The Day They Came (WATTY AWARDS 2016)

Chapter 8

Peter managed to get into the ship's control room. Alarms were blaring on every level, but he had managed to block it out. Despite its loud, blaring noise, he wouldn't allow it to stop him.

He was going home. No matter how hard it was. Claire was coming with him, if he could make it happen.

The letters were arranged in ways he didn't understand. He recognized some of the names – such as Xyzle, Xilnos, and Yunistein.

Then he found a watch. It looked like the one that Xyzle wore on his wrist. The middle button connected him to other people. The left told the time. It was the right button he wanted.

He strapped the watch around his wrist. Since he had had Xilnos tell him about the protocol, he knew that the prisoners' room doors would not lock during a breach. Claire's door would be wide open.

He rolled the wheelchair as fast as he could towards Claire's room. All he had to do when he got there was take her wrist. Then, he could press the button and they'd be home free.

He could see the room. He was closing in. Three more feet...two more...and then the wheelchair stopped.

He looked down. Someone had gotten smart and laid wheel locks on the ground. Before he had a chance to get up and run, they were on him. One of the aliens who showed up to stop his attempt was about eight feet tall, and had magenta skin.

He gulped hard. This was not how he had expected his escape attempt to go.

"You must be Peter Sinclair..." His voice was deep, and almost like Xyzle's. However, his was much deeper than the other alien's.

The other two aliens held him tightly by the arms. In fact, they had pulled him out of the wheelchair and were holding him in the air. He was eye to eye with the magenta alien – which, he had to admit, was a bit frightening.

"And who are you?" He managed to keep his voice from portraying his fear. With a deep breath, he kept quiet and calm on the outside.

"My name is Nexivox; I am the leader of the Mykalean Empire." He sounded proud. Conceited. "I must compliment you on your brilliance, but your execution was deplorable." He then waved his hand. "Take him downstairs, the dungeon. I will deal with him later."

Before Peter could do something, the aliens were taking him away. They took the watch away from him. They placed large cuffs around his wrists. There was a distinctly metallic rattle as he settled down.

Then he realized his feet did not touch the ground. Instead, cuffs had been placed around his ankles and knees. He was stuck high in the air, his limbs stretched out in an X shape. To be honest, it did hurt a little to be in such a position.

However, he was not prepared for what came next.

Nexivox came into the room shortly after he was finally in the cuffs. The height was adjusted to keep his eyes level with the alien's when he was sitting down.

"Kudos to you for being brave enough to attempt an escape." He kept his sentences short and to the point.

"Never expected to be abducted by aliens." He kept his voice calm, yet with a tone of anger. "How do you expect to get away with this?"

"I am Nexivox; I get away with anything because I make the rules." With that, he stood up. It only took the man a couple of steps to reach a switch on the other side of the room.

Then, he flipped the switch.

The pain began rather low. It felt as if he were simply getting his blood pressure taken.

It took him a moment to realize the cuffs were slowly tightening around his wrists. The tightening was so slight that he wouldn't have noticed it unless he felt the pulsing of his heart.

"Your cuffs will tighten in a methodic pattern." Nexivox's voice rang out through the room again. "It will start slowly, at the wrists." Now, Peter noticed there were three switches; only one was flipped into the 'on' position. "It will tighten until I flip this switch into the off position. It will not loosen unless I flip a different switch." He flipped a second switch, and the same slight tightening began on his ankles. "The cuffs on your knees do not tighten. A shame, really." He didn't want to know what that third switch was for.

The cuffs got slightly tighter in the moment of silence.

Then Nexivox left the switches alone and returned to sit in front of him.

"I will allow your cuffs to tighten until your hands and feet die, or until you decide to cooperate – whichever comes first." With that sentence out, he sat back in the chair. He seemed content to watch him suffer.

Peter took a deep breath. He could handle losing his hands and feet. It would only be more proof that he had been abducted.

The minutes began to tick away.

Slowly, the cuffs continued to tighten around his wrists and ankles. After two hours, the pain was excruciating. He could tell his feet were turning red from blood pooling. His hands were probably pale as the blood couldn't get back into them.

Then they started to loosen. He looked up from his feet. Xyzle had come into the room, and made some changes. He had flipped the other two switches down, and the third switch up.

"I have new orders for you, Peter." He didn't sound happy about it. "This has to do with your...stubbornness." He didn't even bother to wait for the cuffs to finish loosening before he unlocked them.

With the freedom of his hands and feet, he knew it would be foolish to run. He simply let the alien do as he needed to. When he could feel his feet and hands again, he would run. He wouldn't stop until Xyzle and Nexivox were in jail.

He didn't notice that Xyzle had taken him to another cell until the door slammed shut behind them. This room had a single coil, made of zinc like material. He knew metals were good conductors, but as it was put around his waist, he noticed it was soft. It was almost like an elastic bandage. Or a snake.

That made his stomach churn. Some snakes constricted their victims, and if the coil used the same mechanics as the cuffs, he would suffocate.

"Once I flip this switch, you have thirty minutes. You will pass out, and will then be left alone. The cycle will continue until you have had enough. Press the red button to let us know you are ready to cooperate." He sounded as if he had rehearsed this over and over.

Then he flipped the switch.

The tension came immediately. Each exhale made the coil a little tighter around his torso – particularly his lungs. There was nothing he could do because he would not give in. He would not cooperate with them.

He resorted to making his exhalations smaller than his inhalations. The coil couldn't constrict if he didn't exhale.

Or so he thought. The coil must've had an override function. It squeezed him harder. The pressure forced him to let all the air out of his lungs. Then it resumed the snake like constriction.

Peter had to admit that the Mykaleans had quite the feat of architecture. They had certainly taken their time when constructing this torture facility.

That's what it was – a torture facility. It wasn't a dungeon.

Then, he passed out. A half hour must havepassed by now.0