As he looked to his right, he noticed a cell beside his own, and more cells following in succession. The thought of Scott, a ten-year-old boy, whimpering, afraid and crying in a prison like his own jolted him back to reality.

Gabriel stepped closer to the middle of the corridor. He investigated each cell. The hall he was in seemed larger now, and it stretched in both directions without an end in sight. Prison cell, after prison cell presented themselves. Creatures in them, but Gabriel paid no attention to that.

His focus was Scott.

The scent of burnt rubber persisted as the hum of the machinery became louder. Where he came from was quiet in comparison, but this did not discourage Gabriel. He scanned the cells, hoping against hope that Scott would not be here — that he would have been left behind at the farmhouse.

Two cells down from his own he saw a small boy lying on the floor in a fetal position. His heart skipped as fear drove him closer to the cell. As he approached, he shrieked as his heart sank once he found Scott lying on the floor.

Gabriel rushed to the glass and knocked on it. His brows sunk in worry as he hoped Scott was still alive. The boy shivered on the cold floor, and Gabriel pitied him as he grit his teeth and knocked on the glass harder, urging the ten-year-old boy to get up and notice him.

Scott craned his head toward Gabriel and his stare was cold and vacant. Scott seemed to be in a state of shock, and Gabriel shifted his gaze from Scott to the room, to the corridor, to anywhere his eyes wandered — there must be an escape.

As sweat beaded upon his back, and his hands trembled, Gabriel thought how to free Scott from his cell. Not an answer came — not even a thought.

Scott stepped away from the glass and his face contorted into unwavering terror as he noticed that he, too, had been abducted. The nightmare he felt he was in became all consuming. He rushed to the glass and beat against it with his fist, but not a sound broke the silence.

Scott screamed as his eyes turned to the innards of his own cell. Gabriel noticed an air vent and pointed at it hastily but failed to capture Scott's attention. He waved his hands and asked Scott to calm down. He knew his words couldn't penetrate the glass, but he spoke anyway.

Scott returned to beating at the glass, until his fists couldn't take the punishment anymore. He had exhausted himself and heaved while standing face to face with Gabriel. Scott realized what Gabriel was trying to communicate: climb through the air vent in the back corner of the room.

He examined the air vent Gabriel pointed at and guessed that he could fit through it. It seemed large enough to fit him, but not much larger than that. Scott surveyed his cell for something he could stand on or use to open the vent.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Gabriel examined the other cells and saw that they did not contain anything smaller than a grown man. Each cell housed a different creature. Some had four legs, while others had two. Many resembled humans and their anatomy, while others were too difficult to describe. He returned his attention to Scott and noticed him trying to jump up the cell wall.

The air vent remained out of reach, but that didn't matter. He tried again, this time jumping from one wall in the corner to the other, and his fingertips grazed the metal air vent. Scott took a deep breath in and jumped up the corner and punched the air vent. The metal grating bent against his fist, and for a brief moment Scott felt a glimmer of hope.

He smirked as he studied the air vent and sprinted up the wall. He punched again and broke the metal grating. He jumped once more and grabbed the broken metal slat and pulled the grating off.

It fell and clattered against the floor. Scott turned toward Gabriel and then returned his focus to the air vent. He sprang up the wall and entered the cold dark vent, and once there, he found himself in a metal maze void of light.

Gabriel smiled as he watched Scott disappear into the air vent. The sounds of Scott clanking around interrupted the silence. He guided Scott with his whispers, as to not arouse attention, and direct him to the air vent above his own head. As Gabriel stared into the black void in the air vent, he listened as Scott drew closer.

Scott whispered, "Gabe, Gabriel, Gabe," as his head filled the black void in which Gabriel stared. Scott smiled and looked down into the corridor.

Gabriel said, "how long were you asleep?"

Scott rubbed his eyes as he peered from behind the metal grating. He said, "I—I—don't know. It was me, you, and dad." Scott's face sank as he said, "is dad better now? Is the demon gone?"

Gabriel took a deep breath and exhaled. He blinked hard for a few seconds and tried to scrub the image of Keith from his mind. He bit his bottom lip as he frowned and did not answer. Instead, he looked down the hall because the distinct sound of footsteps caught his attention.

He urged Scott to hide deeper in the air vent as he searched for a place to hide. The corridor was dim, and as the footsteps came closer, Gabriel couldn't find a decent hiding spot. There were pathways which led to locations unknown. He had confused these pathways with empty cells because they look similar. He ran in the opposite direction of the footsteps.

Gabriel found refuge about fifteen paces down from where he was and peered from the pathway's bend. The hall in which he hid was far away from his former prison and in a pocket of shadows.

Standing in front of his old cell was a gray-skinned creature with bulbous black eyes. Its head seemed too large for its short body, and its skin was smooth and waxy. The alien examined the broken cell. It produced a holographic sheet from its wrist and typed against it. Gabriel assumed the alien was cataloging the broken cell. Gabriel remained concealed by the shadows and out of sight. 

https://youtu.be/ZoltmTANsk4