The Smiles Family

Chapter 6

AJ has no distinct memories of the next few days. It's all a blur with sudden consciousness, distant voices, and black. He's been dreaming half the time, with no clear concept of time. 

Sometimes, when he's at least cognitive, he tries to remember his identity. Who he is, who he was. But, no matter how hard he tried, nothing ever came to mind. He still had common knowledge, of course, but never any memory attached to a certain thing. 

No matter how deep he searched for his name, face, or any other knowledge of his identity or other people, nothing came up, like there was an invisible barrier blocking him from getting to his memories. Yet, it almost felt like he should remember, like he did at one point. 

That was, until he did remember something. He remembered his mother. It was a flash of a memory, in which she said one short snippet of AJ's name: "Jay". He knew, somehow, that it wasn't his full name and that it was only a partial memory. But, something in him sparked. Excitement. Excitement that he finally has one small bit of his life back; something he can hold on to forever. He starts to chant it in his head, determined to remember it. Jay, Jay, Jay.

He finally has something of an identity to hold onto. In his excitement, he jolts awake. He has to blink several times to get used to the bright fluorescent lights as his vision sharpens. His head feels like it's buzzing. Then, he feels a sharp pain as if someone slashed through his skull. He lifts  his hand to the pain, sitting up as much as he can manage. Rubbing his temples, he looks around. His surroundings appear to be the same room he was in when he first arrived to the facility. 

The door opposite of AJ starts to open. He quickly flops back down, closing his eyes and going limp to appear asleep. The door hinges creak as the door is opened. Heavy footsteps enter, the person to whom they belong obviously agitated. They slam the door behind them, crossing the room and throwing what sounds like papers onto the metal desk beside him. The drawers are wrenched open, spilling some of the papers. A hand rummages through what sounds like small glass bottles, and AJ knows all too well what is about to be grabbed next. 

He bolts upright, rips the covers away, and tries to get off the bed. That's when he feels the familiar tug at his forearm, and the unmistakable feeling of ripping skin. AJ doubles over in the bed, trying to claw out the IV, when Smiley grabs his arms. "Calm down. It's just Sertraline. Helps with anxiety."

"That's oddly nice of you." AJ looks at him, suspicious. "Oh, no. It's not me being nice. It's me preventing you from injuring yourself. I consider you a valuable subject." AJ should have known it wasn't for his benefit. Everything Smiley does is for his benefit only. Smiley pokes at the IV. Then, without warning, he quickly rips it out sideways, causing AJ to yelp in pain. The boy tears his arm away, but Smiley grabs it back and scoffs. "If that hurt, I feel sorry for you." AJ looks at him sideways, about to ask what he means when Smiley thrusts the needle into the boy's arm. 

"Are you trying to hurt me?" AJ says through gritted teeth, clutching at his now-bleeding arm. Smiley tosses the syringe into a garbage bin, ignoring the boy. "Follow me." He says, motioning at a large door at the far right side of the room. AJ follows Smiley into the attached room. It's an open, dark concrete room. In the center, there sits an iron chair facing a row of adjacent, slightly-tinted windows. AJ walks a bit slower, stopping completely when Smiley closes the door behind him. "What's this about?" The boy asks. Smiley ignores him and drags the boy to the front of the chair. He pushes AJ on it, and straps him down.

The unnecessarily tight constraints begin to cut off the circulation to AJ's wrists as Smiley pulls a small scalpel from his coat pocket. He works quickly, making a small incision just below AJ's jaw, close to his neck. Smiley then inserts a small object into the cut, shoving it into the boy's skin. AJ squirms as it is inserted, feeling it slide beneath his skin. Smiley holds the boy's head still, applying a small bandage to the cut. 

AJ moves his jaw once Smiley finishes, feeling for the device. "What the hell was that?" As soon as the boy finishes his statement, an unbearable electrified agony courses through his body, making every one of his muscles tense up. He screams, the extreme pain coursing throughout his entire body, overriding his brain. Then, his mind shuts down.

---

Eventually, AJ comes around. He's still in the cold chair, panting and sweating. "I think you get the point, do you?" AJ looks up at Smiley, who is standing a few feet from the boy, hands calmly behind his back. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" AJ yells. The intense pain comes back, feeling like a thousand hornets are stinging every inch of AJ's body. He screams until he blacks out once again. 

---

Upon waking up again, AJ can see Smiley looks a bit more agitated, his arms crossed haughtily. "I thought once would be enough," He claps his hands together, "but no matter. That's hardly any a fraction  of what you're sure to experience today."

AJ holds his tongue, unenthusiastic about the pain. "It's a pain stimulator, by the way. And a strong one at that. The pain levels you experienced were about 3 to 4. Anyways, now that that's out of the way, let's begin what I had planned." Smiley walks around the chair slowly, like a predator circling its prey. "I wish to know why you two were in the basement when it was obviously a restricted area." 

"I didn't know it was restricted. You should put up a sign next time." Smiley scoffs. "What?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" AJ thinks for a moment. "No?" 

"You will address me as 'sir'  from this day forward, considering I'm the one with a higher position." AJ snickers, but quickly covers it up as a cough. "Sorry. Sir." The word feels unpleasant and foreign. "Anyways. I have another question. Why did you look so... excited when you woke up? Did you..." Smiley looks directly at AJ. "...Remember something?" An icy chill crawls up the boy's spine. "No. Sir." He mumbles. "Speak up."

"No." Smiley stares at AJ still. "You know what's funny, 239?" The boy looks directly at Smiley, curious. "I don't believe you." Smiley presses a small button, and pain erupts throughout AJ's body again, like his skin is being peeled off. This time, his mind does not save him and AJ endures the entirety of the few drawn out seconds of pain. Gasping and drenched in sweat, AJ looks up at Smiley who simply says: "Remember now?" 

AJ decides against lying this time. "I remembered...Some of my name." AJ pauses, his chest heaving from heavy breaths. "Well? What was it?" The boy hesitates, looking back up at Smiley. "Jay." Smiley pauses, as if thinking. Then, pain comes again, as quickly as lightning. It feels like AJ's being burnt alive, every inch of his body ignited in an unbearable agony. Desperately, AJ pleas, yelling at Smiley to stop. The pain simmers down to a stinging throb. "Now, I want you to tell me what you are called here."

"AJ." The boy says, unable to catch his breath before the impending torture. Every nerve in AJ's body is screaming, and he is too. "Wrong." Smiley answers simply. Maybe he wants me to tell him the number?  "239." AJ croaks. Smiley crouches down, level with the boy's face. "Do you mean it, or are you just saying that?" He asks, not waiting for AJ to answer before turning the pain stimulator back on again. The agony he experiences was the worst blow of them yet, every inch and nerve of AJ's body on fire. He cries out, writhing in pain. Smiley just stands there. "What are you called?" He asks calmly. The pain comes in waves, each one worse than the last. "239." AJ yells in a strangled voice, hearing his voice crack with anguish.

Then, it's all over. The boy goes limp, his body stinging. "We shall continue this later, 239." AJ nods with all the strength he has left, his mind is muddled. The only thing clear through the thick fog is AJ's number: 239.