Drake cries silently into his pillow.
New Daddy knows Drake is strong, stronger than other four-year-olds. New Daddy knows Drake will heal.
And Drake knows New Daddy will be back.
Someday, Drake will be ready for New Daddy.
***
The wild beating of Drake's heart woke him with a jolt, sweat beading his forehead. He couldn't control the thrump-thrump-thrump as his heartbeat accelerated in panic.
A nurse rushed in, needle in hand as if brandishing a weapon. Her eyes widened in surprise and fear. "You're awake. You shouldn't be."
He ignored the stupidity of her comment. "Where am I? Why have you kidnapped and imprisoned me?"
She frowned in confusion. "We didn't kidnap you, we saved you."
He sneers at her. "From what? A surfing victory? Thanks so much for that."
She shuffled away from him, though she hadn't come close enough for him to reach her. "The doctor will be here any minute. He'll explain everything. But you're lucky we found you in time. You could have died."
She looked at the needle in her hand, then capped and pocketed it and left as quickly as she had come.
Guess she didn't want to get too close.
Drake counted the tiles on the browning ceiling as he waited for the doctor, though he doubted he'd get an honest answer from anyone here.
A moment later, a tall man with bushy eyebrows walked in. "I'm Dr. Pana, your treating physician. The nurse tells me you think we kidnapped you."
The doctor's smooth-as-glass voice wrapped itself around Drake like velvet. His will weakened, for just a moment, and the good doctor almost cracked Drake's defenses and wormed his way in. Almost.
"I was drugged, knocked out, and strapped down against my will. What would you call it?"
A caterpillar eyebrow shot up in surprise, the only evidence that the doctor had underestimated Drake's ability to resist him. "A new organization is bent on destroying anyone with unique gifts such as yours. They targeted you and would have killed you had we not intervened in time. We're keeping you here for your own safety, and, given the nature of your gifts and some of your past deeds, we found it necessary to restrain you for the staff's safety. We have to make sure you are stable and safe, Mr. Davis, before we can release you."
"Where am I?"
"You're being cared for in an undisclosed private facility where anyone intending you harm cannot track you. Now I suggest you take advantage of this time to rest and heal."
Dr. Pana pressed the nurse's buzzer. "Please bring the patient's medicine."
When the nurse returned, she shook as if scared, but Drake didn't think he was the cause. She cast furtive glances at Dr. Pana as she reached over with a needle and inserted the syringe into his I.V. "Rest now."
Euphoria flooded Drake's system and erased all thoughts of escape and all feelings of fear.
Dr. Pana smiled, and a gold tooth glinted in the fluorescent lights. "See you soon, Mr. Davis."
Chapter 12 – Sam
Sleep came slowly that night, and when I finally surrendered to my dreams they were filled with horrible beatings, car crashes, blood, and a little boy who fought his way to be free of abuse.
My heart broke for the blond boy in my dreams. He reminded me of Tommy, and I wanted to comfort him, to rescue him and give him hope.
Perhaps he represented my inner child, the inner artist in me who needed to be free to create and express? Except, it didn't feel like that at all, it felt more like a memory that would haunt me forever.
Lucy and Luke met me for breakfast in our cafeteria that morning, and I told them about my dream.
Luke shoved a spoonful of cheerios into his mouth before speaking. "You're just stressed. You need to unwind. Come spar with me and Lucy. We'll work out that extra tension."
"More like beat it out of me. No thanks." I looked around to make sure no one could hear me before bringing up what I really wanted to talk to them about.
"Listen, I need your help. Someone on campus is stealing other people's powers and using them." This got their attention and they both leaned in to listen.
I told them about my conversation with Kyle.
Lucy pursed her lips. "He could have been lying."
I scoffed. "I might not be a human lie detector, but I dug pretty deep into his mind. He wasn't lying."
Luke tapped his long fingers on the table. "This is bad. No one's come forward with this kind of power. I have a hard time believing it's a student. Could one of the staff have a power we never realized before?"
I thought back to my brief encounter with the mysterious doctor with the gold tooth. "That doctor had some kind of power. Maybe it's him. He arrives out of the blue, and all of the sudden a boy shows up beaten, and someone steals Kyle's fire power to burn down the studio—not to mention Mr. K leaves without even saying goodbye. Don't you find that a bit too coincidental? And Higgins is lying to us, too."