Chapter 2: Prisoner.

Friday.

Day 1.

Issa.

George takes me out of the room into a long, very clean, white hallway. This part of the school was significantly more clean and updated than the schoolroom I was just inside of. I had to blink hard to not cringe at the brightness of the hall, it now feeling more like a hospital now from the smell alone. It smelled clean and no longer musty and gross, like the previous room did. 

Why had it looked so old and abandoned in the other room when this area looked newly remodeled? It no longer really looked like a school, more like it was a dorm, like the one I lived at. The cleanliness somehow managed to creep me out more than the dirty school room.

Along the long hallway was several other doors with numbers on them. We passed almost a dozen of them when George finally stopped at a door with a plaque on it reading; 'Room 106'. I was paying attention to the door when I felt a paper being slid into my hand.

I look down to see George had given me my drawing of him. I look back up at him and felt ready to cry. I didn't want to be at this place anymore, and I couldn't believe myself for what had just happened with George and I minutes ago. Why had I kissed him? I said I wouldn't regret it, but maybe I did. I knew nothing about him, it was wrong. Guilt was overwhelming me more with every second that passed.

George didn't say anything as he handed me the paper, he just gave me a sympathetic glance, then he opened the door and shoved me inside.

With a loud bang, George was gone and I was alone in a room with a man wearing a very cleaned up looking outfit. On his hands wore many beautiful rings. He was looking at me with hauntingly green piercing eyes, much like mine. His perfectly greased up hair was a dirty blonde color that went well with his eyes.

He had a face much like Georges. It was attractive, but I actually could bring myself to dislike this man. I couldn't find much good about him, having a hunch of who exactly he was.

After a minute of me staring, he tilted his head to the side, kinda like the way a dog would looking at a shiny new toy. As he turns, I now notice he also had an ear peircing in his left ear only. He then starts to chuckle at me, watching me as I studied his every detail too. I definitely already didn't like this guy.

I was the first to speak up, surprising myself;

"What do you want from me? Who are you?" I asked it as if I didn't know every detail about why I was here and who he was, for Georges sake. Once again, my temper will be the death of me, because all he did was laugh at my question, so I couldn't hold back any of my anger;

"Screw you. I don't find this funny." He didn't stop smiling but he did stand up from his chair. I held my breathe, expecting to be hurt by this man, but he simply walks up to me and says;

"You don't remember me?"

He spoke with an eerily soothing tone, and I have to shake my head subtly to finally hear his words. I was one hundred percent certain I've never seen his face before, I didn't even remotely remember his voice, but I kept searching his face anyway for a characteristic to remember.

"That's pretty disappointing. But to be honest, you were pretty drunk when we met, so I'm not too surprised." I had been guessing that he was the one who took me here, and now that was confirmed. I knew there was a reason I didn't like him.

"You know, you were quite the hassle to get back here. Even with you being drunk and all." He chuckled again. His laugh was nothing but powerful as it left his lips.

"I mean, I was the one who got you drunk in the first place." I can't help but form my hands into fists as he spoke to me, crushing part of the paper I was holding. This immediately catches the mans attention and he briskly moves closer to me and snatches it from my grasp.

The moment his eyes find the drawing, a malicious smirk transforms on his face, then he was looking back up into my eyes and asking curiously;

"I wonder if you were still drunk when you drew this today? So why is it you drew my friend here?" I guess that confirmed that I'd only been out for a little while if he was thinking I could be drunk at all. I then finally heard him and started feeling warm, knowing I was blushing instantly, knowing I drew George simply because I was mesmerized by him.

That was when his face began to falter from amused to angry from the sight of my red cheeks. Just as fast as his face changed, he was walking even closer to me. Then even faster, he took my chin in his hand, making me look up into his eyes, then firmly he states;

"George is off limits. Especially to someone like you. All you're good for is working now. And you have to do as I say, and I say stay away from him and do your job here."

I didn't mean to do it, but I did, I couldn't help myself. Anger took over as he rambled on, and I quickly rolled my eyes at his statement, to which he responded with by slapping me straight across the face, sending me straight to the floor.

I fell against the door with a thud, holding my hand against my now throbbing cheek, feeling the burn. He must've also scratched me from the impact, because in a second I could feel a trail of wetness run from my face too.

Or was I just crying? I was never one to cry much, I always held it inside no matter what, even from something as bad as this. I dabbed my finger against the wet spot and saw red, letting me know it wasn't tears instantly. Yeah, I hated this guy.

I looked back up at him to see him unbelievably offering his hand to me. Who does this guy think he is? Slaps me then expects me to take his help? My pride got the better of me, making me ignore him and stand up on my own, forcing the tears building up inside me to stay there.

He grins, observing me, then states;

"You know, it sure was helpful of you to share that day, that you were such an 'amazing animator' as you put it. Otherwise you might not even be here with us tonight. So I have that to thank you for." The man stepped back to his desk and sat back down, calm and collected.

I wasn't going to entertain him anymore. He just wanted to get a reaction out of me, and he was not about to get one. I stood there against the door, feeling the burning of my cheek subduing now, trying my hardest to not reiterate anything back at him.

"So the reason you're here. I'll keep it short and sweet. You make me things involving your talent of animating, that I'll like, then everyone stays happy." I stayed saying nothing out of spite, so he simply continued;

"You will be given the materials required to achieve those things of course. You will have you're own room too." 'Oh yippee my very own room' is what I wanted to say, but stifled the urge. I couldn't help but notice he had toned back his anger for me now as he began avoiding eye contact with me, almost like he was feeling pity for me.

As if I needed it.

"George. Please come on in." The door knob behind me turned instantly and in he came. He barely even looked at me. He only stood next to me as he looked over to the boss, still ignoring me, which I understand immediately was to protect me from an even greater punishment than what I already received.

Feeling the urge to let the dam building inside me finally burst, I suddenly feel a warm presence brush against the back of my hand. Carefully, without looking so the boss didn't notice, I reached back and found it to be Georges fingers along my hand, making me feel better instantly.

I felt butterflies again and a warm calming feeling from George being here with me, even though I had not long ago felt guilty for what had happened between us.

George eventually broke the silence to say;

"What did you need?" Already missing his voice, I got chills from him talking, just from those two words. I was pathetic.

"Take Ani to Kris so he can show her around. Then come back here, I have things to discuss." Clearly, Ani was short for 'Animaniac'. So dumb. I almost laughed, but didn't have it in me, so I stupidly settled for my anger again. I jumped in, irritated;

"My name isn't 'Ani', it's-" The boss' voice instantly boomed over mine, making me squeeze ahold of Georges finger.

"No-that is your name now. I really couldn't care less what your old name is. That's what you'll go by when I'm around. Got it?" Not only did he look at me for an answer, but he also glanced at George, obviously letting him know to call me that too.

It was obvious this guy had a thing for George as well, whether George knew it or not. And now it made even more sense why George was getting special treatment. If only I could rub it in his face what we just did in the other room.

"I'll just bring her to him Cam. Don't worry." When George said that name, I finally remembered who this man was. I hardly remembered anything from the night, but before I was drunk, I approached him, asking what his name was because he sounded familiar. I was interrogating him, wondering where I knew him from, then he must have gotten me drunk and taken me here after, because after that I blacked out completely.

I still didn't really have an exact idea where else I could have known him from, but the name was now familiar at least. Cam must've noticed my skepticism, because he stopped what he was doing then asked curiously; 

"You starting to remember now?"

George looked at me with a chilled expression, as if to say just drop it. Naturally, I ignored him, finally figuring it out.

"You're a streamer, like George? Right?" George interrupted me immediately after that, voice cracking nervously this time;

"Alright let's bring you to-" Before George can get anywhere near finishing his sentence, Cam was now interrupting him too;

"Yeah. I am." I feel like if it were literally anyone else, they would've been freaking out, but I seriously wasn't affected. First of all, this guy kidnapped me, and second, I didn't watch his videos religiously, so I just didn't give a shit. Although I had heard of him.

"You're that faceless one-is this why? Because of what you're doing here?" As soon as I finish talking, Cam starts to applaud me slowly, with a great big pearly white grin thrown at me along the way.

"That's exactly why. You're one the firsts to figure it out. Good job." There was something about the way he had said it, that made me feel ill straight away, like I shouldn't have figured it out.

A chill went down my spine and I could see George besides me shuffle towards me a smidge. Cam looks at George in disgust, noticing it as well.

"Calm down, I won't do anything to her. I'm sure she knows if anything gets out about me to anyone, you'll pay the price for it. And I have a feeling she won't let that happen." He was right. I didn't want George to get hurt.

Then I had a thought;

"Like you have the guts to hurt him. You care about him too much, that's obvious. You're bluffing." I don't know why I was just willing to risk it for George, but I had the sudden urge to try. Cam then gave George a sinicle look and demanded;

"Lift up your shirt." I look at them both, confused more than ever. Then George did as Cam asked, and all along his back were several pink lines. Not too big, but obviously they didn't feel great to receive.

"Explain to her why that happened George." George put his shirt back down and sighed.

"I tried escaping when I first arrived here." George simply looked incredibly annoyed that Cam was bringing this up. He also looked annoyed with me, and I knew I deserved it. I should have just dropped it awhile ago like George clearly wanted.

"Well you learned your lesson. And now you know it's okay to live here, right George?" Cam gave a loving look Georges way, making me automatically angry all over again.

"You've learned to love it, like we all have." Catching the 'we', my eyes went back to Cam. His face had quickly faltered to undeniably distressed then. Taking my attention from him, George nodded a smile at Cam then gestured at me.

"Should I bring her to Kris before it gets too dark out? Is that alright Cam?" Cam simply dismissed us with a swift hand movement, then he sat back down in his chair and started typing on his computer, no longer looking uncomfortable.

Cam only looked back up at me briefly, then he smiled lightly my way. Then George was pulling me out of the room back into the bright hallway, thankful that I didn't have to deal with Cam any longer.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you in there-" George quickly nudged me hard on the shoulder with his hand, making me fumble with my steps. When I sprang back up at him to give him a 'wtf' glare, he simply signaled over my shoulder to look around.

I saw two of what looked like guards standing together. The two men were abnormally large, with huge muscles, making them look even scarier. They didn't have guns thankfully, but they did have what looked like baton type weapons. I knew then to stop talking.

George walked past them without acknowledging them once, right into a large two doored room. It was clearly a cafeteria, with a kitchen built into it, the kind you see at schools. I mean this was clearly a school at one point, it had just obviously been remodeled to look new.

I was feeling weirdly nostalgic looking around the familiar room, when what I noticed next in the cafeteria made me feel deathly sick.

There were about thirty other people sitting eating lunch together. I quickly concluded that they must be more people who were kidnapped too. They all weren't talking very much at all, but they didn't look as sad as I would've expected. How could Cam have taken this many people?

We kept walking when George and I finally sat down next to some people at a free table.

"I'll get you some food. Please stay here. That means don't run." At first, I was considering yelling at him for even thinking I would try to run, then I remembered I haven't been listening to him very well recently, so I stayed silent and just nodded.

He took off and I felt a poke on my arm. I turned to see one of the guys we had just sat next to, a little annoyed he didn't just say something instead of touching me. Maybe I had a little bit of anger issues.

"You new?" Is all he said to me. I only nodded. He must feel the awkward tension in me because he simply also nods back at me, then was looking away. I spoke up again, feeling curious;

"How long have you been here?" I wasn't entirely sure I wanted his answer, as horrified as I was by how long he could have been locked away here. He blinked slowly then looked upwards as if he was counting to himself. Then he finally answered;

"Eh-about 2 years? Maybe 3." I felt faint. Why did he act like it was an normal thing? I suppose for him it probably was perfectly normal after 3 years, but wasn't he upset about being here at all?

"You get used to it. Many people even like it here." The pretty girl next to him speaks up softly, basically reading my mind. I almost didn't notice her sitting there at all. She quickly continued, not giving me a chance at speaking;

"I mean, we get fed, showers, and nice rooms. Plus we get to do work we enjoy doing." I couldn't believe my ears. How could they enjoy it here?

Just then, before I could say anything else to the two, George showed up again with two trays of food. The people originally talking to me then scooted away from us, darting away at the sight of him.

They must dislike George. I guess I understood, it probably looked like he was just willingly helping Cam because he wanted to, like I originally thought. I was glad I knew him better than that.

I look down at my tray George had picked out for me and see it had a slice of cheese pizza and some salad absolutely drenched with ranch. Surprised it actually looked good and not like prison food, I look up at him to see him smirking at me. He then pulls out a chocolate milk behind his back.

"Got you this! These usually are only given to the people who did a good job on their work. You're welcome." I didn't really feel like letting him down by telling him I actually kind of hated chocolate milk. I mean c'mon, he looked so excited and cute showing me the carton. Even if chocolate milk seriously gave me the ick.

I hesitantly took it and exclaimed;

"Thanks. But I feel like someone else might want it more than me. I mean, I just got here." I turn and hand it to the girl I was just talking to. She gladly takes it with a huge grin.

"You're a saint. I'm Lectra." It wasn't until then that I noticed she was kinda shakey as she took the milk from me. Must be super shy or something. I did a small 'it's no big deal' shrug then added;

"It's just milk, but thank you. I'm Issabelle, but just call me Issa." She stopped smiling and looked around secretly at George like he was going to tattle on her like a kindergartener would.

"Is that you're real name? Or the one Cam gave you?" I knew immediately what she meant and sighed real deep, annoyed with him all over again.

"He calls me Ani. I hate it. Sounds like a grandmother's name." Lectra giggles cutely then comments;

"Or like a little red-headed orphan girl?" I roll my eyes with a smile and nod in great approval. Why couldn't I have gotten a cooler name like hers? Lectra chortles at my obvious annoyance of the name then says;

"So what does that stand for then?" Even 'Lectra', whatever that stands for, thinks Ani is lame. She better be prepared for an even lamer full name.

"Don't laugh. It's Animaniac-" Before I could say anymore, she laughed and snorted out her new chocolate milk, all over the guy she was sitting next to. He gags and stands up, covered in milk. He doesn't get mad, he actually looks happy about it. These people had definitely gone insane.

"Thanks, now I get free shower privileges!" He basically skips out of the room. I was definitely starting to think the people here were a little different. More like a lot different.

Lectra turns back to me with a red face then;

"Oops. I kinda do that alot." I already liked this girl. I didn't realize because I was so engaged in the conversation that I was starving. I look down at the pizza and take a huge bite, then a couple more bites of the salad, downing it fast.

"Don't choke. You gotta actually taste it ya know?" I jump, totally forgetting George was sitting next to me. I turn and see him smiling ear to ear at me, stuffing his face like I was. Before I can even taste it, I realized I was pretty much finished.

"I like you. You should sit by me tomorrow Issa." I turn back around at Lectra looking at me lovingly, and I just nod in agreement with a smile. I look back at George who was now also shoveling some mac and cheese into his mouth. He looked up at me with a mouthful then excitedly waves. His dark eyes are glowing up at me and all I wanna do is hug him.

George then pauses from eating and starts to look concerned for me suddenly. He then brings a hand up to touch my cheek. Feeling my cut Cam had made, he becomes upset looking almost instantly, as if just now really seeing it.

George finishes his meal and stands up before I can get a word in to comfort him that I was in fact okay. He then quickly signals with a head tilt over his shoulder to follow him.

I do as I was told as we walk out of the cafeteria. George walks up to the scary looking guards again, now standing next to another pair of doors, but this time he says something to them;

"Where's Kris? He's supposed to show her around. She's new. Code name's Ani." His voice is almost monotone while speaking to the guards. They only look at George like they're disgusted with him. I don't say anything, I just stay there and be quite as they eye me.

They nod at each other then step aside for us to pass. George opens the door for us and we were suddenly outside. It was about midday and felt like the perfect weather out. The first thing I see is a huge field with a track to run on off in the distance. Wherever this school is, there were no other buildings around it anywhere for miles. Great.

There's a tall brick wall surrounding the entire perimeter with huge trees hiding the view completely. Even if you managed to escape the guards to get outside, how would you ever get over the wall? It was huge.

I then have to squint to see it, but when I do, I notice that at the very tops of the brick wall, were barbed wire around the whole perimeter. They seemed to even be sparking every now and then. That sure seemed safe.

George interrupts me from studying everything around me just then, reading my thoughts entirely to explain;

"The tops of the walls are electric, you can blame that on your little friend Electra, or Lectra as she calls herself. That's what her nickname's for." I already kind of assumed her nickname was something involving electricity, but I didn't think she would actually do something like that for Cam. It probably wasn't voluntary, just like George.

I think George noticed I looked sad because he decided to chime in suddenly;

"There isn't much to look at out here, it's basically just for working out and-" I was starting to feel better when a few seconds later a tall guard walks towards us around the corner. He had long black hair and just looked plain mean. He took one look at George and said in a disgusted tone;

"I'll take her now." Clearly he wasn't asking for permission because in a second he grabbed my arm and dragged me back inside. He was squeezing my arm so hard I thought it would fall off, but I managed to keep my cool.

Finally, he let go and let me walk beside him. I turned my head to look at George but he was already gone behind the door. I was quickly beginning to feel upset again. I had a feeling I would just need to get used to it.

The guard, Kris, and I were just walking for a bit, not saying much until I broke the awkward silence between us and asked;

"Where are we going?" After a little while of walking, we were down a new part of the school this time. He had lead me down stairs in what must've been the basement. Ignoring my question, Kris begins talking while we continued to walk;

"We have several rooms down here, but you'll really only come down here for the showers and locker rooms. You have specific times when you can shower. Not everyone showers on the same days." Well with this many people, it would be difficult for everyone to shower at the same times. I bet the showers here had to be huge.

"We have a storage room down here as well, which is off limits to you. The pool is fair game though." He was talking to me like all he wanted to do was get back to the other guards and leave me be. And honestly that was all I wanted too.

I couldn't believe there was a pool for us, making it feel much less like a prison, which I wasn't quite sure how I felt about. This whole place was huge, even the hallways alone were big, only giving me the creeps even more. 

We must have arrived at our destination because Kris finally stops in front of a large set of doors then says;

"There aren't any separate showers so both male and females shower together, whether you like it or not." He didn't say this with sincerity, but with a 'too bad for you tone'. I had kind of gotten used to showering naked in front if others at the dorms, but now with guys too? This place just keeps getting better and better.

"You'll get your shower privileges tomorrow since you just got here today. You get to shower tomorrow, you skip a day, then shower the next. And so on." I didn't know what to say. I wasn't excited whatsoever to probably get stared at all over while I try to clean. I couldn't hold back the repulsive chills rolling through my body as I thought more about it all.

Kris then finally opens the doors to the showers and I was right, they were huge.

"You can choose any time you want to shower, just not during meal times. Meals are everyday at 11 to 12 in the afternoon and 7 to 8 at night. So don't miss it." Good thing it was meal time right now, or we might have seen some unwanted things just now.

"We also have a curfew. So don't be wandering around any later than 10 at night." There was just too much to take in. I was kidnapped and now I was just expected to just get used to living like this?

But maybe this is the break from life I've been asking for finally happening. I mean, it isn't like my parents even would notice I was gone, I was never really close with them. The whole reason they made me go to college was to get me out of the house and away from them. I hate to say it, and I'll probably regret it, but maybe this place wouldn't be too bad after all. I highly doubted it.

"Cam doesn't care how long you take on your projects as long as you don't purposely slack off. Show him some progress each month and he'll be pleased with you." He then paused and stares me down with a cold and serious expression.

"Just in case you have any ideas, no you can't just go and contact people saying you're here. Sights will be blocked so you couldn't do it even if you tried." I won't lie, I thought about it, but it seemed way too easy. And I was sadly right.

"When will I get to see my room then?" I knew he was a guard and I should be less irritated sounding with him, but I was incredibly stressed out and tired and ultimately just wanted nothing more to do with today.

"I was just about to get to that." Thankfully, Kris didn't sense the sass. He then starts walking upstairs so I follow him again.

"You'll be living in Wing A. Wing B is on the other end of the building, it's an exact replica of Wing A. So that means more showers and another cafeteria over there. Along with more people that you probably won't see much." There were even more people here than what I saw? I didn't have to look to tell I was getting pale from thinking about how many people were really here.

Kris doesn't give me a chance to say anything else as he explains some more;

"Some people have roommates, depending on what your skill is that you have here. You won't have one since you need more space for your gear." I felt selfish thinking it, but I was glad I didn't have one. 

My last roommate Jo was great-ish, but she was probably very literally the reason I was in this situation, as she forced me to go to the party that got me here. She was the reason for a lot of my bad decisions during college. Now that I thought of it, Jo kind of wasn't that great at all. She treated me horribly. Another plus side to being here, no more Jo, as little good reasons as there were right now.

When Kris and I finally got to my door , I was even more exhausted. I looked up at what my plaque read which was; 'Room 111'. Awesome, my room was only five doors down from Cam's office.

The guard suddenly pulls out a futuristic looking key card and opens my door. Then he grabs another card, attached to a lanyard from a file he'd been holding, but this one wasn't as fancy as his was. Then he hands it to me. I took it and started to walk into my room. He quickly stops me by talking once more.

"That key card will only get you into your room and to the courtyard door to get outside. Don't lose it. And don't even try the front entrance, it won't work for you." All I can do is nod. I was taking in way too much information and my brain was starting to hurt again.

I continued walking into my new room, just wanting to be alone now. When I finally walked into my new room, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was huge, I could definitely have another roommate in here if I wanted, but I wasn't going to say anything.

One side of the room was filled with essentials. A huge bed, a nightstand with a lamp and a dresser beside a ginormousgianormous empty closet. In another corner, which kind of ruined the beautiful vibe of the whole room, was a lonely sink. I guess that only made sense to put one in the rooms.

The last corner was filled to the brim with computer gadgets all over a huge desk. Smack dab in the center was a huge fancy computer. This was my heaven. If only it really wasn't that at all, considering the circumstances.

I turned to see the guard still standing there looking at me, forgetting about him already. I didn't know what to say so I just glanced around my room once more. I awkwardly looked into my closet. No clothes. I looked down at what I was wearing again and started to feel very under dressed suddenly.

"Any questions?" Kris asked this very annoyed and tired sounding. Join the club buddy.

"There aren't any clothes. What do I wear?" With a sigh, proving to me that he was indeed annoyed, Kris says;

"Cam sends us guards out to buy things for you guys. Since you're new, you'll get things right away, but others have to work for it."

I looked down at my not so clean clothes I've been wearing all day. On my graygrey tank top was a splotch of blood, reminding me that I gotten slapped today. I definitely was in need of some new clothes desperately.

"You can put in requests. We have magazines for you to look at. Cut out things you want or write them down, doesn't matter. But don't go requesting ridiculous things though, or you'll get nothing. Got it?" I just nod his way, then, without waiting another second in case I had another question, all Kris did was look me up and down judgmentally, then he walked out of my room with a loud slam from the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I look around and my room and immediately feel lonely and unsure what to do, still feeling like I would wake up soon. That was all I could do, just hope I'd wake up.

There wasn't much left to do today besides lay in bed and cry. So that was what I did.