Terror

Mick eyes narrowed as he smirked at Rosetta, even though humor was in his gaze. “Go right ahead. I have no trouble shoving you out of the way.” After heading separate ways, it wasn’t long before he was finally coming to bed as promised.

Without trying to be quiet at all, he flopped down into the bed, making the whole mattress quake. “Miss me?” he teased. Rolling onto his side, he put his arm around Rosetta and pulled her close, nuzzling his face into her shoulder and sighing deeply. “Why’d you let me stay up so late?” he mumbled. “I’m getting too old for this.”

Carson loosened his hold so Misty could turn around, and his eyes filled with sympathetic concern. “Yeah, that’s fine if he uses the spare room. Actually at this point, I’d prefer it. I wouldn’t put it past the Agency to be looking for him, and I’d rather he was closeby.”

Hearing her theory about Alec’s memories, his eyes dimmed even more. He nodded though. “I can imagine… and my imagination doesn’t paint a very pretty picture.” He sighed and moved away to pour himself a glass of water. “To be honest, I’m surprised he’s functioning even this well. I’m glad you’re keeping a close eye on him.”

…Alec rose to eat supper, enjoying the home cooked meal more than he could ever say. He’d missed Misty’s cooking something awful. Though tired and rather quiet, it felt so good just to be sitting her with both her and Carson.

By that evening, his body was way past ready to go to bed, and he was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow…

…Carson shot straight up in bed, not knowing if the scream he’d heard had been real or in his dreams. Hearing a commotion downstairs though, he was out of bed in an instant. His first thought was an Agency invasion, and before he even reached the stairs, he hand a handgun at the ready. “Alec?” he called cautiously. Then there was silence. He looked back over his shoulder at Misty and gave her a warning glance to stay behind him before he crept downstairs.

It was dark, and his foot caught a narrow table that had been knocked over in the hallway. Stepping over it, he also hit a picture frame that had been knocked off the wall. A quick look in the spare room proved it was empty. He made his way to the living room where everything was still quiet. He cautiously reached for the light switch and turned it on.

There was no intruder. All doors and windows were closed. But Alec was huddled in the corner of the living room. Setting his gun aside, Carson went to him and quickly knelt next to him. “Hey, Alec… Alec, are you okay?”

Alec hugged his knees tightly as he shook all over, sweat pouring down his face and soaking his hair. He shook uncontrollably, gasping for air as he hyperventilated.

“Alec,” Carson prompted more sternly. “Look at me.”

Alec’s eyes were staring into nothingness, and all that came out was a small whimper.

Carson reached out to touch him, but when Alec felt someone’s hand on him, he recoiled so sharply that he almost knocked over the bookcase next to him, then scrambled to get to his feet.

“Hey, hey, easy, easy.” Carson took hold of him to try and calm him down, but all that did was cause more panic.

“No!” Alec screamed. Tearing himself loose, he stumbled back to all fours, smacking his forehead on the coffee table.

Carson got to his feet again but kept his distance. Was Alec even awake? He was obviously terrified – did he even realize where he was? Carson looked back to Misty with wide eyes, not having a clue what to do.

Alec, stunned from hitting his head, remained on the floor and curled into a ball, his mind reeling with images that fed his terror. “Let me go,” he begged in a whispered. “Please… please… I can’t stay…” His eyes scrunched shut tightly. “Just let me go… I won’t do it… Just let me go.”


Dylan cocked his head as he listened to Destiny. “Oh… okay.” He had only met Jett that one night at the race, but didn’t think he was a bad guy. Crude maybe but Dylan wouldn’t have pegged him as being Agency. Then a new thought struck him that made his pulse quicken. Without saying anything more, he aimed back to the interrogation room, but stopped as he spotted Eli in the room next door, looking through the two-way mirror.

“Eli?”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

Dylan looked into the other room as well, seeing Jett’s pitiful form. “This doesn’t have anything to do with me, does it?”

“What? No. Why would it?”

Dylan let out a breath of relief. “Just… seemed pretty coincidental that I arrive, meet a guy, then all of a sudden he’s running with the Agency. I guess I’ve just learned to be overly cautious.”

Eli shook his head. “Don’t worry. Nothing to do with you. A recruiter targeted and enticed Jett with some grand lies about being a part of something bigger. We caught him on surveillance with a couple guys ripping off a science lab. I convinced Reese not to arrest him, but give him a chance to give us all the information he had. Thankfully he was willing. The unfortunate part is, it’s really messing with his head. I can’t imagine how he feels, realizing how close he came to getting involved with something as vile as the Agency.”

Quite suddenly, a new feeling crept up on Dylan. One that made him frown as he continued to watch Jett. One that brought out emotions he’d rather not discuss. “Can I talk to him?”

Eli looked at him in surprise. Dylan hardly knew Jett. “I… don’t know if Reese would–”

“Just a couple minutes? He turned himself in, right? So he’s not a threat.”

Eli thought another moment and finally nodded. “Yeah, okay. Garret will be back soon, then you’ll need to leave.”

“Okay.” Dylan left, disappearing for a couple minutes before he slipped quietly into the interrogation room and set a bottle of water down in front of Jett before taking up a chair beside him.

Jett lifted his head, then recoiled in surprise. Hunter’s young friend he’d met at the race? His name was Dylan, right? “What… what are you doing here?”

Dylan shrugged. “I’m interning.” That was common knowledge.

Jett scoffed. “Go figure. Anybody else I know, know I’m here?”

“Eh…  I’d rather see you here than with the Agency.”

“That’s what people keep telling me.” Jett’s eyes became dark again. “Seems everybody on this planet knows better than dumb ol’ me.” He took the water and opened it to take a swig, grateful for the cool drink.

Dylan gave him a half smile. “I know the feeling.”

“What?”

Dylan eyed Jett’s tattoos with interest. He hadn’t realized he had so many after their brief encounter in the desert. “You got some cool ink… is that a dragon?”

Jett quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah…” He gestured to the back of his neck. “Starts up here, then goes over my shoulder and wraps around my arm. There’s other stuff mixed in there too though.”

Dylan leaned closer to get a better look. “I like it. Is that Japanese lettering?”

Jett rolled his arm a little to look at it himself. “Oh yeah… means ‘fire and courage.’

“What was your first one?”

“Other arm.” Jett turned and pulled up his t-shirt sleeve a little more to reveal a tribal looking design that resembled a flying bird. “Phoenix.”

Dylan cocked his head. “Dragon, phoenix, fire and courage… you do have a theme, don’t you?”

Jett studied the young man for a couple moments. “Most people don’t notice.”

“I’ve pretty much figured out I’m not most people.”

Jett took another swig of water. “You said you knew the feeling about other people knowing better… what did you mean?”

Dylan sat back and sighed. “I guess I was just caught up in some stuff a while back and… pretty much felt like a loser all the time. Everybody else had all the answers and I was just the idiot with all the bad choices.”

How could he possibly understand? Especially at his age? Jett wondered. “Yeah well, you haven’t been running with a deadly criminal organization lately, have you?”

Dylan took his time with his answer, just taking Jett in. What a tired, beaten-up looking man. He looked absolutely miserable. “By the time I was fifteen, I was shooting myself up with drugs almost every day, sleeping around almost as often, and getting drunk at least once a week. That was besides petty theft, breaking and entering and a few auto thefts nobody found out about.”

Jett couldn’t help his eyebrows rising. “That’s… a lot for a fifteen year old.”

“That’s a lot for a forty year old,” he countered. He swallowed hard and scratched at a spot on the table with his thumbnail. “But that’s what happens when the Agency is involved.”

Jett continued to stare at him. “What?”

“Yeah. See, my family’s been targeted for years. Like back when my dad was my age and ever since. It’s all part of a weird scheme to torture people from a distance and treat them like lab rats.” Dylan smirked. “The torture part usually works. Worked big time when they got a hold of me. Got me addicted to drugs, then forced the rest on me, using the drugs as my reward to do whatever they wanted.”

“But… that wasn’t your fault.”

“Didn’t matter up here.” Dylan tapped his head. “I still kick myself for not standing up for myself. For not saying no when I could have. For not being stronger. And I’ve fallen off the wagon more than once since I got pulled out, and they weren’t forcing anything on me then.” He took another few moments to think. “The Agency is so powerful. And so good at what they do. They can make anyone feel any way they like at the drop of a hat. It’s what they do. It’s part of their method of torture – manipulating a person without that person even realizing it. I’ve got my own choices to make now, and if I fall off the wagon, that’s my own fault. But… I can’t forget that I was also manipulated. I was just a kid who didn’t see it coming and by the time I realized what was going on, it was too late. But even if I could have fought it… it wasn’t my fault they chose me and forced me into things I never should have even known about, let alone done.” He rolled his eyes. “Heck, I shouldn’t even know about them now.”

Jett’s brow furrowed. “You’re telling me it’s not my fault.”

Dylan gave him a partial wry grin. “See? Not so dumb. So you got duped. So what? They targeted you. And when the Agency targets someone, it’s a miracle if they don’t succeed. You’re a victim… just like I was… just like Destiny.”

“You know about all that, too?”

“Told you. Intern. I get to see all the files.”

“Right.” Jett smirked. He looked down at the water bottle to stare at the label. He knew what Dylan was trying to do. He understood. And in a way, he did feel better. But that didn’t fix what hurt the most. “I thought I’d finally found somewhere I was wanted,” he admitted softly. “I thought I’d finally found something I could do that would make me special instead of just the bumbling sidekick.”

Dylan arched one eyebrow. “Who else has a dragon the length of their arm and a super cool phoenix on the other side?” He squinted at Jett’s lower arm. “And a constellation?”

Jett snickered. “That doesn’t help. But yes, it’s a constellation. You won’t find it in a book though.”

“Why not?”

“’Cause it’s one I found and made up myself.”

“What’s it mean?”

Jett looked at the little pattern that was nestled under the dragon’s claw. “It was just a cluster I could see out the window when I was a kid. I didn’t have anything else to call my own so I claimed it.”

Dylan eyed him with deeper interest. “You don’t have family.”

Jett’s gaze shot back up and his jaw tightened. “Who told you?”

“Nobody. Just a lucky guess.”

Jett pursed his lips, not sure if he believed him or not, but he wouldn’t argue. “Yeah, well anyway, it’s about time for another tatt. Thinking maybe putting something else in one of the dragon wings, but you can’t see it unless I take my shirt off.”

Dylan started to grin. “That’s okay. Maybe sometime when we’re not sitting in the Elite interrogation room.”

Jett felt his lips start to curl and he shook his head. “Right.”

“Okay, you ready to finish up here?” Garret walked in with the paperwork in hand.

Dylan slowly got up to leave. “I better leave you two at it.”

“Yeah…” Jett watched him leave before looking back to Garret again and sighing. “So what happens when we’re done here?”


On the other side of the mirror, Justin had joined Eli right after Dylan had gone in with Jett. “Wow… Who is that?”

“Dylan Henson.”

“As in the Henson family? How old is he?”

“Eighteen going on forty.” Eli glanced at him. “Why?”

Justin shook his head. “Just… curious. He did an amazing job in there.”

Eli thought for a few moments. “I don’t think he was trying to do anything.”

“No, he wasn’t. That’s what makes it fascinating.” Justin aimed for the door. “Let me know if you want me to do anything.”

“Yeah… Thanks.”


It was at least another half hour later before Eli returned to the break room, tapping on the door to get Destiny’s attention. “Hey… hope you have been comfortable. Jett’s still in the other room but… we’re done with him. The car you saw was someone from here so you don’t have to worry about that. We’re also going to be keeping an eye on Jett for a while in case he gets any guff from the Agency for pulling out. He gave us all he knew though, so he’s not in any more trouble. He’ll just need to be careful about who he talks to or confides in about this experience.”


Back at the table, Jett sat alone. Defeated. Exhausted. All he wanted to do was get out of here.