Psychopathy

Chapter 66- Possession

"I do rather like that idea," Reid said with a smile, and Ciara had a sad smile on her face. She took a deep breath as she gripped the clasp tighter. It occurred to Reid suddenly that he should ask if she needed help. He wasn't sure if she could undo the clasp by herself, but he was at least going to let her try. This was her moment. It was her time to take off the collar, one of the last things connecting her to Halsey. Finally and truly breaking free of that place and that man was something she needed to do by herself. She undid the clasp and let go of the collar, ready for the freedom that would come with the collar falling off.

Except it didn't fall off.

With the clasp undone, the band fell away from her neck, that was true. Ciara breathed in deeply, as if she hadn't been able to take a proper breath since it had gone on. Reid could believe it- her skin was still red where the band had been. He rubbed the back of his own neck, the skin prickling as he thought of how tight the collar must have been. And for someone who hated things on her neck, that must have been torture when it first went on. He hated to think of how uncomfortable she must have been until she got used to it.

She was still breathing deeply, remembering what it was like to fill her lungs with air. Remembering what it was like to breathe unobstructed. Her face broke into one of joy, and that made Reid's heart hurt. He didn't know how to tell her. He didn't know how to tell her the truth that would shatter that joy. The truth that would break her heart and snuff out the feeling of freedom. Reid was stuck in between a rock and a hard place. He could tell her, or he could let her find out the horrible truth by herself.

The truth that the shock collar wasn't completely off.

The plastic part in front, the part that had done all of the shocking, was still attached to her skin.

Surely she could feel it there, right? But one look at Ciara's face told Reid all he needed to know. She didn't know. And, upon closer inspection, how could she? Now that he looked closer, the skin around the collar was pink appeared rough, and slightly raised. He knew exactly what he was looking at: a burn scar, somewhat similar to the one on her back. If the burn scar extended past the collar, he could only imagine what the skin under the collar looked like.

If her skin had been burned repeatedly by the shock collar, her nerve endings might have been completely fried. If that was true, then that would mean that she could not feel the plastic on her skin. And, continuing that train of thought, Reid came to a horrible realization. Though he tried to control it, his eyes went wide when the thought hit him. The thought of why the shock collar wasn't completely coming off.

"Spencer?" Ciara asked softly, bringing him out of his thoughts. "What's wrong? Why do ye have that look on yer face? What are ye...?" Before she could finish the question, her eyes drifted down to her lap. To the place where the collar should have been, but wasn't. Immediately, her hands went to her neck, feeling the shock collar that was still there. Her eyes went wide with pure terror, her breath coming in quick gasps.

"Hey, it's okay. It's okay, Ciara, we'll figure this out." His words didn't have the comforting effect he was going for. She instead spiraled further into her panic, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Why is it still on me?" she nearly shrieked. "Why won't it come off?"

"I'm not positive, but I think... I think it may have something to do with the scar," he answered, not bringing himself to say it clearly.

"What? What does that mean?!"

"Okay. There's no way to sugarcoat this. Again, I'm not positive, but... I think the collar may be embedded into the scar tissue on your neck from repetitive burns," Reid explained, and the panic melted from Ciara's face. It was replaced by sadness and desperation as she looked at the wall, her fingers running along the plastic. She sucked in a deep breath through her nose as her face hardened, and she grabbed the band of the collar, as close to the plastic as she could. Reid realized her plan just a moment too late. "Ciara, no!"