Day Two
Dodger didn't wake up lying next to Cole. Dodger didn't wake up in their makeshift bed in the warehouse. Dodger did wake up tied down to some freezing cold stretcher. Before he even opened his eyes he knew he was going to be pissed off because the "dream" where he was kidnapped was no longer a dream, and he couldn't hide behind that fact anymore.
"Subject 34 is awake," A voice said. Dodger peeked opened his eyes and regretted it immediately. The light over his face nearly blinded him. His head was spinning and his body felt like it did the first night he woke up after dying. "Jesus. Am I hung over?" He asked, turning his head up to one of the men in the room. "What did you fuckers give me? Tainted blood? Because that is just rude." Naturally the men did not answer Dodger. It didn't help that he couldn't even see their faces behind their white masks. "You guys are sick fucks and I hope I never get out of these chains because I will eat all of you and then your children or parents. Doesn't matter, I'll fucking do it.
They hoisted Dodger off of the stretcher, refusing to acknowledge him, but he knew he struck a nerve because the next thing he knew, one of the men grabbed his side. Dodger saw white as searing, hot pain shot through his entire body. The scent of his own blood filled the room and the last thing Dodger saw, before passing out, was another syringe full of blood coming his way.
Cole sat up quickly as he awoke, as the feeling of an empty bed disturbed him almost as much as his dreams the night before had. He grabbed the file he and Orphan had discovered and headed out of their room, grabbing Orphan as he made his way to the open area of the warehouse, and led him to a table. "We have to look at all this stuff we found last night. There's gotta be something here that will tell us where they went," he said simply, dividing the contents and handing half to Orphan. They shuffled through the pages frantically, looking for a clue as to their location. Orphan managed to uncover some black and white photographs showing Corey and Dodger out on the town, dating a few weeks back. It seemed that whoever the kidnappers were, they'd been surveying the pair for a while.
"Shit.." Cole cursed as he saw the photos. "Someone's been following us... how the hell did we not notice that?" His own search through the folder came up dry, as he only found several reports on where they had been and what they had done, a "victims" list, and behavioral data. He turned to the last page of the data, though, and found the last entry that had been made: "Subjects 33 and 34 taken to D.M. for holding until permanent cells completed. Surveillance required from remote location." Cole looked up at Orphan quickly, and shouted, "HERE! This is where they took them! What the hell is DM... Orphan, what was the doctor's first name? Maybe they were taken to his home!"
Orphan sent his pages flying at Cole's words. "Dr... Uh... Darren? Darvin? McCall, I think it WAS a D... maybe it IS at his house? But how do we find it? With evil mad scientists, it's usually not in a phonebook," he laughed uneasily, trying to add a bit of humor to the situation.
"No need for a phonebook, not when we can just follow him home from his office," Cole suggested, grabbing a jacket and putting on his shoes. "Let's get outta here, we've got to get to the doctor's place before he heads home, c'mon."
In no time, they had reached the doctor's office. As they saw his car was still in the parking lot, they sat in wait, staking him out. When they saw him exit, they swiftly followed behind him, using their improved vision and speed to keep as close to behind him as possible without being spotted. Eventually, they reached the doctor's house and quietly followed his car up the driveway. "Stay hidden, and follow him in," Cole whispered to Orphan. "Use your extra. See if there's any security, see if there are any codes, and find out how many people are inside."
Within the blink of an eye, Orphan had activated his extra and disappeared from sight. Once again, Cole found himself waiting impatiently for Orphan to return, the minutes seeming to last for hours.
Orphan finally returned with his report. "I saw... uh... 3 people wearing black suits, gathered around a living room, and there was a thick metal secured door there with a keypad. Dunno the code but someone told the doctor something about the day's folder being on his desk, maybe that has the codes? No cameras that I could see."
Cole thought for a second, looking at the house. "Okay, we're gonna storm the place, then. Four people, easy to take out. We go in right now, use your extra to get one of the goons in a suit while I sneak up on the other two. Then we take out the doctor, get the code, get down to the barred door because that'll be where they have our boys. Ready?" he asked, and turned and run silently up to the door before waiting for a response. He motioned Orphan in ahead of him, and made his way down the hallway, stopping just out of sight of the living room where the men were standing.
Orphan ran ahead, activating his extra again and sneaking up on the men. On Cole's signal, he jumped onto the man's back, lowered his fangs, and bit down hard on the man's neck.
As the two men opposite Orphan's victim jumped back in surprise, Cole rushed out from the hallway and grabbed the first's head, twisting it violently until he heard a sickening snap and the man dropped onto the carpet in a fraction of a second. The other man turned and faced him, fumbling in his jacket for his tranquilizer gun, but Cole swiftly moved toward him, landing a kick to his groin before grabbing his arms and twisting them around his back. His fangs shot through his gums, and Cole bit down hard on the man's neck until he stopped struggling. "Come on," he whispered to Orphan, wiping blood off his lips with the back of his hand.
They moved their way up the stairs, moving quietly down the hall until they found him in his bedroom. Cole stepped in silently, moved behind the doctor, and grabbed him from behind, restraining his arms and shoving him hard into the wall. "You took my family," he hissed, glaring at the doctor who had begun scrambling to his closet, no doubt for a weapon to subdue him. Cole smirked, and quickly stepped over the doctor's body to stop him in his tracks. He grabbed the doctor's hands in turn, snapping them at the wrist. "No one touches my Dodger. I swear to god if you touched him, if you harmed him at all, I will make this hurt so much more than it does already." He brought his foot down onto the doctor's legs and snapped them too, for good measure. A few minutes later, the doctor was broken and bleeding and tied to his bed with the sheets. "Watch him, Orphan. Don't let him move until I get back," he ordered, grabbing the day's folder that Orphan had mentioned, and finding the appropriate code.
Dodger was propped up against the wall, his arms chained to the wall so he was only able to crawl a couple feet away. A small bowl of blood had been set next to him, but he could smell that it was laced with drugs. Corey was not with him anymore; Dodger barely had the strength to care. He had multiple bruises shaped all around his body, and cuts varying in sizes and deepness. His eye was still swollen shut, but thankfully his other was untouched so he could see his surroundings. There wasn't much to look at, but at least he wasn't 100% vulnerable.
Dodger picked up the bowl of blood and threw it against the wall, at the same time the door beyond his cage busted open. Dodge cowered in fear of another experiment, but for once he wasn't harshly pulled away from his cell.
"Dodge?" Cole's voice filled his ears and Dodger looked up to see his one and only. "I've got you, baby. Don't worry." Dodger immediately reached up for his sire, and Cole took him carefully in his arms.
After breaking the chains, Cole scooped up Dodger and they were on their way out. "Thank you for coming. I-I was so scared, Cole. They were doing tests on me. I thought I was never going to see you again..." Dodger trailed off, nuzzling his face in the crook of his sire's neck.
"Everything's going to be alright," Cole said as he carried Dodger out into the hallway. "Don't worry, Jacob, you're safe now," he added, as they exited the lab into the cool night air. "We're going to take good care of you."
Dodger immediately stopped his nuzzling. For the first time since forever, he felt unsafe in his sire's arms. Actually, when he thought about it, Cole was holding him too tight, not looking him in the eyes, and he certainly was not fussing over him as Dodger thought he should have been. "Jacob? Wha- Cole...that's not my name anymore," Dodger said as he tried to pull away from his sire, but Cole kept him in his arms. "We? We...who? You and Orphan? Cole?" His sire had stopped walking, and just as Dodger turned to look as to why, he saw the reason, standing right in front of them. "COLE! NO," He yelled as Cole...his sire handed him over to his father. "Don't do this to me please, don't you love me?" He begged, and even as he was being passed off he managed to grab Cole's hand, refusing to let go. "He'll kill me, Cole! Don't lose me again. Please don't let me go."
Cole released Dodger's hand, the same smile plastered on his face as if he hadn't heard Dodger's words at all. "Everything's going to be alright. Don't worry, Jacob, you're safe now. We're going to take good care of you. We're going to make you the perfect son." With that, Dodger's old father, planted a kiss on his forehead, the only one Dodge had ever gotten from him...and then tossed him into a shallow grave...
Dodger hit the hard, cold floor of his cell. He moaned out in pain, gripping his wet side. He felt stitches tracing up from his hip bone to the bottom of his ribs. "Fuck," He whimpered, rolling onto his back while cupping his side.
"Dodger... what did they do to you? How can I help?" It wasn't Cole's voice, but Corey's. Which meant his "rescue" was only a nightmare or was it a vision?
"Just give me a minute," Dodger panted, before rolling into a sitting position. New blood dripped from his wound, and he tried not to cry out in pain. The door to their cage opened, and Dodger looked up, fearing for a second it would be Cole, just like in his dream. But, no, it was one of the crazy fuckers experimenting on them. The man slid a manila folder in between the bars, letting it drop to the floor with a quiet thud. Dodger scrambled towards it, unfolding it with a glare on his face.
"What is it? Do they have Cole and Orphan now?" Corey asked, and his voice made Dodger itch with anger. In the folder were x-rays...showing a small key deeply implanted in his body. There was no doubt in Dodger's mind that the key unlocked Corey's shackles.
Dodger threw the x-rays down towards Corey's feet. "Sorry. If those are true you are staying chained up. I will not do that to myself. There is no fucking way these stitches are coming out unless I'm passed the fuck o-" Dodger was cut off by a high pitched scream from Corey. His body shook as if he was being shocked to death.
Dodger's jaw dropped as he watched Corey get shocked. "Jesus Christ," He muttered under his breath, taking a step back from Corey. "Corey? Corey? Are you ok?" Dodger asked, trying to resist the urge to crawl over and touch him for fear he'd get shocked as well.
"P-please...please Dodger...help me," Corey spat out, reaching out a hand towards Dodger, but it curled back up towards his chest as another set of shocks went through his small body. Dodge couldn't watch this anymore, the smell of burnt flesh was going to make him sick. He turned away from Corey, looking down at his side. His hand grazed his stomach, over to his side where he gingerly touched the sore skin.
"Fuck my life," He mumbled under his breath before he ripped out one of the stitches. It got harder and harder to do it, but Dodger kept plucking them out. His hand and side were covered in blood by the time he got half of them out. He had tears running down his face as he bit back the bile rising in his throat. "I can't believe I'm doing this for you," He said, half out of breath as he started to pry open his side and reach in slowly, one finger at a time. Sweat poured down his face as he huffed in pain. It was so tempting to just stop, but Dodger kept pushing himself. So far he had managed to fit two fingers into his side, moving around hoping to god he wouldn't ruin any of his intestines and end up starving to death.
"Orphie?" Corey whimpered out, and waves of anger overcame Dodger.
"MY HAND IS INSIDE OF MY BODY TO SAVE YOU AND ALL YOU CAN CALL OUT IS YOUR SIRE'S NAME? ARE YOU FUCKING MENTAL?" Dodger shouted as he turned around to look at Corey. "LOOK AT ME!" Blood poured out of his wound as he had to squeeze in another finger to search around. "No one should ever have to experience this!"
"I'm sorry... I just... I felt something in the back of my mind, it felt like him, I dunno..." Corey said softly, looking downwards. "I'm sooo sorry you have to do this for me."
Cole opened the door, and made his way downstairs slowly. There was no telling how many others would meet him along the way, but not even the entire Roman Army would stop him from reaching his Dodger. And Corey, of course. He quickly glanced around a corner, seeing four men in lab coats wearing weapons on their belts. They were crowded around a computer screen, watching the latest test results on his Dodger no doubt.
The thought of them running tests on Dodge infuriated him even further, and he silently tiptoed toward the group and peered over their shoulders. "Mm, that is interesting," Cole said conversationally, as he quickly reached for the weapons of the two furthest men, unholstering them and pointing them at the heads of the two men in the middle. Two point-blank shots later, and the men went down.
The other two shouted for security from upstairs in vain. "Yeahhh, about that..." Cole grinned, "I already took care of your friends upstairs." He raised the weapons again, and the two men dropped to the ground, scrambling in vain to get upstairs before Cole reached them. He wasn't about to let them get away, though. With a low growl, he charged the two men, punching the first in the throat. The man made a disgusting gurgling sound, and dropped to the ground, his eyes wide with fear. Cole's rage boiled over, and he started taking out his anger on the man's chest, trying to literally punch a hole right through him. When he was satisfied the man was dead, he swiftly bounded up the stairs, took the other man in a chokehold, and used his fangs to rip open the man's artery, tearing his flesh from his neck.
Cole made his way back downstairs, and spotted a heavy locked door at the end of the hallway, a jail cell where he would find Dodger no doubt. He sprinted to the end, used a key he had found in one of the guard's pockets, and finally pushed open the cell door.
He gasped. Dodger's side was open and bleeding, and Dodge had his hand inside the opening. Both boys were nearly reduced to tears and neither looked like they'd be moving around much for a few sleep cycles. "God, oh Dodger, Dodge, what happened to you, what are you doing?" he rambled, tears streaming from his eyes.
"God, oh Dodger, Dodge, what happened to you, what are you doing?" Dodger didn't look. Part of him didn't want to. If he went with Cole, he would end up with his father.
Instead, Dodger let out a cry, slowly pulling out his hand to reveal a bloody key. He looked back when his name was called, his face showing confusion. Shaking his head, Dodger reached out a pale hand, handing the key to Corey. "If I have a scar, I'm pushing you off a cliff."
Corey closed his eyes gratefully, but was unable to contort in order to use the key to free himself. "Cole... help?" he asked softly, followed quickly by "Where's Orphie?"
"Shut the fuck up, Corey. It's our minds...stop," Dodger said as he tried to wipe some of the blood off of his hand, ignoring the silent tears falling off of his cheeks.
Cole scoffed. "Only you would be able to joke after your hand has been inside your chest, Dodge. Orphan is upstairs guarding the good doctor. I have a few questions for him, now that I know you two are safe," he added, taking the key and quickly unlocking Corey's chains. "Oh god..." he whispered to Dodger as he looked over his body, all the scars and stitches and cuts and bruises. His hand softly ran up and down Dodge's body, as he whispered "I'm real, I'm right here, you're safe, you're okay."
"You're not real," Dodger mumbled, still refusing to turn towards Cole. "I'm not going back there... I'm not going back to him." He shook his head, walking over towards the corner of his cell and curling up in a ball.
Cole walked over to Dodger, picking his frail body up in his arms and cradling him to his chest. "Dodge, Dodger I'm real, I'm right here, can't you see me? We're not going anywhere but back to the warehouse, I promise."
"Let me go," Dodger argued, fighting against Cole's grip. "I'm not going anywhere with you! You're not MY Cole...it's a trick. Let me go!" He struggled and squirmed, sometimes rubbing the wrong way against his open side which left him gasping in pain.
Cole ripped a piece of Dodge's shirt off in his hand and used it to cup Dodge's side, slowing the bleeding. "God, he's delusional," he said to Corey, who was busy collapsing to the ground against the wall. "Come on, Dodge. We're going upstairs to torture your new friend and find out who brought you here, and then we're going home."
Dodger finally stopped moving, and looked up at Cole, his eyes clouding up with tears. "What happened to you?" he asked sadly, giving his sire a soft kiss on the nose. "I'm sorry." Dodge reached up weakly, cupping his hands on Cole's face. His extra immediately began to work and even though he was weak, his connection with Cole and physical contact allowed him to hold all of his sire's senses. Cole sighed and glared at Dodge, easily shaking off the effects of his extra and holding Dodge from turning to leave.
"Well, I got my senses taken away about a dozen times, went on a wild vampire goose chase, tied up an ancient doctor in a bedroom, beat down a half dozen mad scientists, and watched my baby stick his HAND into his side. I think I'm the one should be asking you what happened to you."
Dodger released his grip on Cole's face. Instead, he laid his head on his sire's shoulder with a soft whimper. "I'm lost, Cole. I'm so confused. I don't know what's real anymore. I'm going to wake up and you won't be here anymore. I-I'll be alone again."
"No, Dodge, no, I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again," Cole said, hugging Dodge even tighter. "Whatever they did to you will be out of your system in a few sleep cycles, we'll get you back to normal, don't worry."
Dodger wrapped his arms around Cole's neck, closing his eyes and snuggling in closer towards the crook of his neck. "You forgot our signals didn't you?" He accused, his eyebrows furrowing together in a mock glare.
"Heh, how could I forget? It's hard to, when you completely lose your vision every five minutes," he said, smiling softly. "Come on, guys. We've got a doctor to torture, and then we have to get you two back to the warehouse to heal. You doing okay there, Corey?" he added. "You don't sound well..." Cole moved around to grab both of them and support them with an arm around the shoulder, and carried them awkwardly up the stairs to meet Orphan.
Dodger held on tightly to Cole, nuzzling his face in his sire's neck. "I thought I was going to die without saying goodbye to you," he whispered into Cole's ear as he walked up the stairs.
Cole kissed Dodge's cheek. "You know you're not allowed to die, so there's no way I'd let that happen," he replied softly, as he gently placed Dodge sitting against the wall. He turned to the doctor, still tightly bound to the bed. "Now. Doctor. I have a few questions for you. I assume since you've been studying us, you know very well what I am capable of." Cole gripped the man's broken wrist tightly, causing him to cry out in pain. "First of all, I want to know exactly what you've done to my boys here, and how to fix it. Is there anything other than the external injuries I should know about?"
Darren McCall yelled out in pain. "J-Just standard procedure s-stuff. That's all I can say..." the male trailed off, shaking his head as tears squeezed out of his eyes.
"You see, that's not good enough." Cole tugged the man's wrist harder, making sure to dislocate his shoulder this time. "What. Did. You. Do?"
Darren withered under the vampire, whimpering out in pain. "I-I'll tell you! J-Just stop!" he pleaded, trying to claw at the other's hand.
Cole released the pressure suddenly, and Dr. McCall collapsed in pain. "Start talking."
"I-I was hired to track v-vampires and test their senses, r-reactions, and eventually find a way to l-limit their extras..."
"Good." Cole smiled sinisterly. "See how easy that was? Now, tell me who hired you, and tell me what you did to them. Trust me, what I can do to you will be so much worse than what your boss can."
"T-Telling you would cause more p-problems," Darren whispered, glancing up towards Dodger, who was slumped against the wall, "for h-him."
Cole's fangs dropped, his eyes flashed red, and he used a hand to press down on the doctor's chest, enough to make it hard to breathe, but not hard enough to crack anything and kill him. "If this concerns Dodger, you need to tell me right now," Cole demanded. "If you don't, I'm not going to kill you, I'll just make you wish you were dead. Do we have an understanding?"
Darren coughed, trying to get any amount of oxygen in his body. "J-James Ethos hired me three years ago when his s-son went missing. We w-were to capture him and his s-sire."
Cole turned and shared a look with Dodger. "Ah, him and his sire," he said in a level voice. "Of course. Well, bang up job there, sir, your intelligence work is as impeccable as I would expect from our government. My last question is what did you do to them that I need to fix?"
"N-nothing that you can't see..." he trailed off, nervously glancing around the room. "We w-were only testing the d-deepness of the sire bond."
"I see, I see..." Cole trailed off, narrowing his eyes. "Tell me, what did you find out?" he asked with sinister sweetness in his tone.
"The weaker one was quicker to sacrifice to save Jacob, while Jacob was more stubborn and almost didn't save his sire. Which leads us to believe a sire's bond to his childe runs d-deeper."
By this point, Cole was seething. "Excellent insight doctor. You're very clever. Just... one tip, if I may... though, I know, you academics will hardly listen to me since I don't have a degree.... but... in the future... you may want to check and make sure that the pair you capture are actually sire and childe before you start testing their sire bond. Just a thought... not that you'll be around much to use my suggestion..." Cole lunged forward, his teeth ripping the man apart like a freshly cooked chicken. When the man's body lay still on the bed, he picked up his Dodger, motioned to Orphan and Corey to follow, and quickly made his way back to the warehouse so the two boys could begin to recover over the next several sleep cycles.