Breaking Their Hold

Zacky had lost count of how many hours, perhaps days, that he’d been stuck in the small white chamber. He’d seen Schlagger’s cronies come and go every so often, always injecting the drug that was messing up his mind into his arm. He fought against falling unconscious; he didn’t know what would happen if he were to pass out from the pain, but he knew that it wouldn’t be good.

So to stop himself from giving in, he thought of Melissa and Jimmy. Right now, they were the only things keeping him going. I’ve got to stay strong. For them. For her, He told himself mentally. If he couldn’t stand a little pain, he couldn’t expect Melissa to make it to Canada alive. It would be a painful journey for her; most likely more mentally and emotionally so than physically painful.

And he couldn’t—no, he wouldn’t—allow himself to think of his sister dying.

The door to the small chamber opened again, and Zacky looked up through the drug-induced haze to see Erich Schlagger standing before him.

“Give up the fight, Zackary.” He told Zack, his voice menacing. “You know that if you don’t tell me what I want to know, I’m going to kill you. And I’ll still find that criminal sister of yours. And she’ll die, too. But only one of you needs to die.”

“Rot in hell,” Zacky slurred. Schlagger tutted, and then kneeled in front of Zack, forcing him to look him in the eye.

“I’ve got another offer for you; something you’re not going to be able to refuse, Zackary. Something you’ve wanted for a very long time. Something very few people in this country have access to: freedom. I will grant you your freedom from Haverly Hospital, as well as any other Government hospital. You’ll be free, Zackary; free, like you used to be. You want that, don’t you? I can see it in your eyes.”

The offer was tempting; Schlagger was right. Zack had wanted his freedom back. Ever since he’d gotten arrested, it was all he’d thought about. But he knew Erich Schlagger was not a man whose word could be trusted; he was a snake, and like snakes do, he would slither. The man was charismatic and promising, Zack would give him that much. But there was no way he was being honest. A man like Schlagger didn’t possess that quality.

“I’m not telling you anything about my sister except that she’s going to be your downfall.” Zacky spat at Schlagger angrily.

The man sighed and stood up, motioning with his hand. Two Security walked in, a needle in the hand of one.

“Up the dose by two. He’s taking a bit longer to crack than expected.” Schlagger said, walking out of the room, the heels of his spit-shined leather shoes click-clacking on the tile floor.

-x-
With Matt and Pierre
-x-

“I have no fucking clue where we are.” Pierre groaned angrily, kicking the stone wall of the cavern in frustration.

“Well, then we just keep walking.” Matt told him. “We have to find them, Pierre. Jimmy’s going to have a hard time keeping her safe, and he doesn’t have the connections that you do.”

Pierre sighed, knowing that Matt was right. “I know.”

It had been four days since they’d last seen Melissa and Jimmy, and two days since they’d found anything to eat. They were getting tired, and with hunger added into the mixture of fatigue and worry, they were finding it hard to keep themselves going.

But they had to. Because now, it was a matter of life and death.

-x-
With Jimmy and Melissa
-x-

“Jimmy?” Melissa whispered softly into the dark expanse of cavern. She heard him shift, and a few seconds later the flashlight came on, illuminating the claustrophobic area.

“What’s wrong?” He asked her, his voice husky from having just woke up.

“I’m…Never mind.” She mumbled, feeling bad that she had woken him up. He hadn’t gotten much sleep since they’d gotten separated from Matt and Pierre, and she knew that he worried for her every second of the day. It wasn’t fair that he had to be stuck with someone as weak as herself, she thought miserably.

Jimmy sighed, and then turned off the flashlight before scooting over to her, his long arms wrapping around her body and pulling her to him as he laid them down on the cold ground, pulling her small body flush against his.

“Not scared anymore?” He asked her. Melissa could practically hear the grin in his question, and found herself smiling. He always seemed to know what was wrong with her, even if she didn’t say anything. She snuggled against him and shook her head.

“No. Not scared anymore.”

“Goodnight, Melissa.”

“Goodnight, Jimmy.”

“Melissa?” Jimmy’s voice whispered a few minutes later, his breath hot against her neck.

“Jimmy?”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you. So sleep tight, okay?”

She smiled. “I’m only going to sleep tight if you do, too.” She told him.

“That’s a deal.” He said, closing his blue eyes.

For the first time in a long time, they fell asleep perfectly content; happy just to be with each other no matter where they were.