The Power Inside (Kylo Ren)

Fourteen

A week passed with little interaction between Ren and Elle. Other than him checking her status, they didn't see or speak to each other. Elle was still mad that he believed he can control her. Ren was still mad that she had another guy alone in her room with her. Unknown to Ren, Elle was still hanging out with TJ. He was her only friend and made her time aboard the ship much more tolerable. 

She found it slightly liberating to be disobeying the Commanders orders; she was never going to follow them anyways. She was very careful so that she would be back in her room by the time Ren would arrive to check on her. TJ was aware of the threats Ren had made, though she lied and said it was because of a safety issue and not one of jealousy, but wanted to hang out with Elle despite that. 

It hurt Elle a little that Ren was ignoring and refusing to speak to her. She wanted to go back to the night he kissed her. She saw a softer side of him that she desperately wanted to experience again but she pushed that desire out of her head as quickly as it arrived. Alan had remained fairly quiet; he only spoke with her a few times during the week but it wasn't in regards to anything imperatively important. 

Another week went by quickly; the situation remained the same with her and Ren. TJ started teaching her some mechanical basics for a TIE Fighter to give Elle something to do. He could tell she was growing bored of being isolated. Elle's talk of emotions and feelings vanished as she started to revert back into her old self.

Towards the end of the week, Elle met up with TJ at their usual spot but there was another woman there with him. 

TJ spotted Elle and waved her over. "Elle, this is Dezra. She's my twin sister." he explained cheerfully. 

Dezra and TJ had very similar facial features, skin tones, and mannerisms. Her black hair was probably waist length but tied into a bun. The only discrepancy between the two of them, besides them being different genders, was that Dezra's eyes were a light blue color while TJ's were dark brown.

"Why are you just now telling me you have a twin?" she asked, surprised that it hadn't come up before. 

"We were separated a little over a year ago after TJ was assigned to the Starkiller Base. Oh, and call me Dez." she clarified. 

"Her assignment was moved here and the little shit wanted to surprise me." he added. 

Elle could see how happy TJ was to have his sister back. Dez hugged her tightly but Elle wasn't sure how to react so she just attempted to hug her back. 

"I'm really glad TJ actually has a friend here. He normally isolates himself and just focuses on his work." 

"He's a really good friend." Elle assured. "I would have gone completely insane by now if I hadn't met him." 

The three of them decided to go hang out in TJ's room for a little bit before he started showing Dez around the base. She was assigned to the communications sector to bridge the gap between incoming and outgoing signals and transmissions. She was very skilled with computers and communications technology; it was what Dez did at the previous ship she was stationed on.

Elle enjoyed her company just as much as TJ's. It was probably because they were so much alike. Elle lost track of the time and didn't realize that she missed a check in with Ren. It was an hour past the scheduled time. TJ glanced over at the clock and stopped mid sentence. 

"Elle...the time." 

Elle's smile quickly faded when she saw what time it was. "Oh fuck!" She quickly got up and ran out the door, barely getting out a goodbye before leaving. 

"Is she ok?" Dez asked.

"It's a long story..."

Elle ran as fast as she could to the guest quarters; once she made it there, she took a break so it wouldn't seem like she had been in a hurry from somewhere. When her breathing and heart rate slowed, she walked to her room and quickly entered it. She felt a chill followed by bumps on her skin but they weren't from Alan this time. 

Ren was sitting in her common area when she entered and his silent presence startled her. She swallowed what felt like a boulder in her throat and walked passed him towards her bedroom. He swiftly grabbed Elle by the arm and stopped her before she could make it. Ren had his helmet on but Elle could feel the rage emanating from him. She could picture the darkness when it clouded his amber eyes and how his jaw twitched when he was angry. 

"I got lost on my way back to my room from the mess hall." she lied. 

"Your attempt at a lie is pathetic." 

"I'm not lying. There was some sort of commotion that screwed up my direction." 

His grip tightened around her arm, "Lie one more time and see what happens." he warned. 

"Fine!" she yelled. "I was with TJ. Is that what you wanted to hear?" 

Ren threw Elle onto the ground violently by her arm. "I warned you what would happen if you saw him again." 

Elle rubbed her knee where it had struck a chair as he threw her, "I don't have to nor will I ever take orders from you." 

"I will make you regret your actions." 

"Fuck off. I'm not afraid of you." 

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto her feet, "You should be." 

"Why would I be afraid of someone as pathetic and childish as you. You're just an immature,  spoiled brat who destroys things when he doesn't get his way." Elle was screaming at him now and, at this point, couldn't stop herself. "No one respects you. You're useless, selfish, rude, ignorant..." 

Elle's words were cut off by a force squeezing around her throat. She instantly knew that he was using the force to cut off her oxygen and this only fueled her anger. 

"See...another child's...tantrum. Go...ahead. Fucking...kill...me." she taunted through struggling breaths. 

The force around her neck squeezed tighter, cutting off both blood supply and oxygen to her brain. Elle looked directly at Ren and smirked before going unconscious. Ren's rage had clouded his judgement and prevented him from realizing what he was doing to her. Shortly after going unconscious, Elle's heart stopped. 

He dropped her lifeless body onto the ground and stared at her as he quickly realized what he had just done. Ren started to freak out; he screamed as he picked her limp body up. He kicked through the door and ran as fast as he could to the medical ward. He kept looking down at her pale face as the tears streamed down his face, hidden behind his helmet.