*All characters copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 8

A Way Out...

 

                "How?.."  Johnny was...floating??  Some sort of thick gel...he remembered being dumped in it and falling asleep.  He was relieved to see himself still alive.  Should he open his eyes?  Should he dare a glance to see what was around him?..

                ...nothing.  The place was dark.  Incredibly so.  No light filtered through the gel...actually, it stung his eyes to keep them open.  He wondered...nothing happened to him when he reached up, and when his hand felt the air, no one shoved it back down.  Johnny hesitantly pulled himself out of the capsule, pulling off the breathing mask only after he was half way out of the stuff.  His clothes were drenched from being dunked in there with him, and gel still dripped from his body and clothes.  He wiped off as much as he could and pulled his legs out.  The gel was so thick, it was an effort to move.  He managed though...he'd have to if he wanted to get out of here, "And I need to find James yet.  I hope I don't run into anyone..."  He took to the air, pumping his wings a little harder to shake off whatever gel his arms hadn't been able to reach.  He reached the door, hearing some muffled footsteps...and a voice.

                "Damn...my arm's still bleeding!  He put up one hell of a fight!..maybe I SHOULD just wait 'till morning.  Father would be back by then..."  Griffin!

                Johnny landed on the top of the door frame.  He would wait until Griffin came in, then dash out to find James.  But what had that been about a fight?  Had James and Griffin fought?  James lost?!!!  Was he still awake?..alive?.."Stop!  Don't think like that...of COURSE he's still alive...he has to be..."  ... ...why wasn't Griffin coming in?

                Griffin was still mumbling on the other side of the door, "Stupid door...Are ALL the doors malfunctioning?  I can't believe this..."  Johnny was suddenly jarred from his perch above the door...doorframe.  The DOOR was on the ground now...and Johnny saw a booted foot receed.

                "He's stronger than I thought!  He busted that door down like it was nothing!  No WONDER James lost!"  Johnny would worry about that later.  Right now he had to get out...Griffin walked in.

                "Johnny?..Johnny?!!!"  He raced for the capsule Johnny had been in, stared at it in wonder, "Where are you?!  Father's gonna KILL me if he finds out you're gone!"

                Well, too bad.  Johnny ducked out and flew away from the room before Griffin could see him.

 

                Griffin searched the room frantically, "He woke up too?!!  This isn't good!  If I can't find him before Father gets back, I'm dead!  He's gotta be here!  He HAS TO!"  Griffin's gaze strayed to the door he'd just opened, "Damn..."  Johnny had gotten out, and GRIFFIN had helped him.  This wasn't turning out too good.  He ran to the door and looked down the hallway.  C'mon...c'mon..."THERE YOU ARE!!!!!!"

                "What?  CRAP!"  Johnny shot forward, hoping he could somehow get away from Griffin.

                Griffin ran and caught up with him easily, holding him with his chip, "Johnny, you CAN'T go!  Father needs you to stay here!"

                "I am NOT staying in this nightmarish place ANY longer!  Let GO of me!"  Johnny growled and struggled against Griffin's power.

                Griffin sighed, "But Johnny..."

                "You shut up!  It's your fault I'm here in the first place!  What've you got against me anyway?!"

                "N--nothing...I just--"

                "NOTHING?!!!!  Then LET ME GO!!!!!!!!  I have a wife and a SON I need to get back to!  LET ME GO!!"

                "No--no...it's not like that...Johnny...I CAN'T let you leave.  Father would forbid it if I asked.  I know he would."

                Johnny finally figured out he couldn't get away, and stayed where he was, looking absolutely cross, "I don't give a DAMN what your 'father' says.  I want to go...I can't get away on my own...I need to find James...we've GOT to get back before Don's forced to look for us.  He'd be devastated if he had to come here."

                "Huh?  what do you mean?  My father said that he--"

                "You FATHER is a liar!  He tortured Don in such a way that Don will start SCREAMING if he gets nightmares about this place!  Don huddles into a BALL every time he's forced to think about it!  Don't listen to your father!  He probably hasn't said one TRUTHFUL thing to you about Don's last visit here."

                "Don't talk about my father like that!  He's the only one who's ever cared for me!  I owe him my LIFE!"

                "Owe him your LIFE?!"  Johnny laughed, "OWE HIM YOUR LIFE?!!!  He'd get rid of you in a second if it benefited him!"

                "He would not!  We've ALWAYS been honest with each other!  I trust him more than any living thing on this planet!"

                "You don't know what you're talking about!  Why, I'll bet that--"

                "ENOUGH!!"  Griffin punched Johnny where he was floating, let the momentum carry Johnny into the wall, where he stayed.  Griffin approached Johnny slowly, angrily, "I won't hear anything like that about my father.  He's the only one who has ever cared for me...LIKED me.  He never considered me a freak.  Everyone ELSE here always glared at me like I was some kind of monster.  Father NEVER did that.  He taught me everything I know about the world, and I will do ANYTHING to keep his trust."

                Johnny coughed, but managed the words, "Even killing your own kind?"

                "I said ENOUGH!!!"  Griffin shouted, raising his fist to strike Johnny once more.  Johnny braced himself for the blow...the one that would undoubtedly end his life...but it never came.  When he opened his eyes, Griffin was watching him intently, "What is it with you?  When we first met you were one of the greatest guys I'd ever met.  I almost regretted bringing you here.  Why now do you shout so much?  How can you get so angry so easily?  I don't understand it..."

                Johnny sighed, his own temper lost in his fear of the death he hadn't recieved, "I was torn away from my family, brought here, and forced into sleep so they could run who knew what kind of tests on me.  Wouldn't that bother you?"

                "I...don't know.  My only family has been Father...and I go to sleep like that every night.  I'm used to it.  The tests they ran on me were to improve my immune system...nothing more.  The way I see it, it's beneficial..."

                Johnny shook his head, "Yeah, that's what they TELL you.  You're asleep!  How would you know what they did to you?"

                Griffin started to answer, but realized he had none to give, "I don't know..."

                "Exactly!  You want the truth about this place?"

                "Yes..."

                "Talk to Don.  He can't forget this place...no matter how hard he tries.  He can tell you EXACTLY how they treat you...if you can get him to talk about it."

                "Why?  From what I was told he was given luxeries..."

                "Luxeries?  He didn't have the sleep they give you.  Whenever they ran tests on him, he was..."  Johnny stopped, "Well, I can't say that.  I never WAS able to get that from Don.  He always started huddling up and mumbling."

                Griffin looked down the hall, then back at Johnny, "But I still need you to stay...my father wouldn't like it if you were gone...I'd get punished for it since I could have stopped you."

                Johnny smiled, "Or, you could come with us.  I don't see why not.  Don't you WANT to see the island I came from?"

                Griffin nodded wistfully..."More than anything..."

                "Then help me get James out so we can get back to Don!  He'll be waiting for us at Christina's house!"

                "Hmm?  No he isn't...he's here."

                "WHAT?!!!!!  Griffin, get him out before he goes insane!  He'd KILL himself before letting them test him like that all over again!"

                "But--but--"

                "GO!  At LEAST help him!"

                "But--but I..."

                "Look.  I'll stay here if you'll help him get out.  Okay?"

                "Oh--okay...I guess..."  Griffin started down the halls, leaving Johnny alone, "After all,"  Griffin told himself, "Father's already got me.  He doesn't really NEED Poseidon..."

 

                "Can't move....can't do anything...can only wait for them...for the needles, for the pain..."  Poseidon hadn't moved from his huddled position.  He couldn't.  Something--his second chip--was holding him still.  He was terrified.  The BLANK WALL scared him.  Everything about this place filled him with so much fear he figured he'd DIE from it!

                But he'd thought the same thing the last time he was here.  He KNEW he wouldn't die from the fear, and that scared him even more.

                "Poseidon!  Hey!  POSEIDON!!!!!!"

                What?  Who--no.  His mind was playing tricks on him again.  He wasn't going to answer a voice only HE heard.

                "Poseidon, I'm coming in!!!"

                The voice had said that the last time too.  It had never come...no matter how much he'd pleaded it, begged.

                The door crashed down almost right on top of Poseidon.  He didn't even flinch, figured his mind was still playing tricks on him.  All he knew for certain was that he could not move...couldn't escape.  The figure outside the door was Griffin...or at least so his mind told him.  Don didn't believe it for a moment.  He thought it was one of the humans who were supposed to take him to the testing rooms.

                "Poseidon?..are you alright?"

                "C--c-c-c-can't...m-m-mm-move...ss-ssssscared."  Poseidon managed through tightly clenched teeth.  He closed his eyes and waited grimly for whatever fate awaited him...Griffin picked him up.

                "Poseidon?  What's wrong with you?"

                "C-c-c-c-ccan't...m-mmmove."

                "Why not?"

                "Ch--chi--chip.  Hhhholding me...s-ss-sss-till."  He didn't add that he probably couldn't have moved anyway.

                "Holding you still?  How come?  Why would they not let you move?"

                "Nnnnnneed to...g-g-get out.  T-t-t-t-too p-p-painful...hhhhhere."

                A look of worry passed over Griffin's face.  He started walking with Poseidon in his arms, "Calm down...use you chip.  You should be able to get out of your palarasis...it was a training exercise for me.  You need to control your breathing...calm yourself as much as possible, then put ALL of your willpower into controlling your movements.  Sooner or later, the chip will back down.  It's easy..."

                Do what?  How could Poseidon calm down?  How did this illusion even KNOW what to do?  Unless...it wasn't illusion?  It was Griffin?  Helping him?

                Don didn't have time to think.  One moment he was being carried, the next he found himself on a dirt covered patch of GROUND.  He was outside the building...he could get away!  If he could just move..."Griffin said I needed to calm down...I need to calm down..."  He didn't hear the footsteps recede.  He wanted away from here, and he was willing to follow the advice of an illusion if it meant he could leave.

                Calm himself...easy to SAY...not to do.  Poseidon, though he couldn't move was still looking at the place of his nightmares...and he couldn't even shut his eyes beyond the occasional blink to block out the image!  CALM himself?  HA!  How was he going to do that?!  It was IMPOSSIBLE while he sat there, staring.

                Impossible...