Damaged

by Leona Keyoko Pink

  "GO!" she shouted."YOU HAVE TO GO, PATEN! I'LL FIND A WAY TO CATCH UP! JUST GO!"

  "NO! I WONT LEAVE YOU!" shouted Richy stubbornly. I understood why he didn’t want to leave, knowing what he'd gone through. I had to do something! They were trying to protect me. This was all because they needed to get me out of here. I figured I could just go by myself. That way he didn't have to leave her. I turned without another thought and broke into a run.

  Richy called out after me, "AUBREY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

  I turned slightly as I ran, slowing long enough to shout, "IT’S OKAY! I'LL GO! YOU CAN CATCH UP WITH ME LATER!”

  "NO!" screamed Morgan "YOU CAN'T GO BY YOURSELF! IT'S NOT SAFE! PATEN, GO!”

  Richy struggled, looking back and forth, but turned to run after me. I didn't mean to cause any problems. I was just trying to help. I stopped running and opened my mouth to shout ‘I'll be okay on my own’ but before the words could leave my lips someone roughly grabbed my arm.

  I came face to face with Julia. Her eyes lit up with delight and she smiled at me. I knew that smile. It was her victory smile, "Gotcha!"

  “How?” I turned back to where she and the other woman were frozen but they weren't there anymore. Morgan quickly realized she'd been tricked with an illusion and turned. Richy struggled to get to me but could only run so fast.

  Another hole opened in midair and before I knew it Julia was shoving me through. All at once, everything around me changed. One minute I was on the snowy street in front of my house, the next I was falling to my knees on a metal floor.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I shivered, more disoriented than ever. Dizzy, I vomited. There was nothing left from earlier so it came out as dry heaves. My body shuddered and my stomach surged with pain. I felt feverish, looking around. The floor and walls seemed to be made of metal. There were other people in the room. Some of them were in a cage in the corner. At this point so many things had happened, had changed, that it was hard for me to focus on anything for very long. I opened and closed my mouth, shaking, shaking, shaking...

  A man stormed up to us. He looked angry. "What took you so long!?" he demanded.

  "Sorry," said Julia, "It took longer than I thought it would."

  "She messed up." said the curly haired woman. She was more than happy to throw Julia under the bus.

  "It wasn't my fault!" Julia quickly protested, "We had company!"

  "What kind of company?" said that angry man, getting more upset.

  "Told yah that you should let me go." said another man leaning against a wall further away. He had spiky hair and goggles.

  "Whatever," said Julia. "I got her, didn’t I?"

  "It was Paten and Jeza. They had her when I got there. She would have gotten away if it weren't for me." said the curly haired woman.

  Julia glared at her. "They would not have! I'm the one who tricked them and grabbed her."

  The curly haired woman went to respond but the angry man yelled, "ENOUGH!"

  Both women turned to look at him. Even I looked at him. "We will address this later. Yan, bring him back."

  The curly haired woman nodded. I assumed Yan was her name. "I'll need some more juice." she said, giving Julia a dirty look. "I had to take a car."

  The angry man grimaced but nodded. He turned to the man with the goggles and said, "Another."

  "On it." said the guy with goggles, stepping away from the wall.

  He went to the cage in the corner. I looked at it closer and noticed the people inside were unconscious. I didn't know if they were asleep or if it was something else. There didn't appear to be a door to the cage. The man with goggles put his hands on the bars and they seemed to melt away, creating an opening.

  He stepped in and casually grabbed the ankle of an unconscious woman. A metal cuff formed where he touched. He pulled away from the cuff and a chain grew from it. It grew longer the farther he pulled away. It seemed to be coming out of his hand. I was reminded of a magician, how they would pull scarves out of their hands seemingly from nowhere. Only this was a chain…

  I crab walked back in disbelief. I didn't take my eyes off the woman as the man with goggles dragged her by the chain out of the cage. Once they were out, he waved his hand over the cage. Solid metal bars formed once more, enclosing it. He brought the woman over to the angry man.

  I worried about what they were going to do to her. I looked around for something, anything, I could use to help her with but there was nothing. I realized the room was solid metal with a few small holes here or there letting in light and air. There was no door.

  The angry man touched the woman’s arm with two fingers and closed his eyes. I considered lunging forward, trying to fight, but there were four of them and I had no idea what they were doing. I held my breath watching, waiting to see what he was going to do. But he seemed to only touch her, nothing more. A moment later, he opened his eyes and lifted his fingers. "This one is done." he said.

  The man with goggles nodded and dragged the woman off to the side. I looked at her, thinking she was dead, but watched her chest rise and sink. She appeared to be... still alive. I didn’t understand, he’d said she was done...

  The angry man turned to Yan, touching her with his fingers. He closed his eyes and she did as well. For a moment they just stood there. When they opened their eyes, Yan smiled and said, "That should be enough."

  "Good, then get it done." said the angry man.

  "What about me?" asked Julia, "I could use some. Getting her took more energy than I thought.”

  The angry man stared her down. "You're done."

  Julia stepped back. She pursed her lips but didn't say anything.

  Yan moved her hands and I watched her open another hole, only looking at it closer it was more like a mirror. No, a window. It was like looking through an open window. It was night out and I saw what looked like an airport runway. There was cement everywhere, with large buildings and planes in the distance.

  Two men came in and out of view as they fought. They moved so fast that it was hard to see everything they were doing. I saw sparks of electricity and what looked like black smoke every time they came together, clashing. They appeared to be fighting with a sword and ax. Something about it all drew me in as if… I’d seen it before...

  Yan closed the hole and then opened another. This seemed to show the same place only closer to the two men fighting. She widened this hole and I moved closer to get a better look. I could feel a breeze coming through it. I wondered for a moment if this was happening outside the room but I had a feeling it was taking place somewhere else, far away.

  Yan dipped her head into the hole and the two men suddenly stopped fighting. They turned their attention to Yan. I could see them better now that they were still. I quickly recognized one of them. My heart skipped a beat and I perked up. "Emmit..."I said without thinking.

  He squinted, looking in my direction. When he saw me his eyes widened in shock. It had been a while since I’d seen him. His hair was longer now and pulled back in a ponytail. His mouth opened and he said something but I couldn't hear it. Panicked, he rushed toward me. I wanted to go to him. I wanted to get out of here. I lunged forward, scrambling to get to my feet, but Julia kicked me back down.

  Pain surged through my body. A moment later Yan closed the hole and I couldn't see Emmit anymore. How... I was so... Tears welled up in my eyes. I hadn’t realized just how badly I’d wanted to see him again. I’d tried to deny it, to forsake all thoughts of him. He hated me...I was poison, I was toxic. He wanted nothing to do with me. He was done, DONE. All his cruel words flooded back to me.

  I shouldn’t want to see him, shouldn’t want to know him...to be with him. I thought my feelings for him had lessened and all but gone away but they… they still remained. Even after everything...I still...it hurt…It hurt. I clutched my chest as it burned.

  This was too much...this was too fucking much, seeing him, feeling like this again on top of everything else I’d already been through ton
ight. I felt like I was going to explode. One person could only take some much...right? In the last hour or however long it had been my entire world had been shattered inside and out.

  Yan turned and opened yet another hole above us. A few seconds later a man fell through it, landing on one knee. The hole, no... the portal closed. It had to be a portal but that was impossible...people couldn't make portals, could they? I felt like I was tumbling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.

  The man that had come through the portal stood and dusted himself off. He had on a long black coat that fanned out around him and nearly touched the ground. In his hand he held a black double-sided ax. I noticed blood on one of the blades. I worried Emmit had gotten hurt. The man twirled his ax and it turned into black smoke, disappearing. Of course. At this point, why not? Anything was fucking possible.

  The angry man stepped up to him and the others joined as well. They surrounded this new mystery man. I knew I should probably do something, look for a way out or find some way to defend myself while they were all distracted, but I found myself drawn to this mysterious man. I wanted to know who he was. Why had he been fighting Emmit?

  I watched as the mystery man rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck before turning to Yan. "You're still making it too high,"

  Yan nodded, embarrassed, "I'll work on it."

  "I'm sure you will." said the mystery man, giving her a charming smile.

  "How did it go?" asked the angry man, though he seemed more relaxed now.

  "As expected." said the mystery man.

  Then he looked around the room searching for something. His eyes fell on me and focused. I slid back nervously. Something about him bothered me. My breath quickened and my chest ached. Though I had never met him before, he seemed oddly familiar. He smiled at me and my entire body quaked with fear. I felt a chill run through me and was suddenly very cold. I knew this sensation all too well but I didn't understand. I hadn’t felt like this, since... since…

  Julia was quick to call out, “I got her as you requested.” She beamed with pride as if it were some great triumph.

  “She would have failed if it weren’t for me,” added Yan.

  Julia gave Yan a dirty look and Julia gave her one right back. I thought they might start snapping at each other again but the angry man glared at them both. They quickly quieted down, which was something for Julia. I wondered who this angry man was to have such power over them both.

  The mystery man drew my attention once again as he pushed the others aside without a word and slowly walked up to me, not taking his eyes off me. He crouched down before me and tilted his head. He looked me over and studied me for a moment before he said, "Hello again." as if he knew me.

  I stared at him harder, trying to recognize him. I noticed how blue his eyes were. It was an icy blue I’d only ever seen once before. My mouth fell ajar. Once again I was reminded of...Lyndon. Could this man be related to him, somehow?

  "You're still just as beautiful as ever," he said. "I almost don't want to wake you. I know you'll still be beautiful, perhaps even more so, but this version of you has its own appeal. Still, this form,” he said shaking his head, “is far too fragile. Far, far too fragile." He looked me up and down with a twisted expression. He had to be related somehow. The eyes, the way they both moved and made me feel... I began to shake again.

  I backed up, wanting to get as far away from him as I could though I knew there was nowhere to go. I was trapped. Panicked, I shouted, "STAY BACK! STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

  He chucked as if he found it cute and then said, “Heh, not so feisty without your bat, ehh?"

  "What!?" I said. It took me a moment to realize what he was talking about. He knew what I had done...but how? Only a few people knew about that. How did he- "Who are you!?" I demanded.

  The man continued to smile and stood, never taking his eyes off me. "I'm sorry, Bec. I know you must have a lot of questions. But we’ve got a schedule to keep. I promise once everything is said and done, you will have my FULL attention."

  I didn’t like the way he said that. I didn't want his full attention. I wanted to get out of here! I wanted all of this to stop! Beyond anything, I wanted things to make sense again! The mystery man finally looked away from me and nodded to someone behind me. I turned around quickly to see who it was and found that the angry man was now behind me.

  He must have snuck up on me while I was distracted. I looked back to the mystery man and then tried to dart to the side. The angry man was fast. He lunged after me and grabbed hold of me. I tried to fight him off but suddenly I felt drained and then soon enough I was exhausted. All he was doing was touching me but every muscle in my muscles felt like it was melting and everything went black.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I heard muffled sounds, voices. My mouth felt so dry. I found I couldn't open my eyes. They were too heavy. I just didn't have the energy. I just lay there, drifting in and out of awareness. I felt someone touching me. Every now and then they would draw their fingertips across my skin. There was something familiar about their touch and it sent shivers through my body.

  For a moment, in my haze, I thought it was Lyndon. I trembled, thinking he'd returned, but assured myself he was dead. He was dead...dead. I killed him. I visualized that moment, the swinging of my bat, the feel as it collided with him again and again. I recalled the sound of his bones cracking, the wailing and whimpering of his cries. It brought me comfort and I weakly smiled.

  I felt fingers brush against my cheek and then trace the smile of my lips. I trembled once more. He...he may have been dead but there was someone else now. Someone else who was just as dangerous as Lyndon had been, or perhaps more so. I forced myself to open my eyes with what little strength I had, and saw someone looming over me, smiling. I couldn't focus enough to get a face. I couldn’t keep my eyes open for long and soon drifted off once more into the darkness.

  **********

  Someone touched my shoulder and I felt... strange. At first I was tired, disoriented, and things felt foggy. But as time went on my thoughts became clearer. I felt less and less tired. It was like when I drank coffee and it finally kicked in, or if you jumped in freezing cold water and suddenly became wide awake or...or even having a lot of sugar all at once. I was just hit with a rush of energy.

  My breath caught in my throat and I opened my eyes. Suddenly I was awake and aware of my surroundings. I found my clothes were different... I was wearing a sheer white dress that barely covered me. I looked all around me.

  The angry man was touching my shoulder. After a moment he pulled his hand away and then stretched, moving his head from side to side. He rolled his shoulders and then turned his back to me. He approached another man in the room, the mysterious man that had come through the portal earlier. The one that had fought Emmit and reminded me of...of...

  I tried to move but found I couldn’t. I was laying on a metal table and my hands and feet were trapped... trapped within the table itself. My eyes widened in disbelief. It took me several seconds to fully comprehend what I was seeing but it looked like the table had melted around my hands and feet and then it had become solid once more, trapping me.

  I briefly thought of the man with goggles. I remembered how he'd melted the bars of the cage and how he had made a metal chain out of nowhere. I had a feeling he was behind this as well. I struggled for a moment longer. Even though I knew it was pointless, I had to try.

  After a second or two I noticed the two men were speaking softly to one another. I tried to listen to what they were saying but, try as I might, I couldn’t make out a single word. The angry man nodded after a moment and then glanced at me before leaving the room.

  It was just me and the mysterious man now. I grimaced, looking up at him as he sauntered over to me. He smiled down at me, looking over my body before he leaned down close to me. I tried to be brave, tried to be strong, but it was hard. Tears welled up in my eyes.

  It had been so long since I'd been this vulnerable... this power
less. I’d vowed never to let this happen again but there was nothing I could do.

  It was clear this was all beyond my control. Something was happening here that I didn’t understand. The man stared at me, studying my expressions as if he found it all amusing. I shut my eyes, not wanting to look at him... to be here...

  Tears escaped from the corner of my eyes and slid down the sides of my face. I felt his fingers wipe them away. He clicked his tongue and shushed me as if he were capable of soothing me, "It's alright. Soon everything will be as it should."

  I opened my eyes and looked at him. I knew... I knew it was pointless, pathetic to ask, to beg, but still the words escaped my lips, "Please, please don't hurt me. Please just let me go."

  "No," he sighed, looking put out, "As we've discussed, when you love someone-"

  "You don't ever let them go..." I finished his sentence, without thinking.

  He smiled, "Good, you remembered,"

  Remembered? I remembered everything. Lyndon's words, like my scars, would always remain. This man... There had to be a connection, "Who... Who are you?" I asked yet again, though I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to may question.

  "You know who I am." he said blatantly.

  "I don't," I said. He was like Julia, playing with me. "Honestly, I really don't know who you are."

  He let out another exasperated sigh and pulled back. He studied me for a moment, rubbing his chin, and then said, "I'll admit, it's been a while. And I suppose I look a bit different, now." He chuckled to himself as if he found this all quite amusing. He leaned back down to me and said, "Maybe this will help."

  He pressed his lips to mine. He kissed me possessively, passionately, but I resisted. Though my hands and feet were trapped, I turned my head from side to side. When he pulled away, I hissed at him, "Bastard!" I still had no idea who he was.