| Subject: Chapter 19 |
Author:
Mary
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Date Posted: Wednesday, September 14, 08:19:50pm
In reply to:
Mary
's message, "The Healing Touch II - Chapter 14 +" on Sunday, September 04, 02:35:16pm
Chapter 19
Cold. She was very, very cold.
Alone.
Surrounded by inky blackness.
It was underground. She remembered coming down the steps. Lots of steps.
There was nothing in the blackness. Walls. A cold, damp floor. Concrete maybe.
How long she had been there? Long enough to have to relieve herself multiple times in the corner. She lost count, somehow.
Michael. She didn’t know where Michael was.
She shivered and instinctually curled into a tighter ball. Her hands and bare feet were numb.
They had taken her clothes and thrown the tank top and shorts at her as they slammed the heavy door.
How long ago had the door slammed? Hours? Days?
She thought she had slept for a while. She wasn’t sure.
She dreamed. Michael.
Where was Michael?
*****
Michael was angry. He held onto that anger realizing that it would help sustain him through this mission. He had been distracted, now as he thought back on the last meeting with Marcali there had been subtle signs that something was wrong, signs that Michael should have picked up on. But he had let himself be distracted. He had let his guard down and that was unthinkable in this business, especially now that Nikita’s life was on the line.
Michael had been trained very, very well. He knew how to be imprisoned and survive. He knew how to withstand torture. He knew how to play with his enemies, frustrate them, give them nothing and still survive.
Nikita knew none of this. She would be terrified right now. If things were exactly the same for her as they were for Michael she would be disoriented now, dehydrated, terrified and her adrenaline would be using up all the energy in her body. She would become lethargic and in the cold environment, as thin as she was, possibly hypothermia could set in. Michael inwardly cursed himself for putting her life in danger.
He also knew there was absolutely nothing he could do at the moment except conserve his strength and wait for someone to open that damn door so he might have an opportunity. The sub-basement they were in was about twenty minutes from the suites so Michael knew they were in the bowels of one of Marcali’s factories. They had been taken by van and then he could smell the oil from the manufacturing area as they were then taken down three flights of industrial stairs.
The room he was in was completely concrete, with a solid metal door that allowed no light to penetrate into the space. It was approximately eight and a half feet wide, six feet deep and seven feet tall. Michael had traced every inch of wall space looking for anything that night be able to be used, but there was nothing. He knew they had been there approximately thirty-seven hours.
No food or water of any kind had been offered, there was no noise, no sound at all, no smell, all of the senses but touch, were completely deprived. So Michael focused on where his feet touched the floor, concentrated on the roughness of the concrete, ran his hands over the walls again and again. Anything to give himself a center, a feeling of being grounded. He went through the alphabet in his head in every language he could think of, he quoted Shakespeare to himself, just to have the comfort of his own voice.
And even as he did that he hated himself more and more because he knew that Nikita had no idea how to do any of this. She had no way to stay grounded in the dark world she had been placed in, no way to keep herself centered, no way to stay calm.
He could do nothing but wait.
*****
“I can’t stand this. It will have seemed like an eternity to her right now.”
“I know.”
“How long has he had them?”
“Our best estimates put them being taken about thirty five hours ago.”
“And I ordered no backup. I wanted Marcali bad enough that I put my own daughter’s life on the line.”
“Now don’t beat yourself up over this. That won’t help.”
“I ordered it. I ordered no trackers. I sent the configuration to One that way.”
“You had no idea that Nikolai would try something like this.”
“Oh, but I did. Simms showed a 14.3% chance that he would try to take Michael and Nikita. But this is Michael, and he’s always beaten any odds placed in front of him.”
“We’ll find them.”
“She’s sick Walter, possibly dying and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it except wait.”
Alexandria was actually crying, sobs that wracked through her and Walter did the only thing he could, took the woman that he loved and held her in his arms, trying to offer what comfort he could as they awaited word on Michael and Nikita.
*****
She was thrown onto a table and her ankles and wrists were clamped. The table was inverted and she was vertical into front of Marcali.
“Hello my dear. I warned you that the accommodations may not be as comfortable as you were used to. You don’t seem quite as sure of yourself as you did before. Pity. You were pretty good.”
He circled her, “I actually have a proposition for you. One I think you should carefully consider.”
He grabbed her by the chin, forced her to look at him. “Are you still with me my dear? No passing out before I make you an offer.” Then he back-handed her directly across the face scratching her across her cheekbone with the ring that he wore.
She cried out with the pain of the slap, “Yes, I hear you.” She gritted out between her clenched teeth.
“Good. There’s that tenacity I admire. After you tell me everything that you know about Section One I want you to come to work for me. It’s simple really, you’re beautiful, that will throw my enemies off guard and instantly give you an advantage. I know Section trains well, I can use that.”
“I don’t work for Section.”
He stared at her, turned her face from side to side as he held her chin once again. “You’re lying. Why else would you be here with two other operatives? Section is stupid but they wouldn’t risk this operation to an innocent.”
She repeated, “I don’t work for Section.”
He stepped back, pushed the table down and began to attach electrodes to her. “What are you doing?” Her voice was now trembling, she couldn’t help it, she was scared to death.
“Seeing if I can help you tell the truth.”
*****
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