Don't Forget

Chapter Three

When all those shadows almost killed your light

I rub my eyes sleepily and sit up against the wall. Chance is still slumped against the wall, breathing deeply. The sun peeks through the glass and scatters all over the cement cell floor. I look at the ticking clock on the wall. 11:58 AM. 

I shake Chance's shoulder. He moans and slowly opens his eyes. 

Just close your eyes...

"Morning, Alyssa. Sleep alright?" he asks drowsily. I nod. 

"Not going to talk, are you?" he says amusedly. I shake my head and gaze straight ahead, gripping the ropes in my hand. 

"Well, it's almost noon. They'll take us to lunch hall," Chance says, standing up and striding over to his side of the room, just as some steps sound in the hall. A buzzer sounds, and the heavy door slides open. A tall, comandering guard stands on the other side with a syringe. 

"Carter, Alyssa?" he says gruffly. I stand up. 

"Stick out your arm. You're being injected with your tracking device. Try to escape and you will be located," he says. I hold out my arm and he plunges the sharp needle into my forearm quickly. I yelp a little in pain.

"Alright, let's go. Lunch hall for thirty minutes. All conversations with other prisoners are monitored," he says, gripping me by the arm in one hand and Chance in the other. We go deeper, deeper into the prison, winding through the dark and dank hallways that echo with silence and pain. We come to a metal door, like the one by my cell. The guard slides it open and roughly shoves us into the hall. 

It's huge. With pure white walls and small windows that look out into the water- as we are underwater, I guess- it's bare. Grey tables stand in lines with benches slid underneath them. A lunch line by the far right wall is winding. There, prisoners in equally grim clothing line for what looks like some sort of stew. The guard jabs us in the direction of the line. Chance steps forward and strides over to the line,  grabbing a tray from a stack. 

Don't leave me here alone... 

I stand in the middle of the hall, my arms hanging limply by my sides. The hair falls around my face, and I feel so lost. Why did I even bother to come? 

713. Tick, tock. 

Then I hear it. 

A voice. Calling my name. 

It sounds like someone I know. I slowly turn around. 

Ethan. 

He's standing against the wall, hands shoved in pockets. A faint smile is playing across his lips, and he's calling my name. 

"Alyssa," he says. "You're alright." 

"Ethan." I breathe it, so quietly. Only I can hear it. 

He was there. He could have saved you. 

He starts running towards me. Calling my name, louder. Louder. 

He could have saved Jason. 

His arms are stretched. Reaching for me. Something rises up in me. Not sadness. Or loss. Or pain. But anger. I remember what I can do. I remember that I'm stronger than him. That I have something he doesn't. The memory is so strong, I can feel it pulsing in my head, pounding. Pushing. Fighting through the haze in my mind. 

I look up slowly. Look into his eyes. My mouth twists into a sneer, and I can feel my eyes darken with anger and hate. I raise my hand, slowly, as if to stop him. I feel electricity coursing through my arm, and the force field explodes out of my hand with a pulse, the nearly clear sphere, tinged with blue, surrounds me. Ethan crashes into it, then flies back into the wall with a crash. I let my mouth form a shadow of a smile. 

He will only hurt you. Make you weak. Try to make you forget him. 

Forget Jason. 

For a moment, I set my eyes only on Ethan. I feel a tinge of regret. But something inside of me shoves it away. Then I hear the shouts. The alarms. The guards surround me, looking at me with shock. They yell into their communicuffs, calling for back up and for the warden. Prisoners are looking at me with awe. I search for Chance in the crowd. Wondering what his reaction is. I see him, pushing through to the front. He stands in front of me, and he sees me, really sees me, for the first time. 

I am deadly. Dangerous. Wild. Powerful. 

His eyes register shock, and fear, and wonder. I lock eyes with him for a heartbeat then look away, out the windows, into the dark waters pressing against the walls. Ethan slowly gets up. His eyes find mine. 

For the first time since the cave, I hear his voice in my mind, pushing through the mind blocks that have formed inside this prison. 

Why? What have you done? What happened to you? 

But I don't answer. Because I don't know, really.  I don't know why I think that it was his fault, but mine too. I don't know what I've done, because it gets so shrouded in that fog in my mind. I don't know what happened to me.

Something broke. Deep inside. 

I shut my mind down, return to the mist. I feel so tired, drained of any energy I'd held onto since the last time I ate. I feel the world around me getting dark, my eyelids droop. I feel the energy leave my body, and I fall to the ground, broken. 

***

When I wake up, I am on a bed I don't recognize. Not in my cell. I'm strapped down. The room is as bare as the very first one I was in since my imprisonment. Cameras are set on the wall. A door, invisible before, slides open soundlessly. A man, not like the first, walks in. He's tall, and thin, wearing a dark suit. With palaple, deeply set grey eyes, carefully slicked brown hair peppered with grey, and strong, bony hands, he exudes power. His eyes are trained on me, watching me intently. I'm not looking at him though. I'm looking at some unseeable point beyond him, beyond this place. He stands in front of me, waiting. I wait a long time before I hear him say anything. 

"Miss Carter. It seems that we didn't fully... analyze you upon your arrival," he says. "You appear to be a very, very special girl. With very special powers. Alyssa, dear, I'm not going to lie to you, so you don't lie to me, alright?" he says slowly. 

I just nod, mechanically. 

"You have powers we can use to accomplish our... purpose. Our mission. Because of this, you're going to help us. We know that you can take animus. Did you know that? An animus, as you may know, is the hybrid portion of a supernatrual creature. We need to use this, Alyssa. For some... experiments," he says. 

"But... but that's wrong. It hurts other people," I say, confused. "And... and it's against the Queen's laws."

"I see. You are not currently... prepared for the task. But in a week or so, you will be. For now, you are going to return to your cell. In a few days, you will be taken to a special... place, where you will be prepared for the task. Is this clear?" he says, firmly. Something in his eyes tells me to listen. He looks me right in the eye, and I feel like maybe he's right. 

I nod. 

He smiles. "Good, Miss Carter. I think we understand each other, do we not? After all, we are very similar, although you don't know it yet," he says, turning and walking towards the door. I watch his retrating figure leave. As he's about to step through the door, he turns. 

"I'm sorry, I never introduced myself. Call me Caspian Thorne, Miss Carter," he smiles. "Sweet dreams," he whispers. Already, I feel myself falling back under the drug induced haze in my mind. 

And with that, he leaves me in the room, alone. 

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So... whatcha think? 

Of Thorne? Or Alyssa? Ethan? 

Vote comment fan!!! 

Love, 

Ari <3 

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