Aon

Chapter Fifteen

Every dawn I, Eli, Garrett, Blake, and Christian headed out to scout and recruit. And every evening we came back and Sam, Kaden, Emma, and Samuel –a new recruit, headed out for their share in the scouting. It was a constant shuffle, keeping up with the fresh faces and rearranging the Manor every night. Luckily, most of them I could get to help Thomas and Rosy with meals and cleaning duty. Those who were willing to supply themselves as nurses or willing just to be a body, were used greatly for helping them. It became a routine with some, and others were shuffled from recruitment –to helping around the Manor.

During the first week, we were capable of tearing up the cellar and installing a prison. There were more than fifty cells in all, with aisles that ran down the entire length and width of the Manor itself. Each cell could hold up to four or five men at once, thus meaning more than two-hundred or two-hundred-and-fifty people could be kept contained.

The first week was slow, but a constant flow of Aons began to collect and our numbers began to rise. This was only New York, imagine what would happen if we traveled to every state? Some of the people that stood up and joined, were from other states and countries. Slowly word was leaking out around the world and men and women of all races began to arrive. Over a hundred-people turned us down in the first two weeks alone, but we gained double that by the time a whole month had passed. The further we dug deeper, the deeper I buried myself into this mess, the riskier it became. Sightings of Legions began to grow at a dangerous level and there was word some of our informants were ending up missing.

As the time began to drag and the days became more unstable than the last, Eli enforced I be taught how to fight and shoot. Of course, he was busy, as was Garrett, Christian, and Blake... so my teacher was Sam. We butted heads instantly and I found myself swallowing back curse words I never thought I’d think of saying. She brought the anger out of me, which not only amused her, but made her a better teacher. She didn’t take pain or weakness, she pushed and picked until it was perfect. Our training took place in the cellar, where no one could hear our bickering or the shots of gun practice. She wasn’t afraid of hurting me, the first week she was capable of popping my shoulder out of socket. At first it hurt, I felt as if I could scream and cry, but I was able to keep my mouth shut and squeeze the bars of a prison cell.

Of course, she panicked and called one of the nurses above, and Eli was on her heels. He came plowing in blazing with anger, and for once, Sam cowered back and remained silent as he reamed her a new one. The nurse was capable of popping it back in, but Eli insisted training was over for that day. When I tried to object, he simply grabbed me by the back of the neck and geared me towards the cellar steps. I shoved him off with my good arm and was escorted back to the study like I wore a leash.

He practically watched me like a hawk the rest of the day, coming in with ice and asking if I needed wine to sooth my nerves. If anything, I was fine; he was the one tightly wound, coming over to me as if to examine me before sitting again. I couldn’t leave that day and was restrained of going out at all until recently. I hated it. He babied me, and it made me fume with anger. I took most of my anger out on Sam when we could begin our training again, but she was softer this time, keeping quiet and doing it a bit easier. I hated it and found myself barking at her to hit like a man. If I want to be able to fight at hand-to-hand combat. I need all the training I can get. Well, it worked, and it practically made her see red. From then on, I had training that made my muscles ache and bruises that swelled. But I could hide the bruises and put ice on my muscles, it made me feel stronger and more capable of protecting myself. That’s all that I wanted. I wanted to carry my own weight. I didn’t want anyone else feeling as if they had to carry the load. Once I had the know-how of defeating the enemy in hand-to-hand combat and how to use a firearm, it made my life a bit smoother and strained all at once. I had never killed anyone or anything before, well… other than a couple of pet goldfish, but those were by accident.

Although it felt as if my life was on track finally, I knew it wasn’t. I could still feel it, the boulder that was coming. Something was going to happen, I just didn’t know what. After our first capture –our first hostage, a small girl, maybe only nineteen years old, it finally sunk in. It was as if that small girl got the ball rolling, because after her, we had more than fifteen imprisoned and captured every month. They all seemed to hold no value, they only hissed like beasts, or spat at us with bitter intentions. They looked and acted like wild animals when I passed the cells. They would stretch their arms out through the bars and claw at us. Some would even twist themselves, until it seemed they could snap their own necks to get through the thin gap of bars. I worried at first for their safety, until I realized they knew their limits and would shrink back before attempting again.

They were smarter than they let on, they had a wild look to their eyes and smirked or sneered at us as we passed them. It was taunting, as if they seemed to say in that short gesture, ‘We know something you didn’t know’. I hated their glances and I tried not to go down as often as I could, but it was unavoidable. I was the Aon Leader, I oversaw interrogations.

At first, I hated it, but as time passed I found myself not caring of their snide remarks or their attempts to escape. I started seeing them as wild animals, beasts that should be detained for their acts against our kind. They hated me, and I had news for them, I hated them, too. They were the cause of the loss of my parents, the Bennett’s, the Sledge Sisters, the Young’s, and my empathy. I would seek revenge for who did this, and that was Paul, Penny, Caleb, and Michael. They were the rulers of the Legions, and it was only a matter of time until I would run into them. But when I do –I swear, they won’t know what hit them. I will give them the worst torture I can think of. –I’ll gorge out their eyeballs, slice off their tongues, and chop off their limbs… but they can have their ears. I want them to be able to hear the horrified screams they receive from men and women, children and infants. I want them to feel pain. They deserve it… I have no heart for any Legion, not after what they have put me through.

Time was ticking. I didn’t know how fast the clock was going, but I knew that time was running out…