Define Normal

Chapter Twenty-Eight Final

Holy crap, it's finally happened. I finally managed to write the last chapter!

hope you guys like it! Thanks to everyone who never gave up!!!!!

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Now then, what should we start with?” Reed asked calmly, examining the myriad tools he had laid out before him.

“When did you become such a psycho, Reed?” I asked conversationally, keeping my tone smooth even as my body screamed for me to get the fuck out of there.

If only I knew how.

“I’ve acquired many skills over the years, Jaded.”

I snorted. “Knitting is a skill, Reed. Proficiency in torture is closer to a red flag warning of mental illness.”

He shook his head. “Even now you insist on insulting me? Do you not realize that you’re the one trapped here? That I’m the one in control?”

“It’s not a true insult if there’s truth to it. You’re like family, Reed. I’m concerned that maybe over the years a few screws have come loose and you should seriously consider seeking help for it. Like right now.”

“Thank you, Jade, for your concern. However, now isn’t a great time,” Reed said, holding a scalpel up for inspection, turning it this way and that before nodded his approval. “Shall we begin, then?”

I shrugged, feeling my breathing deepen and my heart rate slow as his knife dipped towards my arm. I winced when the instrument sliced the skin on my upper forearm, cutting deep but not quite deep enough to hit anything vital. I felt a measure of surprise that he’d chosen the scalpel, thinking that it would’ve been much more painful if he’d used something jagged or possibly rusty. Maybe even something a little more―

I bit my tongue hard as he splashed a liberal amount of something into the wound he’d created, making my skin burn so badly that a huge part of me was ready to beg him to cut the arm off. I slammed my eyes shut in the hopes of keeping the unbidden tears at bay but I felt them slide along my temple, landing in my hair or on the metal slab beneath me.

I gasped as the pain began to subside slightly, concentrating on separating myself from the pain, on holding my consciousness apart from my body as I’d been trained to do.

The only problem was...

I’d never really been tortured before and as he repeated the process, beginning a new cut next to the first, I realized that practice didn’t mean shit.

Reed stood up, wiping his scalpel off on a clean, white towel. “Scream, Jade,” he said calmly, glancing down at me before focusing on the instrument again.

“No thanks,” I said through gritted teeth, the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. When did I bite my tongue?

“I thought you might say that,” he said, picking up a syringe from the table, tapping the tube before placing the needle against my skin. I tried to struggle but it was useless. The needle hit home and he pressed the plunger to the bottom, injecting me with whatever the hell was in the syringe.

“What was that,” I croaked.

He gave a casual shrug. “Something we’ve been working on. A hallucinogen. We’re still in the experimental stages.”

“Happy to help,” I said dryly, rolling my eyes.

“I wouldn’t have to resort to this if you’d just give in and scream, Jade. I need this to be believable, dramatic even. Fear is a powerful ally and your friends need to know it. Intimately.”