Malakai's eyes twitched a bit as the light from the bulbs in the room hit his face. His fingers lifted and moved slowly. Alfred who had been watching him closely immediately moved near as he noticed the movements.
"Kai?" He called out.
Malakai moved his body a bit. His face showing discomfort. He placed his left palm over his eyes and groaned. "What's up with the lights? I'm trying to sleep." His words came out as mumbles. But those words meant everything to Alfred. His friend had regained consciousness for at least ten seconds.
He immediately fell back into what he just awoken from.
"Kai? Kai, get up!" Alfred shouted.
Everyone there turned to his direction and then looked away. This was not the first time he had called out for the other to wake up. He did it almost everyday as if his voice was all Malakai needed to get back on his feet. It seemed this time it was.
Malakai, this time, not only had an expression of discomfort on, he also looked troubled. His body began trembling and he was sweating profusely.
"Kai? Kai, are you okay?" Alfred asked with worry. He could see the lips of his friend move. He muttered inaudible words, constantly turning from side to side. Slowly, he got louder and louder.
"Let me go... Please, someone, someone save me!"
"K-kai?" Alfred moved his hand to shake him awake but stopped midway.
"No, stop, please, don't hurt me. Help me! SAVE ME PLEASE!! "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Alfred couldn't understand what Malakai was yelling about. Was it a nightmare? He wondered.
"Help me! Let me go!!" Malakai shouted and immediately rose and sat up on the bed. He was breathing heavily and used his left arm to push his hair back. He just relived one of, if not the worst moment of his life.
"Kai?" He heard a very familiar voice call out softly. He turned his head slowly and saw his friend seated beside him. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes. His quivering lips slowly spread into a smile.
"Alfred?" He said softly. He paused as the realization dawned on him. "Ah-I am alive?" He touched his body with his fingers and even pulled on his cheek. "I'm alive?" He said once more not believing it. He threw the sheets off him and his smile disappeared once more.
He saw the numerous stitches on his abdomen through his shirtless body and recollected the pain he had gone through. He remembered how the beats dug its teeth into his flesh. More than that, something else caught his attention. His right arm, was no longer human-like.
"Wh-what the?" He was in complete shock. He remembered losing his arm, the pain and blood flow that followed. But, now he was looking at a thin, pale pulsating arm. Attached to it were wires which led up to the machine in the room.
A week after he was brought back to the room, they took him out again and he was returned with a new arm, after which wires from the strange device were attached to it. Not just him, but the other boy that returned with him, rather than a new arm, he came back with the bandages on his face replaced with a metallic mask that covered the left part of his face. Just like Malakai's arm, his mask had wires attached to it as well.
Malakai's fellow wounded, Michael had woken up the day before and just sat quietly. He hadn't eaten or drank anything since then. What had happened to him was still fresh in his memories. His shoulder was eaten away almost separating his hand from his body. His face was then devoured next. Not for one second did he believe that he would survive it.
Malakai placed his arm on his forehead and began to cry.
"K-kai you..." Alfred wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words. He didn't know what to say, he didn't know what his friend went through to make him shed tears this way. He only watched with tears in his eyes.
"Why? Why did they bring me back? Why was I saved? Is it to go through that again? Isn't death better?!" He shouted. Alfred placed his arm and his friends shoulder to console him, but gently so he wouldn't cause him pain.
Everyone in the room could hear him. His reaction was not too different from Michael's. Michael had stayed quiet first and then cried later, but he was crying immediately. He wanted to leave. He had accepted death at that moment. Even if he was to be saved, why was he still in the hands of those responsible for his torture?
"Oh? So you woke up?" Michael said. For the first time since he woke up he said something and it was to Malakai.
Malakai ignored the voice. It wasn't one he knew, so he didn't care.
"What exactly happened?" Alfred asked. He was keen to know what had been done to the five that had left. If he was going to face it one day, then he would want to prepare himself mentally, at least. He had asked the girl that returned unscathed and she said nothing. She was quiet, when she tried to speak, she would stutter and looked like she would collapse if she continued so he let her be. Talking to Michael was a waste of time, he wouldn't even look at you talk more of speak to you.
"What happened? You want to know what happened? What happened was I put through hell, lost an arm, almost had my guts spill out and got a big part of my shoulder chomped off!" Malakai shouted his response. Everyone was in fear hearing him speak. Whatever happened to him will soon be their fate and they may not survive it.
"All for their entertainment. All for their... I was, I was, I," He cried even more. "B-b-beasts! I was sent out to be preyed on by a beast!"