by Lola StVil
“What the fuck?” I ask.
“Aaden!” she cries again.
“It’s okay. I’ll figure it out, I swear.”
“Hurry!”
“It’s Dr. Bishop. He’s the Para asshole who runs the Center. I bet he’s the one behind the mirror. He’s watching us.” I run up to the window and shout at it.
“ARE YOU HAVING FUN, YOU SICK FUCK?” I demand.
“Oh no! No, no! Not again, please!” Pryor screams as she looks up.
I follow her terror-filled eye up to the ceiling. A panel slides back and a Sive falls down and lands on Pryor. A Sive is a chrome-coated insect with multiple legs that digs into your body and rips out pieces of your soul. The bite of a Sive is excruciating. Pryor’s dad almost lost his life from one single Sive getting into his body.
I rush back to her and try to pull the Sive off her. It bores a hole into her cheek and tries to bury itself inside her face. It’s eating her alive. I am forced to dig under her skin to try to pull the Sive out.
Pryor is sobbing so hard she can no longer speak. I feel her warm tears as they spill out of her eye and down her face. I know it hurts to have my fingers inside her skin, but if I don’t get the Sive out of her, it will eat at her soul.
“I’m sorry, Pry, but I have to—yes! I got it,” I say as I pull the creature from under her skin.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I promise.
She groans and sobs even harder now; every cry that comes out of her destroys me. I place my hand on her face.
“I killed the Sive. It’s not gonna hurt you anymore,” I promise.
She looks up at the ceiling once again. I follow her stare and spot two Sives crawling from the open panel and down to her face.
“Damn it!” I yell as I try to stop them from entering her face.
But before I can get rid of the two Sives, hundreds of them drop from the panel in the ceiling and down on Pryor’s body.
“No! No! Stop, please, make it stop!” Pryor begs.
I do my best to try to get them off her, but there’s just too many.
“I’m sorry, Pry. I’m so sorry,” I reply as the Sives enter her body. They eat at her flesh from the inside out. The pain becomes so much, when she cries, there is no sound. Her tears turn to streams of blood and pour over what’s left of her face.
“I’m gonna kill Bishop, I promise you,” I vow.
She doesn’t say anything. She no longer moves. She’s frozen in a state of eternal terror. The Sives slowly begin to crawl out of her, having gotten what they wanted—there isn’t a shred of soul left inside Pryor. She is no more than an empty corpse. Pryor Reese Cane is dead.
“No, no, no!” I sob as I slide down the wall and onto the ground. I weep openly at her bedside. Then a rage comes over me unlike anything I have ever felt before. I get up and ram into the mirror so hard I can feel the building shake.
“I’M GONNA KILL YOU, BISHOP!”
I continue to pound until I dislocate my other shoulder. Now with my arms no longer useful, I slam my foot hard against the mirror.
“COME OUT, YOU COWARD! FACE ME!”
Suddenly the mirror starts to disappear. I can see a shadowy figure behind it, but I can’t make out Bishop’s face.
“SHOW YOURSELF, OLD MAN! THIS IS YOUR LAST FUCKING DAY ON EARTH!”
The mirror continues to fade, and the figure starts to come into view.
“C’MON! SHOW ME YOUR FACE! TELL ME WHY, WHY DID YOU KILL HER?”
The mirror is gone completely. I can see the being standing behind it. The one who killed my Pryor. The one who ended the life of the girl I love. But the figure looking back at me isn’t Dr. Bishop. It’s me.
“What…?” I ask out loud. The “mirror” version of me just laughs.
“I don’t understand,” I plead.
“You’re the one who loves her, yet your love is killing her. Your love will always hurt her,” the mirror replies.
“No! I would never hurt her.”
“You hurt everyone you love. Your mom died because of you. Your father can barely stand to look at you; because of you he lost the only woman he ever loved. And now you’ve killed the only girl who cared about you,” the reflection says.
“No, no, it’s not true; bring her back. Please,” I beg.
“Sure. Let’s do it again. This game is fun! This time let’s see if we can kill her in a different way. How about we bring her back and slice up those pretty wings?”
“NOOOOO!” I yell.
The mirror laughs loudly. Suddenly Pryor comes back to life. She’s strapped onto the table, and there are black orbs hovering around her. They land on her wings and start slicing them open.
“Aaden, help me!” she pleads again.
I look on in a near catatonic state as Pryor screams, bleeds, and dies again…
The image of the White Room mercifully fades away. The team is left speechless as they look over at me. I can feel their eyes on my back. I can feel them being sorry for me. That’s not what I wanted. I never wanted any sympathy. I wanted to forget what happened back there, but this fucking flower took that from me.
And now everyone knows, but more importantly, she knows. I would have done anything to keep her from knowing how bad things got in that room. Now I’m standing here, all my secrets, all my fears exposed like a fucking wound, and I hate it.
I fear looking into her eyes more so than the others. I don’t know what she’s thinking. Maybe she hates that I didn’t save her. Or maybe she’s livid over the fact that it was a version of me that was causing her pain. Either way, everything is fucked now.
Seeing the scene play out in blood just made it even more unbearable than it was before. There were days when I knew that going into that room would lead to devastation, but I went anyway because I needed to see her. I needed to be next to her. Maybe if I never opened the door, she would never be tortured…
“Silver, I didn’t know…how many times did they put you in the White Room? How many times did you have to see Pryor die?” East asks.
“Three hundred sixty-four,” I whisper bitterly.
“They did that to you for a year?” Key asks.
I don’t reply. I just shrug my shoulders as if indifferent. Key latches on to me and embraces me protectively. It’s like she’s trying to block my memory of that day. I hug her back, not really sure what else to do.
“You were at the Center because of me. If I wasn’t on drugs at the time, I wouldn’t have been powerless and gotten myself into that situation. I never thanked you. I’m so sorry, Silver.”
“Key, it wasn’t your fault, and you thanked me. It’s…it’s fine,” I reply.
“No. You saved my life. That could have been me in that room. I don’t know how I would have survived that. And you…you took my place…” She bursts into tears suddenly.
I signal to Randy and he pulls his girl close to him. Key is now resting her head on his chest. Randy mouths a silent thank you to me for rescuing his girl from the Center.
East puts a hand on my shoulder, not sure what to say to me. Bex looks pensive. He stares down at the floor, then up at me.
“I didn’t know,” he promises.
I don’t have any words for the Kon. Words won’t change anything, so why the fuck should I say them?
“Silver, I am sorry that happened to you,” Bex says sincerely.
“It is what it is,” I mumble.
Diana reaches out and hugs me. Her hold is also protective. She whispers in my ear and tells me she loves me. She says that Sparks would have been proud to know I survived the White Room. I thank her, although I’m not really sure I survived anything.
I can see Pryor over Diana’s shoulder. There’s so much behind her eyes. I see profound sadness, concern, and deep reflection. When Diana pulls away, Pryor is about to say something, but then the root releases the flower and we watch as it floats into the air and lands at my feet. I pick it up and hand it to Key.
“Guys, we need to get
going,” Key says.
“Yeah, we should go,” Pryor says, never taking her eyes off me.
“There are Ports to take us back,” Bex says, signaling to the large black Frisbee-like objects hovering in the corner in the air.
“Why didn’t we take a Port into this place?” East asks.
“No one can use a Port to get in, only to get out,” Bex says.
As the team heads for the Ports, Pryor can’t take her eyes off me. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. She snaps out of it once we are all standing on our own Ports, getting ready to go. Just before we disappear, she gives us our final orders.
“Once we are back at the house, Key and Diana, you two get together with the specialist and get the mixture made.”
“Got it,” they reply.
“East will go to Moscow and keep an eye on RJ in case Raven comes after him. Randy will track the Raven so we know where she’s been. That might tell us something about how she plans to take down Omnis. Aaden and I will see if we can get anything more out of Spider.”
As we take off on the Ports, I don’t think about the horrors of the White Room. I don’t think about the near-death experiences we have encountered on this mission. I don’t even think about what it will take to kill Raven. I only focus on one thing, the only thing that matters:
She called me Aaden.
Chapter Twenty-Three:
Free
As soon as we land, everyone immediately attends to their assignment. Pryor is on the phone with Spider, setting up a time for us to meet. Randy gets on his laptop and does what he does best. I’m in the kitchen, getting him a glass of water, when it starts. My hands tremble, a little at first, but the more I try to control it, the worse it gets. Suddenly the kitchen changes color; it’s now stark white. All the appliances and furniture disappear and are replaced by a long endless hallway.
I know it’s not real. I know that I’m still in the kitchen of Pry’s home, but my body automatically reacts the same way it would if I were actually back in the Center. I should have known it would not end with the flower. I should have known those memories wouldn’t just let me go.
“You are the reason she is in pain. You hurt everyone you love. They will all be taken from you. They will all die because they were stupid enough to love you…”
I hear Bishop’s voice as if he were standing next to me, torturing me. I remind myself over and over again, this isn’t really happening. I’m not back there, but I begin to give in to the vision.
“Your love kills, Silver, your love kills…” Bishop says, laughing at me.
“No, it’s not true,” I say out loud to myself.
“You think because you aren’t bound to my table, I can’t get to you? I own you! I am in charge of what happens to your powers, your body and, now, your mind.”
“FUCK YOU!” I scream.
“I’ve been messing with your head since the day you came to the Center.”
“No, you were never in my head!”
“I OWN YOUR THOUGHTS, DEMON!” Bishop yells.
“No, you won’t break me! You won’t break me!” I cry as I smash the glass along the wall.
“Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha,” the imaginary Para laughs heartily.
“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” I rage as I throw fireballs at him back to back.
The whole kitchen is in flames. He should have been burned to death, but he’s still around, somewhere in the kitchen or in my head. I just don’t know anymore.
“Does she know you agreed to stay away from her?” Bishop says, filled with joy as he continues to laugh.
“I DIDN’T WANT TO, YOU MADE ME! YOU SICK FUCK, YOU MADE ME!” I roar.
The fireball in the palm of my hand rages out of my control. It’s now going up my arm and down my leg. I’m ensconced in flames and I can’t calm down enough to stop it. The more laughter I hear, the more flames engulf me.
“AADEN, STOP IT!” someone says, getting closer.
I think it’s Pryor, but I can’t tell—the flames are too high for me to see anything now. All I know is that this fire could kill me, and I’m okay with that so long as I burn Bishop right along with me.
“AADEN, STOP!” she calls out.
I’m certain now that it’s Pryor, and that’s why I have to keep going. I have to kill myself so that she is safe. I have to let the flames take me.
“Aaden, you can’t go supernova, you’ll die,” she pleads.
“Pry, get away from him. He’s out of control,” Randy shouts.
“Aaden, please!” she says.
“Pryor, we have to go, now!” Randy says, coughing and gasping for air.
“NO! I’m not leaving him,” Pry says.
“Well, I’m not leaving you,” Randy informs her.
All the while I can still hear Bishop laughing at me. The fire takes over my entire body and the kitchen. There is no way to stop it. The human is right; I have lost control.
“Who are you attacking, Aaden? Tell me!” Pry demands.
“Bishop,” I cry out.
“Bishop was killed. Please pull back the flames,” she begs.
“No, he’s here. He’s always here. He’s always here!” I rage so loud, the sound and the flames combine and blow out all the windows and the doors of the house.
“Shitshitshit, he’s gonna blow!” Randy yells.
“Randy, go!” Pryor says.
“Not without you!” Randy insists.
“Aaden, please, you’re going to explode and take everyone on this block with you!” Pry warns.
“Use your powers to stop him,” Randy says.
“I don’t know if I can without killing him,” she counters.
“Damn it, Pryor, do it now!” Randy orders.
Suddenly I feel the force being drained out of me. It’s like a bolt of lightning to my system. With every passing second, I’m getting weaker and weaker. The flames start to pull back as she continues to drain me of power. I fall to my knees and sob.
“It’s okay, Aaden,” she says as she sits beside me on the floor.
“I let him win, Pry. I agreed to stay away. But I had to; I couldn’t let him hurt you. I couldn’t watch you die anymore…”
“I know why you did what you did, and it was the right thing to do. It was the only thing. I know that now, baby,” she promises as she places my head in her lap and strokes my hair.
“Bishop broke me…”
“No, he didn’t. Bishop didn’t break you; no one can. I won’t let them. You’re mine to protect. You’re mine to save. And I will. I will always save you.”
I am completely drained of energy, and as the flames die down, so does Bishop’s voice. And for the first time since I left the Center, there are no voices in my head. There’s no White room, there’s no Bishop, and no two-way mirrors. Although I got out of the Center years ago, today is the first day I’m actually free.
Pryor calls Bex, and within a few minutes, the house goes back to its original state. She and Randy didn’t disclose what happened. They implied that it was some kind of accident, but they wouldn’t go into it.
It didn’t bother Bex that they were tight-lipped about what happened; in fact, it was all Bex could do to remain in the house. He is quick to try to leave as soon as the house is restored. It’s clear that he’s still really pissed about what happened between her and Hunter. He walks out the front door, and Pry follows. Their voices carry into the living room, and while I don’t purposely try to overhear them, I damn sure don’t close the window.
“Thank you for fixing up the place—again,” she says.
Bex nods and heads down the steps, ready to take off.
“Bex,” she calls out.
“I gotta go—I have to check on security for the gathering,” he says, rushing past her.
She keeps up with his pace, touches his arm, and makes him face her. “I know things are crazy right now with Omnis coming to Earth, but I really don’t want to leave it like this with you and me,” she conf
ides.
He starts to laugh as he shakes his head. “‘You and me’? What exactly does that mean, ‘you and me’?”
“Bex, don’t make this hard, please.”
“Me? I’m making this hard? All I have done is try to make it easier for you. I get that you and Silver have some connection, but you and Hunter? What the hell?”
“I was drinking—”
“Stop it! Stop using Coy as an excuse. You did what you wanted to do. My question is why? Why would you do this?”
“I wasn’t thinking. I was in a lot of pain and I didn’t handle it very well. I’m sorry.”
“So you thought why not spread that pain around?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” she admits.
“I want you to say that it’s just some horrible misunderstanding and that you didn’t have sex with my little brother!”
“I did, and there’s nothing I can do to change that.”
“Then I guess we have nothing to talk about,” he snaps.
“Okay, I get it. You’re pissed and you plan to stay that way. Just tell me you won’t be mad at me forever.”
“I can’t be mad forever, Pry, I don’t know how. Haven’t you figured that out? I don’t know how to stop wanting you, I don’t know how to move on, and I certainly don’t know how to take a hint. Because you just stuck a damn knife in my chest and I’m still here,” he barks.
“I’m sorry about Hunter. I really am.”
“This isn’t just about Hunter. I am in love with you and I know my anger will go away, but then what? Where will that leave us?” he demands.
She opens her mouth but doesn’t say anything.
“That’s what I thought,” the Kon says.
“Bex, there’s so much going on.”
“Are you still in love with Silver?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Yes, Pryor, it is. And at first I thought it was because of Silver or Hunter or me. But then I realized the reason things are so complicated is that everyone involved knows what they want except you.”
