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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: see part one
Just to make sure no one can blame me for not warning you guys: Much angst and some violence in this chapter violence. More or less graphic description of torture. Read at own risk.
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The Past Always Catches Up Part 11
Out of it and out of there
It took a long time until Jay finally calmed down and slipped into unconsciousness once again. Jarod was sitting behind him, cradling the boy to him.
The banging on the steel door had stopped some time before, and Jarod guessed that they were either trying different methods of entering the cell, or already focussed on the raid.
He didn’t care as long as they didn’t get into the room.
Jarod didn’t know how long they had sat there before he hesitantly let go of the boy and got up from where he sat on the floor. He started checking Jay’s body for injuries.
The boy’s face was covered in blood that had by now formed a dry crust. Despite the blood, Jarod could see the bruises forming beneath. Jay’s eyes were surrounded by blue circles. Several ribs were broken but none had punctured the lung or any other vital organ. The boy’s upper torso was decorated with bruises, scratches and open gashes; some looking like whip marks and others like clean cuts from a blade or something of that kind. And others that looked suspiciously like burn marks.
Jay’s back was no different.
Jarod swallowed with difficulty and clenched his teeth. He let his eyes wander further over the battered body. Bloody rings were encircling the boy’s wrists.
Jarod picked one arm up and took out a package of sterile gauze out of his backpack.
The tender skin had been torn apart, leaving only raw flesh, encrusted with blood that had dried there.
Jarod purposely shut his mind from the fact that it was not an anonymous person lying in front of him like in a hospital during one of the pretends, but his younger self, brother and son. He needed to concentrate on the task of giving him the best medical treatment he could provide.
Jarod looked at his watch and blinked. It was well over an hour since he had given the signal. Obviously the FBI encountered more difficulties than they had foreseen, otherwise they would have already been here.
Jarod sat down next to Jay, his back against the wall, gently stroking the boy’s sweat soaked hair and let his eyes wander around the room. A pair of handcuffs were dangling from the ceiling, making him shudder.
There was no doubt that Jay had been chained to those during the torture sessions one of the monsters had held. Jarod’s gaze was drawn down to the body and his eyes came to rest on the now gauze-covered wrists. The wounds beyond the bandages were proving his theory. Without wanting it, the scene started to play out in front of him:
Hung up on the handcuffs on the ceiling, Jay had had to endure the pain his captors subjected him to, intending to break him. The steel cuffs had broken through the tender skin of the boy’s wrists.
Jarod’s jaw trembled and he breathed shakily when he drew himself out of his unintended simulation.
He couldn’t do any more for Jay than what he had. “I’m here Jay. It’s gonna be ok,” he mumbled soothingly.
Jay started trembling and Jarod replied by whispering more soothing words and gently caressing the boy’s cheek, careful not to further hurt him.
When his thumb touched something wet, he realized that Jay was crying softly. “It’s ok. I’m here,” Jarod whispered.
“Dad?”
“Shhh, yeah. Yeah, I’m here,” he reassured the young man again.
Jay started sobbing and Jarod pulled him just a bit closer. “I’m here. They can’t hurt you any longer. I won’t let them.”
“I want to go home,” Jay whispered in a forlorn voice.
“We’ll be out of here in no time. Don’t worry. I’m here. You’re not alone,” Jarod replied and took one of Jay’s hands in his own. “I won’t let them hurt you again, I promise.”
Jarod didn’t notice Angelo getting up from his seated position on the other side of the cell and slipping back into the air vent. He only came back into reality when he heard someone working on the steel door again.
His head snapped up and he reached for the gun that he had taken with him. During his travel and stay in the Centre, it had set untouched in a holster on Jarod’s lower back. He drew it with the effortlessness of repetition and pointed it at the door, his aim steady.
When the metal door opened, he was ready to fire but when Angelo’s head appeared in the gap and he looked at him, Jarod dropped his aim.
The empath had left the cell to meet up with the agents and help them put the electrics on the door panel back to work.
Parker pushed Angelo out of the way and strode into the cell, taking in the sight of Jarod sitting with his back against the wall and Jay drawn close to him. She gasped when she quickly surveyed the state Jay was in. A hand flew to her mouth just as FBI agents and paramedics piled into the room.
Jarod met her gaze and she saw the fear in his eyes; fear for the boy that lay sprawled out next to him.
Next to Parker, agents Taylor and Fitzgerald came to an abrupt halt, guns in hand but lowered at their sides. Both men’s gazes were drawn to the boy who lay unconscious on the floor. While Taylor’s face showed few emotions, hiding most of them well, the younger agent next to him couldn’t suppress his feelings. His eyes went wide at the sight that presented itself; the tiny concrete room, the beaten and battered boy, the blood and the sight of the room with a pair of handcuffs dangling from the ceiling.
Once Jarod consciously realized the people piling into the room, he breathed a sigh of relief. He helped the paramedics, giving them information about the boy’s state and what he had done so they could start treating Jay.
No one knew what it was that made the young man regain consciousness; if it were the hands that roamed all over his body to check for and treat injuries or if it was the mass of people in the room. No one knew and it didn’t matter anyway.
Jay suddenly started fighting against the hands that were trying to help him, his eyes wide with fear. “No,” he screamed hysterically while trying to free his hands and feet from the grasp of several pairs of hands.
Jarod had grudgingly drifted away from the boy after the paramedics words about letting them do their work, but once Jay started fighting and screaming he pushed through the people that stood in his way.
When he finally got to him, Jarod crouched down next to the boy’s head. “Jay, Jay,” he spoke the boy’s name urgently. “Jay, I’m here. It’s ok,” he tried to get the boys attention and then reached out to touch his cheek.
Jay saw the hand advancing on him and he trashed his head around, away from his father’s hand.
“Hold his head so he won’t hurt himself,” one of the paramedics ordered and Jarod did as he had been told. He tried to keep a firm but tender grip, his thumb stroking the frightened boy’s cheek. “Jay, it’s ok. We won’t hurt you,” he kept on mumbling, trying to break through the boy’s panic.
Jay’s eyes seemed to focus on Jarod for a fleeting moment, but then they darted to a point behind Jarod on the wall and his eyes went wide. He tried to roll himself together into a tight ball but was yet again held down.
“No, no, please,” he pleaded, his eyes still fixed on what he was seeing behind Jarod. He clenched his eyes shut and opened them again, hoping that the monster was gone but he was rewarded with its multiplying. He screamed in utter panic when the creatures closed in on him, circling him. His eyes were wild, lost in a drug-induced illusion.
“Jay,” Jarod tried again to break through to him. He tried to turn the young man’s head towards him but Jay’s eyes remained fixed on the demons were hunting him. Jay was still wildly trashing around, fighting with all his strength against the monsters that were now holding him down.
Jarod had already briefed the paramedics about the drug abuse. “You don’t know what drug is running in his system?” one of them asked.
Jarod shook his head. “No but even if I knew, I doubt that you would have anything as a fitting counterpart.”
“Hold his arm still,” another one of the paramedics ordered while tapping the bubbles out of a syringe filled with sedatives.
Having a hard time to keep his arm still, the paramedics finally managed to slip the syringe into the boy’s arm. Only seconds later, the trashing slowed down until it eventually stopped and the boy’s body relaxed when he slipped into unconsciousness.
Jarod closed his eyes briefly and then looked up. When his eyes met Parker’s he swallowed.
Once Jay couldn’t fight the treatment, he was quickly loaded onto a stretcher and within minutes the group was on its way through the Centre’s hallways to get back to the surface, Jarod and Parker sticking to Jay’s side like glue.
Martin and Danny let the other people pile out of the room first. It didn’t take long before they stood there alone and in silence. The room wouldn’t be vacant for long. It would be crawling with crime scene investigators soon but right now it was empty but for the two agents standing side by side.
“You ok?” Danny asked, observing his partner.
Martin nodded mutely without looking up. His gaze was still fixed on the spot where the tortured boy had been lying only moments ago. Another missing person found, but even though this one was alive, no triumph about finding him took over.
“Martin,” Danny tried again to get the other agent’s attention. He gently touched the other man’s shoulder. Sure enough, Martin’s head came up slowly and he faced his partner. His eyes were still wide with incredulity and he was fighting for control. He looked about to be sick.
“I’m time and time again astonished what cruelty humankind is capable of.” With that Martin turned and practically fled the room.
To be continued…
Just to make sure no one can blame me for not warning you guys: Much angst and some violence in this chapter violence. More or less graphic description of torture. Read at own risk.
~~~~~~
Out of it and out of there
It took a long time until Jay finally calmed down and slipped into unconsciousness once again. Jarod was sitting behind him, cradling the boy to him.
The banging on the steel door had stopped some time before, and Jarod guessed that they were either trying different methods of entering the cell, or already focussed on the raid.
He didn’t care as long as they didn’t get into the room.
Jarod didn’t know how long they had sat there before he hesitantly let go of the boy and got up from where he sat on the floor. He started checking Jay’s body for injuries.
The boy’s face was covered in blood that had by now formed a dry crust. Despite the blood, Jarod could see the bruises forming beneath. Jay’s eyes were surrounded by blue circles. Several ribs were broken but none had punctured the lung or any other vital organ. The boy’s upper torso was decorated with bruises, scratches and open gashes; some looking like whip marks and others like clean cuts from a blade or something of that kind. And others that looked suspiciously like burn marks.
Jay’s back was no different.
Jarod swallowed with difficulty and clenched his teeth. He let his eyes wander further over the battered body. Bloody rings were encircling the boy’s wrists.
Jarod picked one arm up and took out a package of sterile gauze out of his backpack.
The tender skin had been torn apart, leaving only raw flesh, encrusted with blood that had dried there.
Jarod purposely shut his mind from the fact that it was not an anonymous person lying in front of him like in a hospital during one of the pretends, but his younger self, brother and son. He needed to concentrate on the task of giving him the best medical treatment he could provide.
Jarod looked at his watch and blinked. It was well over an hour since he had given the signal. Obviously the FBI encountered more difficulties than they had foreseen, otherwise they would have already been here.
Jarod sat down next to Jay, his back against the wall, gently stroking the boy’s sweat soaked hair and let his eyes wander around the room. A pair of handcuffs were dangling from the ceiling, making him shudder.
There was no doubt that Jay had been chained to those during the torture sessions one of the monsters had held. Jarod’s gaze was drawn down to the body and his eyes came to rest on the now gauze-covered wrists. The wounds beyond the bandages were proving his theory. Without wanting it, the scene started to play out in front of him:
Hung up on the handcuffs on the ceiling, Jay had had to endure the pain his captors subjected him to, intending to break him. The steel cuffs had broken through the tender skin of the boy’s wrists.
Jarod’s jaw trembled and he breathed shakily when he drew himself out of his unintended simulation.
He couldn’t do any more for Jay than what he had. “I’m here Jay. It’s gonna be ok,” he mumbled soothingly.
Jay started trembling and Jarod replied by whispering more soothing words and gently caressing the boy’s cheek, careful not to further hurt him.
When his thumb touched something wet, he realized that Jay was crying softly. “It’s ok. I’m here,” Jarod whispered.
“Dad?”
“Shhh, yeah. Yeah, I’m here,” he reassured the young man again.
Jay started sobbing and Jarod pulled him just a bit closer. “I’m here. They can’t hurt you any longer. I won’t let them.”
“I want to go home,” Jay whispered in a forlorn voice.
“We’ll be out of here in no time. Don’t worry. I’m here. You’re not alone,” Jarod replied and took one of Jay’s hands in his own. “I won’t let them hurt you again, I promise.”
Jarod didn’t notice Angelo getting up from his seated position on the other side of the cell and slipping back into the air vent. He only came back into reality when he heard someone working on the steel door again.
His head snapped up and he reached for the gun that he had taken with him. During his travel and stay in the Centre, it had set untouched in a holster on Jarod’s lower back. He drew it with the effortlessness of repetition and pointed it at the door, his aim steady.
When the metal door opened, he was ready to fire but when Angelo’s head appeared in the gap and he looked at him, Jarod dropped his aim.
The empath had left the cell to meet up with the agents and help them put the electrics on the door panel back to work.
Parker pushed Angelo out of the way and strode into the cell, taking in the sight of Jarod sitting with his back against the wall and Jay drawn close to him. She gasped when she quickly surveyed the state Jay was in. A hand flew to her mouth just as FBI agents and paramedics piled into the room.
Jarod met her gaze and she saw the fear in his eyes; fear for the boy that lay sprawled out next to him.
Next to Parker, agents Taylor and Fitzgerald came to an abrupt halt, guns in hand but lowered at their sides. Both men’s gazes were drawn to the boy who lay unconscious on the floor. While Taylor’s face showed few emotions, hiding most of them well, the younger agent next to him couldn’t suppress his feelings. His eyes went wide at the sight that presented itself; the tiny concrete room, the beaten and battered boy, the blood and the sight of the room with a pair of handcuffs dangling from the ceiling.
Once Jarod consciously realized the people piling into the room, he breathed a sigh of relief. He helped the paramedics, giving them information about the boy’s state and what he had done so they could start treating Jay.
No one knew what it was that made the young man regain consciousness; if it were the hands that roamed all over his body to check for and treat injuries or if it was the mass of people in the room. No one knew and it didn’t matter anyway.
Jay suddenly started fighting against the hands that were trying to help him, his eyes wide with fear. “No,” he screamed hysterically while trying to free his hands and feet from the grasp of several pairs of hands.
Jarod had grudgingly drifted away from the boy after the paramedics words about letting them do their work, but once Jay started fighting and screaming he pushed through the people that stood in his way.
When he finally got to him, Jarod crouched down next to the boy’s head. “Jay, Jay,” he spoke the boy’s name urgently. “Jay, I’m here. It’s ok,” he tried to get the boys attention and then reached out to touch his cheek.
Jay saw the hand advancing on him and he trashed his head around, away from his father’s hand.
“Hold his head so he won’t hurt himself,” one of the paramedics ordered and Jarod did as he had been told. He tried to keep a firm but tender grip, his thumb stroking the frightened boy’s cheek. “Jay, it’s ok. We won’t hurt you,” he kept on mumbling, trying to break through the boy’s panic.
Jay’s eyes seemed to focus on Jarod for a fleeting moment, but then they darted to a point behind Jarod on the wall and his eyes went wide. He tried to roll himself together into a tight ball but was yet again held down.
“No, no, please,” he pleaded, his eyes still fixed on what he was seeing behind Jarod. He clenched his eyes shut and opened them again, hoping that the monster was gone but he was rewarded with its multiplying. He screamed in utter panic when the creatures closed in on him, circling him. His eyes were wild, lost in a drug-induced illusion.
“Jay,” Jarod tried again to break through to him. He tried to turn the young man’s head towards him but Jay’s eyes remained fixed on the demons were hunting him. Jay was still wildly trashing around, fighting with all his strength against the monsters that were now holding him down.
Jarod had already briefed the paramedics about the drug abuse. “You don’t know what drug is running in his system?” one of them asked.
Jarod shook his head. “No but even if I knew, I doubt that you would have anything as a fitting counterpart.”
“Hold his arm still,” another one of the paramedics ordered while tapping the bubbles out of a syringe filled with sedatives.
Having a hard time to keep his arm still, the paramedics finally managed to slip the syringe into the boy’s arm. Only seconds later, the trashing slowed down until it eventually stopped and the boy’s body relaxed when he slipped into unconsciousness.
Jarod closed his eyes briefly and then looked up. When his eyes met Parker’s he swallowed.
Once Jay couldn’t fight the treatment, he was quickly loaded onto a stretcher and within minutes the group was on its way through the Centre’s hallways to get back to the surface, Jarod and Parker sticking to Jay’s side like glue.
Martin and Danny let the other people pile out of the room first. It didn’t take long before they stood there alone and in silence. The room wouldn’t be vacant for long. It would be crawling with crime scene investigators soon but right now it was empty but for the two agents standing side by side.
“You ok?” Danny asked, observing his partner.
Martin nodded mutely without looking up. His gaze was still fixed on the spot where the tortured boy had been lying only moments ago. Another missing person found, but even though this one was alive, no triumph about finding him took over.
“Martin,” Danny tried again to get the other agent’s attention. He gently touched the other man’s shoulder. Sure enough, Martin’s head came up slowly and he faced his partner. His eyes were still wide with incredulity and he was fighting for control. He looked about to be sick.
“I’m time and time again astonished what cruelty humankind is capable of.” With that Martin turned and practically fled the room.
To be continued…
