Corrupted

Chapter Four

Chapter Four - The Aftermath of Chloroform

When I awoke, darkness engulfed my body. I could hardly see my hand in front of my face. It was practically silent, the only noise being the quiet hum of vehicles, which sounded faint but nearby, indicating I was in a car of some sort. Perhaps a van, which would have made the most sense because of the area that surrounded me. I sensed the space is small and cramped, because when I instinctively tried to stretch out when I woke up, I was unable to do so.

I felt quite dizzy and bilious. Even the smallest effort that I made, which was sitting up, took all I had. My stomach was churning and my head was throbbing, but the nuisance that my headache was causing was the least of my worries at the time. I had no idea as to where I was at, or what I was doing here. At first, I could hardly remember anything. How I got here. Who I was previously with. Why I was with those people. None of it made sense at first, but then it slowly started coming back to me.

Your name is Amy Matthews. You left your family after a huge argument with your parents, the voice in my head said very slowly, enunciating each word as if they were speaking to a toddler. I recognized the voice as my own. For being a slut, I continued, my voice spatting out the word 'slut' in complete and utter disbelief that my own parents would say such a thing about their daughter. You're here with a boy and a girl, brother and sister. Cameron and Eliza are their names.

I remembered almost all of it, except for one thing, which was how I got here. I thought maybe it was because I hadn't even known that before I went unconscious (however that happened). I knew that Cameron and Eliza were from a town called Seven. And they were being hunted. And that, according to them, they saved my life. I recalled walking for a long time and then Eliza revealed to Cameron that they had trackers. But that was all.

I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Closing my eyes, I wished I hadn't left. Sure, my family was shitty and good for nothing, but despite everything, they were my family. And surely they loved me, didn't they? I hoped so. I remembered them telling me that when I was younger, but they definitely hadn't told me that in a while. Perhaps I was starting to forget whether they did love me or not, and that's why I left them.  I let out a slight sigh, which apparently did not go unnoticed.

"Nice of you to finally wake up," Someone said. I recognized the voice immediately as the boy's — Cameron's. Out of the people in the van, which I presumed were, besides me, of course, Cameron and Eliza, the former seemed like the only one capable of making such a snarky comment in a time like this. His voice echoed slightly in the van, but he was near, perhaps a few feet. I couldn't tell. I was starting to wonder if Eliza was here or not before she spoke up.

"Hi, Amy," She said, false cheerfulness laced in her tone. I could practically see the look she was giving her brother for making the rude comment that he did. At first, I pondered why they were not freaking out like I was at the time. We were kidnapped, for God's sake. But then I realized that this had probably happened to them a few — if not many — times before. They grew up in Seven, in which this was normal. At least, that's how they described it to me.

"Don't mind Cameron," Eliza added after I hadn't replied to her for a few moments. "We've only been awake for ten minutes, at the most. The Chloroform had a normal effect on you, don't worry. You probably feel ill, don't you?"

"Chloroform?"  I asked, crinkling my noise up. I had never even heard of that before. "What's that? And yeah, I feel.." I trailed off, unable to find a word that was capable of describing how I felt at the moment.

"Nauseous?" Cameron asked, grimly.

"Not just that," I nodded, even though neither of them could see me. "I also have a killer migraine and I'm exhausted. Do you two not feel this way?"

"We do, but not nearly as bad as you feel. Or maybe we do feel as bad as you, but it just doesn't seem as bad as it used to, I guess you could say. This has happened to us many times, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say that this is your first," Eliza responded.

"Chloroform is an anesthetic, but the people at Seven use it to render you unconscious. It does just that, but always wears off in just a couple of hours," Cameron recited, as if he was repeating it from memory. "I'm betting we haven't even been unconscious for that long, honestly. It's the people at Seven's favorite weapon to use against us." He added.

I didn't say anything in response, but slumped back against the side of van, my body jolting and jouncing at every twist and turn. I remember hitting a bump once and lurching forward, landing on Cameron. With my cheeks warm, I got back up and returned to my previous position.

I wondered if my family missed me. I had only been gone for what, not even a full day? Surely they did, though. I could only hope that they were worried about me. Maybe they had called the police by now, maybe they were sending out search parties, maybe they were sitting at home, crying, regretting everything they'd ever said to me that held a part in my wanting to leave.

Or maybe they were drinking their coffee, reading a book, and going about their day as usual.

The thought terrified me to no extent. I hadn't realized I was crying until I felt a salty tear drip onto my arm. I pushed it to the back of my mind, hoping it was not true. I thought about saying something to start a conversation, but I decided to let the peace and quiet remain in the van for a while until I couldn't take it anymore.

"Where are we going?" I asked, after finally mustering up the will to speak. It hurt to talk after I had been crying and my voice sounded as if I needed to clear my throat, but I didn't have the effort. At first no one replied, but I figured it was because no one knew. After I thought for a minute, though, I realized Cameron and Eliza had probably been abducted like this a few times before. They, of all people, would know.

"Back to Seven," Cameron supplied dryly.

An intense sentiment of horror rushed through me. Before that day, I had never even heard of Seven. If someone would have mentioned the name to me, I would have thought of it as merely a number. But according to Cameron and Eliza, Seven is a twisted place where tyranny ruled over anything else. Humans — living, breathing, humans — were stolen and started their new life in 'Seven,' where they were forced to abandon the mores and customs they followed prior to being captured. The place Cameron and Eliza were trying to escape when they found me.

"How wonderful." Eliza said wryly with a bit of a humorless laugh.

"What are they going to do to us?" I inquired of Cameron, even though I didn't address his name in the question. He had been giving me the most honest answers. Eliza knew the answers to all of the queries I had asked so far, I'm sure, but she tended to sugarcoat the answers, as if I would be mad at her for dragging me into all of this if she told me the true response, despite her saying that she had saved my life. Cameron, however, was very blunt and didn't waste time telling me what I wanted to hear. He made it very obvious he didn't care.

"I don't know," Cameron replied, and I could practically see him shrugging. "It's something different everytime with the people at Seven. They'll make you wish you had never been born, I can promise you that."

"It's not that bad," Eliza argued, but her tone wasn't very convincing. I was guessing in actuality she knew exactly how bad it was.

"It is," Cameron spat. "You know damn well it is, Eliza. You know it more than anyone else. Do you see the scars that you have? All over your face? They did that to you, and I refuse to show any leniency towards them for that. They don't deserve any."

Eliza didn't say anything in response. I didn't expect her to.

The rest of the ride was silent. Nobody uttered a single word. I couldn't even hear the breathing of the other two that were just a few feet away from me. I wasn't even sure if they still were breathing until the van came to an abrupt stop and Cameron spoke up.

"Get ready," He mumbled.