𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐎, the gifted [1]

chapter thirty three

One year ago

Elaine Martin pulled on the collar enclosed around her neck as she was led forward by multiple guards. In the cells that she walked past, women were catcalling her, shouting slurs, and doing anything they could to get a rise out of her.

After she had come to and been interrogated, she was tried and then taken to a maximum security prison. There, she would spend who knows how many years rotting away. But she didn't care how long she was there. Okay, that was a lie. She did care. Of course she cared. However, she cared more about Winona getting away.

She hoped that the girl had gotten away.

The guards pulled her to a stop in front of a cell. One used his keycard to unlock the cell and the other practically threw her into it. Elaine turned around and sent the guards a glare as they shut the door. She turned around and looked about the cell. It was small and she was alone.

It wasn't until a few days later that she got herself a cell mate. Rita was a big and tough woman. For the most part, she was a complete bitch. But, she had a small soft spot for Elaine for reasons the girl never understood.

Elaine had always been a stubborn girl. She often did things that she knew that she shouldn't. Things that she knew would not benefit her in the slightest. One of those things was trying to use her ability in that prison. The collar around her neck was a shock collar, one that would send jolts of electricity into her whenever she used her power.

What Sentinel Services and the guards didn't realize is that she fed off of electricity. So every time that she did use her powers and a shock registered through the collar, it would only enhance the strength of her power. It wasn't until she managed to not only break out of her cell, but break the other prisoners out of theres, that they realized their mistake.

Rita had told the girl not to do it. Not to use her power to create and manipulate electricity to fry the keypads that kept the prisoners in their cells. But Elaine Martin didn't listen. She waited for when she felt like it was the right moment. She waited for months until she found it. And so she broke everyone out. That was the easiest thing to do. The hard part was getting out of the prison.

As soon as the cell doors opened, everything was chaos. Elaine was quick to run out of her cell and bolt for the door. Rita had stayed behind in their cell, knowing that it wouldn't end well and not wanting to lengthen her jail time. Elaine was quick to maneuver around the guards, sending bolts of electricity into them, just enough to knock them unconscious.

She had gotten pretty far. Probably would've made it out if some of the prisoners hadn't have tried to fight her. She fought them all off as best as she could, suffering from minor injuries. But before she could escape, a dart pierced through her skin and she began to lose consciousness.

Her body fell to the ground, her eyes beginning to droop. The last thing she saw before being submerged into darkness was the door, a mere two feet away.

Elaine didn't know it then, but she would live to regret her actions. Because she had been removed from that prison and thrown into another one. This time, they had taken the proper precautions for her in order to ensure that she didn't have the opportunity to escape again.

And her little stunt had shined a light on her because not too long after, Dr. Roderick Campbell got wind of her and what she could do with her powers. And so she had been moved to Trask Labs, where she would suffer more than she ever had in prison.

····

The five jumped through the portal. Winona barely landed on her feet as they hit the grass. John's arm remained around her until they were safe. She quickly looked him over. "You okay?" She breathed and he nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine," he said as he pulled her after the others who were quickly making their way back to the SUVs.