speed. As he did, I noticed a skull tattoo on his hand.

Charles Hunt.

Again I yanked on the handcuffs, making a clanking sound. "Please stop doing that," he said, not turning away from his laptop and still typing. "It's very annoying."

"Charles Hunt," I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "Where's Josh? What have you done to him? Where am I?"

"You know," Hunt said. "The first thing I learnt about you two is that you're stronger together and you hate it when you're apart. So naturally, that's what I did. You really shouldn't make your weakness so noticeable."

"Where is Josh?" I said again, this time getting angry.

"He's not far, don't you worry," Hunt said. He finally turned and his spinning chair and rolled towards me. His face was level with mine as he leaned on his knees. This was the first time I had got a good look at him. He had mousy brown hair and eyes and was wearing a beige jacket with a white shirt. He looked pretty normal but even I had to admit he was handsome.

"So, Erin," Hunt continued. "You're going to help me. I know a little about you but only what the files I can access had in them. There is one file that I can't get into, and I think you can help me with that."

"I can't," I said. Hunt looked at me then slapped me around the face.

"I forgot to mention that Josh is awake and watching everything that is happening," he said as I gasped. I lifted up my face, my cheek stinging. "Everything that hurts you, hurts him, am I right?" He pulled his phone out of his pocket. On it, was a live feed of Josh, handcuffed to a radiator like me. He was watching a T.V. screen with Hunt and I on it and screaming my name.

"If you don't help me, Erin," Hunt said quietly. "I'll have to do something really nasty to him. You'll feel that too, you know."

"Please," I whispered, suddenly having flashbacks to Triple. "We're not who you think we are. Triple doesn't trust us. We're being held hostage by them. They torture us every day."

"You really think I'll believe you?" Hunt asked, seemingly calm. "You have no proof. You are Triple's secret weapon. They wouldn't torture you. You have no loyalty except to evil." His voice had risen to a shout. "They bred you to kill!" I flinched at every word.

On his phone screen, Josh was straining against the cuffs. I felt my own wrists on fire as the jagged metal cut into his skin. "Please," I said. "Show me what files you have and haven't opened and I'll see what I can do. Just don't hurt Josh." Hunt looked at me.

"Fine," he muttered. "But just to make sure..." He pressed a button on his phone. On the screen, Josh yelped and screamed. After about a millisecond, I did the same. It was an electric shock running through Josh's body.

"Why are you doing this to us?" I whispered.

"I do what I have to do to save the world from you Triple scum," he snarled. He unchained me from the radiator and dragged me roughly to the desk. He cuffed me to the leg of the desk and sat me down on a normal chair. He sat on his spinning chair and started tapping on the keyboard, bringing up the files he had so far. One of them wasn't open. It's name was T11.

"That's the one I can't open," Hunt said. "And you're going to open it for me." I looked at the computer screen and at the list of files. There was one near the bottom of Hunt's list that made me gulp.

"Have you looked at that one at the bottom?" I asked, pointing at the screen. Hunt glanced at it and rolled his eyes.

"No," he said. "I haven't exactly had a lot of time. I've looked at the ones that are important. Why, what is it?"

"Before I try to open the file," I said slowly. "You need to see this." Before he could react, I had grabbed the mouse and clicked on the file, selecting the first film I could see. Hunt looked furious but his attention was diverted when the film started playing.

It was me and Josh, about a year ago in the arena. Josh was tied to the chair in the middle of the room and I was being held by two guards opposite him. Steve and Greg were circling Josh like vultures...like they always did.

"You brought this on yourself," Steve said on the film. "You keep disobeying us. Your job is to follow Triple's orders. To follow the Master's orders. You always disappoint." Greg dropped a quick but powerful punch into Josh's stomach. He doubled up coughing like I did on the edge of the screen.

"And worst of all," Steve continued, punching Josh in the face then whipping a roundhouse kick to his abdomen. Josh groaned as his head tipped forward again, revealing a spurt of blood running down his nose. "You are always the Master's attention. All the rest of us work our socks off to impress him, to rise up the ranks. You and Erin? You always disobey him and yet, he still tries."

I kept my eyes on Hunt as he watched the video. His face was completely emotionless and expressionless.

"And you make us all sick with your righteousness. As if you can stop us, even with your powers," Greg put in. "What did you do to deserve the honour that has been bestowed upon you? We even tried to raise you to believe in everything Triple did. But no. What went wrong? I don't know but we'll try to put it right." Then they descended on him, landing blows and punches that I remembered all to well. I turned away from the screen. I didn't need a video to remember it. It was all crystal clear in my head.

It was almost over. I looked back to see Greg and Steve leaving with everyone else who was watching. The two guards holding me shoved me to the floor. I crawled to Josh who was motionless on the floor where they cut him from the chair. I healed him, again going too far with transferring my energy. That time I remembered that I fainted and Josh had to carry me out.

Hunt clicked off the video. He looked a little shell shocked. Suddenly he got up and left the room. Just as he reached the door, I called out:  "You asked for proof. There it is."

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Hey peeps!!!

I'm so very very very sorry for the late update. I've been ridiculously busy recently and completely forgot about writing. I'm extra sorry because I left the last chapter at a cliffhanger. Sorry!

Picture above is of Charles Hunt, who you will soon come to know as Charlie.

Please comment and vote as always! Let me know how I did with this chapter!

Thanks guys! Love ya all!

CricketCat