Rage and Ruin | 2

3 | 1

K A N E

      One of Hunt's assistants led us underground to a place that we'd only been once. We followed him down the passageways underneath the ONNT building, passing lab coat-clad scientists and important-looking people in suits.

     I was dreading what would happen here. My last interaction with Benny was four days ago at the gala and it had left me feeling anxious and confused. That person was not the brother I'd remembered. I'd gone into the mission knowing that he would be different but actually seeing him like that was disconcerting.

     The ONNT worker stopped in front of the same door we'd gone through the last time. After typing in a password on the keypad next to the door frame, the door slid open with a metallic scraping sound. Inside sat Hunt and a few counsel members that I vaguely remembered.

"Sit down," Hunt gestured to a row of seats next to him. "It's about to begin."

So we did. I sat on the end of the row, staring down at the large room below us. A single metal chair was fused into the ground before a table where a curly-haired doctor sat. As of now, the chair was empty, but I knew that it wouldn't be for long.

My brother was about to be questioned for his crimes. I felt partly guilty about it, but I was glad that he was here. It was better for him to be locked up under the ONNT's care than in the clutches of Imperium's leaders. At least he couldn't do any damage here.

Gigi sat next to me. Glancing down, I saw that her hands were balled into fists. For a moment I was confused, but I then realized the reason: Benny was the Imperium agent that had most likely murdered her mother in their home. It couldn't have been easy for her to see him now. The knowledge that he probably killed her mother only added to my mixed feelings.

The room quieted when two ONNT soldiers led Benny into the room, his arms and legs in chains. He was pushed into the metal chair and tied down to prevent any escape attempts. The doctor in front of him opened his notes and spread them out on the table.

I looked sadly into my brother's face again. With his straight nose, low brows and piercing eyes, he looked almost exactly like me. The only things that had changed were the scars on his face and how his eyes now had a cold, hardened look. But now that I'd seen how he'd changed, he almost seemed to be a whole different person. It was devastating to look into the eyes of someone you'd once loved to only see a stranger.

I wondered if the ONNT had alerted my family that they'd found my brother. They'd be so happy to hear that he was alive, but once they were delivered the news of what had happened to him, I knew the smiles would drop off their faces. My younger sisters would have to be led away from the scene so they wouldn't hear any gruesome details. Mama would cry for what her oldest son had become.

Letting out a breath I'd been holding, I kept watching my brother, pondering how things could have come to this.

"Hello, I'm here to ask you a few questions," the doctor told Benny, beginning the interview.

     "Let's begin slowly. What's your full name?"

     "Benton Miguel Shires." I heard Arlo snort at his preppy name.

      "Where have you been for the last five years?"

      "I've been working as an agent for Imperium."