Alex took another menacing step forward into the Tourture room. Janson, though his face was twisted he took a quick step back. Alex was seething with rage, she could feel every muscle was tense and coiled, her eyes narrowed and her hands were numb.
"JANSON! I SWEAR!" Alex screamed, raising her arm ready to throw the knife.
Minho made a small groaning noise. Alex's eyes snapped down to him. He didn't move but moaned again. Alex hesitated.
"Minho?" Alex breathed.
She heard Janson cackling. Alex looked back at him, he had his walkie talkie out. He had pressed something on it. Alex heard a blaring beep in her ear from her stolen com. Without much thought or aim she chucked her knife at Rat Man. She heard it hit, heard him scream in pain. She didn't care right now. Her attention was on Minho.
She had dropped to her knees in front of him. She knew she didn't have much time. With the blaring siren, alerting all the guards where the intruder was, she knew it was only a matter of minutes before soliders and guards were on her.
"Min? Minho?" Alex pleaded.
She gently reached a hand to his face, cupping his bruised cheek. Her anger broke, and despair washed over her instead. She was looking into the face of a broken young man who once had joy and life in his face.
"Come on Love, wake up." She whispered desperately, tears threatening to fall. Both hands were now holding his face.
His eyes fluttered open for a brief second. Alex brushed her thumbs over his cheeks.
"Come on Babe! Minho, it's me. I'm here. I'm here now! Wake up!" Her voice broke.
His eyes fluttered open again, and stayed open this time. Alex could see his beautiful coffee brown eyes. But they looked confused, angry and scared.
Despite the confusion of seeing the terror in his eyes she smiled at him. "Minho!" Alex breathed in relief.
"Who ..." he muttered, his voice was raw and scratchy.
"Who?" Alex asked, "Min, it's me! It's Alex!" Now it was Alex's turn to frown. Minho's eyebrows scrunched together.
"Alex?" He muttered again and then whimpered.
"Min, what's wrong?"
She was still kneeling in front of him, holding his face in her hands. Janson had managed to crawl into the corner holding his shoulder where Alex's knife was still embedded.
"I...I don't...know you... I think...maybe?...Get..away.... You're a WICKED mut! Get...away..." He groaned and then let out another whimper.
Alex felt like she was stabbed in the heart and her veins turned to ice.
What did they do to him?
"Minho! It's me! It's Alex! You don't remember me? Remember us? Anything?" Alex asked desperately.
She fumbled for one of her knives, Minho flinched when she brought it out. He tried fighting the restraints, his pupils dilating and his breathing stopped. Alex cut one of the bonds around his wrists, and then the other one. Both his hands were free. He slumped forwards, with nothing holding him up, Alex dropped her knife and caught him helping him sit back up.
"Minho. Love. It's okay. I got you. I'm here-" she was cut off by Minho wrapping his hands around her neck. And he squeezed.
She heard Janson cackling in the back. She also heard the pounding of footsteps from the hall. However, her main focus was on the young man she loved, who was trying to strangle her. His face was twisted with confusion, and anger and fear. He squeezed her neck, cutting off her air. Alex couldn't breathe.
Why? Why is this happening? What did they do to him? Why doesn't he remember? What's a WICKED mut?
Alex let out a sob, but it was more like a gasp. She had grabbed onto his wrists. She needed to break this hold, but she didn't want to hurt him. This wasn't him. Not really. Her Minho was still there, she could see it in the confusion.
She tucked her chin, still holding his wrists, and she dropped, using her dead weight. Catching Minho off guard. It loosened his grip. She twisted her body and broke the hold all together, twisting away, on her knees. She scooped up her knife again. He fell panting. His legs were still strapped to the chair. Alex backed up enough that she was out of his reach. She was coughing and gasping. Her throat hurt; she would have bruises for sure.
She heard the door from the hall open. Guards came pouring into the small room. Alex pulled her stolen gun. She opened fire. The blue electricity hitting anything that moved, she dropped 2 guards. Someone shot back at her. Alex leapt in front of Minho, making sure he wouldn't get hit. The first few missed, but one hit her in the chest, making her drop her gun. She instantly felt alive. Her eyes sprang open, her pupils dilating, her heart rate picked up and a surge of pure energy hit her. She could hear Janson screaming from the corner.
Alex leapt forwards with a feral scream, another knife in her hand. She was determined to take down as many as possible. She didn't want to hurt them. She wanted to destroy them! Rip them apart, slowly, person by person, brick by brick.
She swung her knives, stabbing, slashing and cutting. She kicked one guard in the back of the knee and he crumpled, slashing down his face and neck. He didn't get up. The guards couldn't get close enough because she was still jumping with the blue electricity. She grabbed one of the guards by the wrist, he screamed, when electricity transferred to him. She twisted around, and used her knee to slam down into his elbow braking his arm. She kicked him away.
Someone tried to grab her, but she ducked and spun on her knee, holding her knives out, and cut another guard across his calves, making him crumple in a scream of pain. She stabbed him in the ribs, as she yanked her knife out his screaming turned to a garbled grunt and then stopped. The electricity had started to disappear, she could feel the surge of adrenaline and power wearing off.
Another guard had grabbed her from behind, Alex lifted her legs up and with all her momentum coming down with the depleting energy and power she bent forwards and tossed him over her shoulder with a yell, he slammed into the wall, slamming his head. She heard more footsteps pounding the hall.
Shuck. I can't take all of them on my own.
She glanced over at Minho. He had managed to right himself in the chair and was staring at her mouth open, eyes huge. There was a flicker of recognition in his eyes.
"Minho?" Alex called. His eyes snapped to hers. "MINHO! IT'S ME! PLEASE! MIN! IT'S ME!" She screamed, desperately trying to make him remember.
More guards came pouring into the room. It was crowded now with all the body's scattered on the floor. Janson had clawed his way to stand. Alex tried to fight the fresh wave of soldiers, but these new guys had more protection, and she was already tired from having already fought, they backed her into a corner and overpowered her, just by sheer numbers.
"A squadron of grown men against one small girl with 2 knives." Alex laughed at them, as they grabbed hold of her finally. She let out a wild laughed. That's all she could do, was laugh. Or she was going to break down and cry.
She finally made it here, finally made it to Minho and he didn't know who she was. he was terrified of her, and he wanted to hurt her.
She was hit over the head with the back of a gun. Her world went black.
______________
Her mind woke up. But her eyes remained closed. Her head hurt.
Why does it hurt? Where am I ..?
She let out a small groan. She tried to lift her hand to rub her head, but her arm wouldn't move.
The shuck?
Alex tried her other arm. Also stuck. Alex tried opening her eyes, but they were heavy. She groaned again, she moved her head. It swung to the side. She finally forced her eyes open. She had to blink a few times, the lights were bright. Alex was sitting in a chair, her wrists and arms strapped.
The chair was similar to a dentist chair, her ankles were also strapped down, the cold metal biting into her. They had stripped her of her weapons and jacket, leaving her in just a shirt. She moved her head back to the middle, her head felt heavy. Her head hung down, she groaned again lifting her head. Standing in front of her was Janson, his bloody arm in a sling. And sitting behind him chained to a metal table was Minho.
"Uhg, you didn't die?" Alex said, her voice was raspy, "I should have killed you better."
"Sorry to disappoint you my dear."
"Oh shuck you!" Alex spat at him.
"Hmm. Nasty temper." He clucked his tongue and shook his head. He was quiet for a moment, both of them glaring at each other.
"So. Why am I strapped to a chair?" Alex asked, slamming her wrists against the restraints for dramatic effect. "Scared of one little girl? You should be. I killed Ava Page and a whole squad of guards, all with two small knives!"
Janson narrowed his eyes. But she could see his eye twitching, he wasn't sure if she was lying about Ava. He shook his head quickly and with his good arm he motioned to her chair.
"Ahhh yes. I'm conducting a science experiment. See we have been trying out this new theory. Using this wonderful specimen here." He gestured to Minho.
"I have a name." Minho spat.
Janson went on, "we took your memories, but yet somehow you two managed to somehow work around that. Or so we thought. Dr Smith had a theory that if we took one's memories and altered them enough with the help of enough physical pain, we could change how you felt about each other."
"What? We...we had feelings for each other ..?" Minho whispered, scrunching his face. Janson completely ignored him.
"Yes Minho. We did. I loved you! Still do actually. Very much! Why do you think I stormed this shuck place alone? I came to find you!" Alex said softly, looking him in the eye.
He blinked a few times at her and looked back at the table, muttering to himself.
Alex snapped her eyes to Janson. She was horrified at what Janson had just said about what they were trying to do. Did they manipulate Minho's feelings towards her work, trying to make him hate or fear her?
"Sorry to disappoint you. No wait. Correction. NOT sorry! Not sorry at all. I killed your Dr. Anna Smith over a month ago. Her body is rotting away in an abandoned house, who the shuck knows where, she's just a nasty smell in someone's old house. Oh, I also killed your precious Chancellor Doctor Ava Page- though I mentioned that already. She's rotting in a janitor's cupboard somewhere around here." Alex spat.
Minho looked back up at her, his eyes wide. "You killed her? Teresa thought the Right Arm did..."
"I am the Right Arm, love. I killed her. Personally." Alex said softly to Minho.
"I want to test a few things first." Janson cut in.
Janson pulled something thin and black out of his pocket. He pointed it at the wall. A screen came to life. It flicked through some images of the Glade. All the images were of her, but they were fuzzy, and definitely altered. She definitely didn't have real fire for hair. Or claws for hands. Or crank like eyes. She definitely fought Gally in the sand pit, but didn't punch him out cold and then stand and laugh, and yell WICKED is good.
She was at the banishing of Chris, but she was beaten up and terrified of him, not standing and laughing. She definitely slapped Minho, but that was after he started rumors of her and he ignored her for 3 weeks. Absolutely no way she pushed Alby, Minho and Thomas into the maze when the doors closed, trying to kill them. And there was no way in shuck she pushed Matt off the cliff or Chuck in front of a gun. She didn't stand at the maze wall entrance calling Grievers in to attack! She also wasn't the one to call WICKED at Jorge's warehouse! She definitely didn't blow up the building!"
"Minho!" She gasped. "none of that is true!" She called, desperately, "how could I have done any of that? They changed everything! It's not real!"
Minho sat with a slight frown and furrowed eyebrows. Janson nodded to something or someone behind her chair. Alex tried to twist but she was strapped tight. A person in all white stepped forward. She couldn't see anything but their eyes. They unceremoniously stabbed a needle into her arm. Alex hissed at the pinch. She felt the liquid flow through her body. It felt like icy fire. It burnt her body from the inside. Alex gasped from the cold burning sensation.
"Before it takes full effect. Alex. Where is the Right Arm?" Janson asked.
"No shucken clue." Alex spat back.
"Tell me where the Right Arm is!" He asked again louder.
"You deaf? No idea!" Alex yelled back. She could feel the heat intensify.
"Hmm. Well. That's too bad. Because if you were working with them, you would know where they would be. Isn't that right Subject A7?" He had turned to Minho.
Alex snapped her head towards him.
"Janson, are you this stupid? I don't have the patience or the crayons to explain this to you! They move around a lot, and they don't tell us klunk! So I HAVE NO SHUCKEN CLUE!"
She paused to gasp as another shock wave of pain shot through her veins.
"You also took care of all my memories of the geography of the world. How am I supposed to know where anything is? You twat waffle!" Alex yelled.
Her frustration with him was at its peak, the hot acid in her veins was making its way to her muscles, making it harder to keep her voice even.
She heard Janson's sleazy voice continue. "If Alex claims to be with the Right Arm resistance group, shouldn't she know where her army is? That would mean she works for WICKED. She knows where we are."
"The shuck? Everyone knows where you are! You literally have the name in giant flashing letters outside your building! Can you shift gears or are you seriously stuck in stupid?" Alex hissed. Her muscles burnt and they were starting to hurt.
"Prove it." Janson smiled at her. "You claim to love subject A7."
"His name is Minho!" Alex yelled.
"I have a shucken name!" Minho said in a horse whisper at the same time. His eyes lifted to hers, wide with what looked like surprise.
"You claim to love him, yet you left him here. Alone. For eight long months. That's not love. You abandoned him." Janson snarled.
Alex opened and closed her mouth a few times, utterly confused at what game Janson was playing. She glanced back at Minho who was hunched over the table, but he was watching her, his eyes narrowed, his face void of emotion. A wave of burning hot pain seared through her body, making her twist and strain against the restraints.
"Minho!" She gasped through the pain, "whatever he's trying to do, he's a lying twisted snake!"
She had to clamp her jaw shut, the pain building. Her body was straining against the restraints. Minho's forehead furrowed. He was looking at Janson and then back at Alex who was hissing and twitching.
"I think...maybe? I remember...?" he said quietly, but you could hear the confusion and doubt behind it, his eyes were dark and hard.
She cried in pain again. The straps holding her, cut into her skin.
"Minho...I love you..." she whispered. Her eyes fluttered open, watching him. "I love you...shuck face."
His eyes softened for a moment, he sat up.
"Min..use that shuck brain.." she cried through clenched teeth.
His eyes flicked with recognition, "and come back to me!" He whispered to himself.
"Cross-" Alex cried.
Tears fell down her face as pain ripped through her body. Every fiber of her body felt like it was being ripped apart. But her heart also felt like it was being torn apart and trampled
"-My.heart"
She threw herself backwards against the chair and screamed in pain.
Minho sat at the table, hands chained, eyes glassy, his mouth hung open, he wasn't really looking at anything. He raised his hand as much as the chains and cuffs would allow and made the symbol of an X.
He looked down at the table and muttered to himself, thrashing his head back and forth.
"BUT SHE DIDN'T COME BACK FOR YOU! SHE LEFT YOU!" Janson screamed, rounding on Minho. He ignored Alex while she screamed and thrashed in pain.
"Then...then why is she here now?" Minho asked slowly. "If...if she was a mut and... and...if she was your agent....why..why are you torturing her?" Minho sat up straighter, his eyes narrowing at Janson. "You've always been a lying twisted slint head. Why would I believe you now?"
Alex screamed again, trying desperately to get out of the restraints, to leave her pain riddled body behind. Janson screamed in frustration and anger. Minho screamed at Janson, and tried to lunge at him, but the chains held him.
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What's gonna happen next? 😈