Final Truth

Chapter 11: Spineless

Julia's point of view:

With my teeth clenched in pain, I watch as Steven carefully wraps my still injured wrist in a bandage.

"Your wrist is healing steadily; it should be back to normal soon. Peter didn't alter its recovery much, so you should expect a better range of motion within the next few days," Steven assures me, securing the bandage with a clip and then packing up his medical supplies.

He puts a hand on my shoulder sympathetically as he leaves my prison cell, silently apologizing for everything I've been through.

It's been an entire week since my last test.

Henley tried to put me through another one the day after my failed healing test, but almost having Peter back from the previous day left me so distraught that I fainted before they could even inject me with the simulation vial.

Since then, all she's been concerned with is getting my strength and health back up: I was finally allowed to take my first shower since I arrived here, I was provided with food rich in nutrition, they gave me medicine, and even went so far as to lend me something new to wear that wasn't tainted with mud and smelled like ash.

The measures Henley took to get me better would've otherwise seemed kind if I didn't know it was just to get me through more tests.

I'm clad in a black, skintight bodysuit with dark boots that reach just above my ankles and a black leather jacket for when I get cold, which seems to be all the time lately.

The outfit doesn't make me look very friendly, but I suppose it's a step up from the grey jumpsuits that Felicity, Steven, and the other prisoners are forced to wear.

I sit in my cell and twirl my freshly combed hair in anticipation, knowing that today the tests start back again. I'm also afraid in part because of the fact that I haven't seen Peter since the last test.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Felicity asks me from the other side of the prison bars, asking exactly what I was thinking.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore," I mutter.

"Oh cut it out with that, you know what I meant," she retorts.

"Well Felicity you've been here a lot longer than I have and you know how this place works, so why don't you tell me?" I snap, my nerves making me irritable.

"Well...you said you almost brought him back the last time, right?" She asks me, her green eyes wide with ideas.

"Yes," I answer.

"Then my guess is that while you've been recovering they've been probably working overtime to brainwash him so he'll regress back to the way Henley had him to make sure there's no chance of him slipping again," she explains.

"Then there you go," I offer, putting my head in my hands and wishing I could get us out of this mess somehow.

I glance at the power-removing gun still hidden underneath the exposed springs of my "bed", but I know that there will be a time and a place to use it, and that is not today.

I suddenly hear footsteps coming down the hallway, and I spring up and stand at the front of my cell, clutching the prison bars tightly.

And to my somewhat relief, Peter appears in front of the door to collect me for today's test, alive and well. His eyes are still gold however, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say they're even colder and more malicious than the last time.

"Miss me?" He asks with an evil grin as he unlocks my door and takes me by the forearm, leading me to the lab.

"I miss the old you," I admit.