Chapter Text
Eloise slowed her bike down to a reasonable pace when she saw a long, black car in front of her family’s house. She parked the bicycle on the grass and grabbed the bag of groceries from the basket, slowly walking towards the front door. She didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary, but the silence is what creeped her out. Normally, she’d hear the sounds of her two little brothers quarrelling, her mother disciplining them or the telly playing loudly because of her dad’s bad ears.
She found the door unlocked and entered, putting the bag on the floor as she took off her coat. “Mum? You home?”
When she didn’t get an answer, she started worrying. If there was someone in the living room keeping her silent, there was no use in yelling out more. Instead, she kept on her shoes for any possible running, and held her lipstick-knife firmly in her right hand.
She opened the door to the living room, inhaling sharply at the sight. Her whole family was sitting on the couch, held at gunpoint by two strange men. Her mother was silently crying and holding one of her brothers, her father doing the same. Standing in the middle of the room was their brand new Prime Minister, Harold Saxon. Except, Ellie very much knew that he wasn’t who he said he was. She and her friend had been researching him, although it ended up just being her. Her friend gave up after a day or two, saying it was ridiculous.
Ellie, however, had found out that mr. Saxon hadn’t come into their lives until about eighteen months ago. And for some weird reason, everyone trusted him, voting for him and preaching the election in his favour. There was no history on him either. There was never a Harold Saxon at the university the man claimed he went to, no family, he was a ghost. A very well-planned, thought-out ghost.
“What’s going on?” she asked. She could hear the soft drumming of her mother’s fingers on the couch. Everyone seemed to be doing that these days. Ellie didn’t see the appeal, she just found it annoying.
Mr. Saxon smiled. “How lovely of you to join us, miss Eloise. Why don’t you sit down?”
“No thanks, I’d rather you tell me why you’re here and why the hell you’re pointing guns.” She flipped the top off the lipstick as quietly as she could and twisted the knife all the way to the top.
“I think you know why, Ellie.”
She chuckled airily, but no humour was present in her voice. “How about you pretend I’m stupid and explain it anyway, won’t you?”
He approached the girl, who stuck out the knife in defence. “It took me a long while to find you. There’s no way you haven’t noticed it. Hearing things that didn’t seem to have a source, feeling emotions that aren’t yours. Sound familiar?”
Ellie swallowed thickly, because she knew he was right. She didn’t want to tell her parents, obviously, she didn’t want to be sent to an asylum or mental hospital. But the sudden bursts of fury out of seemingly nowhere had been bothering her for quite a bit. “What do you want from me?”
“Oh, it’s very simple. You just have to come with me.” His grin made her sick to her stomach.
“Will you let them go?”
Her father spoke up. “Eloise, no, don’t you dare consider this!”
Mr. Saxon groaned. “Apes, such stupid creatures. You come with me, I’ll leave these ones alone. Not like they’re of use anyway. And drop the knife, will you? Threatening me doesn’t make me any more forgiving.”
She set it down on the kitchen table and watched as he snatched it up, sticking it into his pocket. “Well then. You coming?”
“Ellie-”
“It’s fine mum,” she said shakily. “It means he’ll leave you be, okay? I’ll be fine.”
“So smart for a human. Cuff her.”
Ellie stood still as one of the guys cuffed her hands behind her back, her eyes filling with tears slowly. Shock was the best word to describe it. She wasn’t going to let anyone get hurt, but God she was terrified of what would happen to her instead. She tried to send her parents a smile, failing to hide her fear. Before she could even say goodbye, she felt a syringe penetrating her skin harshly and her vision faltered within seconds.
=-=
The first thing Ellie noticed when she woke up was a massive headache. She let out a painful sigh, trying to open her eyes without making it worse. Luckily for her, the room she was in had dimmed lights and she could look around a bit. She glanced at her predicament, seeing she was chained up. Both her arms were spread and tied to some metal pipes, while her legs were tied together. Her neck hurt as she moved it and she remembered the syringe.
She felt lightheaded and slightly nauseous and figured he’d done something to her to weaken her. She saw a bunch of red dots on her arms, he’d taken her blood, the bastard. She threw her limbs around in an attempt to escape, only finding the chains dig into her flesh. She tried for a few more minutes until it tired her out and she gave up.
A few minutes later, the door opened and ‘mr. Saxon’ walked in, hands in his pockets. He made sure to close the door behind him before he pulled out a bunch of keys. “Stop moving.”
He unlocked whatever was holding the chains in place and as soon as her right hand was free, she sent a punch in his face. Her fist hit his cheekbone with as much force as she could muster, which sadly, wasn’t much. He chuckled lightly and grabbed Ellie’s wrist, squeezing it.
“Do that again and you’re dead, understood? I’ll kill you and your whole family.”
As she tried to stabilise her breathing, she nodded. He unlocked the rests of the locks. “Are you gonna follow me nice and obediently, or are you gonna run?”
“Why?” she asked.
“I need to know if I’m gonna need handcuffs and sedation.”
She hated how calm he was looking. No smile, but no anger either. He was just neutral and it freaked her out. She didn’t want to be sedated again, she didn’t want to lose the little control she had. “I’ll follow.”
“Good.”
He grabbed her wrist a second time and pulled her with, no regard for the fact that her legs weren’t catching up. Ellie had no clue where they were. It didn’t look like anything specific, a hospital, or an office building. It was more like a mix of everything. The door they just exited was labeled ‘Laboratory’ and Ellie shuddered. She did not want to know what had happened in there.
She saw all kinds of rooms and places while they walked. An engine looking machine, with a man tied up? Multiple people on their knees working on something, maids walking around and so many guards with guns. She made eye contact with some of the others and they all looked like they did not want to be there, just like her. They all seemed terrified of ‘mr. Saxon’ walking around the place.
A couple hallways and turns later, he opened another door and pushed her in. It was a simple room, with a double bed, a desk and a wardrobe. There was another door to the right that hinted to a bathroom.
“What is this?”
The man scoffed. “A bedroom, ape.”
“I know that, why are we here?”
“This is your room. Go change, we’re having dinner. I’ll have someone fetch you when you’re done.”
Ellie didn’t get a chance to question anything, the door being slammed close before she could process anything. Her heart was beating out of her chest and it took everything to not break down. She sank to the ground, leaning against the door and breathing heavily. What the fuck was going on?