Zac cooperated with his captors as they dragged him to his feet and shoved him out of the tiny interrogation room into a long, claustrophobic hallway. The lights flickered over dirty cinder-block walls and bare concrete floors. The men surrounded him, with Alex in the lead and the big guy holding the end of the chains around Zac's wrists. Zac didn't fight them; he kept his eyes on the floor and his mouth shut. He figured whatever this “Dr. Reed” wanted with him had to be better.

Zac had never been so wrong in his life.

The long, narrow hallway ended, opening into a vast, open space. Zac risked raising his head to get an idea of his surroundings. The floor was tile, cracked in places to reveal dirty concrete. The ceiling was glass, cracked but mostly intact, some two stories above his head. There was a balcony bordering the open area, with a mostly shattered glass railing. Several gated and boarded over storefronts told him what kind of place he was in: an abandoned mall. He saw a large, concrete circle bordered by shining blue tiles. Once it had been a fountain, with water spilling over glass tiled columns into a shallow pool. Now that pool was full of jagged pipes and broken glass shards. He had once enjoyed sitting by that fountain to read and watch people go about their shopping.

He was in the Four Pines shopping mall.

Which information wasn't exactly helpful at the moment, but he at least had a vague memory of the layout and location of the exits. That could come in handy.

His captors shoved him down the mall's former food court and stopped outside one of the gated, boarded up shops. He thought it had been a kitchen supply store at some point. One of the men opened the door and Alex shoved Zac inside.

Dr. Reed proved to be a tiny brunette woman wearing jewel toned teal scrubs and an annoyed expression on her face.

“Does it really take five of you to bring one subject into this so called laboratory?” she sneered.

“Don't underestimate this thing,” Alex warned her, “Just because it looks docile doesn't mean it isn't dangerous.”

Zac actually had to admit the man was right. Although he preferred not to kill them all, even after they'd freaking tortured him, that didn't mean he couldn't. Or, well, wouldn't if they hurt him again.

He was still holding out hope for reason though.

“Fine, fine,” Dr. Reed said impatiently, “Secure the specimen to the examination table and clear out. I need room to work.”

“Specimen? I have a name,” Zac protested.

He was ignored. Alex and the big guy grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him across the small, dark room. He looked around, hoping to see something he could use to escape. There were shelves along every wall, most of them full of dusty boxes but a few had been shoved together into what could, charitably, be called a laboratory. There were tables full of petri dishes, syringes, metal trays, and a microscope.

The corner of the room contained a steel examination table, flanked by several trays of sharp metal instruments, and a bright light suspended from an armature of the type usually seen in dental offices. Zac dug his heels in, tried to squirm out of his captors' grips. He managed to throw off Alex, but the big one got an arm around his neck. Zac struggled, and felt the press of metal prongs against his back. Wait, he thought...

Huh. So, it turns out that a shock from a cattle prod doesn't transfer to someone holding the person being shocked. Learn something new every day. Zac hung limp for a moment in the big guy's grip until the prod was removed. By then he'd been dragged to the edge of the table. Zac struggled, kicking and screaming.

The big guy hauled Zac up into the air. Zac tried to elbow him in the face but he ended up dropped onto the steel surface of the examination table. His bare flesh met steel, and burned. He screamed, arching his back. That only pressed his shoulders and legs into the metal. He twisted, tried to throw himself off. Hands pressed down, held him in place.

“Secure the specimen,” the woman's voice ordered.

“No, please, no,” Zac panted as he writhed in pain.

Zac's arms were wrenched up and back, secured to something below the table. He pulled, felt blood begin to run down over his hands. Someone leaned on his chest, and then bands of fire, no, that was freaking steel cable, what the hell, wrapped over his chest, waist, and knees.

“Subject secure,” Alex reported.

“Great. Now get out of-” Dr. Reed paused as Zac screamed. “Here. This is going to be tedious enough.”

“It's still dangerous," Alex protested.

Yes. He might bleed on the woman. Or rupture her eardrums. Hey, that would be fun. Zac screamed louder.

“Gag that thing, I can't hear myself think,” she said.

Alex leaned over Zac and shoved something into his mouth. Small mercies, it was rubber and not even more steel. Alex secured the thing around Zac's head, preventing him from spitting it out. Zac glared at him and muttered curses around the gag.

“You can leave now,” Dr. Reed informed the men standing around.

“It's dangerous,” Alex insisted. “I know it looks harmless, but it isn't human. You have no idea what it's capable of.”

At the moment, Zac was mainly capable of whimpering. And even that took a ridiculous amount of effort.

“I'm quite sure I can handle it,” Dr. Reed said, voice dripping condescension. “If it worries you that much, one of you may remain to observe. I might need something heavy lifted.”

There was a brief discussion among Zac's captors. He couldn't catch much of it, but the end decision was that Alex, surprisingly, would be the one to stay. He wondered why they hadn't elected the big one, he'd been doing most of the manhandling thus far. Perhaps they thought Alex's familiarity with Zac would be an advantage.

The woman leaned over him, a small black device in her hand. Zac flinched, but it proved to be a small recorder when it only clicked and she began speaking into it. He thought he heard a snort of laughter from Alex.

“Hunt Initiative Subject Examination, November 3rd,” Dr. Reed intoned. “Subject appears to be a Caucasian male, roughly late adolescence to early adulthood. Actual age currently impossible to determine. Growth plate analysis recommended, should proper equipment become available.”

If Zac weren't currently gagged he could have told her his age. And if it would have gotten him off the table, he would more than happily tell her. He knew growth plates were the parts of human bone that, well, grew with age. As far as Zac knew he was as physically mature as he was going to get. Still, growth plate analysis required x-rays in hospitals. A hospital would not allow the torture of a patient, so, hey, let's check for those plates people!

The woman continued. “Subject appears physically similar to a human on first examination, respecting several minor differences. The ears come to a point, and show no sign of surgical alteration. Appears to be a congenital formation.”

Zac glared at her. Yes, his ears pointed. Just like in the movies and books and fairy tales. He had no idea why but yes, he'd been born that way. Normally, a minor illusion made it so he looked fully human, but, well, maintaining any spell, even a minor illusion he wore every day, was difficult under duress. Also iron tended to nullify illusion spells.

The woman turned to one of the nearby trays and grasped a small, silver and black cylinder. Zac tensed, wondering what fresh hell was about to be visited upon him. He was relieved to find it was only a flashlight; he blinked at the sudden brightness.

“Subject appears to have a secondary nictitating membrane over the eye. Purpose may be defensive, similar to a feline.”

Oh, yeah, that was a thing humans didn't have. He'd forgotten. It didn't do much, really, just kept dust and things out of his eyes.

“The iris color also appears to be a rare color; uncertain if this has any significance.”

Huh? Humans had green eyes too. That wasn't unusual!

“Concerning the effect of iron alloys upon the subject: direct physical contact with steel of unknown composition causes extreme distress. Subject mimics signs of pain.”

Mimics?

She moved one of the straps slightly. Zac whimpered into the gag as fresh skin was exposed to the metal. She couldn't have lifted the damned thing?

“Points of contact show discoloration within moments of touching the alloy. Interestingly, this does not continue to degrade as a chemical or radiant burn might. The effect is reminiscent of an extreme allergen, such as I have observed with patients allergic to sulfur or nickel. The effect is of course much more extreme and immediate. This may prove of great value.”

Great value for what? Torturing more elves?

Probably.

Zac had to get free. Warn... warn someone. Surely, his kindred would even listen to a Crimson Dancer, if he came bearing such a story as this!