Fear plagued Kai's mind the longer he stared at the ground. He sat in his seat, trembling like a leaf in the wind. He fiddled with his fingers to distract himself from the gun Hayden waved around in his hands.

Feeling brave, Kai decided to speak up, "What are you going to do with me?" he shakily spoke, causing Hayden to grin to his right.

"Well, I'm so glad you asked. You see, finding people willing like yourself to do our trials is hard to come by, but if you sprinkle a little money into it along with a contract. The next thing you know, you have all the test subjects you need," Hayden explained with a crazed look in his eyes.

Kai gulped, nearly choking on his spit, when Hayden suddenly mentioned the word 'Test subject.' "What do you mean by test subject?" he asked despite not wanting to know the answer.

Hayden rolled his eyes. "You sure like to ask the dumb, obvious questions, don't you? Let's just say we'll be getting to know each other very well because some of the experiments that you'll face I created myself," he declared proudly as if nothing he said was wrong.

Kai clenched his shaky hands into fists. He tightened his jaw to prevent his teeth from clattering anymore. "You realize how insane you sound, right? You're actually a madman!" he barked before wincing when Hayden jammed the gun into the side of his skull.

"I think you should shut up for the rest of the ride before you accidentally have something bad happen to you, and you wouldn't want that," Hayden threatened, removing his gun away from Kai.

Fear plunged into Kai as he stared out the window of the limo, only for his eyes to widen when he saw an all-white tunnel. He gulped when the limo suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. He said nothing when he felt his body weight shift downward as a secret compartment opened up in the ground, carefully lowering the limo down into it.

Once Kai felt the weightlessness end, he heard the limo start up its engine again and drive forward. He said nothing when the car pulled into a shady-looking building.

"Looks like we arrived. So, get out of the car because I don't feel like making a scene," Hayden announced. He got out of the limo and aimed the gun at Kai just in case he got any funny ideas to try to escape.

Kai forced his body to comply and dragged himself out of the car toward his soon-to-be death. He was sure of it.

"Right this way. Time is precious, after all," Hayden stated. He walked down a long hallway, and every so often, he would glance over his shoulder to make sure that Kai was close behind him.

Kai's stomach churned when scents of rotting flesh and blood filled his nostrils, making him want to vomit on the spot. His eyes darted over to the right when they passed by a room. His lower lip quivered when people inside the room were scrubbing blood stains on the wall.

Kai yelped when Hayden suddenly jerked him forward and tossed him inside a room. He crawled backward to try and create distance between them. His breath hitched when his back hit something metal.

"You see that behind you that's going to be your special little room while you remain our guest here," Hayden pointed out with a sadistic grin. "Come on now, don't be shy. Get in!' he barked with a dark look in his eyes.

Kai shook his head. "You can't make me get in there. You might as well shoot me because I have no intentions of doing what you want!" he shouted, only to feel his heart pound erratically inside his chest when Hayden started laughing like a maniac.

"Oh really? If you don't listen, I might just have to pay your sweet mother a little visit. But, if you listen, she'll live to see tomorrow," Hayden stated, gesturing to the cage.

Kai chewed on the inside of his cheek to the point of making it bleed as he rose to his feet. He turned on his heels and walked inside the metal holding cell. He flinched when the door behind him slammed shut.

"I'll only be gone for a while, but don't worry. We'll be seeing each other very soon. But, in the meantime, why don't you get comfortable?" Hayden suggested as he walked out of the room.

Kai reached up to clutch the sides of his head, attempting to bring back a piece of his sanity that left him the moment he entered the place. How could I have screwed up so badly? What will my mom think if I don't come home tonight? She'll probably blame herself," he thought. Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled out of the corners, dripping down to the ground.

"Damn it!" Kai roared as he slammed his fists into the floor repeatedly. "I only wanted some easy cash to buy her some medicine. Why did something so innocent like that turn into this nightmare," he whined as tears continued to stream down his face.

Kai stared at the bars, softly tracing them with his fingertips. He bit his lower lip when he couldn't find a single crack in the bars that would allow him to break it easily. How many hours have passed by? Or has it been days already? he wondered as he stared up at the ceiling.

The room lacked windows, not allowing a single beam of sunlight or moonlight to enter the room, leaving Kai alone in his confusion. "I can't just wait here for Hayden to come back; I need to get out of here!" he said to himself as he paced around the cell.

Kai raised his right leg up and kicked one of the bars with all his might, only to jump backward when pain radiated up his limb.

After a couple of hours of struggling, Kai finally gave up and collapsed to his knees in defeat.

Creak!

Kai's eyes darted to the left when he heard the door open up, only to frown when he saw Hayden's smug expression as he walked closer.

"I apologize for leaving you alone for so long. But don't worry, you're going to have a bunch of fun in your first trial. Doesn't that sound fun?" Hayden said sarcastically and opened up the cell door. He waved his gun around, gesturing for Kai to come out.

Without uttering a word, Kai moved out of the cell in defeat, knowing there was nothing he could possibly do. If he tried to attack Hayden, he wouldn't be the one to pay for it. It would end up being his mother who would.

Kai watched as Hayden passed him and exited the room. He followed after the madman until he suddenly stopped in front of a door.

"Right this way," Hayden said with a sweet smile as he opened the door, leading to a white bed with straps on it.

Kai hesitantly took one step into the room, causing Hayden to glare at him. He swallowed before walking inside.

"Take a seat, and we can start our first trial," Hayden declared, closing the door behind him.

Kai kept his eyes on the ground as he walked toward the bed. He moved himself into it and rested his arms beside his body. He winced when Hayden walked over and placed the scraps around his wrists tightly.

Hayden held up a vial with crimson liquid inside. "I wonder what kind of effect this will have on you. I guess we'll end up finding out, won't we?" he claimed. Without wasting a second, he jammed the needle into Kai's arm and emptied the contents.

Kai squeezed his eyes shut when pain raced through his body, making him feel lightheaded. He opened his eyes again, only to find the room spinning in a dizzying blur.

"That already looks like a bad sign. I'll make sure to mark that off as a side effect," Hayden commented, watching Kai suffer without a care in the world.

Kai struggled to keep his eyelids open because it felt like eyeballs wanted to exit his body. With a shaky inhale, he found himself getting lost in the void. It invited him into a warm embrace that he couldn't refuse. His body grew colder as he descended within its depths until a familiar voice called out to him, snapping him back to reality.

"Mom?" Kai weakly cried out. The darkness around him cleared up, revealing the kitchen he had seen one too many times.

"Sweetie, what's the matter? You suddenly went silent, and I got worried. You didn't touch a single piece of the fast food you brought. Are you feeling alright?" his mother asked with concern in her eyes.

Kai softly shook his head before smiling. "Of course I'm fine. I'm sorry I didn't mean to worry you," he stated.