***Running up That Hill: Kate Bush***
"...Excuse me?" He said. His face was twisted in a frown. He was mad.
"uh... Timothee will do it?" She repeated.
"How?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"He just going to cut it out."
"Cut it out...? Why can't I do it?" He snapped.
"Well.... Don't you think it's kind of suspicious if we are trying to get out of here?" She replied. Why was he getting mad at her? She didn't like this. At all. He didn't reply. He stayed silent, staring at her. His jaw was clenched, and his fists were clenched.
"When?" He asked. He walked closer to her.
"I don't know yet, he says he needs to learn when to properly cut it," She replied. He nodded. "Once he does though... I'll get yours out...Like the last time," She said. He relaxed his fists and his shoulders.
"It's going to be quick, so you don't suffer yes?" He said.
"Let's hope it is," She sighed. He walked closer to her.
"That's not what I want to hear," He said.
"I... I don't know," She replied. He stayed silent. He caressed the side of her face.
"We won't be here for long, I promise you," He whispered "Be a good girl for now will you?" She nodded, and smiled. He kissed her forehead.
"Let's go, before anyone starts asking questions,"
[...]
It was getting late, and she walked back to her room. She laid down on her bed, and undressed herself. She looked at herself in the mirror. Visible purple and pink marks were on her breasts, and collarbones. She ran a finger on top of them, giving herself goosebumps. She laid down on her bed and shut her eyes. She could still feel his hands resting over her hips. She shook her head. The days were going to be more difficult if she was going to be fantasizing about Him all the time. The next few days were stagnant, and uneventful. Like any morning, she walked over to the Rainbow room, and sat in one of the couches. Him came in. They crossed each other's eyes. She looked down and closed her leg shut. She ignored the usual morning announcement, and kept to herself. She was assigned to do exercises with Timothee. She walked out of the rainbow room, into the corridors of the family. She noticed a new girl. She was beautiful, and seemed nice. She saw Him speaking with the new girl. He was smiling. She felt a knot in her stomach, and rage stuffing her throat. She swallowed her saliva, and kept on staring. This girl was obviously flirting with him. The girl was smiling, twirling around her hair. Her uniform was tight, showing her curves. Twenty clenched her fists. She walked by them, and she gave him a side eye.
"Stay away from her," she snarled while walking away, towards the room. She didn't look at him and especially not her. She didn't care about being a "secret", didn't give him the right to be disrespectful. She walked to her exercise room, and entered. Timothee was already inside.
"Hey!" He said with a smile.
"Hi," she replied sitting down.
"I have some news, I can bring you tonight." He said. She nodded. "But for now, let's just finish this," She completed her exercises fairly quickly. She stood up, and walked towards the door.
"I'll come knock on your door once eveyrhing is clear okay?" He said.
"Yes,"
"See you later, Y/n," he said. Y/n....?
"See you," she replied before leaving the room. She closed the door. She walked in the corridor. She took the usually left turn, and bumped into someone. She jumped and looked up. It was Him. He had a smirk printed on his lips. He rolled an arm around her waist, and pulled her closer to him.
"P-Peter- wha-"
"You were jealous," He said. She blushed. He leaned in to be closer to her ear.
"N-no..."
"Yes... Yes... You absolutely were," He said, planting a kiss on her neck. "Don't worry about that princess, I'm all yours." He said. His cologne was overwhelming her senses, and his breath on her neck was sending shivers down her spine. "Maybe a few trips in my office while we are stuck here will give you a reminder," He said. She blushed. She would love it. He then pulled back.
"Maybe we could go back right now," He continued.
"I-"
"I would love to see you on your knees... Or even laying down on my desk, Mmh?"
She shook her head. He was driving her crazy.
"But I want to see you struggle first... I'd like you to keep on fantasizing about me," He finished before letting her go and walking away. "See you later love," He said.
"Peter!" She asked, confused. He laughed in the distance, and disappeared from her view. She walked away, flustered. He could play with her emotions so easily. She quickly made her way into her room. She sighed and sat down at her desk. Now she had to feel uncomfortable for the rest of the night. Time was slow, and she was bored. Finally, after what felt like forever, she heard knocks at her door. She stood up, and opened her door.
"Ready?" Timothee said.
"Ok, let's do it," She said. He careful looked left to right, then nodded. He started walking, and she followed him. They went through a set of doors, and walked towards the end of a corridor she hadn't been before. The entered a room, full of televisions, and tables of buttons and wires. She sat down. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see that. Was it better to simply not know? She pressed play. It was a regular tape, without sounds. The quality wasn't the best, but you could tell what was going on at least. She saw herself jerking in the chair for a few seconds, then stopping. They were torturing her. She skipped forward, skipping a few days. They were all the same. At one point, two more people were visible on the tapes.
"Your parents," Timothee clarified. She nodded. They were given the same treatment as her. She couldn't look. Her body went into emotional shock. Nothing made sense.
"I don't want to see this anymore," She said.
"Wait, you should watch this before. It's important I think," He said. He changed the tape and replaced it with a new one. The screen was black, then it switch to static for a few seconds. The static showed an image. The room was different this time. It offered two cameras, showcasing two different rooms. The first camera showed the room where She was. She was alone, laying down on a chair. The same one as the punishing room. The other was a strange room with a slit in the wall. The slit was glowing, and had vines growing out of it. A big water tank was next to it. Just like what Hopper had described... That must be the opening to the upside down. She saw her parents, walking inside the Upside Down. Then, the tapes shut off and the screen went black.
"...What's going on?"
"The tape is done," He replied.
"Why?"
"I don't know, it's the only tape that was kept from that night," He replied. She didn't reply. She didn't know how to feel or react.
"Are they still alive?" She asked.
"I don't know," He replied with a shrug. "I'm really sorry,"
Her heart sank. She couldn't believe it. She felt herself retreat in her own head. Just like that day, when they escaped. The tapes took a few days to digest. She couldn't process what had happened. She still hadn't, and yet today was the day. They were removing her Sotaria. She was nervous. She felt like a pit was resting on her stomach. She couldn't eat breakfast that morning. She nonchalantly went about her day, waiting. It was around 4h, when she heard someone knock at her door. She opened it, and Timothee was there. He entered her room. He looked nervous.
"Are.. Are you sure you still want to do this?" He asked.
"Well, you still want to learn Telekinesis?" She said. He stayed silent and nodded. She sat down by her desk. He took out a pouch from his pockets. He slowly rolled it open on the table. He had different knifes, scalpels and tissues. There was also a syringe.
"What's that?" She asked, pointing out the needle.
"It's painkiller... It's methadone. I brought it just in case you wanted to numb the pain when I..." He then shrugged his shoulder. "When I cut it open," He finished.
"No thank you," She replied. She didn't trust him.
"Ok.. Ready?" She nodded. "Here we go..." He said. He got close to her, and she felt him slice open her skin.
Her eyes went wide open, and she bit down on the belt. This was painful, and they hadn't even started yet. How did she even think it would be that easy?
"Mmh... Maybe I should just open it quickly, to make it less painful?" He said. She nodded and closed her eyes. Her body tensed up, anticipating the pain.
"Oh no!" He said. His voice was shaking. She didn't feel it at first. She felt something warm dripping on her. Not dripping, pooling all over her body. She looked down and saw blood, running down her arm, and chest. Then, the pain hit her. A vivid, pinching pain, pulsating on her neck. She felt him apply pressure on the wound, to stop the bleeding. Her face twisted.
"I'll pretend that you wanted to kill yourself, I'll say that your thing is still inside of your neck..."
"Can you hear me...?"
"....Y-N...?"
" ...you need to..."
It was strange. Almost like dreaming, but she could hear some voices in the background. One second she was standing, then she was laying down. She couldn't talk, it was too much of an effort. She felt weak. Something like she had never felt before. She heard a chaos of voices all around her, but they were slightly echoed. She could hear different voices asking her questions, but she couldn't reply. Her head was spinning. This feeling lasted for ages. She felt someone tilt her head to the side. Something sweet on her lips. Orange juice. She had a few sips, then turned her head. That felt very nice. A few minutes pasts and her head stopped spinning. She opened her eyes slowly. The ceiling was white, and her vision was slightly blurry. She blinked a few times. She felt like she had several headbands around her head, squeezing her head and temples. She noticed there was a pack of ice behind her neck and one of her forehead. She slowly removed both of them. The light was making it worst. She turned her head. He was there. Just like in the tapes. Except he wasn't standing behind a window this time. He was next to her. She slowly reaches for his hand. Her movement caught his attention, and he crossed her eyes. They light up. Even though his expression was severe, his eyes denounced him.
"Hello, how are you feeling?" He asked formally. She noticed there were other guards in the room. She weakly pointed at her neck, making sure to stay discrete.
"I...It...It's... out..." She whispered in between breaths. His eyes twinkled. He knew they were being watched, and still took the risk. He leaned in, to be closer to her ear.
"We'll get out again... Hmm? You did so well today... I'm so proud of you," He whispered, caressing the side of her face. She nodded. He sat straight back up. His face became more severe.
"She's awake," He said with a monotone voice, before sitting up and walking away. He took one last glance at her and left the room. She knew he had to leave. It was better this way. After all, she was always meant to be a secret.
The door opened again, this time it was Papa who came in, alongside three guards. He sighed when he saw her.
"Twenty...Dear... I didn't know you were that miserable here," He said sadly. He walked closer to her hospital bed and sat down next to her. He seemed to be conflicted. Genuinely conflicted. How could he ever feel after what he had done? Remembering the tapes made her nauseous.
"Eleven is still missing... Do you happen to know where she is?"
"No..." She replied. Papa nodded.
"I know you don't want to stay here. I'm going to let you go... You and One."
"Twelve?" She asked.
"No, not twelve."
"Then we are not having this discussion anymore." She laughed sarcastically.
"It's either this or you stay here forever. You can't escape twice. I analyzed the footage from that day. You won't be able to get away this time." Papa replied. She sighed. "All I am asking of you is that if you ever see Eleven, to report her location right away." He followed. She was conflicted. On the other hand, she had the opportunity to live the life she wanted, alongside One. On the other, Twelve had to stay at the lab forever.
...Sometimes, you have to be selfish in life in order to obtain what you want...
*** thank you for reading and thank you for 80k what the hell!!! That's so many people! I hope you are all enjoying the book so far ^^' have you folks seen the new trailer for Vol.2 season4? IM SO EXCITED!!!! I'm sorry for the late upload, I kinda lost inspiration for a bit, but it came back! Hopefully new chapter tomorrow!! I'm feeling like writing smut but like in a kitchen hehehehe. Anyway, see you next chapter 💟****