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The door to the closet opened and Gravel peeked in, looking nervous. “I- um- I’m supposed to let you out now,” he said, holding a small silver key. “Peacock said you’re to play until you do it right or your fingers bleed.”
Thomas rolled his eyes, looking away from the other man. Gravel hadn’t spoken before this but now Thomas recognized his voice. It was the same one that had shouted the other night at the restaurant after Thomas turned off his wifi. That certainly put a twist on his behavior that Thomas hadn’t expected.
Gravel let out a squeak but seemed to decide not to say anything else until he unlocked the handcuffs and undid the strap from behind Thomas’s head. “You shouldn’t do that.”
“Do what,” Thomas rasped, swallowing dryly in an effort to wet his throat.
“Pretend to be bad,” Gravel said softly, peering at him with dark eyes. “Pretending not to know things sounds like a good idea so he’ll teach you, but it’ll make him angry if he figures out you do know.”
Thomas leaned forward then back, his spine popping loudly before he stared Gravel down until Gravel broke eye contact. “I’m not pretending,” he said, staring down at Gravel’s bowed head. “I don’t know how to attack without help. I don’t want Peacock to teach me. I’m not a hacker. I’m learning to become a software engineer.”
Eyes darted up to him, confused. “A what?”
“A software engineer,” he repeated, “specifically for video games. I want to be the person who makes the programming for video games. An honest living.”
“But- why would you want that?” His eyes darted back towards the door then to Thomas. “You- you’re like them, aren’t you? Like the men we work with. Peacock mentioned it. He said you-”
“I am not what Peacock thinks I am,” he said firmly. “I’m not a made man. Someone tried to make me one but I refused to continue. I’m not about to change any of that. I am not going to be one of them.”
Gravel just stared at him then, slowly, he stood up, his hands turning into fists. “Some of us don’t have a choice!”
Ah, that’s right, Thomas thought, staring into the fury of those eyes. This wasn’t the Three Rings. There wasn’t a man who dressed in a red suit and gave kids thousands of dollars so they could have a better future and asked for nothing in return. “I know,” he said softly, slowly standing up and regretting it as he stood a head taller than the shorter man. “I’m sorry that you don’t have one. But it doesn’t change anything for me. I’m not going to be what Peacock wants.”
“Then whoever he threatened to bring you here is going to suffer,” Gravel spat.
Thomas flinched and Gravel flinched as well, seeming surprised, then scowled.
“Well, I guess you have some sense of empathy, even if you don’t have any self preservation.” He turned around. “Come on! Peacock went to wait for someone else. I can show you the basics before he comes back but then you’re on your own!”
Sighing as a deep aching settled in Thomas’s chest, he followed after Gravel. He wondered how Danny, Kevin, and Mark were handling his disappearance. Kevin and Mark were probably freaking out but- Danny’s look of contempt and rage before he had tried to shove Thomas flashed before him.
Does he even care that I’m gone, Thomas thought miserably. Or does he think I wanted this?
* * *
“Hey,” Mark muttered, rubbing at his face as he walked into the room. He frowned at Danny sitting on the couch next to a folded up blanket and pillow.
Danny looked up at him, disappointed that Thomas still hadn’t woken up. Thomas was never a good morning person but he wasn’t one to sleep in either. “Hey,” he muttered back, looking back at the TV where he had turned on a baseball game to soothe his anxiety. “Sleep well?”
“Yeah, it was- it was fine,” Mark said his tone odd. “Uh… Did Thomas go back to bed in the room or something?”
Danny snapped his head around to stare at him, a vice suddenly around his heart. “What do you- isn’t he in there?”
Mark’s eyes went wide, the color draining from his face.
“THOMAS,” Danny shouted, bolting off the couch and shoving Mark out of the way.
“Wha-” Kevin’s head lifted from his pillow, squinting at him. “What’s going on?”
“Where’s Thomas,” Danny demanded, looking over Kevin’s blankets for a second person. “Thomas!” He ran towards the bathroom, throwing the door open to reveal an empty space.
“He was asleep on the couch last night,” Mark said from the door as he looked around.
“No one was out there when I got up,” Danny said, running back out of the room and checking the balcony then stopped as his eyes fell on the door to the room. The safety bar, which he knew Thomas had latched, was open. “No,” he breathed, his head spinning.
He wouldn’t, he thought running for the door. He said to stay put. He wouldn’t leave-
A large man- the same man that Kevin had seen yesterday- was leaning against the door frame, a phone in his hand. His eyes flicked up to Danny as he lifted the phone to his ear. “I’m here,” he said into the phone, moving to stand in front of Danny. “Looks like they finally noticed.”
