Austin couldn't remember who took them, though whether that's because their abductors were wearing gas masks or that they had him and his friends dawn brown paper bags over their heads Austin couldn't have been sure the cause of that. He had a feeling both were plausible causes to their said case of amnesia.
He did remember the feeling of being lifted into a vehicle, the sound of an engine and the movement of an alleviating vehicle, but, as he stared off at the brown of his brown bag headblind, thinking of everything he'd been through the last 7 days, he found the events of those same past seven days catch up to his body and his last thought before his grief-strictenned and exhausted body finally gave out to unconsciousness was 'Is it...over?'
As Austin opened his eyes, he found himself alone, in a dark room, windowless and door locked for the night.
It'd been such a long, blinded ride here that Austin couldn't identify where here was. Infact, he barely memorized the twists and turns they made him undergo to get to this room in the first place.
"Where am I?" Austin had asked his escorts who had been shoving him in the direction of this room. When he didn't receive an answer, he guessed he was in some sort of facility; the place had the echo of concrete walling when he spoke, the industrial scent of dusty, soapy government maintenance and the sense of a wide area𑁋 'So a facility, of sorts,' Austin thought to himself, laying on the metallic bed that night. It was the only furniture in his chambers; it had a sink and toilet in one corner and that's about it; It reminded him of his containment cell he first woke up in before with no memory. The thought made him feel disgusted and ready to puke. 'I escape from one prison only to end up in another.'
'Focus!' he sensed the Voice inside urge. 'You need to escape.' But, in the midst of the urging to plot an escape, Austin remembered he was alone; that on the way here, their escorts had split him and his friends up. The anger he felt had him shaking and writhing angrily. 'Austin. Focus!'
Suddenly, he sensed he wasn't alone. He felt the presence of Reya, but, when he looked around, he saw no one. 'Hello?' he thought, not expecting an answer; he'd already tried this a hundred times with no success despite Reya's telepathy.. 'Anyone there?'
'Austin?' he heard Freya's concerned voice. 'Can you hear us?'
"Reya? Is that you?" Austin thought out loud before correcting himself with thinking 'You there?'
'Austin!' he heard Reya's relieved voice in his head. 'You're okay.'
'Where are you guys?' Austin thought. 'Wait… where is everyone? Where are we? Are you guys okay?'
'I don't know,' Reya responded. 'We were separated from everyone. We don't know where anyone is. Me and Scarletete are sharing chamber, but we… we just don't know.'
'I tried reaching out with my mind, but… you're the only one we've managed to reach,' Reya thought. 'As for where we are… a facility, maybe?'
"So I was right…," Austin thought out loud. 'You don't know where everyone else is? They were taken, too, to other chambers?'
'Yeah,' Reya answered with. 'Just…. Yeah.'
'We need to escape this place,' Scarlet's voice was heard in Austin's head.
'Yeah, but first we need a plan.' Austin countered. 'We need to save everyone and then we'll escape.'
Suddenly, their presence in his head had emotionally spiked toward fear and horror. 'What?' he thought, alarmed by the terror he's feeling. 'What's going on?'
'There's something banging on our door!' Reya's thoughts sounding more like screams in Austin's head. 'It's going to get through!'
'Reya,' Austin felt alarmed. 'Reya what is it? Reya!'
'I...I don't know,' she responded.
'It keeps saying the same thing, though,' Scarleteue said.
'What?' he asked. 'What's it saying?'
'It keeps saying 'RAIDRA knows best',' Reya answered.
'Oh, no, it's through,' Scarleteye thought. 'Oh, god, no.'
And, just like that, their presence vanished and, even before Austin tried hundreds more times to reach out with his mind to no response, he felt his connection with them vanish. He tried more and more to reach out, but he was neither Reya nor a telepath and no one seemed able to answer his calls.
So, as Austin layed back down, feeling defeated and alone, he suddenly felt hopeful. He knew he needed to escape𑁋 to find his friends and escape whatever the hell this place was and he planned to do just that 𑁋 He escaped the Labyrinth. He survived zombie-like cannibals and slayed abominatous monsters in a hellhole so deep and impossibly hellish𑁋 he knew he could escape this place. And he was going to. But first, he needed to find his friends.
He lost Cleo and Zether. Stryker, Atlanna and Trevor and Jackson and so many other Meadowers - friends - he couldn't even list their names but thought of as family. He couldn't save Cleo or keep his promise to her and she died because of it; He wasn't going to lose anyone else.
No, he was going to escape this place, find the Watchers, kill them and anyone else who dared to get in his way or dare to capture him and his friends.
With this resolve, Austin began plotting his escape with his Voice, and, as he did so, he felt a sense of purpose overcome him. He knew he will succeed, but, first, he needed to find and rescue his friends, and then they'll blow this popsicle stand together, find the "Watchers" responsible for everything they'd been through, kill them and… Well, he had to focus on his escape, as his Voice urged. 'You can plan further ahead after you escape this place. For now, rest; you're gonna need it.'
And the funny part? Austin believed it. And he knew, deep down in his gut, in the deepest part of his guts, what he needed to do. And he was gonna do it. That's a promise.