As the months of confinement and torture dragged on, Elijah Mason found his thoughts drifting more and more to Irene Putman, a vampire he'd first met back in the 1960s and hit it off instantly with her. It had been a pleasurable surprise to find out that she was one of Isaac's Fledglings as well and they had been together for a handful of years before parting ways on an amicable note. They'd seen each other on-and-off over the years whenever the both of them showed up for Isaac's holiday dinners starting several years later. However, his thoughts that night had turned to the more recent span of months he'd spent with her...

Center for Disease Control
Atlanta, Georgia
November, 2499

It was a typical sunny day in Atlanta, although for Eli and the rest of the vampires that had volunteered to help find a vaccine didn't see much of the sun these past few weeks as doctors and scientists poked, prodded, and questioned them nearly to death. Elijah really didn't mind. After all there was a purpose to the questions, to the poking and the prodding. There was a reason for the strenuous exercise routines. Everything that they learned about his species brought them that much closer to a vaccine and quite possibly a cure.

The day was just ending for Eli as he left the training room, a towel draped around his neck and winded after working several hours on the treadmill for his handler. Heading toward the dining hall, he stopped several times along the way to chat with personnel and other vampires he'd befriended before finally reaching his destination. Grabbing a bottle of water, mostly unnecessary for his kind but it made the humans feel more comfortable, Eli took a seat at a table with a sigh. Pulling the towel from his neck, it was dropped onto the table before he unscrewed the cap on the bottle and took a sip.

Returning the cap to the bottle, Eli closed his eyes and sat there at the table in silence. The vampire felt good, although given his current state, it was a bit odd not to feel the beat of his heart pumping through his veins. In a way... he almost missed the feeling. It was rare for him or his species to feel tired, but... That afternoon, Elijah sure felt tired after running on the treadmill for as long as he had. In fact, the vampire was seriously looking forward to a shower and many hours of sleep.

He had no idea what time it was nor what day it was. Although Elijah Mason didn't know his disappearance had been almost two months ago, to him, however, it felt like two years. The only thing he knew of his location was it had been a police station of some sort once upon a time. The second thing he knew of his situation was his captors were human and very, very clever. Elijah was dosed daily with enough silver to keep him lucid, coherent, and compliant, but not enough to kill him. He assumed that was a result, to a point, by the blood they used to administer the silver.

Eli had been unconscious during the time they transported him from the safe house to wherever the hell they were now. What he did remember was hazy, but Eli did know that he, Trent, and the rest of the protection crew were completely unprepared for the attack that had come their way. In the ensuing days and weeks of torture, the vampire had been able to piece together during the scant reprieves he was allowed that the Revenant attack on the safe house had not been as random as he originally thought. Presumably his tormenters had led the creatures to their door, exploited a weakness, and took what they wanted. Which, Eli learned, had been him.

He also learned why they wanted him. Who better to tell them everything about Isaac Holt, Territory Leader, than one of his very own Fledglings? Eli, however, was proving to be a tough nut to crack. The information he gave was of little consequence and he had held out long enough to the physical stuff that they were resorting to starving the information they needed out of him now. That was when his fear began to surface.

Eli had known since the beginning that the psychic bond he shared with his maker was not working, he presumed, because of the silver. He could not feel the comforting presence of Isaac, but that was easy to overcome when your only goal for the day was survive the physical torture. It was easier to hope that Isaac would come for him even when it felt like his guts were on fire because of the silver knife stuck in him. But now that he was alone, lying on the cold concrete floor, and not remembering when the last time he'd had any blood? His hope was fading and Eli finally understood in some small way the contempt and disdain his maker held for the humans. Eli only wished he survived long enough to apologize to the older vampire.