Several hours later, the door creaked open, and the guards entered, the handcuffs in their hands. "Time to go."
They put the handcuffs on him and set off, going in a different direction than before. They came upon a door with a black handle, opened it, and pushed him in. "You have three minutes." Inside the room, Poppy faced a giant glass mirror, frowning intensely. She still had dark circles under her eyes, and if Francis looked in the mirror, he would see that he had the same.
"Poppy!" He hurried over, somewhat hesitant to touch, just in case she may have been injured. "Are you okay? Oh, God, I was so worried."
She turned to face him, shock crossing her face, and immediately hugged him. "Oh God. What are you doing here?"
"They said we had three minutes," he spoke hurriedly, taking in the embrace. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?"
"They..." She hesitated. "They did some weird thing with my head. I don't know. Some sort of scan. What about you? Are you alright?"
"They did it to me, too," he said, looking at the ground before turning back up to her. He held her head in his hands. He seemed like a nervous wreck. "I'm so glad you're okay. We'll get through this."
She leaned into his hands, her expression concerned. Her hands were trembling as she placed them over his, and her brow was furrowed. "I think..." She stole a glance at the mirror. "I think they're behind there."
She looked at it suspiciously, clutching his hands. "I have no idea," she admitted. "They don't seemed to be big on giving us information."
"That's true," he said, sighing and looking to the ground. "I'm glad they didn't hurt you. I was really worried."
Her arms encircled his neck, and she kissed his cheek. "God. Me too. I didn't know where you were or what they were doing..." She closed her eyes and exhaled. "Anyway. I'm glad you're here." No sooner had she said that that some invisible wall forced them apart and slammed them backwards on to the opposing walls none too gently. Poppy gasped for breath as the air was knocked out of her lungs, and she watched him with frightened eyes before a wall slid down between the two of them, blocking her from view. There was a moment of silence, and then a scream of pain came from the other side of the wall.
He jumped at the wall, banging his fists against it. "HEY!" he yelled furiously, looking around the room like a hungry wolf. "God dammit!"
"Francis Craw," came a voice from over a speaker. It had no expression, no tone, and no warmth. "You have to survive for the next three minutes. If you fail, you and your partner will die. Do you understand?"
The room was dark, and Francis would feel a chill upon entering the room. He would be able to make out the fact that he was in a long hallway, and there seemed to be a faint glow at the end. "There are three hunters in this room," the voice said. "They have excellent hearing. They are powerfully built, but they have low endurance, and they rely very heavily on their breath. Do what you will with this information."
He was very quiet, but also very reckless already. He started walking towards the glowing, listening carefully to his surroundings.
