straps tightened. Being carried through the basement and out a back door. More men jostling her, laughing, telling jokes. Doors slamming, metal on metal. The sound of an engine and then movement. Darkness.
Jenny was in the back of a van but there were no windows and no way to know where she was going. Declan would look for her, but how long would it be before he even knew she was gone? He was probably still sitting in his car looking at the rotters.
Trix, Jenny realized. Trix is still alive.
But was she? Jenny tried to remember seeing her after she’d been injected, but everything had been so chaotic. And Abel. Poor Abel. He’d been so brave.
But Trix is alive, thought Jenny. She has to be. But then another voice in her head whispered, She doesn’t know where you are. You don’t even know where you are.
It was hard to tell how long they drove. It could have been an hour or a few minutes, Jenny couldn’t tell. The inside of her head was muddled, confused. But after a time, the movement slowed, then stopped. There was a sound like a chain and then the van inched forward. It felt like it was going down a steep incline, and then the sound of the tires changed to something quieter, like the road got smoother. A parking garage? It felt like they were going underground, but Jenny didn’t trust her instincts. They could be anywhere. Chicago was a big city.
They stopped again and this time she heard the engine turning off and the doors of the van opening and closing. Footsteps. Muffled voices. Then the back doors opened and Jenny was being pulled out again, carried by two men who stank of sweat. She could hear Sully’s voice off to the side.
“Put her where I told you to. No more arguing. Daniel wants her to stay below for now.”
“You’re not gonna like it,” said the man carrying the gurney above her head. “There are cobwebs and dirt.” There was a sarcastic tone to his voice.
“Don’t worry about me,” said Sully. “Just do as you’re told.”
The hinges squeaked as Jenny’s slab was carried inside and placed down carefully. Sully sent the two men away and she heard them close the door behind them. She was in darkness with Sully. After a moment, there was a sound of a match striking, and a flickering light filled the room. Then another match and the light intensified. He was lighting candles.
Jenny tried to move, put all of her will into moving a single finger, but nothing. When Sully lit the third candle, she could see a shape painted on the ceiling directly above her. A sloppily-done cross in white paint. The edges had run and dripped, giving it an extra dose of creepy.
“I’ve been waiting for this so long, Jenny,” said Sully.
He was right beside her. She tried to turn her head to look at him but stared at the cross on the ceiling instead. Sully reached out and smoothed her hair back.
“You must think me awful, to play you like that. But I assure you, it was all business. Well, most of it was business. Some of it was just for fun.”
There was a sound like clinking silverware and she felt the straps being loosened, clinking as the buckles hit the floor. A whoosh of air accompanied by a grunt as Sully sat on what Jenny assumed was a padded chair.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said in a tone that reminded her of the doctors her mother had taken her to as a child. “This may be unpleasant for you at first, but I think you’ll grow to find as much enjoyment in it as I do.”
Jenny heard a soft clink and Sully stood up and walked around to the other side of her.
“I’m going to want a look inside you eventually,” he said, “but let’s take advantage of this time we have alone together, shall we?”
There was a ripping sound and Jenny felt her clothes being cut away.
“Let’s start slow,” said Sully. “No need to rush it.”
He lifted her hand slowly, lovingly. She wanted to rip it away from him, to scream as she cracked his head against the wall. But all she could do was lie there. She felt Sully’s oily lips on her hand.
“This is going to hurt,” he said. “I wasn’t sure at first, so it’s a good thing I practiced first. My little experiment failed, but I still learned quite a lot. He wasn’t nearly as strong as you are. I’m not going to blame myself for losing him before I could turn him into you. Your pain receptors will be comparable to your brother’s, though. Such a funny thing. Your organs don’t work, but your nerves are still fully-functional. Don’t you think that’s funny?”
There was cold metal on Jenny’s arm and then her insides lurched as Sully’s blade cut into her nerves, excruciating pain shooting up her arm. In her head, Jenny screamed. She felt the tears running down into her hair.
“There now,” said Sully. “That was the first one. What should we do next?”
It seemed weeks before Sully finally left her, but Jenny knew it had probably only been an hour or two. He’d left the candles burning and she stared at the cross above her. She tried to contemplate what was going on here, why the Righteous were involved with Sully, but after a short while she gave up and just focused on the fifteen or so throbbing wounds on her body. A moan escaped her lips, the sound surprising her. Slowly, she blinked.
Focusing all her energy, she forced her eyes to move. At first, nothing happened. Then, slowly, painfully she moved her eyes to the right. She was in a dirty little room. Tables had been set up against the walls, where a few grubby-looking candles guttered. The floor was packed dirt and the walls looked like cinder blocks covered in green, mold or moss or some kind of vegetation. She moved her eyes further, straining to see. A crate had been upended to use as a small table, on top of which, meticulously laid out, sparkling and clean, were medical tools. Scalpels and saws and other tools all laid out perfectly in line.
The door opened and she shot her eyes back to the ceiling. She tried to move a finger, a toe, anything to move. She had to do something. She couldn’t stay here, not for another second. Footsteps came toward her and a man’s face came into view. He was kindly-looking, with pink cheeks over a gray beard. He had a syringe in his hand, which he held in front of him.
He frowned at her, taking in the carnage Sully had done to her body. Jenny forced air into her lungs.
“Help me,” she said in a croaky whisper.
She sounded like the rotter who had bitten her back on that horrible train. He had said the same thing to her.
“Please,” she said, her throat burning. “It hurts.”
The man looked at her for a long time, his brow furrowed. Then, seeming to come to a decision, he grabbed her arm roughly, pulling her onto her side. As she felt the needle sink into the back of her neck, she finally moved her fingers, grabbing onto the man’s hand that grasped her arm.
He jumped, pulling the empty syringe out and dropping it on the floor. He stayed frozen for a moment, Jenny on her side, having no choice but to stare at his stomach as her body froze up again. After a moment, the man gently laid her on her back again, the cross coming into view once more. He didn’t move for a long time. Finally Jenny heard the scuff of his shoes on the dirt floor.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, almost too soft to hear. “God forgive me.”
His footsteps receded and then the door clanged shut.
And Jenny realized she wasn’t going anywhere.