Page 30 of Psyop Kings

My eyes pop back open as the woman returns to bring coffee for Gareth and some sort of fancy-looking latte for me. I get a whiff of pumpkin and frown at the drink. Orion watches me as though I’m a lightning bug caught in a glass jar—something to be studied until I die. A shiver trembles its way through me.

I pick up the latte and take a small sip. It’s pumpkin pie perfection. I’m shocked to discover it tastes nearly identical to the frappe I always get at school.

“I’ll be missed,” I tell them. “You can’t do this and get away with it.”

None of the men appear to be moved by my words. Theo, however, scrunches his eyebrows together and looks down at his plate. I get a sense he feels guilty. It’d be stupid to think he feels guilty for taking me. However, I get the sense he regrets causing this problem for his family.

“You’ll need to tell the doctor about the memory loss too,” Gareth says to Caius. “I hope it’s not permanent.”

“I remember everything clearly,” I snap, shooting Gareth a withering glare. “I’m not falling for this game you’re all playing.”

No reaction. No response. Nothing.

Their poker faces are impressive.

“You can only get away with this for so long,” I say hotly. “My dad will find me.” He always does. “And then you’ll pay for what you did.”

Orion’s neutral expression cracks, anger flickering to the surface. “Caius…”

Caius grunts in response, then taps his fork against my plate. “Eat.”

With nostrils flaring, I jerk my head to glower at him. His dark eyes bore into me. I don’t like the way he looks at me—as though I’m a simple puzzle he must solve before leveling up to a more difficult stage of whatever fucked-up game he’s playing. I should spit on him too. But, unlike Gareth, I’m actually afraid of what Caius would do. He keeps a careful check on his emotions, so he’s hard to read.

“Just take me to Megan,” I plead, trying to find a shred of humanity in Caius’s emotionless stare. “I need to see her.”

Maybe if we’re together, we can plan our escape easier.

“I can just deal with her,” Theo offers, resignation in his tone. “I started this. Let me finish.”

I whip my head to look at Theo. For a moment, he looks like an unsure little boy, afraid of his father’s punishment. If I were his dad, I’d take great joy in whipping him.

“What do you meandeal?” I demand, voice turning shrill.

“That’s enough,” Caius rumbles from beside me.

My hair is pulled aside and then the sharp pinch on the side of my neck has me shrieking in surprise. I go to hit at Caius—the deliverer of the surprise attack injection—but he’s already pulling out of my reach.

I rub at my neck, gaping at the empty syringe in his hand. “You…” The world spins around me. “You…”

I feel myself going down, collapsing over the side of my chair, but Gareth catches me before I crash into the floor between us. Their voices are murmured as blackness creeps into my vision.

“I said I’d take care of it,” Caius hisses, his voice reaching me in the encroaching darkness. “Give it time.”

My body feels as though it’s floating. I’m able to grasp the concept that someone is carrying me. Gareth’s voice rumbles through my body. And though I recognize it’s him, I can’t make out the words.

I’m not sure what’s happening anymore. Everything is confusing and feels wrong. My head throbs as I attempt to clutch onto consciousness, but it’s a losing battle.

Just go back to sleep, Romy.

Maybe this will all be a bad dream that you’ll wake up from soon.

Romy

Every day is the same but a little different.

Honestly, I don’t know if these “days” happen multiple times a day or over a span of days or even weeks. All I know is it’s becoming more and more difficult to discern fiction from reality. I’m unable to keep count of how long I’ve been here, which is both maddening and depressing.

Each time I wake up, feeling drugged and hungover, I go through the obsessive rituals of checking for inconsistencies in my room and bathroom, comparing them to the day before, and searching fruitlessly for a way of escape.

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