Running

Powerless

TW: Forced medication, Cursing, Panic Attack, Crying, Passing out, Handcuffs,

I shift anxiously in my seat as he gets up and walks away. Not even a minute later, another person steps into the room. I immediately recognise her as Dr Anderson. I remember her because she worked in the medical unit when I got really sick that one time.

"You've grown up." She says, stepping behind me and grabbing the chain connecting my handcuffs and pulling my hands behind my head so that my elbows are facing the ceiling. I hear her connect the chain to the back of the chair, and I now can't move my arms.

"Is that a compliment?" I ask, quite rudely.

"I don't know. But, you've grown up a lot. I can see it in your eyes."

"Did nobody tell you that you arent mean to look at my eyes?"

"They did. But I'm not scared of you. And in about ten minutes, nobody will be."

I grimace at her. "That's fine. I never wanted people to be scared of me."
"You enjoy it though, don't you?"

She leaves the room momentarily and returns with a glass of water and a small pill in her hand. "I do need to let you know that there are people watching this on the security cameras, so they will see if you attempt anything."

"Like what? I'm tied up." I say sarcastically.

Dr Anderson asks me to talk about my friends for a moment while she sets up. So I do.

"Uh, okay. So, there's Logan. But, you probably know about him already, him being Dr Berry's son and all. It's ironic, isn't it? And then, uh, Patton. He's the innocent one, y-you could say. Makes a cute dog th-thou-ough. And Roman, he's a healer. Kinda arrogant at tim- don't tell him I said that. And then his brother, Remus. I hope I didn't hurt him too badly earlier. Oh, and Ja-Janus. He's really c-cool, but he-"

While I'm talking, Dr Anderson practically shoves the small white pill into my mouth and then follows it by pushing the glass of water to my lips as I gasp in surpise from not expecting it.

I gasp and tilt my head back, panting like a dog as she puts the pill bottle down on the table.
"What the fuck?!" I practically yell.

"If I told you when I was going to do it, you probably would've had a panic attack."

"...Fair enough."

I pause for a moment. "Wait, why did I have to be tied up for that?"
She raises her eyebrow.

"You didn't think it was going to be painless, did you? You're tied up so that you don't run around all crazy when the pain gets to your head."

"What?! You- n- nobody told me it would h-hurt!"
"Cue the panic attack." She mutters, leaning against the wall.

I try to move around in my chair but can't. In the middle of my panic, I feel the pain kick in.
"Fuck!"

I don't even notice that Logan's dad has entered the room and is watching me too. "Please try not to swear, Virgil. There are some people very high up in this business watching." He scolds, but I barely hear him through the intense feeling.

"Oh my God! Fuck!" Hot tears flow down my cheeks as I squeeze my eyes shut tight and try not to think about the pain.

The sharpness slowly fades. When it's completely gone, I find myself panting and sobbing.
Come on Virgil, pull yourself together.

"Right, I think we should test if he still has his abilities."

------------

Remus' POV:

A nice-looking man named Marcus has just finished telling us what the situation is with Virgil.
I'm in shock.

"So, the proposal for you guys is that you will all be set free from persecution, if you agree with me that you know nothing about the death of Mr Johns. And, everyone in this room has to agree."

I look around at everyone. They all look relitively upset. Except for the three girls. I can't even remember their names. They don't know Virgil properly, so I understand that they arent sad about him deciding to loose his powers.

Melanie, however? She's lettng slow tears fall down her cheeks. I understand why she's upset, she's known him for a long time.
"Why- Why would he do that?" She asks.

"He said no at first. The offer was originally that he just wouldn't face any consequences for murder. He said no, and he was fine with being arrested until I put that blindfold on him. That was when he went crazy and changed his mind, after I upgraded the offer to free all of you."

"Oh my Gods, Vee.." She mutters, wiping her eyes.

---------

Virgil's POV:

"Whenever you're ready, but sooner rather than later please." Dr Berry says.
I'm stood in the centre of a room with glass to the right. There's about ten people all standing, about half with clipboards.

Infront of me is a man, strapped down to a chair. They want me to see if I can snap his neck.

I breathe in before replying. "It's been a while since I've done this, you know?"

"Virgil, it's been two months at best."
"Fine, yeah. Okay.. Right-"

I look in his eyes and try to focus on the feeling that I usually do when I do this. But I can't.

It just doesn't happen. Damn. I guess they weren't fucking around when they said no powers anymore, huh?

"I-I can't."

I didn't realise that I'd get this emotional, but it feels like part of my identity is gone.

A few people in the spectator's area clap and smile. "It worked!" One of them says.

"Virgil?" Dr Berry says, clicking his fingers infront of my face.

Will I really never do magic again? I mean- It's not like I used it regularly, but this feeling isn't good.

I suddenly feel dizzy.

---------

Dr Berry's POV:

As I'm trying to get Virgil's attention, he looks forward and not really at anything, and then his eyes roll back into his head and he passes out.

I manage to catch him in my arms with a bit of a grunt.

"Uh, Lisa?" I call her from the edge of the room.
"Oh. Yeah- hold on."

She pulls a small flashlight from her lab coat, and pulls back one of Virgil's eyelids, shining the light into his pupil.
"Stress."

"What?"

"He's passed out from stress. I can tell."

For a split second, I feel bad for him. But I shouldn't. He's a murderer.
So am I, but mine was 3rd degree. His was 2nd. And he's killed a lot of people. Also, I've done things with my life.

What's he done? Nothing.

"He'll wake up on his own at some point today. What should we do?" Dr Anderson asks.

"Just take him to the room with Logan and his friends. They'll be released later this week."
"Will do."

I turn and leave the room, heading to my office. I have paperwork to do. A lot of it.

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Thanks for reading.
Now, would you believe me if I told you that this is the third chapter I've written today? Me??? Author, who misses uploads constantly?

I'm stock-piling chapters so I don't miss updates as often.

ALSO! ALSO ALSO! Tommorrow (12/12/2020) is the six month anniversary of when I published this book! I'm so greatful for all of the support.

Stay safe!