The Game - 34. Chapter 34

Ben had been horrified by what had happened, frozen by old memories and new awarenesses. From the moment he had spoken to Shaun on the front steps, from the moment he had committed himself utterly to the task of rescue he had somehow known that it was hopeless, that the person he knew as Daniel would never leave the hospital alive. He had known it as certainly as he had known that, even so, they could not give up, could not walk away.

As soon as he walked into the room he had recognised the equipment, knew what it did, what they were doing. He felt almost physically sick to think of a boy, a young innocent boy being put through that. He had witnessed the procedure many times during his time in the army, he had even performed it himself... and that was not something he was proud of. But then at least it had been used as an interrogation tool, against men who had chosen their role, chosen to put their lives on the line, chosen to take the risk.

He was not proud of a lot of things he had done in his life, a life which had taken him down many dark paths, not all official, not all during his time in the forces. In all that time, all the things he had done; the lives he had ruined, taken, broken; the men he had tortured, silenced, abused; the pain he had inflicted, the endeavours he had forwarded, the roles he had taken... he had never been so ashamed, so sick to the heart as he was when the thought of his part in this. He could not get out of his mind the way that Daniel had looked at him when he held him down for the professor that day at the ‘safe’ house. They were tortured, tormented, the pain in them had stabbed into him even then and now twisted in his gut like a hot knife.

He was part of this, he had helped to bring Daniel, here, to this and he was sick to the stomach at that knowledge. But even then he did nothing. Even with that recognition, that knowledge he made no move. It was doubtful that he could have done anything, that he would have prevailed over the other side, that he could have got to Daniel before the professor had injected the drug..... but he should have tried... at least he should have tried.

And now it was too late. Recriminations, revenge, even recompense were redundant now, pointless. Daniel was gone and there was nothing that could be done about it. It was not his fault, he was still objective enough to know that, but he should have done something, he should have at least tried.

The girl, Annie, was distraught. Was she his girlfriend he wondered. They were certainly close. She climbed up on the table and tried to hold on to him. That didn’t work. He knew that from bitter experience. Once the life force is gone there is nothing that anyone can do to call it back. And yet... and yet.

He moved closer to get a better look. Something strange was happening. There was this golden light, glittering, sparkling. Where was it coming from, how was it getting stronger?