The guards unlocked Poppy's handcuffs, and she hurried over to him, her wrist raw from pulling on them. "Francis, are you okay?" she asked softly, brushing the side of his face. Her voice sounded rougher than before, as if she had been screaming.
At the sight of her being alive, he smiled weakly. "Oh, God. I thought I lost you. I thought I..." His voice faltered, and he just took her hand, enjoying the fact that he still could.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the top of his head. "You're not going to lose me," she said quietly, before glaring up at Miss Burgendy defiantly. "Can we go now? We did your test." Miss Burgendy finished scribbling her notes, and then cocked her head thoughtfully. "Hm. Yes. I suppose your testing is over for now. Guards?" One of them yanked her back, and Poppy inhaled sharply as the handcuffs closed around her wrists. She was pulled from the room, glancing at him one final time before the door shut behind her. Francis' guards came behind him, and locked his handcuffs. "Come on, Craw," he said. "Let's go."
"I'll kill you one day," he said lowly to the guard, compliantly moving back to the cell. "I'll watch it all burn."
He sat against the wall, the visions playing back in his mind as he shuddered. He cursed loudly, and it took awhile before he got back to sleep.
(Time skip!) The tests were similar each time. Poppy and Francis would get to see each other before being forced into a dark hallway for an increasingly longer time to fight off creatures. They had accumulated various cuts and scratched over their visit, and this next test was supposed to be 20 minutes long. Poppy was waiting in the mirror room when he arrived, and her face was weary and full of despair.
Francis stepped in, and despite the circumstances, still smiled when he saw her, though this time his words were hesitant. "I... I don't know how much longer I can do it," he said, his tone detached. "It's getting harder."
She gave him a stern look. She had a cut on her cheek that appeared after one of the sessions, but it seemed to be healing. "We will both find a way to get out of here," she said gently, stepping forward to embrace him. "I promise."
"I love you." They were forced away from each other, and once again, a wall slid in to separate them, and the door opened, waiting for Francis to enter.
He walked through, sighing unhappily as he crossed his arms. What if they did die in there? He shook away the thought.
The room was as dark as ever, and the creatures were stirring. However, within the first minute, the door he had just entered opened, and Averlin agents, holding guns and wearing body armor, peered in. "Francis Craw?"
"Come on," she said, beckoning him over. She shined a flashlight in, momentarily shedding light on the environment around him. "Hurry. We're getting you out of here."
"Another crew is getting her," she responded. She fired a few shots into the hallway and looked around the corner. "Let's go."
He followed. If this was another test, then he could handle, but if not... Thank God. "I forget.. How long has it been since they took us?"
