Mental (Slow updates)

Chapter 23

The next morning Ash felt groggy. He groaned as the lights flicked on his room, it felt as if they had only turned off moments earlier. Every muscle in his body protested as he forced himself out of bed. Last night had been hell. The masters had been determined to make him scream and squirm in pain, although he could not guess the reason why. Had he disobeyed them? Master Malicious Smile had mentioned it being an experiment, but what had been the aim of the experiment he could not fathom.

Doc and Master Oink entered breaking his thoughts. Ash rubbed his eyes certain he was delirious from exhaustion. Doc barely acknowledged him instead he just began the morning tests. Ash obeyed, hurt by Doc's refusal to acknowledge him but thankful for his gentle touch. Subtly Doc leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "They're worried about you, so they've asked me to look into it but I can't be seen to be talking to you or they'll hurt Alex. I'm sorry." Ash gave a small nod. The masters were obviously wanting both himself and Doc to suffer and they were using Alex as the means to do it. Ash hated to admit he was slightly envious of Doc's desire to protect Alex, a boy he had only known a few months, over Ash who he had known since he was a baby. 

Silently Doc finished the tests and left. He paused in the doorway and glanced back sadly at Ash. Ash tried to give Doc a reassuring smile but he was not sure how reassuring it actually was. "Master Herons," Master Oink growled. Doc quickly left with his head hung in defeat. Master Oink grabbed Ash's arm as soon as he left and yanked him off his bed. Ash winced at the sudden motion. The master commanded him to walk and Ash obeyed.

The master released him once Ash was inside the Gilded Cage. Ash dropped into his chair at the head of the table and put his head in his hands. The door opened, causing Ash to sit up too quickly. He hissed in pain. Thomas appeared by his side. "Is she alright? Did they kill her? Where is she?" He asked in a hurry. Ash just looked at him blankly.
"What?" Ash asked completely confused.
"Katrina. They took her last night." Ash's blood ran cold.
"What?" Ash repeated, sure he must have heard wrong. Thomas calmed down slightly.
"You don't know?" He asked shocked. Ash shook his head. "The masters dragged her from her room kicking and screaming last night just as everyone was going to bed. Is she dead?"
"No she's alive," Ash responded, his mind distracted by Thomas' words.
"How do you know?" Ash frowned unsure how to answer.
"I just know," Ash responded honestly. Somehow he knew he would know if she was dead, as if he had a sixth sense. He concentrated on Katrina for a moment. He gasped as everything went black and he felt as if he had fallen asleep. Someone shook him breaking him out of his trance. "You need to see a doctor," Thomas said looking horrified.
"Why?" Ash gasped out trying to recover from his blackout.
"The fact you just zoned out and those blue marks on your neck." Ash touched his neck trying to feel what Thomas was talking about, but he could not feel anything. One glanced at his hand showed that it was not any form of powder. He decided to keep the incident to himself until he saw Alex again. Thomas watched him intently, his face a battle between concern and suspicion. Desperate to get rid of Thomas, Ash calmly said, "it's nothing, just something that happens from time to time. I don't see why you care anyway. You and your little group are trying so hard to discredit me and get rid of me. I thought you'd be thrilled."
"Unlike you I'm not heartless and neither are those in my group," Thomas hissed back. Ash felt his cold mask wash over him. "That's why you'll always lose. You care too much," repeating the words Master Malicious Smile had told him countless times.
"Go to hell Ash," Thomas said in disgust as he stormed away to the other end of the table, where the others had gathered. Only Lissa sat away from the group, but even she did not sit right next to Ash. Ash felt a small pang of loneliness bloom in his chest. Thomas and Katrina had conspired to destroy his credibility and by the look of things they had succeeded.

The next half hour flew by in a blur as Ash drifted in and out of consciousness. Fortunately Mitch arrived giving him something to focus his attention on. "Thomas mentioned that Katrina was taken by the masters last night. Thought I'd know something about it," mentioned Ash. Mitch nodded.
"Yeah they took her. Thomas tried to stop them, but Master Lap Dog zapped him. I watched them insert some sort of paralysis drug in her, then they carried her away," Mitch confirmed. Ash's mind drew a strange parallel to the sudden numbness he had felt last night. He shook his head to banish the thought. Mitch studied him with concern. "You okay? You seem a bit off." Ash shrugged.
"I'm fine. Guess I'm just tired after being tortured last night."
"What?" Mitch said a bit too loudly. The others stared at them. Ash cringed.
"Keep your voice down. And you wonder why I don't tell you things. It was nothing, Master Malicious Smile was doing an experiment," Ash whispered.
"I swear he just uses the word experiment as an excuse to torture you," Mitch grumbled. Unfortunately after last night, Ash agreed with him.