Chapter 16: The Routine
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Few hours ago
"Ugh!! Where the fuck am I?"
Lucius muttered as his eyes slowly fluttered open. What came into view were bright lights and the smell of disinfectants and herbs lingering in the air.
"This doesn’t look like our dorm room, that’s for sure."
He said quietly as he slowly rose to a sitting position on the soft small bed he lay on. His head was assaulted by a wave of pain and he began to see double.
"My head feels like absolute shit—"
He raised his hand to rub his head softly, but found it connected to a small floating screen that monitored his steady pulse.
Once his vision cleared up, his gaze scanned the white room. The room was large, filled with multiple beds such as his, and a floating screen assigned to each of the beds.
The ceiling was white, with countless bright lights lined beautifully on its concrete structure.
"The infirmary—" Lucius muttered. "I see—"
His gaze lowered to his hands. "The last thing I remember was being hit with something hot and heavy—"
"Theon—" he clenched his fist. "I still wasn’t strong enough to protect you once more."
"I see your finally awake."
A familiar voice snapped him awake from his thoughts. He turned slowly, and right beside him— also seated on a bed was Damon, and beside him— Reed.
He tried looking ahead of Reed, but Theon was nowhere to be found.
"Damon? Reed? What in the actual fuck happened after I was knocked out?" He questioned. "And where is Theon?"
Damon stared at him quietly, then answered softly.
"I also don’t know—" Damon adjusted his glasses. "I was knocked out, immediately after you were hit."
"That means—" Lucius gaze slowly changed focus to Reed.
Damon also turned and looked at Reed, whose head was lowered as he stared blankly at his hands.
"He has been like that since I woke up." Damon muttered, much to Lucius hearing.
"Hey! Reed!" Lucius called out. "What happened man? Where is Theon?"
Reed’s head remained lowered. He seemed to be muttering something under his breath, as though he was lost in his own world.
Lucius and Damon stared at him for a few more seconds in silence before Lucius slammed his hand on the wooden table seated beside him.
The loud noise seemed to wake Reed from his thoughts. He slowly turned and exchanged glanced with Lucius.
"Come on. Say something! What happened?"
Lucius stated once more.
"We were all defeated, that’s what happened—"
Reed said coldly.
"We didn’t even last a full minute against those guys— and here we were claiming to be the ones to watch after Theon—"
He paused slightly, then continued in his cold tone.
"We couldn’t even stop those bastards today— while Theon— well, he has been facing those kind of people alone since he came to this school. And yet—"
Reed paused once more. "His will still remains unshakable."
He lifted his gaze and looked both Lucius and Damon in the eyes.
"At the end of the day, we all have to accept the fact that Theon is way stronger than all of us in that regard."
The room fell into silence once Reed finished speaking.
Both Damon and Lucius glanced at each other knowingly. They knew Reed was right, but— it was a very painful truth to accept.
"What about Theon?" Damon asked, breaking the awkward silence.
Reed sighed softly. "Before I went unconscious, I think I heard Theon saying something about meeting with them at their usual location."
"What!!?"
Lucius shot out from his bed.
"And your just telling us this now." He exclaimed. "Fuck your speech man, we have to find Theon now. We can’t let him face those guys again."
"Even if we are able to locate them— then what?" Reed asked coldly. "We get our asses handed to us again once more?"
Those words seemed to calm Lucius down slightly.
"Well then—" A smile began to develop on Lucius face. "If we can’t beat them, then we simply have to get someone who can."
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Theon’s eyes slowly opened, and the first thing he felt was a wave of pain coming from the back of his head.
He tried to lift his hand but found himself unable to move them even slightly. It felt like he had been tightly strapped to something.
"What the hell—" Theon whispered as his vision cleared up. What welcomed him was a dark room, only brightened by a single flickering light on the ceiling.
Some parts of the building seemed to be slightly falling apart signifying that it had been abandoned, and for a long time at that.
His gaze lowered and he saw that both his legs and hand had been tied tightly to the chair he was sitting on.
He tried to break out of the abnormally thick ropes, but they seemed to tighten the more he struggled.
’This must be an artifact.’ Theon sighed softly. ’This effect it’s having mist probably be from the essence it was imbued with—’
He paused, then began circulating the essence in his body. "I will just have to use my essence to overload the artifact."
Slowly, he inserted his essence into the rope, and he could already feel the rope loosening, even if it was just slightly.
A small smile emerged on his face. He continued to imbue the rope with his essence.
When suddenly—
"It seems our little friend is finally awake."
A voice echoed in the dark, empty room causing Theon’s head to snap upwards. He gritted his teeth, as he saw the figure approaching him with slow steps.
’Adrian!!’ Theon hissed mentally.
"Damn, Theon! Do you know how long you kept us waiting." Adrian released that sickening grin of his as he walked over to where Theon was seated.
Three other figures followed behind Adrian. Two— Thon recognized as the two goons who always followed Adrian. Brook and Reacher.
The other student behind them though, he couldn’t quite recognize.
It was a female student with long curly brown hair and bright ebony eyes that stayed lowered. She seemed to hide in the shadow of the three second year students in front of her.
Theon’s gaze then shifted back to Adrian who was right in front of him.
SMACK
Adrian suddenly slapped Theon, causing his head to snap sideways. The slap was so strong it left a mark on his face.
"That is for keeping me waiting!"
Adrian whispered, then grabbed Theon by his hair and lifted his head just enough that they were seeing each other eye to eye.
"Now, we already know the routine." Adrian said quietly. "Tell me you’ve gotten the money, Theon."
Theon stayed quiet, instead his gaze seemed to radiate a deep coldness that sent chills down Adrian’s spine.
"That same disgusting look as before—"
Adrian bent down so he was at eye level with Theon.
"You’ve become quite bold lately. You dare to look me in the eye, you show up late, and when I ask you a question—" Adrian’s voice suddenly dropped so low, it felt like he was spitting venom. "You don’t answer."
"Maybe this will get you talking—" His hand slowly shifted to Adrian’s fingers. He grabbed both his index and middle finger softly, then—
CRACK
A sickening crunch echoed in the dark room as Adrian snapped Theon’s fingers.
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