"On your feet."
Cassius grunted as he was kicked in the side. He rolled over and tried to sit up. He was yanked up by his arm before he got the chance.
Felix shoved him. He stumbled back, still half asleep and feeling the effects of Iza's beating. The pounding in his head and the ache in his throat made it worse for him to keep upright when Felix shoved him toward the door.
"Hands behind your back," Felix said.
Cassius obeyed. "Never had to ask before."
Felix grabbed his right wrist and twisted it high against his back. He cried out as his tendons stretched. His muscles quivered under the pressure. Felix pushed his arm further up to the point Cassius thought his arm might snap.
"Let's get this over with."
Felix loosened his grip, letting Cassius's arm lower to rest beside his left. Felix snapped the metal cuffs around Cassius's hands and attached the leash on the chain of the cuffs.
The cold metal bit into his skin like the blade of a knife. He could feel his circulation being cut off. His fingers were beginning to go numb.
He tugged at the cuffs, trying to relieve some of the pressure, but he only ended up making it worse. Every move scraped the metal over his wrists.
The door unlatched and in came a gust of fresh air. It was still stale, a pungent musky smell that burned his nose and the back of his throat.
These halls and cells were covered in grime from being left unattended. Across the floor, black streaks from military shoes created layers that overtook the once pristine gray cement.
He noticed two dark shadows blocking their path.
Outside the door, standing with their heads low and their black hoods shielding their face, the Shadows guarded the hallway.
Their purple eyes glowed against their pearly skin and black hair. Cassius gave them a glance over. He hadn't forgotten what they'd done back on their mission.
If they'd been doing their job and had been paying attention, he might not have been attacked by that fucking demon.
At the mere thought, his neck burned where the demon's teeth had pierced. He could feel the attack happening all over again. From the moment he was grabbed and cut by its claws, to the moment it sunk its teeth into the side of his neck and thrashed him like a rag doll.
Those few seconds were ingrained into him now, another nightmare he had to worry would visit him the next time he slept.
But this demon was real. It existed.
Felix pushed him through the door. He nodded to the Shadows. "Is the truck ready?"
They bowed their heads lower. "Yes, sir."
Their soft voices were like hisses in Cassius's ears. He glared at them, twisting his hands unconsciously. He gritted his teeth as the metal cut a little deeper.
"Make sure the guards are on watch. I want four at the door and four at the gate." Felix handed the closest Shadow the leash. "Hand him over to General Rexton and no one else."
Felix gave one look at Cassius. They locked eyes and for a second Cassius thought he was going to see the real Felix emerge, not the pretender.
Felix turned and left him to the Shadows. Puzzled, Cassius stared after him.
He didn't get to think about it before the Shadows slithered up to his side. Their magic was like black tar oozing into his skin and into his lungs. Without pushing back with his magic, he couldn't do much to keep their nasty and repulsing magic off of him.
The one with his leash grinned, showing his sharpened teeth. They were sawed down to a fine point and were all the exact same size all the way to his back molars.
"It's been a long time since we've been alone," he said, almost giggling.
Cassius leaned back. The Shadow tugged on his leash and the pain it caused showed on Cassius's face. The Shadow's purple eyes twinkled and he looked over to the second Shadow.
"When does the truck leave?"
Cassius stiffened.
The first Shadow slid his hand up his arm. His long fingers, cold and soft, slipped under his sleeve.
His breath caught in his throat.
The Shadow paused.
"Kaya."
Kaya, the Shadow with his hand on Cassius, looked to the other. The smile, slimy and dripping with mischievous thoughts, was still on his face. His purple eyes glimmered at the other Shadow.
"Quit it," the Shadow said.
Cassius couldn't see him, but he could hear the irritation. It was the first time he'd ever heard their names, heard them talk so outright to each other.
Kaya, with his snake-like hands and no good intentions, backed away from him. The second Shadow took the leash from Kaya's hand. They looked at one another, voicing unsaid thoughts through a simple gaze.
Then, the Shadow walked past Kaya and led Cassius down the hall. Kaya followed, the air turning dark with the pollution of his magic. It was thick and tasted like gasoline.
Cassius had to fight back coughs and gags as the magic engulfed him. The first Shadow didn't react to Kaya's shown aggression. He seemed unaffected by his partners outright disrespect.
But Cassius guessed it was a recurrence, though he found it odd they would show so much in front of him.
They were much the same in features. Only slight differences in their personality, but most times this couldn't be seen. Like the other members on his team, Cassius had only seen the Shadows a few times outside of missions.
Felix liked to follow around Iza and Iza was always checking in on Cassius.
The Shadows acted as their name. They appeared when they were called upon and only then would they be in the same room as him. Outside missions or rare occasions like this, they avoided him and he assumed it was the same for others.
Besides all that, he didn't know anything about them. They were ghosts of the shadows, not just something that hid inside of them. And he didn't know how he felt about being in their company.
He was so used to Iza and Felix that he found it difficult to make the judgment of the two. Kaya was the one to be more concerned about. He'd jumped onto the first chance to beat Cassius in.
But it was expected, somewhat, for an Exteru to want to put a Mekiah down.
He wasn't used to it and he never would be out of sheer will. He wasn't a weak slave that would take anything and he thought he'd proven that. Time and time again, he fought against the power pushing him down. Like any other being in this world, he didn't want to be caged.
The first Shadow made no attempt to look at Cassius or Kaya. He was absorbed in his thoughts and kept his eyes straight ahead.
Kaya walked beside Cassius, but he didn't try to touch him. His eyes wandered from time to time, but it looked to be out of boredom and not for a specific reason. The confrontation from the two created a sick feeling in the pit of Cassius's stomach.
He wasn't about to puke, though the feeling made it hard for him to walk. Right then, he wanted to sit down. He didn't know what it was other than being around Kaya, who looked completely unstable.
But the dawning didn't fall upon him until they were closing in on the front gates. The hallways were the same ones he'd fled down when he'd made his escape attempt. And just around the corner was where he'd shot the soldier.
Her blood left no stain and the damage done to the glass office had been amended. It had only been a day, but they'd fixed everything. Nothing looked out of place. It was as if nothing had even happened.
He looked around but made sure the Shadows couldn't tell. This feeling that crept up inside of him made it clear that his failed escape was more than a failure in his eyes. It felt as if this cemented his character.
This failure was the final straw in deciding who he would become. He had his entire life to break free from the government's hold. Now, it felt as if he'd cut that time in half.
They exited the building and outside, four guards were surrounding the front door. Closer to the gate, he saw an armored car with another four guards. They held their magically enhanced guns in a ready position.
The glowing purple symbols could be seen clearly in the fog that had settle over the base.
Those weapons show how much they trusted him now. Before his attempt, he'd been led around only on a leash with Iza as his only guard. There had never been any need for them to guard him with so many soldiers. Seeing them armed, just for him, was almost as good as making Iza angry.
The further they walked toward the gate the more the pain in his gut grew. He tried to hide his grimace, but he couldn't hold it back. He could make out the guards' facial features and the Xtavia crest on their chest. Their stoic faces were like statues and as he looked at them, he started to notice the absence of Exteru.
These were Remu guards.
The base was a neutral zone like most bases in the country. Soldiers were a mix of Exteru and Remu to keep a balance of power.
Seeing so many Remu working under on Remu general was strange and unusual.
The guards opened the back of the car. Light filtered in through the back, revealing two figures huddled in opposite corners. They didn't move when the doors opened.
As Cassius looked at them, he felt uneasy as he realized they were Mekiah. The feeling made him question his fear and rationality. Seeing Mekiah shouldn't make him feel so helpless.
Things had truly changed.
Two of the guards circled around Cassius and the Shadows. They lowered their guns to their sides and waited for the first Shadow to give a command. Kaya stood to the side, looking at the Mekiah inside the car with piqued interest.
"Walk him in." The Shadow handed the leash to the guard beside him.
The guard nodded to the others. They put their guns away and boxed Cassius in. He moved forward without an order. They didn't give him much of a choice when they were closing in on him.
He climbed into the back. There were two benches built into the car's walls. The metal benches held four rows of seatbelts. Above the bench were straps and locks hanging on the walls.
And then there were the Mekiah. They hadn't moved an inch. They looked dead if he was being honest.
As he took the seat on the far end of the bench, a guard shoved him. He stumbled onto the seat and turned around with his hands raised. He didn't think about it until he was backhanded across the face.
The guards drew their guns and aimed them at him.
He opened his hand to show his empty palms. "I'm not going to do anything."
They didn't lower their guns. "Promise."
One put their weapon away and took his locked hands. They held them up in an awkward angle and latched them onto the bench between his legs. He hadn't noticed the eye hook underneath. It wasn't hard to forget once they locked him to it.
The next thing they did was strap him in. They looped the straps over his chest and pulled them tight until his back was flush with the wall. He gasped when the straps touched his skin.
Laced with magic, the straps burned.
The odd sensation muted his senses. Not only could he not see well in the already dark car, but now they were dampening his hearing. What he picked up now were just ghosts of what his senses should have been.
The straps locked into place and the guards stepped back. Cassius blinked as the figures climbed down from the car, leaving him locked to the bench.
They shut the doors.
Blackness settled around him. Chained the wall, he felt trapped more than he thought he would. The bench was not much different than sitting on the cell floor.
The darkness was better than having to look at the Mekiah in the corner. They were too close. He wanted to be alone. They didn't talk to him, but even being in the same car was enough to make him unsettled. That's what made the journey worse.
He could take the darkness and the uncomfortable chains around his arms. It was the Mekiah that made it hard to relax. Chained like him, he wasn't afraid they would jump him. It was the unknowing that made him uneasy.
They were people and slaves like him. They were his people. He had no relation to them, nothing at all. But they were like extensions of himself. Maybe they were afraid, unsure of what would happen to them.
And as he closed his eyes, he realized what he was feeling.
Empathy. Pain.
These emotions, these feelings, were unnatural to him. How could he care when the people surrounding him only wanted to hurt him? They never cared about him, not even when he was just a boy.
As many times as he thought about it, the situation could never get better. He couldn't do anything for these Mekiah. They were just slaves, just the same as he was.
The memory of his escape was all he had to hold onto. The Third Eye grew distant and he wondered if he'll ever be able to embrace it as he had before.
He tried to push into the Veil. The barrier was thick, working against him as he pushed his mind through its folds. The pain came then, jolting him back a layer. Stunned, he blinked a few times to get rid of the black cloud falling over his mind.
It was the first time the Veil had ever hit him. Where it was usually soft and welcoming, it had grown hard as a rock. He touched it again. Gentle this time. He eased his way in, ignoring the stings.
After a while of pushing, he made his way to the center of the Veil. It was hard to see where he was going. Wherever he looked, he saw blurs of light and openings he didn't know where they led. He ignored all this and moved forward where he was to meet the Third Eye.
Every step he took was another jolt of pain in his head. He walked on pins and needles to make it to the Third Eye though he didn't know if it would let him in. The process was harder than all the other times, including the ones where he was half asleep.
Something was wrong here. It wasn't hard to feel the changes going on inside. The magic was changing, turning almost sweet when he breathed in.
Everything about this was wrong.
The air, the magic. Each thing he'd grown to love about the Veil was no longer there. It was replaced by a vile entity. And he didn't know what was causing the destruction.