Locked Away

A twin bed with a worn spring mattress, a desk, a chair, and a massive bookshelf: this was the world of Axel Volkov. The boy wanted nothing more than to be out of there. It was really the only thing he wanted. But the very idea was so crazy that it rarely ever crossed his mind

But one night, he couldn't shake the damned thought off. The boy picked up a book, trying desperately to get lost in some far off adventure, but all he could think about was traveling down the long stretch of dirt road that was his ticket out. Someone would just have to open that door, and he'd have a chance at some form of a normal life. But no, no one cared enough to let him go. He'd be here forever.

"Forever..."

Axel yelled, frustrated, and jumped up from his bed, ripping the book open and tearing out the pages with the violent crinkling of what he could only imagine fire sounded like, throwing them all over the place until the book was nothing but an empty leather shell.

He ran over to the yellowing wall and began assaulting it with his bare foot. The plaster slowly chipped away under his ragged toenails, and he refused to acknowledge the gooey warmth accumulating on his big toe.

Finally, the flimsy material gave way, and Axel yanked his bloody foot out of the hole. As always, the sight gave him a sick satisfaction, but only enough to fuel his rage further. He turned to face the opposite wall, breathing in deeply, until the boy catapulted himself at the steel-plated door, connecting it violently with his shoulder.

He just wanted to feel the thing jostle. Just once. So he would know that, maybe someday, he could break his way through it to freedom. His fists pounded against it with all the force the ten-year-old could muster. But the speed of his knocking slowed as the pain came rushing into his body. Finally, Axel rested his head on the door.

Forever... he'd be here forever.... and there was absolutely nothing he could do.

Jace stood on the other side of the door, running his hand through his hair and leaning against the door outside. He didn't see why the boy was so hyper today. He'd given him a book.

Suddenly, he extended his arm and slammed it against the door, the sound ringing in his ear. "SHUT UP IN THERE!" He bellowed, throwing the door open. He looked down at the small boy before him, frowning. "Why are you being so mean?" He asked meekly. "I gave you my favorite book and..."

He froze.

His fists clenched, and his gaze honed in on the ripped pages littered all over the room.

"What have you done?" He demanded, not moving from his spot blocking the doorway.

Axel backed away from the door as fast as his legs would carry him. There was still the rebellious look on his face, but behind it he felt a thrill of terror at the sight of Jace shouting.

He concentrated on the movement of the man's hands. It distracted him from the stinging in his foot and arms. The boy raised his head to view the man's face, "I want to get out of here."

He kicked at the litter covering the floor, bringing his foot back down hard, "I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE!!!"

His fits of violence were never this bad. Usually, he'd just kick something once, maybe throw something, and take a nap. But he made sure never to break anything. He saw what happened when you did.

People would usually get all their destruction out within the first year or so, but Axel had always been quiet. He didn't care anymore. How much more could they punish him now?

Jace looked down at the boy, then down at the pages, tears brimming in his eyes. "You could have just asked!" He whined thickly. "You didn't hafta go on and rip my book! My mama got that for me!"

He turned his back on the boy. "I try to be nice to you, and all you do is be mean! I took you to my house and fed you for playtime, and you don't even... even..."

Then he turned back around, extending his hand for Axel to take. "Well... well... we'll go outside then. Come on."

"Oh did she?" He tried to keep his voice relatively quiet, so that he didn't attract to much attention from the other guards, "Was that before or after you murdered mine!?!?!" He didn't do a very good job.

The boy watched him, his rage warding away the guilt. This man had been his mentor and his teacher over the past few years, but he could never take the place of a parent. Axel remembered their deaths well enough to make sure that never happened.

"Just- just stop it." Axel's eyes were cold and unforgiving, "You've already taken everything away from me. Stop trying to give it back, because you never, ever can."

"Go away, Jace. Don't pretend like I'm not your prisoner, because I am."

Jace's eyes filled with tears. "I didn't kill them!" He said, ducking his head so his hair fell into his eyes. "I didn't... I... I was here, once." He looked around the room, his blue eyes sad. "But... but they let me out, on good behavior." His breath caught in his throat, and he used his sleeve to pat at his eyes.

"Fine then. Stay here. I'll bring you your favorite soup. It's Wednesday after all. Cook's got it all prepared."

Axel's eyes flashed, glaring at his captor with the ferocious intensity that only one other man in the world could achieve, not that he knew it yet. But he tried to hold in his rage. He knew he was pushing it, and, well, he knew what would happen if he went too far.

He sat down on his bed, the boy's eyes not straying from Jace's for a second, "I want to be alone." He said it coldly and deliberately, his expression completely blank.

After hours of persuasion Ace had finally convinced Ric to track down his son for him. He always was the better hunter of the three. Ace was mainly the muscle, there wasn't a creature he couldn't take down with his bare hands. With a silent nod Ric apparated away leaving Ace behind to deal with the men just as requested.

If correct Axel was in a room at the back, so that was to be his target. Quietly he slipped around to the back of the building, pulling out the knife that had been used against him on that night. As he approached the corner he stopped and allowed Nyx to go ahead muttering. "Videre ut." Under his breath so his eyesight became hers.

Two guys stood watching the back doors, having a discussion about something unimportant. It was all just too easy. Stay close. He order to Nyx as he walked out from behind his corner with the knife held down by his side. It took the time for him to get half way to them for the men to realise he was there. By that time it was too late for them to pull out their wands as Nyx dived on the furthest away and Ace on the closest, easily clamping his hand over his mouth as he brought the knife across his throat. Now the exit was free for them to enter.

The house wasn't the nicest place he'd seen, nor the biggest. It definitely wasn't where he wasn't his son to grow up, which only angered Ace further. So much so he didn't even think to interrogate people as he saw them he just slaughtered them on sight. Enemy or victim, he neither cared nor thought twice about them. His thoughts were aimed directly on that square room Ric had described earlier and the captures that held his son hostage all these years.

Axel straightened up on his bed. He thought he had heard something, but then again, he always seemed to be hearing things. He brought his feet up under him until he was sitting crosslegged, and examined his bloody foot. There was definitely a lot of blood, and he could see several toenails had been badly broken.

Before this, he had only read about people hurting themselves this badly. He had always imagined wounds like these to be messy and unsettling, but instead it gave him pride, and maybe even hope.

I can fight back... A ghost of a smile crossed the boy's lips. One day, he would fight so hard that he would get out of here. He didn't care how much blood was spilt, nor how much of it was his own.

Another sound made his eyes snap towards the door. Of course, he knew it was nothing, but there was a part of him that felt like something was wrong. The boy's heartbeat began to quicken, even though he hadn't the faintest idea why.

The decision, instinctual nonsense, was really what tipped Jace off that something was wrong. It wasn't the way the cook glanced down the hallway toward one of the back exits, or the way more guards seemed to be rushing that way, most of them yelling into walkie talkies. It was the sudden urge to run back to Axel's room, and make sure he was okay.

Abandoning the half filled bowl of soup, the man ran down the hallways, zig zagging through multiple corridors and different doors until he stopped back in front of Axel's doors. The lock was easy to get through - he'd done the combination half a million times - and then he was there, standing before Axel, out of breath and anxious.

"Are you alright?" He asked worriedly, looking over the small room as he pushedthe door closed behind him.

As man after man came towards him Ace had no trouble taking them down. In fact he loved to feel their lives slipping through his grasp. He refused to use his wand, instead using only his knife to take their lives. He wanted them to suffer the same fate his wife had, so they too could feel her pain before she was roughly take away from him. But he wasn't stupid, his wand was trained to use shield charms to protect him against spells as they came flying towards him and anyone he didn't take out Nyx did.

Finally as he struck the last man he headed straight for the back room where he hoped his son was still being kept. If he wasn't this whole building was coming down with his rage. As he reached the end he came face to face with a big metal door. "Axel?" He called through the door, needing to make sure he was there.

Axel let out a sigh of relief as saw Jace enter the door and not- well, he didn't know what he was expecting. Of course, he also felt a profound sense of disappointment at seeing the man. Even if that other thing was scary and new, even a little bit of change, no matter how frightening, was welcomed by him.

He frowned at the man's question, a little too confused to stay angry. Nevertheless, he nodded, his eyes trying to decipher the look on Jace's face. "What's going on?"

Axel's head snapped towards the door. There was something about that voice... something that sparked old, dusty memories inside of him. He stood up, staring wide-eyed in the direction of the voice.

There weren't a lot of people here who used his name when they were talking to him. Most of the time, he was simply known as "You" or "Boy". His own name sounded strange to him, and he stood there for what seemed like an eternity, his young mind struggling with confusion.

Finally, though, he managed a loud, "Who's there?" And continued to stare at the door, oblivious to the presence of his guard.

"I don't know." Jace said, shooting a worried glance at the door. "But I came to make sure you're okay. You are, right Axel?" He found himself, quite suddenly, standing in front of the boy with his back to him, facing the door challengingly. He had no weapon, no chance of fighting off anone should they attempt to make their way toward him, but he wasn't moving.

If they came for Axel, they'd have to kill him.

"This is not the boy you're looking for!" Jace called through the door, his voice sounding angry and dominant for the first time in his entire life. "Try somewhere else!"

Ace smiled at the sound of his sons voice but it was quickly wiped off his face as the reality of the situation came back to him. He still had to get his son back to him and the one stopping him was only angering him further. "You think i don't know my own son!" He growled as he reached into his pocket for the boxed he had stowed there. Once he'd placed it on the ground it grew in size until it was a great trunk containing every weapon you could think of, wizard and muggle alike.

"Axel stand behind the door and cover your ears." He warned as he began wiring up explosives up to the wall. It was clear there was no getting through that door so the wall it was. If this failed then it was time to call on an old friend, on he'd rather not but he was not leaving here without his son.

Axel's eyes widened as he stood up, completely ignoring the stinging pain in his foot as he did so. His eyes still locked on the door, he let out a small whisper,

"Dad..."

His brain scrambled to grasp the thought that his father was right behind that door. Practically every day, the boy would fantasize that his dad, or at least someone, would come and take him away. He had thought about it so much that this moment seemed almost unreal. In fact, part of him was almost certain that this was a dream.

He heard the voice continue to talk behind the door, and a horrible thought occurred to him; What if that's all it was? A voice. There was really nothing behind the door at all, and he was simply imagining everything.

Axel shook his head, and he was finally able to process the words. As it hadn't even occurred to him that he could do otherwise, the boy complied, running to the door so his back was against it, his hands pressed against his ears.