They Rely On Hope. What Do I Rely On? - Tommyinnit Adoption AU

Chapter 92

Tommy POV:

XD pulled Tommy out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

"Move," He snarled pointing towards the house. Tommy numbly did as he was told. He wished Puffy was here. He missed Puffy. Missed Puffy's promise of safety. He was stuck here, alone, in danger and knowing it was going to get so much worse with no way to stop any of it. It was his fault he was here, as much as he wanted to wish it wasn't. He was the reason Phil had kicked him out.

When they arrived at the door, XD knocked sharply, and Tommy had to force himself not to flinch. The door opened a few seconds later and a man glared down at Tommy.

"This him?" The man asked, and XD nodded, shoving Tommy forcefully forward, leaving Tommy stumbling inside the house. The man nodded, before shutting the door quickly and gripping Tommy's wrist so hard Tommy wanted to scream at the pain, but he didn't. He didn't make a sound as he was dragged towards a bookcase that the man opened, revealing a secret staircase going down. He shoved Tommy down the stairs instantly.

"That's my job done. You won't see me again. I hope you learn what happens to those who mess with The Masked Ones," The man snarled as he slammed the secret door shut, and shrouded Tommy in darkness. Instantly Tommy moved towards the door, scanning it for any escape. When he pressed on it, the door stayed firmly shut. He pressed harder, desperate to escape, but still nothing. They must've locked it from the outside or something. Tommy shoved down his panic and forced himself to walk down the stairs, even with the anxiety gnawing inside him.

"Hey kid," A soft voice murmured from the darkness when Tommy found his way into the room at the end of the staircase, "I'm sorry you're stuck here, I thought you might be able to escape when I heard what happened to Dream but..."

The voice trailed of into silence at the words, the meaning behind it clear. Tommy hadn't escaped and now he was here. Tommy ignored the pain that flickered through him at the thought of escape. He had been so close. So close to being safe and now he was here. He didn't know where here was exactly, but clearly Dream was involved somehow.

As Tommy's eyes adjusted the the darkness of the unlit room, he could finally see the dark figure sitting down by the side of the room.

"I'd get up to welcome you, but..." The voice said, trailing off again as she raised her hands, which were attached at the wrist. Chains rattled at the movement, and Tommy recognised it all to well. He'd been chained up like that plenty of times. He wondered how long it would be before he joined the figure, attached to the wall.

"I'm Drista," The voice sighed, "I believe you're Tommy right? Dream was so sure you were going to be here soon, I was expecting at least another month, but then you got him sent to prison and well, I knew it wouldn't be long until you were down here unless you somehow managed to escape them."

Tommy had so many questions raging in his mind. Dream was connected to this? How? Dream had been planning to bring him here? Why hadn't he already? Who was them? And the man, he'd said that Tommy would learn his lesson for messing with The Masked Ones, but Tommy didn't know who they were or what he'd done. The name stuck something in his mind, and he knew he'd heard it somewhere before, but he had no clue where.

"I bet you have a lot of questions right?" The figure- Drista- asked, putting words to Tommy's own thoughts, "Yeah, you all do when you first come. I used to be able to help more then just answer your questions, but thanks to these stupid chains, answers are all I can give you."

That in itself raised even more questions. What did she mean by 'you all'? Tommy was the only one here? And she used to be able to help more? What did that mean?

"Do you have any specific questions to start with, or shall I just give you the brief summary of where you are and why?" Drista asked, and Tommy shrugged, still standing by the staircase, not sure what he was expected to do.

"Summary it is," Drista nodded, "Basically you're here because they think you'll be a good fighter. Usually they get kids younger then you, but your age isn't all that uncommon. The Masked Ones are people who run this place. They bring us food, train us, punish us, and put us in fights. They tell us what to do and when to do it, but more importantly for you, they are the ones who find kids and bring them in. The foster system is usually where they look, more specifically problem kids. Ones that are angry, or that they can use to turn fear into anger. Those are the ones they pick up. You were selected by Dream and he was supposed to bring you here when you were ready. His job was to make you angry. To turn your fear into rage. To prepare you for this hellhole."

Tommy stood, frozen in place as Drista spoke, his mind reeling with new information. Still, more questions came, and still he didn't ask them. Don't ask questions. Never ask questions.

"I am, unfortunately enough, Dream's sister, so I was born into the role of a Masked One, but as you can see, I'm not one of them anymore. I never was. I brought kids food, did my best to bandage injuries, got them out if I could. I was only successful at getting 6 kids out before Dream found out. That's when he chained me up in here, forcing me to watch as each new kid is brought in. I got the first kid out when I was 8, my first year as an official Masked One, and got the last one out when I was 14, a few months ago. I was caught that time, but the kid escaped. That was something. Now I'm here and I can't do much other then to prepare you for what is to come. Normally I'd say it's going to be like hell, but you got Dream locked up, and I can promise you, The Masked One's are angry. I was ecstatic when I found out Dream was locked up, but now you're here and I'm terrified for you. Dream ran this place. He was the top of The Masked Ones, he was the worst of the worst, and you got him locked up. They hate you, so you need to be ready, because this is going to be far worse then anything you've dealt with before."

Drista's words screamed through Tommy's mind. He was in so much fucking danger, and he didn't know what to do about it. He was stuck here and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to get out any time soon, if ever.

"That's why I'm going to do everything I can to help you escape," Drista finished, and Tommy's gaze shot up to look at her, trying to gage wether she was lying, or she really did want to help.

"I'm stuck here, but I have no intention of leaving you in this hellhole," Drista promised and Tommy wanted to trust her, wanted to believe she really did want to help, but he knew that this was not a place to let himself hope. This was not a place to let himself trust anyone. This was a place that sounded like it may well involve kill or be killed, and Tommy had no intention of doing the latter, so he knew he had to be suspicious of everyone and anyone. Especially Drista, who had admitted to not only being one of the people who ran this place, but also Dream's sister. She had every reason to want Tommy dead. There was no way he could trust her.

"Whenever you see one of The Masked Ones, you must bow to them. Show them respect, because if you don't, they'll hurt you. If they tell you to fight someone, fight like your life depends on it, because it does. Even if your fighting a 6 year old, don't stop fighting. Don't hesitate. Never hesitate. Do exactly as you're told, because they are all too willing to hurt you. They don't care if you're scarred. They don't think you'll escape, and they'll never let you speak to your social worker, so they won't be trying to hide your injuries from anyone. The only thing you should go against them with is never give into the rage. The rage will destroy you, and it'll mean they win. Don't let them win Tommy. Never let them win."

Words: 1500

A/N: sorry for the massive break, Christmas was chaos then I needed some time to recover my energy, but I'm back now!