Feeling

Chapter Four

I woke up to the feeling of someone ripping something sticky of my skin.  It wasn't an uncommon feeling to me, though; it was the feeling of a Link being yanked away before the effects had run their entire course.  “Fuck, okay, dude, I’ll move.  Just give me back my Link,” I muttered, trying to cling to the memory of what that emotion felt like.

Huh.  That was strange. I couldn't quite remember what emotion I'd been feeling.  That was a first.  I raised my hand to rub the spot but both rose up to touch my neck.  Opening my eyes slightly-- Jesus Christ, why is it so bright?-- I saw that my wrists were bound together in front of me.

Now my eyes flew open-- fuck these lights, seriously-- and I frantically looked around to see that I was lying on a sofa, my ankles similarly bound.  I swung my legs up of the sofa,  sitting up suddenly to get the bright light of of my eyes.  The light moved with me, still shining directly in my face.

“Alright, let's take it down a notch with the lights, man,” someone said.

Someone else groaned.  “But it's the perfect opportunity to do this!  All the movies have blinding light during the first meeting.”

“You're blinding the poor girl,” said another voice.  “I'm going to turn the lights on.”

“No, don't!”  The lights in the rest of the room flipped on, but the bright light still remained trained on my face.

“You heard her, knock it the fuck off,” chimed in yet another voice.  There was a dull whack and the bright light switched off.  I blinked, my eyes readjusting from the intense light to the soft lighting of the room I was in.  When I could finally see, I found six people sitting in front of me.

We were in an apartment of some kind… a really nice apartment done up in whites, golds, and glass...so modern that looked like it belonged in some bourgeois magazine about how to really put the pep in your home.  The people around me were settled onto chairs and sofas and there was a glass coffee table separating me from them.  Mugs, cups, and a wine glass littered the table; two empty pizza boxes containing only a few crusts and a nearly empty bowl of chips say in the very center.  If it wasn't from the fact that I was all tied up, the scene might have looked like a nice afternoon get-together among friends.

Only I wasn't friends with any of these people.

“Hello,” said one of the people, leaning forward from his position in a black and gold armchair.  His expression was calm and composed, almost unreadable because of the dark silver aviators he was wearing.  One hand absently typed with the leather necklace that was tied loosely around his throat, twisting one of the five beads on it.  His clothing was nice enough, but didn't seem to out of the ordinary: a black button up left undone over an olive shirt and jeans with a few worn places that looked like they were there out of usage rather than fashion.  A black tattoo was imprinted on his right forearm, a pattern of angles and lines that didn't seem to add up to anything in particular.  He didn't seem that dangerous.  In my experience, it was the people who wore all white clothing or held meetings in shady strip clubs that you had to watch out for.

“My name's Dave.  And you're Justice Eve, the infamous hacker, aren't you?”  I didn't respond, only looked down at my lap, where my bound wrists sat, before looking back up at him.  He grimaced.  “Oh, those probably hurt, don't they?  We're sorry about that, but in our line of work, it's a necessary precaution, you know?”  I didn't say anything again.   “If you promise to cooperate with us, I think we'd be okay with getting them off of you.”

“Yeah, I'll cooperate,” I said.  “I'm having a bit of an off-day, I think, so my chances of taking down the six of you aren't looking that great right now.”  The corner of Dave's lips quirked upwards and he stood up so he could reach into his back pocket.  He seemed confused for a second, but his expression quickly morphed into one of understanding and he sighed before turning to the young woman who was sitting on the arm of the chair he'd just exited.