SILVER WIGGLED IN discomfort as a large hand moved to cover his eyes and press down on his closed lids.
"Just a moment, can't let you see how to get where we're going."
There was the sound of beeping, as if buttons were being pushed before the low hum of something mechanical filled his ears.
A small eternity passed before everything came to a smooth halt the hand blocking Silver's sight lifted.
He instinctively squinted against the harshness of many artificial lights that lined the ceiling.
White windowless walls and floors made the area seem much bigger than it was.
Jay practically dragged him to a door, and Silver's eyes went wide at what lay beyond.
A children's room. Bright, cartoonish animals painted on the walls clashed with the boring white background. An area with soft pillows, books, and toys took up one corner. To the center, fluffy carpets sat below a long table lined with five chairs split on either side.
Allen disappeared around a corner, and Jay finally released his hold on Silver who immediately put distance between the two of them.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"I think you already know the answer."
"I'm not one of them! I think I would have known if I could create lightning or some shit like that!"
Jay shook his head.
"The Enhanced lie dormant until awaked. The information is still tightly under wraps, but there are ways to detect the Enhanced. Ways in which they differ from normal people."
Allen was back, a small white box in his hand as he moved closer to Silver like he was inching toward an injured animal.
In his moment of distraction, Jay pounced, reaching for him.
Silver was quick to dodge but got pulled back when Jay grasped the very end of his shirt, tightening his hold to drag Silver back to him. His other hand reaching around Silver to cut off his escape.
Seeing his chance, Silver grabbed at the appendage. Dragging it to his face to sink his teeth into skin and muscle.
The sound of a sharp curse was loud above Silver's head as the familiar taste of copper filled his mouth.
Just as he had removed his teeth from the bloody wound, a harsh slap landed across his cheek.
The burning sting and force had Silver's head turning to smack against the cold floor of the room with a sickening crack.
Just his luck that it was the uncarpeted section.
His luck was shit, and he had received a concerning amount of trauma to the head in the past 48 hours.
Stunned from the hit, he looked up at the fuzzy outlines of the two men now staring at him.
"Was that really necessary?"
"Not the intended outcome, but he wouldn't have sat still long enough for you to take his blood."
"We could have given him a sedative. Hurting the children is never the right way."
"..."
"That's different, and you know it."
"Whatever you say, Allen. How long will the tests take?"
"Timing always differs. We'll know in a few hours at most."
"Keep him separated from the other children until then. Don't introduce him until we know his stay is permanent."
The dizziness and pain at his temple called him to rest.
Silver closed his eyes, the sting of a needle against his skin dulling as he faded out of consciousness.
SILVER DIDN'T SLEEP for long, but what he woke up to had him wishing that he did.
Once back in Dellmount Point, he locked himself into a cleaning storage closet after stealing from the wrong drug dealer. He hid in that place for three days and still got his ass handed to him when he finally came out.
Morale of the story: don't steal from drug dealers. Also, sticking your head in the dirt like an ostrich doesn't make your problems magically disappear.
I wish I was hiding from a drug dealer now.
Instead, he was on a bed with white sheets awaiting possibly damning news. The four walls were also the exact shade. It was big and empty, and it was driving Silver insane.
He wished he could at least get up and move around, but he felt sluggish. It took far too much concentration to lift his head a few inches from his pillow.
His skin crawled as he eyed the bandage secured to the skin of his inner elbow.
Jay and Allen had taken something from him and given him some kind of drug that made him dopey.
There were no windows, he couldn't even tell the time.
With nothing but his thoughts to keep him company, Silver let his mind wander.
Is Erik still lying in a pool of his own blood? Probably.
Erik is dead.
Has anyone noticed I'm not on the usual streets that I used to beg for money on? Probably not.
Erik is dead.
Wonder how Tony is doing. Probably still lying about his blind eye and missing foot.
Erik is dead.
Over and over, circling the hundreds of terrible memories and grazing over the few minor, lighter ones.
It was annoying how happy he was when the door leading to his room finally opened. Revealing the black robes and scared face of Allen.
"H-how long..."
"Don't speak. The sedative was a small dose, but you're new to it so it will have a stronger effect."
Silver was too numb to flinch away when the man pushed a long arm below his neck and helped him sit up.
"Drink, you need water."
Silver slowly sipped the water from a colorful straw held up toward him.
I hate this.
He turned his head away when he had enough. Allen placed the nearly empty cup on the floor next to the bed.
"I'm not an Enhanced, or whatever Jay was talking about."
"In a short time, we'll know for sure. Rest assured that you won't stay here if the test comes back clean."
Allen had a calmness about him, he wasn't weird like Jay, nor overly violent and angry like those living in Dellmount Point.
Still, Silver wouldn't fall for his good guy act. He couldn't afford to.
Despite his suspicion, he almost called out to beg when the man moved back to the door.
Please don't leave me alone.
He bit his lip to keep the words from spilling out.
Allen paused before opening the door.
"I know your introduction to this place wasn't the best, but should the results be the latter, the daycare will become your home. Jay told me about the environment you lived in previously. Here you have a warm bed, food, children just like you who can relate to being different. A chance to be the child you never got to be. Would that be so bad?"
Silver refused to think about Allen's words too deeply.
Afraid that he might agree with them.
JAY STOOD A good ways away from the pack of people crowded below wide, black umbrellas.
New Sable City Police Department had a shit ton to say before finally lowering Lucky into the ground.
If the fuckers took better care of their own, it wouldn't be as easy for the Colombiano Crime Family to collect officers like baseball cards.
Jay could just make someone laying a sturdy hand the back of Lucky's wife as her shoulders shook. On her other side was her daughter, Jay couldn't make out the details of her face but he could tell by her posture that she wasn't there. Not mentally anyway.
The girl had been sick in the hospital with complications for a while. To get out of a hospital bed to go to her father's funeral had to be rough.
The rain picked up, heavy droplets banging against Jay's umbrella.
He hated funerals, but he put on his big-boy pants and came.
Lucky had been a mentor and teacher to him for a long time. The least he could do was pay his respects at his grave. Even if he was going to be the only Colombiano son to do it.
The slim figure ushered the family into a sleek black car before making his way back over to the plot where the coffin was being buried.
Jay balanced the umbrella in his hand as he flicked his cigarette down into the wet grass, where the burning red embers quickly flickered out.
Slowly but surely, the area emptied and the heavily beating rain slowed to a light drizzle.
Jay made his way over to where the man had his head bent, seeming unbothered by the droplets slowly soaking through his suit and hair.
"Big crowd."
"Would have been bigger if Lucky's body had stayed in the morgue. Catherine wanted it done quickly, didn't want him lying around."
"Still, it was fast. Only been a day or two. I'm surprised he sent you."
The man grunted, an almost pained look crossing his features before he smoothed it over.
"He wants to know who did this."
"A hitman, still working out who hired him."
"Where is this hitman?"
"Dead."
"He'll be disappointed that he didn't get to do it himself."
"I had my reasons."
"You keep me updated on what you find."
"Yes."
Jay moved back to leave.
"Jaylen."
"Yes?"
"Get it done quickly. The Family is getting ready to expand, clean this shit off the dining table before the food gets here."
"I'll make sure I get the answers we need."
"Good, I'll inform your father to look forward to it."
The threat lingered amidst the damp dirt as Jay left as silently as he had come.