The Sword And The Shield (X-Men) (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Chapter Thirty Eight: Scream

Scream

Aaron's POV

Three men dressed in all white lead Jade over to a chair, the kind that you would see at the dentist's, except this one is made of metal. She just stares at me, her eyes glued to the gun being pointed at my head. It's the type of gun that could easily release twelve bullets into my head when given the word.

Two of the men lift her up by her arms, which she does not like. She squirms in their grasp as they lay her on the cold surface, the third man walks around the chair laying grey strips of cloth over her chest, waist, and shins. He moves to the other side and straps the cloth into a metal clasp. Jade's eyes widen as he tightens the straps around her and they press harder against her skin. She doesn't like being restrained, it makes it hard for her to breathe and think clearly.

"These restraints are lined with titanium," Stryker walks over to her casually, cleaning a knife with a small bloodied towel. Jade struggles against the belts when he steps closer to her. "So I'm afraid your strength won't help you." Her nose shrivels up as she snarls at him, her knuckles turning white by her sides. "Titanium causes your genes to separate, which means the mutation part is pulled away from your normal genes. So it's like they don't even exist." Stryker cooly smiles and makes his way to the number of tools he has laid out on a tray, his fingers run along the handles of each as if he has a personal fascination with each one.

"Did you know that a common form of torture in ancient China was to place a rat on top of the abdomen of the person they wished to torture, followed by placing a bowl on top of the rat. Embers were then placed on top of the bowl, making things quite uncomfortable for the rat inside," Stryker picks up a small scalpel and turns to Jade with an excited look on his face. "Leaving it no choice but to chew through the victim's abdomen." I can taste the pancakes I ate for breakfast but I have to swallow it back down.

Stryker laughs when he sees Jade's disturbed expression. "Why, don't look so scared Jade. I don't plan on doing that to you!" He leans in closer to her face like he wants to say something personal. "I need you alive."

He makes a small incision behind her ear and, before she has enough time to react, gathers the blood into a testing tube. "Ah. Yes." Stryker turns to hand the tube to an assistant and picks up a clipboard. "Now I'm going at ask you a few routine questions." He looks over to the men in white scrubs and nods his head. Two of them walk over to either side of Jade and stand there, watching her. "Okay, name?" He stares at her, waiting for an answer. She just glares at him, every once in a while her nose twitches and I can tell that she's thinking about tearing him to pieces. "I'll skip that one since it's probably a given, okay?" Stryker is using a tone that makes it sound like he's a child's doctor trying to earn their trust. "Next question." He scribbles something down on the clipboard and looks back down at Jade. "How old are you."

The stare down continues and Stryker becomes impatient. "You will answer me Jade." Her expression doesn't soften. "Fine." His eyebrows turn inwards and he nods to the men. They grab the fabric wrapped around her thighs and tear it, not worrying about scratching her skin. She tries so hard to keep a brave face, but she falters as soon as she sees the needles. "This, Jade, is a neurotoxin. When it comes in contact with your cells, it will seem as if your nerves are on fire." Stryker presses two fingers onto her lower thigh and inserts the needle. Jade's jaw clenches but she seems to be controlling the pain. A disappointed look crosses Stryker's face but he merely grabs another syringe and hands it to the man on her left. He does the exact same and Jade furrows her eyebrows in order to fight off the burning feeling coming from both her legs.

She still refuses to answer Stryker, so he keeps injecting the toxin into her bare legs. Six. Seven. Eight shots. I struggle with the cuffs that are keeping my arms tied behind my back, but I don't make a sound. Neither does Jade. I can make out the beads of sweat gathering on her forehead and her fingernails digging into her thighs as she tries to cope with the pain. "Stop it!" I shout from the other side of the room, fighting against the strength of the concrete wall I'm tied to. "She's sixteen!" My voice cracks when I see how much pain she is in. "She's only sixteen..."