TABOO: THE COMPLETE SERIES(28)

"I see you got promoted," I said as a way to break the ice, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on Colton because he looked terrified of me. His eyes searched me for information as I sat on the bench that doubled as a bed, for any clues about what was going on. I couldn't imagine anyone living in such a constant state of unrest. "It's okay, you don't have to be afraid of me."

He glanced at the vial in my hand. I felt like an idiot. "You must think there's not much difference between them and me," I said. "But there is. You'll have to take my word for it."

He protectively raised his arms over his chest when I brought out the syringe. His arms were thin, his shoulders weak adding to his fragility. He looked away when I started to fill it with the serum, and refused to look me in the eye. He wouldn't be the first one. I refused to look myself in the eye most days. "Heard about what happened with your brother," I said, trying not to sound too interested.

“You suck at small talk.”

“Okay then,” I said. “What would you rather talk about?”

"They took him," he blurted out. "I don't even know where he is."

"I'm sure he's fine."

Yes, because the last time someone tried to escape went so well! How could Jake be so stupid, I didn't understand. How could he fuck up so massively in one night?

"Will I see him again?"

"Sure." Well, it didn't distress me that I lied so easily. I lied for a living. What distressed me was that I was so good at it, as Colton seemed to believe me when his shoulders sagged and he dropped his hands to his side.

"When?"

"I'm not sure. I told you you're going to see him again, can't that be enough for now?"

"How can you be so certain?"

I paused and thought briefly about what I was going to say next. "What I'll tell you is this. Watch what you say in here. This is free advice that'll stand you in good stead."

"Why should I do anything these people want?"

It didn't escape me that he didn't bundle me in with the rest of whoever he thought was against him. Subconsciously, he had started to treat me as an ally. Which made what I was going to do next strangely problematic. "Because you want to be alive long enough to see your brother again." My words sobered him up. Colton's eyes grew wider as the prospect of dying in this dingy cell dawned on him. I approached him slowly, emptying the vial into a syringe.

"Don’t I have the right to know what you've been injecting into my body?"

"Look around you, Colton. No one in this place has rights. Except for maybe Weldon. Think of this as a new reality. The rules of the outside world don’t apply."

He remained defensive and the tension had come back in his shoulders.

"You deserve to not be here right now,” I said. “Neither does Jake. But because of some bad genetic luck or a cosmic joke you got the father you did and here we are."

"My father. He's here? He had something to do in this, didn't he? He's the one behind all of this!"

"Calm down."

“I can’t calm down!”

He was getting agitated and I had to restrain him. I was aware of the security cameras pointing at us, I knew every single word was being recorded.

"Get away from me!" Colton struggled to get free of my grasp but he was fragile and I was a lot stronger than him. It was never an even fight and he had to have known. “You’re no different from these people! You’re one of them!”

I surveyed the frantic boy and grabbed his arm in a firm grip. "I'm the only other person here aside from Jake who could possibly give damn about whether you live or not."

"By hooking me onto some shit I don't even know what it is?"

"You're not hooked yet. You will be, though."

The fight left Colton and he sat down on the tiny bench.

"Arm," I said and waited.

Colton rolled up his sleeve slowly, resignation setting a thin line in his mouth.

"One day you'll be begging me to give this to you."

He lifted his brows.

"But I won't be able to. Until you've earned it."

"Earned it?"

"Earn your fix, Colton."

"How would I 'earn my fix'? Why would I want to?"

"You'll see," was all I said. "But I won't be the one deciding if you get the injection or not. Or where you get it."

The fear in Colton’s eyes was back. Gone was the tiny bit of relief at having me as a friend. Now that I had become the exact opposite. I sank the needle into the healthy vein that protruded up his arm. One week from now and I'll have to spend an hour searching for a vein.

I made my voice lower this time before I spoke. "They'll make you work for this,” I said, audibly but still in a voice that was several decibels below what Colton was used to. It created the effect I wanted. There was confusion on Colton’s face but there was also a panic-stricken anxiousness as the syringe emptied the serum into his veins.

He started to breathe harder. “And when you do earn it, they'll inject it wherever they want to.” I placed my hand on his thigh and he flinched but stayed where he was and didn’t try to fight me. “Into your balls, if you're lucky,” I raised my hand a bit higher, and he still did nothing to stop it but there were tears in his eyes. I leaned in until my face was right next to his and his mouth was aligned with my own but I didn’t go so far as to kiss him. Instead, I brought my lips next to his ear. “I hear it's quite a rush. Other times, they'll inject it into your scrotum and let it run up your dick. The point is you'll be begging them for a drop by then."