Kent sat criss cross on his floor, a video game controller in his hands. His thumb flicked the knob and his other thumb pressed a button as he stared at his TV screen watching his character move. He was playing super Mario Brothers on his Xbox.

Suddenly, his door slammed open, and his little brother came barreling in. He dashed across the room, then tripped on the carpet, falling onto Kent. They fell in a heap, Kent losing grip of his controller.

"Dude!" Kent said, sitting up, his brother sprawled in his lap, and looking at the screen that announced he had lost. Kent didn't get angry very easily, so this, even though it frustrated him, didn't get him mad.

"You need to watch where your going and slow down," Kent told his little brother, grabbing him by the waist and lifting him to his feet. Kent stood up next to him. His little brother was 4, and compared to Kent who was 15, was significantly shorter. His little brother looked up at him, a sad look on his face.

"I'm sowy," he said, his little eyes sad. Kent couldn't help but smile at him, and patted his head. "Now get what you need and get out," he said teasingly.

After a while of playing, Kent's phone buzzed. He paused his game, picking up his phone. He saw a text from his friend, who was asking him if he wanted to come and hang out. He replied sure, then got up, turned off his game, and excitedly walked out to the kitchen.

"Hey mom, is it alright if I go to a friend's house?" he asked her.

"Yes, just be home before dark," she responded. Kent nodded quickly, pulling on his shoes, grabbing a jacket, then going out the front door. It was autumn, and just about nearing noon. The wind blew a few bright leaves across the sidewalk as Kent walked along in the direction of his friends house. His friends house was around a 20 minute walk, since he lived at the edge of town. Kent hummed a catchy tune as he walked in a springing stride, swinging his arms at his sides.

Finally, as Kent reached his friends house, and saw his friend in the front lawn, apparently waiting for him. He had a small backpack slung on his shoulder, and was lazily crushing a leaf between his fingers when Kent walked up to him.

"Hey!" Kent said excitedly.

"Hi!" His friend, Aaron said, back.

"What's the backpack for?" Kent inquired.

"Well," his friend started, "you know that abandoned house just outside of town?"

Kent nodded, a small grin starting on his face, already knowing where this was going.

"I thought that you and I, we could explore it. So, I have gathered some supplies in this bag." He patter the front of the backpack.

"Yea!" Kent said. He was very adventurous himself, and this seemed like a fun adventure.

Kent and Aaron walked away from Aaron's house, down the street leading to the edge of town, reaching the abandoned one. It wasn't very special, just a run down house. It sat back from the road, a few large overgrown trees in front of it, casting a shadow and making the entire property appear dark. The front window was broken, the door busted slightly in, some trim and siding falling off that lay in the grass below. Ivy crept up all the walls, the chimney had crumbled down, and the entire lawn overrun was overgrown with grass and weeds.

They slowly went up to it, cautiously stepping onto the porch. The door was swelled, and was wedged, but Kent shoved it in more so they could slip inside. It was very dusty, dirty, and just dingy. It was mostly empty, so nothing exciting. An odd old, yet sharp smell met their noses.

They moved to the living room, but that was just empty as well. Kent's nose tickled from the lingering dust in the air. Then Kent spied a door. He went over to it, opening it. A set of stairs led down into inky blackness.

"I dare you to go down!" Aaron said, coming up behind him and shoving him slightly.

"Fine, I will," Kent said. He didn't really want to but, he also didn't want to tell his friend that.

The dark had never scared him, but something about this atmosphere that set off a slight twinge of fear in his chest. But he reassured himself that this was no different than any other dark room he'd walked into. He began down the stairs, slowly, being careful where he put his feet. They creaked slightly, resisting the pressure of his weight. He put a hand to the wall to steady himself, but felt something on it. It was tacky feeling, almost like dried glue. He stopped, blinking his eyes a few time to help them adjust, and leaned closer. Something in dark red had been smeared on the wall and dried. He looked further down on the wall and saw more of it. It was in long streaks, like fingers dragging across the wall dragging down into the basement.

Kent's eyes widened and alarm he yanked his hand back. Suddenly, his heart was given a jolt of panic when he heard a loud crack in the basement below. He turned quickly, but to quickly. He lost his stability, and fell on his side, rolling down the stairs. Panic drove his heart, and he scrabbled at the stairs, and managed to catch himself. He scrambled up the stairs, throwing himself into the room when he reached the top. He didn't stop, but kept running, going out the front door, then finally stopping when he was in the front lawn, hunched over with his hands on his knees, trying to catching his breath.

"What is it?" Aaron asked, catching up to him.

"I swear it was, it was dried blood-" Kent gasped for air. "And I heard something." He looked back at the house, then slowly started walking down the street. Now he was a but calmed down, he realized his ankle ached every time he stepped, as well as his elbow and wrist when he moved them. Taking the tumble down the stairs had hurt him, but he only felt it now, the adrenaline that numbed it now gone.

"I didn't hear anything," Aaron said, following him.

"Well I sure did," Kent said curtly.

"Alright." Aaron said, raising his eyebrows. Then he nudged Kent. "Let's go back this way. Its a shortcut." He turned left, going into an alley. Kent just followed, not thinking about it, as his mind was focused on what just happened.

Soon they made a turn. Kent began calming down more, his common sense beginning to kick in. First, he had just walked into a dark alley, and second, the direction they just turned hasn't been in the right direction of his friends house at all.

"Hey Aaron, is this the right way?" He asked. Then it all happened. As Aaron turned to look at him, a strong arm grabbed around Kent's waist, pinning his arms, and a large hand was pressed over his mouth and nose. He couldn't breath. Kent started kicking, but he was just hoisted up and turned sideways so his legs met nothing but air. Using all his force, he jerked his body and head to the side, partway freeing his mouth. He looked frantically back at Aaron, to see him just standing there.

"Help me!" Kent managed to scream, before the hand was slapped back onto his mouth, but tighter this time. His lungs screamed for a breath of air, but try as he might, Kent couldn't move the hand that was clamped over his mouth. He couldn't breath, not the slightest bit, and this person didn't seem want to let go anytime soon. Kent's vision began getting spotty, and he had stopped trying to wiggle free, his energy failing him. He looked over at Aaron, barely making him out through hazy vision, and saw him standing, his hand outstretched to receive something from a tall man dressed in black. Aaron looked at him, a sheen in his eyes. That's the last thing Kent saw before blacking out.

+×+×+×+×+×+×+

It must have been a while later, but Kent opened his eyes. He never imagined he would, but immediately he wished he hadn't. He was in a small grey room. The only furnishings were a hardback wooden chair in the center of the room, a blanket thrown next to it, and a crooked, cracked painting on the wall. His head throbbed, his chest felt like there was a pressure on it, and he was shivering. Everywhere else he felt a dull ach and hurt. Looking down, he saw his clothing had been changed, and now he wasmdressed only in a baggy pair of grey sweatpants. He pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around them, hoping to warm himself, ignoring the dull pain that kept shooting through him every time he shivered.

Kent felt tears well up in his eyes. Where was he? And Aaron. Immediately the tears burned in his eyes with anger. Aaron didn't even try to help, it actually looked as he was siding with them. He had betrayed him. If he ever got out of here, Aaron would feel pain. He swore to that.

Kent looked up slightly when he heard a click. Then with a creak, a door opened. The tall man that Kent had seen giving Aaron something, walked in. He had a buff on his face, and only his hard grey eyes could be seen. He took a step towards Kent.

"I saw you were awake. Kent was it? It's very nice to have you," he chuckled to himself, then immediately his face became serious. "I want to break it to you now. You are never escaping here. You are never going to leave. And you have absolutely no choice in any matter here. Understand?" He said, a deadly serious tone in his voice, narrowing his eyes. Kent just nodded numbly.

"Good, good. You're so understanding, so I'll let you know why you're here. You are now a human test subject. Meaning we will experiment on you, make you perform tests, and whatever else we decide."

"Wait-" Kent said, a dark feeling of dread sinking in. This was worse than anything he had imagined. He had thought maybe they would keep him for ransom, maybe ship him off, or plain out kill him, but experiment on him? That was just... sick. Plain sick.

"I know. Shocking. Thats what all their faces look like." He suddenly produced a syringe from his pocket. "Now I'm going to give you this shot. Long story short, this determines if you are good enough. Most kids don't survive this, which is why they weren't good enough." He came closer, and Kent began backing up.

"Now boy, what did I say? You just cooperate and it will make both yours and our life's so much easier." He easily caught up to Kent, roughly grabbing his arm. Kent was to weak to resist, and just limply lay while the man pushed the needle into his arm and injected the syringe's contents. Then, wordlessly, he pocketed his empty syringe and walked out the door. Kent could hear a lock being set.

Fear had set into Kent. But it was a cold fear. A fear that you always felt, that was always creeping just on the edge of your mind, that gripped on and you couldn't get rid of no matter how hard you try. Until you're frantic and eventually just accept it being there. He was trapped. There was no way out.

With the fear in his mind, Kent took the blanket, curled up in it, then fell alseep.