The Prisoner of Cell 25 (30 page)

Then I understood. The cell with Taylor, Ian, Abigail, and McKenna was somewhere on the floor below mine. Taylor had said that Abigail could take away pain. Abigail must be touching a pipe that ran between the two cells, conducting her power to me, much the same way I had shocked Cody Applebaum in school detention. But how would she even know I was here?

She didn’t. Ian did. Ian had probably been watching me all along. He knew I was here. Was it possible that he, Abigail, and McKenna were working together to save me? They didn’t even know me. Yet it made sense. McKenna could have made the pipe glow to lead me to it. My eyes watered and I began to cry. It was not the first time since I’d been placed in the cell—but the first time that I had cried for something other than pain. For the first time in days I had hope that I might survive.

From that point on, whenever things got bad, I went to the pipe and grasped it and immediately the pain ceased. During the “terror sessions” my invisible friends were always waiting. I deduced that Ian must be able to see when and how they were torturing me. I was filled with gratitude for my unseen friends and I learned that harboring an emotion as powerful as gratitude has power of its own. My greatest fear was that they might be discovered and moved to a different cell. I knew Hatch and his guards were watching me, so I was discreet in how I held to the pipe. I usually pretended to be throwing up or drinking.

Actually, their discovery was my second-greatest fear. My greatest fear was that my mother was dead. 

46. Lack of Trust

I felt as if I’d been in Cell 25 for weeks when I heard the inner tumblings of the lock on the door.

There was a slide of metal and the door opened and I saw the first light since I’d been incarcerated. As usual I was lying on the ground and I  instinctively pushed myself way away from the door, covering my face from the harsh light. “Stay away,” I mumbled.

Nichelle walked into the cell escorted by two of the guards. “It reeks in here. It smells like the giraffe house at the zoo.” She started laughing. “He smells as bad as Zeus.” One of the guards laughed.

She took a few more steps toward me and looked down at me.

“Hatch wants you. Get up.”

Hatch.
His name alone filled me with terror. I rolled over to my knees and elbows and tried to stand but I couldn’t.

“I said get up!” she shouted.

“I can’t,” I replied, my forehead pressed to the ground.

After a moment Nichelle nodded to one of the guards and he walked over to lift me. He stopped before he touched me and looked at Nichelle.

Nichelle squatted down in front of me. “If you shock him, we’ll keep you in here for the rest of your short, miserable life. Do you understand?”

“Yes. I won’t shock him.”

“Why would I believe you? You’re a liar.”

“Liar or not, I can’t stand up.”

She looked at me for a moment, then said to the guard, “Help him.”

The guard put his hands under my armpits and easily lifted me. 

When I was on my feet he let go of me and I collapsed back to the ground, crying out with pain. Nichelle rolled her eyes. “Carry him.”

The guard lifted me again and this time he put his arm around me, carrying more of my weight than I was, as I staggered down the hall to the elevator. As we walked I sucked in the cool air, breathing it in like water. In spite of my pain, I can’t tell you how luxurious it felt. In the elevator I noticed Nichelle pushed the D button and I silently groaned. Hatch was back in the dungeon.
Another test
, I thought.
If he asked me again to electrocute Wade would I do it?

I tried to think of better possibilities. Perhaps I was being reassigned to the dungeon. Maybe with Ian and the two girls. I wanted to see them badly. I wanted to hug them and thank them. The dungeon would be a Caribbean vacation compared to Cell 25.

My hope dissipated as we walked past their cell, back to the room at the end of the hall. Back to block H, the room where Wade had been bound and where I had “failed” my test. The room’s light was on and the door was partially open. The guard carried me inside. There were three chairs in the room and Taylor and Ostin were strapped into two of them.
Please, not them
, I thought.

I don’t know what I looked like. In Cell 25 it was too dark to even see my reflection in the toilet, but, based on Taylor’s reaction, I must have looked pretty awful. She gasped.

“Michael,” she said.

“Oh, buddy,” Ostin said. “What have they done to you?”

“Shut up,” Nichelle said. “Save your pity for yourselves.”

The guard dropped me in a plastic chair and then fastened my  hands and feet with plastic ties. A large plastic belt was drawn around my waist and fastened in back. It was overkill. I couldn’t have even stood up under my own power. Only my tics seemed strong.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Shut up,” Nichelle said. “No talking.”

“You’re a toad-face,” Ostin said.

Nichelle immediately tried to reach him with her powers, forgetting that she had no effect on him. She walked over and smacked him on the head. “You’re fat.”

“Yeah, well you’re ugly, and I can lose weight.”

She sneered and slapped him on the side of the head again.

“Ow,” Ostin said.

“Keep your mouth shut, butterball.”

About five minutes later Hatch walked into the room. He said to me darkly, “I trust your accommodations were to your satisfaction.”

My head felt like it weighed a ton and I just sat there, staring at my feet.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” he shouted.

It took effort, but I raised my head and looked into his eyes.

Hatch wore his dark glasses and a strange-looking helmet. I turned my head to one side and my neck cracked. I looked back at Hatch,  “What did you do to my mother?”

“Twenty-six days in Cell Twenty-Five and still defiant. If I wasn’t so disappointed in you I’d be impressed. Be assured that she’s paid dearly for your choices, but she survived the shock, if that’s what  you’re getting at. And I’m pleased. I didn’t want to discard my best card yet. Though, as you see, even without her, the deck is stacked in my favor.”

He turned and looked at Taylor. “Don’t waste your time trying to reboot me, Miss Ridley. You have little enough of it left.” He tapped his helmet. “Those electric waves of yours won’t make it through this very special helmet your sister helped us create.” He smiled at her smugly. “Perhaps you’re wondering how we came up with this.”

“I don’t care,” Taylor said.

“You should, it’s quite interesting. When I was in my early twenties I did some work for the NSA—the National Security Agency.  They’re the smart spies, the ones who break codes for the U.S. military. The NSA building in Maryland is completely wrapped in copper. It keeps prying spy satellites from listening inside. This helmet employs the same principle.”

“Still not interested,” Taylor said.

“On the other hand, for Mr. Vey, this copper helmet is the worst thing I could be wearing.” He leaned close to me. “If he could get his little hands on this he could fry my head like a Sunday roast. That’s why we have him strapped down to a plastic chair.” He smiled at me.

“I do hope you’re comfortable.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked. “Kill us?”

“Just some of you. Let me be clear about this. I want you, Michael. I want you to join us. I want to understand your power. But you’re not cooperating.” He stepped away from me. “Like you, during your vacation in Cell Twenty-Five, I’ve had a lot of time to think about things. I’ve decided that our problem here is really just a matter of credibility. You, Michael, won’t cooperate because you lack trust. Trust that I will do what I have threatened to do. I’d like to show you otherwise. Like they say in the old movies, I need to show you that
I mean business.

“So we’re going to have a demonstration with a couple of your friends. Proof of what I’ll do to your mother if you choose not to cooperate.” He took a step toward the door. “You may come in now.” He turned back to me. “Michael, I think you remember our friend Zeus.”

Zeus walked into the room. His long, oily blond hair was partially concealed beneath a copper helmet similar to the one Hatch wore. The last time I saw him he’d shocked my mother. I desperately wanted to get my hands on him.

“You creep,” I said.

“The name is Zeus,” he said.

“Your name is Zeus,” Taylor said. “Like the Greek god?” She rolled her eyes. “Puhleeeeeze.”

I could see Taylor trying to get to him but she couldn’t.

“I told you, Miss Ridley, you can’t get through our helmets,” Hatch said. “And as far as the name, that’s not the only similarity my boy here has with his Greek counterpart, is it Michael? Michael’s seen a demonstration of his gift. Like the Greek god, Zeus also throws lightning bolts.” He smiled at us. “So, Michael, to put it bluntly, Zeus is going to fry your friends.”

“You won’t do that,” I said.

“There you go,” Hatch said, flourishing his hand. “Lack of trust. You’ve just proved my point. Yes, I can do that and believe me, I will.”

“But you need them.”

“Wrong again. The truth is I’m only annoyed by your chubby little friend and frankly, Miss Ridley isn’t really of as much value to us alive as we thought she’d be. Fortunately, we have a carbon copy of her, so she is quite expendable. Our research team thinks an autopsy will prove most valuable. We’ve never dissected a Glow before; it could help the cause immensely.” He turned to Taylor. “Did you ever dissect a frog in science class?” He smiled. “Of course you did. Now you’re the frog and some parts of you will be kept in little jars.”

Taylor looked pale, like she might throw up.

“I’ll give you whatever you want,” I said.

Hatch looked at me, his eyes narrowed with contempt. “You had that chance twenty-six days ago. Maybe now you’ll learn that, unlike you, I am a man of my word. We’ll discuss a new deal after my demonstration.”

He walked toward the door. “So, if you’ll pardon me, I think I’ll leave.” He looked at Ostin. “I hate the smell of burnt butter.”

“You’re a psycho!” Ostin shouted at Hatch.

Hatch grunted. “Little man, do you really think you could say  anything that I would find remotely hurtful? It’s like being insulted by a slug. You are a donkey among thoroughbreds. How sad that there is nothing even vaguely special about you. You’re just so . . . average.”

“No he’s not,” Taylor said. “He’s brilliant. He’s a member of the Electroclan.”

Hatch grinned. “The Electroclan. That’s almost comical.” His expression darkened. “Too bad you got in the way of the big boys, Ostin, or you could still be home with mummy and daddy eating pizza. Good-bye.”

Hatch turned to Zeus. “When you’re done cooking our friends,call the guards and have Vey returned to Cell Twenty-Five to contemplate the consequences of his choices.” He looked at the guards.

“You might want to wait outside. Zeus is very powerful but not always accurate. Come with me, Nichelle.”

Nichelle smiled darkly at Taylor. “I’ll miss you so much,” she said sarcastically, then she followed Hatch out. The guards followed her and shut the door behind them, leaving the four of us alone. A wicked smile crossed Zeus’s face. “All right, kiddies, it’s playtime.”

Taylor said, “Why are you doing this? You’re one of us.”

“I’m not one of you.”

“You could be,” I said. “You could join the Electroclan.”

“What’s that,” he said laughing. “Your club? That’s like booking a ticket on the
Titanic
after it hit the iceberg.”

“What’s your real name?” Taylor asked.

He turned to her. “Zeus.”

“What’s your first name?”

“Zeus.”

“Your last name?”

“It’s Zeus, Zeus, Zeus. First, last, middle, that’s it.”

“You really think you’re going to kill us?” Ostin said. “Dude, you’re like fifteen.”

“Shut up,” he said.

“No,” I said. “He’s right. Think about it.”

“Yeah, think about this.” He raised his hands and a quick burst of blue electricity arced between them. He stepped toward me. “Like that, electric boy?”

It was obvious that his electricity was different than mine. Mine came from within my body, while his seemed confined to the outside. I wondered how much he had to give. I, on the other hand, couldn’t even stand under my own power. 

He turned back around. “So who wants to go first? It’s usually ladies before gentlemen, or maybe that doesn’t apply to executions.”

He walked over to Taylor. “Does it?”

“Go ahead,” Taylor said.

He touched her cheek. “It’s a shame you didn’t decide to join us. We could have had some fun. We’re going to rule the world, you know.”

“Why would you want to do that?” Ostin asked.

“I thought you were supposed to be smart,” Zeus said. “Oh, you have no powers at all. Except eating.” He laughed.

“Hey,” Ostin said. “Before you fry me, tell me something. I mean, unless they don’t trust you with the scientific stuff.”

Zeus looked at him angrily. “What?”

“I can’t figure out how Hatch made that helmet work. I mean, the science of it doesn’t make sense. Why doesn’t the copper actually conduct the electricity and amplify Taylor’s electromagnetic waves?  Is there like a radio converter inside it?”

“It’s just a helmet, doughboy.”

“No, there’s got to be something inside it. You probably just don’t know that much about electricity.”

Zeus’s face turned red. “I’m made of electricity, idiot. It’s just a stupid helmet.”

“It couldn’t be. You must not have examined it. There’s got to be a little electric converter inside, maybe a little black pad with some circuit board. Did you notice some wires?”

“There’s not a stupid black pad inside—there’s no wires! It’s just a copper helmet, like a football helmet made of metal. Look, chubster.”

He started to pull off his helmet but noticed Taylor, who was looking a little too eager. He stopped. “Oh, I see. Well played, fat boy. You almost got me. You’re not as dumb as you look. Now prepare to fry.”

He lifted his hands.

“You surprise me, Zeus,” Taylor said. “You’re obviously really powerful. More powerful than any of us.”