Free Eve Vaughn by The Factory Page B

beating yourself up over it. We have to move on and figure out how to prevent those bastards from repeating their actions.”
    “But in the meantime, she could be dead, or worse, on someone’s dinner table.” She shuddered at the idea, her stomach rolling with nausea.
    “Or they could have farmed her out.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “For reasons known only to the aliens, people who went to the clinic were sometimes sold off to other planets as slaves.”
    “How did you learn of this?”
    “Because one of the men who’d come in for treatment around the same time I did suffered that very fate. I believe his name was David, or it could have been Daniel. You see, they kept a bunch of us locked in a holding cell. Every day one of the guards would choose a victim amongst us randomly for the doctors to run experiments on. This would go on until eventually we either died from the barbaric tortures we were subjected to, or they simply killed us outright.”
    “I still don’t understand how you’d know about this David person being shipped away.”
    “Oh, did I forget to mention? Our prison was made of Plexiglas -- located in the very laboratory where the procedures were conducted.” Sydney gasped in horror, her hand flying to her throat. “How could they be so cruel? Making you watch…” She trailed off, unable to voice the unspeakable act.
    “Apparently, it was another one of their studies. One of the doctors, a female with the coldest pair of eyes I’ve ever seen, would record our reactions. Whenever one of us would turn our backs to block out the horrible scenes they’d made us watch, she’d flip a switch that sent electric shocks to our feet. We had no shoes you see, and the floor was metal.”
    A pained expression crossed Jack’s face making Sydney want to reach out and offer him comfort, but she knew she couldn’t. The last time she did, things ended in
     
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    disaster. It didn’t help matters that his very nearness was still wreaking havoc on her equilibrium even though she’d seen a side of him that worried her -- the one that showed him as an imperfect man with the ability to be hurt.
    Before she’d dozed off, Sydney had racked her brain trying to figure out why he’d been so angry with her. The only reason she could come up with is that she’d offended him somehow. But it wasn’t something she planned on bringing up. If Jack was willing to pretend they hadn’t fucked, then so would she.
    “That’s the most barbaric thing I’ve ever heard.” Jack nodded. “I still get nightmares about the things I saw. One day they came for David, but instead of strapping him to the operating table as they normally did, they put him in restraints and led him off. I already told you I understood enough of the language to know what was going on. They said something about selling him off to an interested party in another galaxy. For what purpose I’m not sure. Subsequently, others were soon sold off as well.”
    “How did you manage to escape?”
    “Playing dead.”
    “Wouldn’t they have checked for your vitals?”
    “Not necessarily. So many of us dropped dead on a daily basis that when one of us would fall, the doctors would simply call in a team to remove the body. I took the chance they’d be careless with me as well. I lucked out that day because they took me out of my cell and tossed me into a corner for the pick up crew. You have no idea how difficult it was for me to remain still and hold my breath for long periods of time. When the goons came, they dumped me in the back of a truck.”
    “Did you by any chance end up at Cryo Cor?” Sydney guessed. It was all starting to tie together.
    “Yes, although I didn’t understand the connection until a little later. I came very close to becoming someone’s meal. The second the back door opened, I was ready for them. I fought for my life and barely managed to escape. For days, I hid in the sewers, ate garbage, and did all I could to stay alive.