He walked through the door way and found a flight of stairs, it was narrow and poorly lit, his shoulders brushed against the wall as he made his way up to find another room with a single chair in it. The door shut behind him, and he figured he would be asked to sit in the chair so he took a seat and waited to see what would happen next, no point in giving Cipher the satisfaction of seeing him anxious. His fingers tapped on the arm of the chair and he bit at his nails on his other hand, looking back and forth without trying to move his head, so as to see if anyone or anything would be coming at him while he sat. He didn't know how long he would make him wait and he wasn't even sure if Cipher would come, maybe this was Daniel's day 20 torture. Being made to think he would get a shot at Cipher while instead he would end up doing nothing but waiting.
Back in the main room:
"Where were you guys, we thought your blood had been drained from your bodies." Anne walks with Ross over to the water station.
"That first day we did, he had leeches and bugs of all sorts crawling all over us, sucking out our blood and then he'd puree them and send them down the drain."
"That drain sprayed down on us, he told us he drained the life out you." Liz leans against the wall, while Jim pats Ross on the back encouraging him to drink.
"He did drain the life out of us, we passed out several times, we fell over, but we couldn't break out of the chairs no matter how we struggled, so we just sat there with all those gross things all over us." Ross slurped up hand fulls of water trying to relieve his parched lips.
"What happen the next day? We had these weights dangling from the ceiling and.." Anne is cut off before she can go further.
"Yeah, I know." Ross holds the trough with both hands and stares into the water.
"What is it?" Jim stands by him as the girls move in closer.
"We were above you guys, we were told to hold the wheels to make sure they wouldn't drop, but we failed, we couldn't hold them, and then...and then well I quit, I gave up and let go, but nothing happened, my wheel didn't move."
"Well we were holding it down here, so we probably just took more of the weight, in fact we thought we felt something like that happened at one point." Jim tries to ease his obvious feeling of dread.
"Yeah, but... well I convinced Daniel to let go too, that it was a mind game, except when he let go the wheel broke off and the weight fell, someone died because of me."
The three stand there and flashback to that moment when they saw Chuck die trying to protect the other man on the bed. "You couldn't have known, and if the wheel broke, it was probably Cipher's doing." Liz rubs his arm and makes an attempt to comfort him.
"Daniel doesn't even blame me, he blames himself, we sat there all night and I kept crying that it was my fault and I shouldn't have taunted Cipher again, and he would just keep saying 'No, I taunted him, I called him names and mocked him, its my fault'. But he would have never let go if I didn't first, I killed those people, it was my fault. Daniel's just trying to make me feel better, and the way that night ate at him, it put him in physical pain, he must have thrown up four times when he finds out that two of the guys died, I don't know what he's going to do."
"Lets just get him back here first. What do you think is going on with Scott and Dalton?" Jim and the others glance over at the doors they went in and wonder if they'll see any of their friends again.
Scott's Room
It's dark just as Daniel's was, the light comes on but no door opens. "So what's this deal?!" he calls out to the empty room.
"The deal?" the monitor comes on and Cipher appears, "The deal will get you or someone in the room out 10 days prior to their release date, how does that sound?"
"Sounds pretty good for me." Scott crosses his arms. "Anything else a part of this deal?"
"What were you hoping for?" Cipher crosses his arms and mimics Scott.
"Better food, a day of rest, no torture and cups for drinking the water."
"The cups, okay, that can be done. The resting? No, there is no resting. Better food? We'll see, there might be a day here and there that involves better food for some of you, but not for all."
Scott paces back and forth angered, yet pleased with himself, he'll walk out of here looking like a hero for getting the cups. "What do I have to do?"
"I want you to hit someone so hard, you knock them out." Cipher leans back in his chair.
"Again?" Scott raises an eyebrow, almost in a cocky calm manner.
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Nope... who?"
"Same as last time." and the monitor shuts off.
Dalton's Room
"This was a mistake, this was a huge mistake, but I couldn't look like such a coward after Scott practically ran into the other room, but what the hell am I doing here, this was a HUGE mistake." he walks around the perimeter of the room, dragging his fingers across the walls. The light is already on and he sees the monitor that is off on the wall.
"Who are you talking to?" Cipher appears on the monitor.
"Piss off! I want out of here, I changed my mind!" Dalton screams at the monitor.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa I haven't even gotten to the deal yet, chill out shorty."
"No, no, this is wrong, it doesn't matter what you offer, it will be horrible whatever I have to do, I'll have to kill someone probably.. or"
"You don't have to kill anyone." Cipher spins side to side in his chair.
"Then, then I'll have to hurt someone, or steal their food, or lie to them which causes them to get hurt in the room." he frantically continues to move around the room.
"None of that, I promise." Cipher patiently waits
"Then, maybe, I'll... I'll have to, to, to...I "he begins to hyperventilate and panic washes all over him, the worry of what he'll have to do is driving him mad. "You know what it doesn't matter, you're going to make me hurt people who have become my friends, and they're already pissed at me, an you probably already know that, and you're going to use that against me, you think your two steps ahead of us, but you're not, I see what you're up to here, I see whats going on, I know and I'm not falling for it. You were probably relying on me behaving like this, you watch us, you listen, you know, you know, but I'm not going to do anything, I'm not going to give you the SATISFACTION, of...of making me do something that will bury me, either figuratively or for real, so...no, no no, whatever it is, the answer's no. But you know what..."
"Okay, enough, shut up. What I'm offering you is the ability to let anyone, including yourself leave 25 days early." Cipher shouts at him to get him to stop. "I offered Scott 10 days, he jumped at it and felt it was no big deal, its nothing he's never done before. That's what I'm going to offer you, something you've done before, but if you do it for me I'll grant you a 25 day pass."
"What did you offer Anne?" Dalton has stopped pacing.
"Fifteen days, she took it, she's giving it to Ross."
"I don't know, I mean, I don't know, this seems to good to be true, and if something is to good to be true, then you know, it probably is, so...soo"
"Okay, that's it enough, your voice is like nails on a chalk board, see the drawer under the monitor?" a small drawer pops open. "That's glue, strong stuff. Glue your mouth shut and I'll up it to 40 days early instead of 25."
"Fifty." Dalton walks to the drawer and grabs the glue.
"Fifty, you do what I ask, which should really be no big deal and your torture for the day is that your mouth is glued shut. One time offer, take it now or nothing."
Dalton looks at the glue in his hand and is trying to do the math in his head, there's a couple of people that if he does this they'll leave tomorrow, its really not that hard of a choice. He unscrews the cap, and begins to apply the glue as if it were lip balm, he puckers his lips together as if to smack them, but they don't open, their sealed shut.
"Finally, okay, here's the one thing you have to do..."
End of part 2
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