Evolution

Evolution: Chapter 27

"You look rough."

Rough? I'd just endured six bags of a personalized chemical elixir designed to wreak havoc on me. The last cycle I never knew of, nor wanted, was finally finished. Yet, the anguishing pain echoed through me, the kind that I'd definitely not forget.

My gaze turned to the empty plastic hanging from above, and I'd never loved a sight so much in my life. At least, now I could shut my eyes and not hope I didn't wake up.

"Apologies, was that insensitive?" Ripper continued, his gaze on the screen recording my vitals, "You'll have to eat something soon, keep up your strength."

Just the thought of digesting anything made my stomach lurch, "I thought this was meant to make me stronger," I groaned, feeling all my muscles scream when I moved to sit up, "But I feel like I was just put through a blender, and stitched back together."

"That was gloriously gory," Ripper drawled, cocking his brows up at me. I hissed through my teeth as he removed the central line, "For the next few days, you'll feel worse before you feel better. Don't look at me like that, blame Eric, if anyone."

Just the mention of his name brought me to think about him. It had been a while since he slipped off to do...whatever he was doing. A spit of anger splattered through my mind towards him for leaving.

Then again, I suppose he was pretty well practiced at it.

"And here I thought that was as bad as it could get." I muttered, dragging my fingers through my sweaty hair. Although bathing sounded amazing, I didn't have the energy to move an inch from this bed, "This room is smaller than I remember."

Maybe it was because I'd spent so long in a pain driven hysteria. Scratching at anything until my nails cracked, screaming my throat raw, it felt like I was shedding my skin. Which didn't feel nearly as poetic as it sounded.

Now that I was...somewhat back in control, I felt even worse than before.

Zero's grip on my mind was gone, torn away by the chemically induced torture. It felt like zip ties had been tied around my entire body, and were one by one sliced off. Leaving me with nothing but the memories of my actions, and...anger.

"Don't." Ripper's voice was like a shout through the room. I speared him with a scathing look, "If I were to sit, and thing about all the mistakes I've made, I'd drown myself in an ocean of regret. It's not worth it, what's done is done, Selene."

And there had been so much I'd done, but none nearly as bad as what I'd thought of doing. To people who had done nothing to me, yet, I wanted so badly just to...hurt others.

"It's not gone." My voice was hollow, dripping with guilt because I knew it was true, "The anger isn't gone, it's less...intense, but I can still feel it."

Whatever she'd done to my head, Zero made it count. I guess all those days spent with her only gave her more opportunity to root something in my mind. Now, the seed had been planted, and it was too late to dig it out.

Just the mere thought, the literal image of her face flashing through my mind...it made my fingernails dig into my palms.

"Somethings become a part of you, whether you want them too, or not." Ripper stated, dipping his hands into the pockets of his dress pants, "I like to refer to them as penance, think of it as the price you're paying for the mistakes you've made."

Well, it was better than sulking over it.

It made me look at him, really look. Ripper had this careless aura around him, making it hard to believe he cared about anything he done in the past. Shamelessness dripped off every inch of his being, yet, he spoke like there were truly things he done that cracked his conscience.