Losing Troy, Part 3

Everything was foggy, and Troy couldn't concentrate. He couldn't move. It was like his body wasn't his own. He could hear his heart beating, and he was breathing, but when he tried to control his breathing, he couldn't.

     His second thought after that was if Audrey was okay. The thought of harm coming to Audrey was terrifying, but he reasoned that Audrey had always managed to be okay, and he hadn't met anyone who could beat her in a fair (or unfair) fight.

     His third thought was about what had happened to him. He remembered the Shadow Elite asking Audrey and him to take this contract and get the core of the mainframe. He remembered training at a training camp, meeting lots of other teens, meeting Jolie. Jolie, the one who'd given them everything they needed for this.

     Now that he thought about it, that was odd. 

     And that was his last thought before slipping into foggy oblivion again.

"He'll drift in and out of consciousness," Jolie told the silent warrior standing beside her, viewing the pulsing orb that Jolie held in her hand. "He won't remember much, and he won't be able to move. I control him."

     "I'm planning something for him," the warrior hissed in a strangled, strained voice that sounded similar to nails on a chalk board.

     "Yes?"

     "I was thinking he and the female should fight."

     "No, no, no, no," Jolie admonished. "Way too cliche. And I hate cliches, you know?"

     The warrior was silent. He didn't know what that word meant, but he gathered it was something that wasn't good.

     Jolie sighed.

     "Any suggestions?" he questioned slyly.

     "Yes, I'm glad you asked," Jolie smiled wickedly.