Chapter Sixteen

I woke up groggy.

I struggled to blink my eyes open, but there was nothing above me, save a bright blinding light that shone down on me. I turned my head away, blinking several times to clear my vision. I found myself in some kind of room, all white, with a two-way mirror to my right. I scowled at it, and against the light, turning my head back. I went to lift my hand to protect my eyes against the light, but found I was unable to move it.

Frowning, I lifted my head and looked down to see I was restrained to some kind of metal table. Worse, my legs were bent up and spread apart, strapped down at the ankles, with no way of closing them. I jerked my head up to stare at the two-way mirror, then at a door across the room.

This wasn't happening.

This wasn't going to happen.

I refused to let this happen.

I would sooner die than let anyone, but Six touch me.

My breathing picked up instinctually out of panic, and I jerked hard at the restraints to no avail. I twisted and turned uncomfortably, trying to break free of the restraints, but still nothing budged. I looked at the two-way mirror.

"You can't do this," I said, unsure if anyone was even on the other side listening, "I don't want children, damn you. I don't want to be a parent, especially now of all times. And I certainly don't want them to grow up in an environment as toxic as this one. Do you understand me? If you force this pregnancy on me, I will do everything in my power to make sure I lose it, do you hear me? I won't have a child."

There was a long pause before something crackled and I realized there were speakers built into the wall on either side of the mirror.

"You can and you will have this child, and you will love it," an eerie female voice said, "You will care for it and you will raise it within our walls. You will raise it to fight for the cause and you will raise it with the utmost care and respect. We will be ever vigilant to ensure the safety and proper raising of the child."

"I don't want a child," I repeated angrily, "I don't want any child!"

"You will learn. Once you've held a precious innocent soul in your arms, you will change your mind. It is most certain." Yeah, that was definitely Chloe. It sounded like her tone, her choice of words.

"What you are doing is rape," I said heatedly, "I do not consent to this."

"Sometimes we must do vile things in order to maintain the balance of good," Chloe responded with a heavy sigh, "It is most unfortunate that it must happen this way. The Mother is very displeased you've not accepted your role. It forces her to do things she finds distasteful." I shut my eyes tight and dropped my head back down on the table, trying to find some level of calm, but it was growing difficult as my panic rose.

Talking to these people wasn't going to change their minds. Yelling at them would work even less. They were stuck on this path they'd drawn up for themselves. They were going to rape me and force me to have a child, because that was what they believed to be the only way to make this happen, to create their army of little soldiers to die for a cause that was rooted in Hera's obvious family problems. For a goddess of marriage and family, she sure had a fucked up view of it.

"Please be patient," Chloe informed, "Your new mate will be arriving shortly." I tensed as I listened to the speaker crackle off. The faint muffled sound of a door opening and closing followed.

I struggled to find some calm to focus on an escape plan, but it was hard. My chest hurt, my arms and legs ached from twisting and fighting against the restraints. The very idea that I was about to be attacked, violated, ramped up my fear. Even worse was how long she was taking to get the person who was supposed to violate me. She was taking her time on purpose. She knew it was going to ramp up my panic. She wanted me to be afraid, and that infuriated me. She was playing with me.

This wasn't going to happen, I decided. I wasn't going to allow this. I refused. Even if I had to bite my own tongue off and kill myself, I would rather do that than suffer at the hands of a heartless bastard.

It was easier said than done. I tested biting my tongue, but it was like my body refused to cooperate. It let me bite down just the tiniest bit, but no more than that. Instinct had me backing off and I groaned in frustration, glaring up at the ceiling as my chest heaved up and down.

This couldn't be happening. Not right now. Not ever. Not to me.

The door to the room clicked and opened and I jerked my head up to see Chloe entering the room with a very large, very unfriendly looking male. He was ripped to the extreme, tall, his hair shaved short, his dark eyes watching me coldly, as if he too wasn't particularly interested in this act, but he would do it because he was ordered to.

"Hadrian," Chloe greeted warmly, then gestured to the male, "This is Cyan. He will be the father of your children from here on out."

"Like hell," I spat at her, then looked at Cyan, who just watched me icily, "No offense, but I am not at all interested in having children, with or without you. I do not consent to what you are about to do to me." Cyan cocked his head, then looked at Chloe, who smiled up at me.

"Ignore him. He's quite the talker. Please proceed as discussed. I will fetch someone to clean up the aftermath. Do not take your time. We are pressed," she added, then inclined her head and left the room. Cyan frowned, then turned to face me. I tensed, tightening up against the restraints.

"Don't touch me," I warned. Cyan approached me on the table, looking down between my legs. I still wore my pants, for some odd reason, but it wouldn't be that way for long. Cyan's eyes became heated and he stepped forward some more, placing his hand on my knee. I jerked at the touch.

"I said don't touch me. I hate being touched against my consent," I said. Cyan looked at me.

"Your consent means nothing to me," he responded. I sucked in a sharp breath and tried my best to close my legs to no avail.

"It should. Consent means everything," I managed. Cyan stared at me blankly.

"Not in my world," he replied, then reached into his pocket and took out a small switchblade, "I will be removing your clothing now. You may scream." He flipped the blade in his hand, taunting me, and drew the knife down between my legs at my groin.

"But don't move, I might cut off something important," Cyan added, touching the blade to my groin. I sucked in a sharp breath and held it, staring with wide eyes at the knife as I waited for it to puncture me.

The door abruptly flew open and I instinctively screamed. The sound ricocheted off the walls and made my ears ring. I watched in total shock as Three came barreling into the room. Cyan whirled around, holding the knife out in preparation to attack, but Three kicked the thing right out of his hand and sent it flying. Cyan lunged for him and Three dodged, then spun around and kicked Cyan in the back, slamming him into the wall.

Cyan roared and swung around, grabbing Three and hoisting him up, ramming him into a wall. Three gasped at the impact, then drew his elbow up and slammed it down into Cyan's shoulder, forcing him to drop Three to the floor. Three landed on his feet, then ducked a swing from Cyan before he swung his fist up into his chest. Cyan grunted and stumbled back against the table, nearly knocking the whole thing over. Three lunged at him and threw him up against the table, forcing his arm up against his throat. Cyan choked and fought him, throwing his arm back and hitting me in the face. I sank my fangs down into his arm and he roared, jerking at my grasp on his arm, but I only sank my teeth in deeper.

He choked and squirmed and thrashed for what felt like a good five minutes before he slowed his flailing. He was struggling to breathe. His face was turning purple. He choked out a gurgled wet sound one last time before he slumped back, eyes staring up at the ceiling blankly. Three lifted his arm and I let go of his arm so his body could slump to the floor. Three stepped over him and scrambled with my restraints.

"What are you doing? What's going on?" I asked, panting hard as I wiped the blood from my mouth on my shoulder. Three looked at me past his hair.

"I don't fucking know, I don't fucking know, just shut up and do what I say," he ordered. I just nodded numbly as he managed to get me out of the restraints. I slid off the table onto trembling legs and looked at Three, who raked a hand through his hair.

"Goddamn it," he cursed, then looked at me, "You good?" I nodded.

"Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright. I'm fine. What next?" I asked, finding a strange calm within myself at that moment. My panic seemed to clam up and slide back into submission, leaving me empty and ready for instruction.

"We need to get to Six," Three decided after a moment, "I know where the dungeons are. Stay close and don't say anything. Not everyone knows who you are. We might be able to maneuver this place without causing too much trouble." He paused and looked down at Cyan's body, then cleared his throat and looked at me.

"I've known him since he was six," he said, making me frown, "He used to eat glue."

"Yes, well, my apologies for your loss," I said sarcastically. Three scowled, then went to the door and opened it up to peek outside. He looked back and forth before gesturing for me to follow. We crept out of the room and made our way down the hallway.

It was so sterile and chilly in this place. Like Six had said, there were no decorations, no personal anything, not even pictures of the people who lived here. It was just cold and unwelcoming.

We rounded a corner just as another group of people were heading toward us. Three kept walking and I started to slow down, but he grabbed my arm and roughly pulled me forward. We kept walking and the group walked past us without saying a word to us, they were too busy talking amongst themselves. Relieved, I hurried to keep up with Three as we made our way through winding white hallways. I had no idea how we got to where we were or how to get back. I was completely lost and had no idea where we were going, but Three knew this place like the back of his hand.

We eventually got to a set of stairs that led us down a couple flights before we came to a pair of double doors. Three took out what looked like a badge and scanned it before the doors clicked open and we entered a much darker, much colder room. I folded my arms tight over my chest, could almost see my breath with how cold it was.

"Where are we?" I whispered.

"The dungeons," Three muttered, "Follow me." I nodded and stuck close as we made our way down a hallway and passed a couple of doors before coming to another set of double doors. Three used his badge and we entered a whole different world. While the walls were still white, it was much colder, much darker, with barred cells sitting on the right side. At the end, a winding staircase led up into the ceiling.

The cells were almost entirely silent. Not a cough, not a breath, nothing. I could make out people in them, though. No... Only a few people. Not very many. The first person, I couldn't quite make out, was sitting on the floor in a mess of hay, their head turned to follow us. The second person was unconscious, laying sprawled on the floor. The third person was sitting crammed in a corner with their arms around their legs.

"Six?" Three asked the last person. The person jerked their head up, as if startled.

"T-Three-- Hadrian?" Six's voice whispered. I immediately broke away from Three to run to Six's cell. Six scrambled on the stones of his cell and limped to the bars where the dim light shone down on him and my stomach churned. He was wearing nothing more than a torn tank top and sweatpants that were filthy. His hair was a mess, bruises and cuts littered his body, from his lip to his fingers.

"What are you doing here?" Six asked in disbelief.

"We're here to get you out," I informed, making his eyes widen further. He looked at Three, who came over and took his badge out to press against the keypad on the bars. There was a beep and the cell door slid open. Six stepped back, then looked at Three.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked. Three averted his eyes.

"I dunno. Bored, I guess," he muttered. Six's eyebrows went up in surprise, but he didn't really dink around with conversation as he quickly came out of the cell. He looked at Three one last time, then looked at me and it was like his whole body melted. His eyes became soft and warm, his muscles loosened and he dipped his head down a little, almost like he was asking for permission.

So I nodded.

He came forward and put his arms around me and I did the same. I sighed in relief at having his big warm body against mine, his hands clutching at the back of my sweatshirt. I held onto him for a moment, my eyes closed as I savored the feeling. I blinked my eyes open and saw Three glaring at us. I cleared my throat and stepped back, looking at Six, who looked at me in relief.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" He asked. I shook my head.

"No. Three got to me before they did," I said, and Six looked at Three in surprise before looking back at me, "He saved me." Six swallowed thickly and turned back to Three, who cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"We need to get out, we can talk later," Three said, making his way toward the spiral stairs.

"We're not leaving without the others," I said immediately. Three groaned as I made my way to the second cell.

"We don't have time for this," he insisted.

"Make time," I responded, jerking at the cell door. Three sighed in frustration as he breezed past Six to get to me as he took out his badge.

"Your boyfriend's a brat," he growled at Six, who blushed lightly. He got to the cell and scanned his badge, opening it up. Inside, a male was sprawled on the floor, wearing nothing more than a torn tank tip and no pants, revealing some pretty fucked up legs. It looked like someone had dislocated them at the hip, because they were just flopped there at an awkward angle. He was thin and bony, his long hair looked like it was blonde at one time, but was soaked in filth. He himself was dirty from head to toe, covered in bruises and... were those bite marks?

"Who is this?" I asked as I approached them, kneeling down on the cold stones.

"Four," Three muttered, "Jesus Christ, I didn't recognize him at first. He looks..."

"Starved," Six said softly, "They haven't fed him the entire time I've been here. And..." His voice trailed. I looked up to see Six's expression twisted in one of disgust and pain.

"What?" I asked.

"Some guy keeps coming in here to... see him," Six said slowly, "I... I don't know his name, I don't recognize him, but he keeps coming in and... and just... I..." He couldn't form the words. He shut his eyes and I grimaced, glancing at Three, who stiffened before he shook his head and came forward.

"I got him," he said, "Just get to the other cell." He handed me his badge and I rose up just as Three knelt down to put his arms under Four. Abruptly, Four moved and surprisingly fast for not having use of his legs. He slammed his head into Three's, making Three grunt and fall back on his ass, clutching his nose. Four dragged himself to a corner of the cell, his whole body trembling, his breath coming out in angry gasps.

"Fuck you," Four snarled, sitting awkwardly in the corner with his legs bent and sprawled out at his sides, "Don't fucking touch me, you stupid prick! I'll break more than your fucking nose!"

"Christ, you little shit," Three groaned, holding his bloodied nose, "I'm gonna fucking bust your face open." He lunged, but Six grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to a stop as Four backed further into the corner.

"Three, stop!"

"Don't come near me," Four shrieked, grabbing onto the stone walls, "I'll fucking kill you! Do you hear me? I'm going to rip your innards out and bathe in your fucking blood, you fucking animal!"

"Hold up," I said, joining Six in holding Three back, and Three glared at me, "Don't touch him yet. He's... I think he's traumatized. I don't think he's actually seeing us." Three scowled at that and looked back at Four, whose eyes were darting between us all in confusion.

"I have no doubt of that," Six murmured as he pushed Three back and got in front of him, "Four, it's me, Six. And Three. And Hadrian." Four was panting hard, still grabbing desperately onto the stones as if he were trying to find one loose to throw at us.

"Don't fucking touch me," he managed, "Stop fucking touching me! Get your hands off me!"

"No one is going to touch you," Six told him gently, "We're just trying to get you out of here. We need to get to safety." Four glared at him.

"I don't know that word," he snarled, "Use proper Greek, prick!"

"What word?" I asked, confused.

"Safety," Four snapped, "What is that? What, is that some code word for fucking? Is that what you want to do? You want to fuck me too? Fuck you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you dead, do you fucking understand me? You and-and-and him!" I froze at his words. Three stopped dead in his tracks too. Six swallowed thickly and straightened for a moment, then lowered himself down onto his knees in front of Four, who watched him suspiciously.

"We're not going to hurt you, Four. We just need to get you out of here to somewhere better," he promised. Four eyed him, grabbing onto one of the rocks in the wall. It loosened.

"Six!" I barked and Six ducked as Four threw the rock at what would've been his head if he hadn't ducked. Four grabbed at the wall again, trying to find loose rocks.

"Get away from me! I'll kill you!" He shouted, grabbing a rock and snatching it out of the wall to throw at us. We ducked and Three cursed.

"Fuck this, we don't have time for this shit," he snapped and lunged to his feet, reaching out and grabbing Four by a handful of his hair. Four screamed and grabbed at his arm, trying to rip it away. Three yanked his head back and placed his other hand on his forehead. A second later, Four's eyes were rolling up in his head and he slumped to the floor. Three bent down and scooped him up, stumbling for a second.

"Shit," he muttered, "Gods, he weighs absolutely nothing."

"I told you, they've been starving him," Six said as he rose to his feet, "Did you have to scare him?"

"We don't have time to be gentle. We can do that when we get the fuck out of here," Three said, then looked at me, "Next cell, bitch, or we're gonna be joining them down here." I glared at him, but ducked out of the cell we were in and to the next one. The person inside rose to their feet and came to the doors as I got them open, except he didn't leave. He just stood there.

In the light, I could make out a small person. He was incredibly thin, downright emaciated, with long stringy black hair and eerie mismatched brown and blue eyes. His fangs peeked out from his lips, as if they were simply too big for his mouth. His body was riddled with bruises, but aside from that, he seemed quite alright. Of course, there was something wrong with his leg, something I remembered Seven telling me about.

Bait had a twisted leg, he'd been born with it like that.

"You must be Bait," I murmured. He frowned at me.

"You must be Hadrian," he said with a pronounced lisp, and when I looked at him in surprise, he cocked his head, "The walls whisper. You're not supposed to be here. You're supposed to be upstairs."

"I'm supposed to be at home," I told him, watching those eyes glimmer with curiosity, "Come on, we're getting out of here." I held my hand out to him and Bait immediately frowned, looking down at my hand, then back up at me. He took a step back, further into the cell.

"I'm not supposed to leave," he replied calmly, "This is where I belong."

"We don't have time for this," Three stressed beside me. Six looked at me.

"He won't come with us," he told me, "Bait is... well, he's bait." I frowned.

"No," I said, then turned back to Bait, who watched us curiously, "You have to come with us. You need freedom." Bait gave me a dead stare, but said nothing. He just took another step back further into the cell. I clenched my teeth. I couldn't begin to imagine what they'd done to him to actually make him prefer to stay here rather than escape. It churned my stomach. At the same time, I couldn't just leave him here.

"The outside world is better," I said. Bait actually cracked a smile at that, but it was bitter.

"Oh, I'm sure it is. For someone like you."

"No, I swear to you, your world will get so much better if you leave this place."

"Why exchange one hell for another? I'm fine where I'm at."

"I give you my word that you will find a happier place outside this one," I said, watching Bait frown slowly, "A warm bed. Warm fresh food. A loving family."

"I don't know what half of that means," Bait replied, "Why would I miss something like that? I've never had it and I'm doing just fine without it."

"We really do not have time for this," Three groaned, "Just fucking knock him out or leave him behind. The longer we fuck around, the more time we give them to find us." No sooner had Three spoken did a strange siren begin to go off. I looked up and around and Three cursed, glancing at Six, who grimaced.

"Hadrian, he's right. We don't have time to stand here and convince him. If he wants to stay, just let him stay," he urged. I shook my head, refusing to leave as I turned back to Bait, who raised an eyebrow.

"Seven is with us," I said, watching Bait's eyes flicker in recognition, "Seven wants to see you again. He's the one who told me about you. He's the one who told me to rescue you." Bait stared at me for the longest time. He looked down at his feet, then back at the hay pile in the corner where he'd been sleeping, then turned back to me. He stared at me for the longest time and I was waiting for Three to start bitching again, when Bait finally stepped out of the cell.

"I want food," Bait said, like he was making a deal with me.

"Done," I agreed. Bait nodded, then frowned as he looked at us.

"There's no point in running," he said, making us look at him, Three in disbelief and Six in frustration, "I won't be able to keep up. I'll only slow you down. And carrying Four around like that isn't going to help. We need to find somewhere to hide until we can figure out our next step."

"He's right," I said, making Three sigh in frustration, "There has to be places to hide on the island."

"There are," Six said, making us look at him in surprise, "The first place I was trained outside these walls was the island. I know it like the back of my hand. There are plenty of places to go where even cell signals aren't available, so they won't be able to track us. We just need to get out of the building."

"I can do that," Three said, "Follow me, stick close, and if someone attacks us--"

"Fight back," I stated. Three shrugged, then nudged his head for us to follow him. We followed him down the hallway to the stairs and I immediately noticed what Bait had been talking about. He could barely keep up with us in the hall, let alone up the stairs.

"Here," I said, holding my hand out, "Let me help you." Bait frowned at my hand, then looked up at me.

"Are you stupid?" He asked. I scowled.

"I was offering to help you."

"I don't know what that means, but I think I have a feeling. No, I don't need you. I can move just fine on my own."

"Have it your way then."

We made our way up the stairs pretty slowly, but we managed to avoid anyone along the way. We ended up in a small room with a door that led to yet another sterile white hallway. Six poked his head out first. In the light, I could see a lot more of the damage they'd done to him. I could see he was cradling his arm at an awkward angle against his body, a body that was riddled with injuries. He would definitely need to see a doctor, and soon. Three seemed to be noticing what I was too because his grip on Four tightened and he ground his teeth together so tight his jaw ticced.

"All clear," Six informed, opening the door further to let us into the hallway. In the full light, I could make out not just Six's injuries now, but the fact that he was wearing a black collar much like my own. I looked at Four, who was wearing the same, but Bait wasn't.

"Why aren't you wearing a collar?" I asked. Bait frowned.

"I don't use magic," he responded.

"Can you not or do you just choose not to?" I asked. Bait looked at me, confused.

"I'm not allowed to," he said. I swallowed at that and looked at Three, who shook his head, then gestured for us to follow him. We made our way down the hallway, unable to avoid most of the security cameras, unfortunately, so they probably knew our location and were sending people in to corner us, but Three was quick. He would duck us into a room or take us abruptly down another hallway.

It felt like it was going to take forever, though. The compound was a maze of sterile hallways. Everything looked the same and I had no idea how Three could know the compound so well, but he did and Six seemed to know too.

"We should go that way," Six said when Three started to go in the opposite direction.

"What makes you think that?" Three asked. Six gestured down the other hallway.

"That way will take us toward the cafeteria. Too many soldiers that way, even if the exit isn't as far. We should take this way instead. Less crowded areas. The exit may be a bit further away, but it'll be a safer bet. Plus, the hallways are smaller. Harder for them to fight in cramped places with magic, so they'll be forced to do hand-to-hand, which Hadrian and I can handle no problem," Six explained. Three nodded.

"Alright, go," he ordered. Six led the way down the hallway. We passed several rooms, but they appeared to be dormitories. A couple had open doors that revealed cramped little cells with no windows, a dresser, a bed, and nothing more. Nothing personal or special to signify whose room was whose.

And of course, the inevitable happened.

We rounded a corner in time to see a group of soldiers standing just near the exit. They all looked up to see us coming around the corner. Bait cursed behind me and ducked back around the corner. I figured he wasn't much of a fighter, so Six and I got in front of Three, who gently laid Four down on the floor near Bait, who looked up at him.

"Keep an eye on him," Three told him. Bait frowned, but said nothing. He turned to face the soldiers as they started to come down the hallway at us.

"I can handle them," Three said.

"Like hell," Six retorted, "I've been craving a good fight. Plus, I think one of those fuckers is the one who broke my arm." Three and I shared dire looks before we turned back in time for the soldiers to launch their attack on us. Not that it was much of an attack anyway.

They charged us and I caught the first one and flipped him head over heels into the floor while Six grappled another down to the ground in a headlock and Three caught another in the face with his fist. We managed to wrestle the soldiers down, just barely. They were certainly trained, but they were newbies. Had to be, because it took all of thirty seconds to get them down where they remained down.

"That was too easy," I muttered.

"I know," Six agreed, "We're in the freshmen dormitory. These are new soldiers."

"You knew," I said. Six nodded.

"If we had gone down to the cafeteria, we would've been met with probably a mix of soldiers, newbies and veterans. Better to tackle with newbies than long time soldiers."

"Agreed."

"Alright, let's go," Three said, heading back to where Four and Bait were. Bait was just chewing on his fingernails and Four was still unconscious, but his head had slumped over against Bait's shoulder. Three scooped Four up into his arms with ease and Bait sprang to his feet, following us as we went sprinting for the exit. As quickly as we could anyway. Bait couldn't really run. He more, like, limped alongside us.

"Stop right there!" I looked up to see another group of soldiers coming up behind us. I cursed, looking ahead to see that Three, Four, and Six were almost at the door. I looked back at Bait, who was struggling to keep up. I cursed and stopped running, whirling around and snatching Bait by the hand, making him yelp. I jerked him up off the floor and swung him into my arms before I went sprinting for the door as Six held it open for me.

"Ew, what are you doing?" Bait demanded, shoving at my arms. I ignored him as we sprinted out of the compound, out of the cold sterile white compound, and into a tropical nightmare of sweltering heat, humidity, and colors of all kinds.

Bait immediately hissed and covered his face with his hands and arms. I grimaced as well, because I was so accustomed to the way the compound was lit fluorescently. The brilliant sun overhead was nothing compared to those lights and it was blinding.

"Come on, no time to stop! Keep going!" Three ordered. I nodded and hurried behind them while carrying Bait, who only curled in against me and covered his face.

We ran forever. We ran through the mud, ran through the trees, got slapped with branches and tangled in vines, slipped and tumbled through a river and finally made our way to what appeared to be a mountain. It was massive and towered high into the clouds overhead. The ground became rocky and I felt my feet getting cut and stabbed with the rocks. We started to climb the steep incline, kept going, until we reached a natural platform in the rocks. There looked to be some kind of cave ahead.

"Come on," Three said breathlessly, "Pit stop time." Pit stop? So this wasn't our final location? Breathing out a gasp of relief once we entered, I collapsed to my knees and set Bait down. He lifted his hands away from his face to peer out at me with a grimace.

"What the fuck is that?" He asked.

"What's what?"

"That light."

"That's the sun."

"The what?"

"The sun. It... It's a bright star in the sky that comes out in the daytime."

"Turn it off," Bait groaned, rubbing at his face and turning away from the mouth of the cave, "It's too bright."

"It doesn't work like that," I said grimly, then turned as Three settled Four down against some rocks and Six came over to sit down with his back against the cave wall. We finally sat down, catching our breaths. It took a few minutes before I finally spoke.

"Now what?"