Abducted

7

Cherokee coughed, bowing his head. Tears welled in his eyes, and he shifted in his chains. His arms were locked behind him, and he was leaning in an almost 45° angle. He wasn't alone in the cell, Coahoma, his sister, was also in the cell. She was the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Adany looked over to Coahoma, and her cougar head raised to face him. She was stuck in a bowing position, making it hard for the two to see each other. Her cougar body was chained to the ground by glistening silver. She was a Wampus cat, with a body like a centaur, but instead of being part-horse, she was part-cougar, with a cougars head.

He understood why they were so afraid of her, she was heavily chained and kept down for a reason- their own fear.

It made him feel better just to see her orange eyes, and he lowered his head once more, her copying him. It was easier for her to just lay, damn her muscle mass.

He didn't know how long they'd been here.

Someone could say weeks, or months, or maybe a year, and he'd believe it. It was like time was slower. The door creaked open. Occasionally, when they noticed that both were awake, they came with food and water- only enough to keep one alive, mind you.

A bowl, carried by a young woman, was placed against his lips, and he took it without a fight. He was fairly sure there was some sort of supplement in the water, but he could never pinpoint it.

"You got anything so I can move a bit?" Coahoma asked, before coughing. Her throat was raspy, and Adany gulped and looked away.

"I'm afraid not," the woman replied, getting another bowl from outside before bringing it in and giving it to Coahoma, just after her coughing fit had ended.

"Why are you doing this to us?" Adany asked. His voice cracked- he hadn't spoken in a while. His face was a little red from nerves.

"Because, we haven't determined if you're a danger to society or not," she replied, as if she was being kind. She walked up and cupped his cheek, and he faded into the contact no matter how much he despised it. He didn't know how long it had been since he felt any contact.

"I'm not," Adany croaked, "we're both not. We don't care about your society, we just want to go home."

She looked at him solemnly for a moment, before a man burst into the room.

"Someone's escaped in Tennessee! The mind reader!" he exclaimed, and the two siblings looked between themselves. So, either Illinois or Tala was out, "And, we were looking to see if there were any other escapees, since they want a new count, the box in Wyoming was busted!"

"What?" she asked, "But I was there, that door can last through six tons of pressure."

"Well, someone very strong broke it down," he replied, "c'mon, those two are here. We need to count all the others, make sure everyone's chains are on tight."

She nodded, and followed behind him, shutting the door behind her.

The two siblings shared a glance, Coahoma smiling up at him, and Adany keeping a blank, surprised face before it faded into a chuckle.

Zaltana looked down at her nephew, checking over his feeding tube and making sure he was getting all the nutrients he needed. He still wasn't awake, but he was breathing, so she continued to clean the holes in his skin with more acid so they didn't smother the tubes, and tried to get a reaction out of him.

Connecticut was as blank as ever.

She sighed. She didn't know how Samuel did it- stared down at the people he knew hurt without a reaction. Sure, he'd lived through more than two hundred years about the bullshit, but that still didn't make her understand how he could.