Chapter 4 - Two steps forward, one step back

Nathaniel:

A steel tray lay before a feet, on a bed of towels lay a single injection with the word ‘morphine’ plastered across it. I was well aware of morphine’s purpose- to relieve me of the pain in my ankle- but not of my captor’s purpose. Why help me? Was it a trick or joke of some kind? Or was it an act of mock kindness?

Either way, I didn’t bother even considering using it. Clearly, Azazel didn’t either so, instead, I pocketed it for later. Reaching forward, I grabbed one of the towels and cautiously held it against my ankle. I could feel the pain, but it didn’t hurt- not much at least.

A slight gleam of light from behind the towels caught my eye and, on further investigation, I found a small bottle of antiseptic liquid with a small bundle of bandages and a plastic bag attached with it.

There was no denying the odour of the antiseptic liquid once I opened the bottle; it was legitimate, but that didn’t mean the morphine was too. 

Dipping the cotton in the antiseptic liquid, I dabbed it around my ankle carefully, working the cotton from the far ends of my wound closer to it. My twin, Vanessa taught me this trick when I scraped my knee; she said it was a way of easing myself into the pain the cotton would inflict- the farthest part of the wound would hurt least and as I got closer to the wound, the pain I felt would start to increase.

I wondered where Vanessa was now, but as arduously as I tried to remember, I couldn’t. An unwavering fog had settled over my brain and I knew of no way to remember.

Azazel moved forward, his ankle cuff scraping the ground with a piercing screech. I had forgotten he was here in the first place. “Look, I’ve only been here a few days before you, but I think I’m starting to understand. Clearly, we were drugged at the time of our abduction which is why we can’t remember anything, right”, seeing my nod, he continued, “We don’t know if it’s just us or if there are other prisoners, but judging from the measures taken our captor,” , he gestured towards the ankle cuff and the medical supplies, “we know two things”. He paused to catch a breath and continued, “Firstly, our captor, or captors, are experienced- they know what they’re doing- and secondly, they need us alive”. He left me to ponder on what was wanted from us and then I hesitantly told him about Vanessa.

“Kid, d’you speak Spanish?”, he said abruptly. Confused and slightly disoriented, I responded with a simple “yes”. “Y la niña? That’s what the guards said when they dropped you off here, any clue what it means?”. “And the girl? They must’ve taken Vanessa too”, I had kept my calm long enough but if they had Vanessa, I had to get to her before they could.

A strangled cry followed by pained screams brought me back to reality. The door buzzed open and two heavily armed guards grabbed us by our shoulders, laid us on the floor and pierced syringes into us. The world twisted away into an abrupt labyrinth of darkness. I didn’t know what would happen next and I couldn’t find it in me to care.