Final Truth

Chapter 41: Cutting Ties

Julia's point of view:

"Henley!" I screech in the middle of the night, standing rigidly as I clutch the bars of my cell, desperate for someone to hear me.

"Henley, please!" I yell again.

I could hear faint complaints coming from the prisoners around me, annoyed by my midnight outburst.

"Julia, what are you trying to do?" Felicity asks.

"I had a nightmare; my friends are in trouble and Henley might know why. I need answers," I breathe out, my knuckles turning white from clutching the metal bars.

"HENLEY I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T-" I begin to shout again, only to be cut off by my mouth forcibly being screwed shut.

A figure materializes in front of my cell, the dim light showing me nothing but an angry demeanor and half a face hidden by the shadows.

"Scream again and you'll wish you hadn't. What the hell do you want?" The person asks in a furious voice, freeing their hold on my body so I can speak again.

Instead of scaring me, however, I feel relieved upon the recognition of the voice.

She actually came.

"Henley please...you have to tell me what's happening in my city," I beg her.

"I don't have to tell you anything, you fool," Henley replies with malice.

She steps into the dimness of the light a bit more, allowing me to see a different side of her than what I did during my testing earlier today.

Felicity makes a small sound of fear, and I hear her scooting to the farthest corner of her cell.

The white bandages on the side of Henley's face that I burned a week ago are gone now, probably so she can sleep, and they show red and pink scars that stretch from the center of her face all the way to her left ear. The wounds, despite scaring, are still fresh and puffy; they give her an almost grotesque appearance, one golden eye swollen shut and the other looking at me with murder.

"Henley please, I'll do anything you want. Just please tell me if my friends are alright," I ask, swallowing the small amount of guilt I feel.

"I'd sooner worry about yourself, because when these tests are over, you're going to know torment like never before," she hisses, and I have to fight to roll my eyes at that promise that I've heard over and over. Henley wasn't going to tell me anything.

At least, not personally.

Someone else might, though.

"I wanna talk to Peter," I offer, knowing she wouldn't refuse that. She wants Peter back as much as I do, just for very different reasons. Henley thinks one day I'll talk to him and he'll just snap out of it, so she can brainwash him again into her servant.

"About what?" Henley growls.

"If...if I can tell him that I think our friends are in trouble, maybe something in him will snap out of this stupor that he's in," I offer, baiting her.

I'm not stupid; something might eventually bring him back, but me talking about friends he has no real memories of won't do anything. Henley monitors him every day, so if she knows anything, Peter will know, too.

I just hope Henley's foolish enough not to realize that at this hour of the night.

"That sounds far-fetched, even for you," Henley comments, sounding skeptical.