Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 124341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
“They,” Mark said. “Who do you think they were?”
“The staff, I imagine. Or at least a few members of the staff. It couldn’t have happened without their cooperation, even though it only took place once a month. For whatever reason, they chose the full moon. Maybe it was just a marker. I don’t know.”
Mark blew out a long breath. She had the feeling that little shocked this man, but what she’d just told him had. Mark and Jak shot each other looks full of the same shattered surprise. For reasons she couldn’t quite explain right then, it made her feel better that they both still felt horror at what was horrible. They weren’t hardened, though if anyone had a right to be, it was men who rescued brainwashed and tormented human beings.
Did the other nurses know too? Did they even suspect? Did even one other fight like Salma, or did they all look away?
“Sam,” Jak said. “What were you told was the purpose of those nights?”
“Training. Training to be killers.” He looked absolutely distraught, and a faraway look came into his expression, as if the dark forest he spoke of was appearing within his mind. “Some didn’t run,” Sam said, still looking away, his eyes focused on the trees outside the window. “Some hid or lay still.” He paused, and they all waited. The weight of their collective despair in the room was palpable. “We could do whatever we wanted to them. There weren’t any rules, except to make it quick. Making them scream more than once was discouraged.”
She held back the tears that were threatening to fall. I will not cry, not now. It would kill Sam.
He went on, his tone wooden, expression distant as he continued to stare past her. “They were weak and sick. If we didn’t practice…if we didn’t hunt them, their dying would be prolonged. Their pain would be prolonged. We were only questioned if we usurped another hunter’s choice or got in his way. That was the only rule.”
Jak stood and then grabbed a wooden chair from the writing desk near the door and set it next to Sam. He put his hand on his shoulder and gripped. “I understand your pain and your guilt, Sam. I was set up too. To hurt. To kill. It’s not your fault,” he said. “And more than that, you disobeyed their orders, Sam. She’s here,” he said, nodding at Autumn. “She’s here because you protected her.”
Sam breathed out, dropping his head and bringing his hands to his face. In so doing, Jak’s hand was jolted away, and Autumn’s hand was dropped. “Did you watch violent films? Play bloody video games, over and over and over? Were you punished if you refused? Rewarded if you did not?”
Jak shot Mark a look, and Mark’s face fell. “No,” Jak said. “I overcame other things but not that, Sam.”
Sam scrubbed his hands down his face, standing with a low growl and stalking out of the room.
With a small cry of distress, Autumn stood to follow him, but Jak stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. “He needs time,” he said.
She sank back down onto the couch. “What did he mean about films and games?” she asked weakly.
“He means they used mind control on him,” Mark murmured, giving his head a shake, his eyes filled with worry. “They attempted to rewire his brain.”
Brainwashing. They’d tried to make him violent. But they’d failed. Sam was gentle. If anyone could attest to that, she could. “How much time should I give him?” she asked Jak.
Jak appeared deeply troubled. He looked in the direction Sam had gone for a long moment, then at Mark and finally back to Autumn. “Most likely quite a bit. His entire life has just been pulled out from under him.” He paused. “Those walks he keeps going on are good for him. He notices everything, and spending time in nature is important because it will help him remember who he is, his role on this earth. It might sound silly, but I assure you it’s not. He considers himself half monster, half machine. His body ceased to be his long, long ago.” A shadow passed over Jak’s handsome features before he continued. “But I believe he held on to enough of his mind that he can still find his way back. With your help, and when he’s ready. It might be a bumpy road, but he knows your voice, Autumn. He’s depended on it for a long, long time. It’s what he will use to find his way home.”
Chapter Forty
The monster inside was screaming again. Bellowing. Violent visions swept through his head, the ones they had shown him over and over and over for years on end. Only now, their faces were the faces of the wrecked and wounded. The nurses, the doctors, the ones who had hurt and used him. And Autumn. The ones who had looked away, who had kept quiet, who had allowed such brutality to occur and sounded no alarm at all. Nothing. They’d done nothing.