{CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX}
"And... she's awake."
The searing pounding pain in Harlow head was nothing compared to the soreness of her throat. Unable to swallow without pain, the teenage girl let out small and little whimpers. Her finger tips slowly grazed, dancing up her neck before quickly moving up and onto to her forehead. She let her fingers remain there, simply resting on her skin, as she tried to dull the ache.
It took her a second to realise that she was lying down. Her whole body was lying against a hard but rugged surface. The last thing she could remember was... was... she wasn't too sure. Her head was all kinds of blurry and foggy. Harlow was positive that she could hear a whirl in her head as it tried to work. She could hear the gears turning, yet her mind failed to work properly.
A small groan left her lips, a noise that was unintentional. It sent a small shoot of pain into her head which caused yet another quiet whimper. While attempting to open her eyes, a blinding white light quickly scarred her corneas causing them to sting.
Due to all of the pain Harlow was feeling around various points of her body, she decided to just be. To just lay there, as still as she could. The teenage girl figured that sooner rather than later her memories would come back to her and she could figure out the situation - without causing herself any more unnecessary pain.
The choice was completely unlike Harlow. The girl who feared no pain and always fought to her fullest ability. But she gave up before and she was unknowingly choosing the same thing. It was almost as if her body knew that there was no escaping what was going to happen to her. Deep down in her head, she feared what would happen if she managed to open her eyes and sit up.
"Sir, he's...he's unstable. Erratic." A man spoke, his voice holding a hint of panic and urgency. He was scared, that much was obvious. Even Harlow, who was trying to convince her mind to shut off, could determine what the man was feeling. It piqued her interest, there was no denying it, but not quite enough to force her to move.
There was a low rumble followed by a high pitched click, marking the girls ears twitch similarly to a cat. Heavy footprints followed, getting louder as they marched past her body and continued on. A small shiver of uncertainty prickled her body and finally she was more than convinced to try opening her eyes again.
"Mission report." A gruff voice spoke snappily, letting out a quiet and agitated huff when he didn't receive an answer. Harlow's brows naturally furrowed as she tried opening her eye again. This time because of the light, her eyes squinted harshly, and she let them flutter close.
"Mission report, now." The same voice barked, then a loud slapping sound followed.
"The man on the bridge... Who was he?" Another voice muttered weakly, a sense of desperation in his tone. The voice was one Harlow recognised all too well and it was that very voice that finally gave her the strength to open her eyes.
"You met him earlier this week on another assignment."
"I knew him."
As the conversation was ongoing, Harlow finally came to her sense. Her memories came flooding back. This was not good. She was stuck, god knows where, with the people who turned her into the worst version of herself. The teenager tried to be perfectly quiet. She rolled onto her stomach, her eyes stinging as she stared up at Pierce and Winnie. Slowly and slyly, Harlow tried to pull herself over the ground, dragging her body as she tried to find anything to protect herself with.
"Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves."
"But I knew him." Winnie replied, a sad look on his face that clearly showed his total confusion. It made Harlow's stomach sink as she watched the different negative emotions form on her friends face. He was suffering so much pain and sadness inside and she had let him.
"Prep him."
Those words uttered by Pierce caused an uncontrollable reaction from Harlow. It was one she used to regularly show whenever they used to take Winnie away from her to wipe his mind. Those days were the worst. He would return to her with no idea who she was and no understanding about himself.
"He's been out of cryo-freeze too long." One of the Scientists butted in, avoiding looking at Pierce to hide themselves from the harsh glare they were no doubt receiving.
Harlow squeezed her lips forcefully together, trying to prevent small noises of struggle or frustration from leaving her lips. She took slow and controlled breaths through her nose as her fingers tried to grip at the dirty floor. The way her muscles strained while she tried to silently drag herself just proved how badly she had been drugged up. Nothing felt right and nothing was right.
"Then wipe him and start over. " Pierce demanded and that was when Harlow lost her small inch of temporary cover.
The words burst out of her, ripping through her throat before she could even think. "Don't hurt him!" She yelled out urgently. Within a second she regretted losing control. She was lying on her front, staring up, at Pierce whose head snapped towards her, with so much fear in her eyes.
Harlow was stuck in a vulnerable position. No weapon and a mind far too puzzled to safely use her powers. She wouldn't have cared about safety if Winnie wasn't there. If he wasn't, she would've just screamed as released everything within her. The teenager didn't care in that moment if it killed her. She's much rather die at her own hands than theirs. Their cruel and manipulative hands.
"And... she's awake." Pierce drawled, a smirk quickly appearing onto his face. Harlow could practically see the man light up in joy. Enjoying the girls suffering and misery. It wasn't all that surprising considering he was a part of Hydra, and a big one at that.
"Don't hurt him." She weekly muttered back in reply. "Please?" She croaked, her chin starting to crumple as flashes of Winnie screaming entered her mind. "Please?" She repeated even quieter, practically begging the man standing mere metres away from her.
"Still the same huh?" Pierce remarked, "Still ruining yourself for this brute..." he continued, carelessly motioning over to Winnie. "... a murderer that doesn't even know you." He added, emphasising each and every word to make it cut at Harlow like knives. "I would've expected you to know better by now."
Harlow couldn't muster up any words. Even though she knew undoubtedly that Winnie didn't remember her. It still hurt to be reminded.
Harlow's silence was marked as a victory in Pierce's head. He had managed to find and murder her soft spot once again. Her speechlessness fuelled his ambition to finally get the soldier he desired out of her. She would be his perfect creation, with the help of another individual. Pierce needed full control of the rebellious teenager. The method used on the Winter Soldier no longer worked on her so he was only left with only one option.
"Come on! You act as though you care for him... yet you left him behind." Pierce snapped, knowing exactly what buttons to push to get a rise of out Harlow. "Were you even trying to find him?" He queried, easily noticing the way the girls eyes narrowed in on him.
Harlow immediately clocked the game Pierce was playing, but it didn't stop her from falling into the trap. Her own anger and hatred with herself, for not starting the search for Winnie, plagued her mind. It was a sensitive topic, a sensitive situation that she still felt incredibly guilty about. No matter how prepared and level headed the girl was, with any mention to that subject she would be thrown off the rails.
With gritted teeth, Harlow started to push up the top half of her body. "I'm here now." There was a certain tone of determination that accompanied her words. It wasn't just the fact that she was very much physically there. The determination came from her newly found item. There was a scalpel lying in the floor inches from her. It must've fallen from the table nearby, but it didn't matter. The thin but sharp scalpel was a potential weapon to the girl. She just had to get it into her grasp without letting the man see.
"Yes, but you're weak and useless." He rapidly responded, "There's nothing you can do to protect him." Pierce strictly spoke, nodding his head to the scientist to signal him to wipe poor Winnies memories once again.
Pierce wasn't done with his instructions. He wasn't planning on causing unimaginable pain and misery to only one of them. With a shocking joyful smile, Pierce gestured to the largest guard in the room. "Get her." He spoke lowly, his voice sharp and direct.
Harlow's eyes widened, her hand clutching the scalpel tightly. If she got taken away that meant she couldn't protect Winnie. "Hey! Hey! Do you whatever you want to me, just leave him alone!" She bargained, blinking repeatedly as her eyes suddenly went blurry.
A loud laugh tumbled from Pierce's lips, one that echoed through the small room. "You're not really on the position to make demands." He snarled, his voice dripping with venom. The way he looked at Harlow showed so much joy and cruelty. Pierce was proud of himself. Proud of the things he managed to achieve within the torturous cult he was apart of.
Fine then. Harlow was only left with one option. Pretend not to care. "Okay then. Impale me with swords and hold me up on the wall. Beat me and strangle me. Do whatever the fuck you want." She muttered, shrugging as she spoke. For some reason, Harlow's mind flashed back to the boys. Imagining how negatively they would react to her casually talking about her torture. Peter would most likely be covering his ears.
"That can wait." Pierce replied, signalling to the guards to grab her. "First there's two people that have been waiting to meet you. They'll be excited to know it's finally the day." He mysteriously told Harlow, offering no clues as to who he was talking about.
It left Harlow puzzled. The already sore headed girl's mind was being pulled in every way as she tried to function properly. She sat back and allowed the guard to grab ahold of her under arms. He dragged her up, the girls feet were unstable making her look like bambi as she struggled. As dumb as it sounds, Harlow was slightly thankful that the boys weren't there to see her inability to stand. Yeah the circumstances weren't funny. But even she had to admit she looked dumb without any context.
With her arms being used to lift the girl, she could no longer hide the scalpel held in her fist. So she acted quickly, as soon as she had the chance, the scalpel ended up in the guards neck. Sticking out the side of it with blood flowing. Letting out a small grunt, Harlow removed the scalpel to let the wound bleed out before repeatedly stabbing the guard.
The teenage girl was shocked when Pierce made no move to prevent her from continuing her attack. He simply let her kill the guard. Watching the scene unfold with newfound excitement. Her attack confirmed to him that the assassin in Harlow was still very much there. Much closer to the surface than he originally thought. The red head could still be savage and brutal and he planned to use it.
Pierce had to force a bored look on his face, he couldn't let Harlow see his creepy giddiness. "You done?" He questioned rhetorically, crossing his arms over his chest. "I've got hundreds of guards to replace the guy you just killed. It's not like I'll bother letting their families know." He added, creeping towards Harlow and the dead guard. "There's nothing you can do to stop what we're going to do to you. So you just killed that man for no reason. You're a murderer, a skilled and highly intelligent assassin. You couldn't of thought that we'd let one of our best assets go, did you?"
Harlow's jaw became slack and unclenched as her eyes widened slightly. She couldn't help but spiral into worry. Was this going to be her life again? Was she never going to escape them?
If her life was going to go back to how it was she'd kill herself before she reached that point. It was the one advantage she had, they could no longer control her mind.
Or so Harlow thought.
But, what she didn't know was about the individual locked nearby that could and would play tricks with her mind. Another asset that was more than willing to fight against a so called enemy.
Harlow didn't stand a chance against the unknown.
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