Greetings to you all, and a very happy Friday! I wish you all a great weekend filled with blessings and happy days. The Q&A will be answered this Saturday or Sunday and the reason for that is...I forgot I even posted a Q&A lol! Kidding - kinda - but in all seriousness, I have been busy with editing, uodating new chapters on wattpad and being with family and friends of course. So I hope you'll excuse the slight delay. Anyhow, here is chapter forty three and I hope you will all-
Enjoy! (it)
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"He...was...pressing...down...on...my...chest..." she gasps, pressing both her hands to her heaving chest.
"He intended to kill you," says Dr. Valkov, "that boy is uncontrollable at times. I must find a way to tame him faster before he loses all control and goes haywire around here."
"Why did you make him so powerful?" Natalia hisses and I remember the times when she barely spoke and couldn't even look Dr. Valkov in the eyes from the intense fear she had for him.
"It evolved faster and stronger than we had calculated, and none of that matters at the moment, does it?" he says. "What matters now is Number One. I want you at your full strength when I release his powers. I can't have you falling over and crying when he uses them on you, because he will!"
"You said you will help me!" says Natalia, panic evident in her voice. Dr. Valkov growls and grasps her hair in his fist, pulling her up harshly and ignores her cry of pain.
"Stop being disrespectful or our deal is over, and all of you will die!" he hisses in her ear and I watch in horror at how Natalia breaks down and begins sobbing heavily at his threat.
"Yuri!" she cries, hiding her face behind her trembling hands.
"Yuri will be yours if you co-operate, but right now you are not doing that, are you sweetheart?" Dr. Valkov coos and I almost vomit up what little breakfast I had.
"Yes, Sir." Natalia whimpers, and I almost scream when I see her leaning up and pressing a light kiss to Dr. Valkov's lips. "I will obey you, and only you, Sir!" she salutes him and I can slowly feel how my reality is crumbling around me.
"W-what are you going to do to m-me?" I manage to say, my throat clogged up and my heart beating wildly behind my ribcage.
"You will soon find out, Number One," he answers me curtly. I look between them and step back a few steps until I bump into Alexandrei's unconscious body laying on the floor.
"Shall we begin?" says Natalia, wrapping her arm alongside Dr. Valkov's and I stare at them like they have gone insane. Natalia has, that's for sure!
"Yes, I will leave you both to talk and I should return within the hour. And be careful, even though I have disabled his powers, he is still uncontrollable at times." says Dr. Valkov, he pats Natalia's hand one last time before scooping up Alexandrei in his arms and exiting the room along with Vladimir.
Natalia turns to me with a gentle smile that has me shivering in disgust.
"What?" I say lowly, avoiding her gaze at all cost. I sit back down on the chair and hope the time passes quickly so I don't have to deal with her anymore.
"We need to talk, Aleksandr," she says softly, sitting on the other chair across mine. "I know all of this is a shock to you,"
"How did you figure that out?"
"But we have to be able to communicate to figure things out," she continues, "I know you're mad that Yuri chose me over you but-"
"He didn't choose you over me, that's just a nasty lie you've come up with for some reason!" I raise my voice and cross my arms over my chest.
"Why do you even say that? Why can't you just accept that Yura isn't queer and he isn't what you thought him to be?" she answers me instead, reminding me very much of how Dr. Blinov used to stare me down with accusing eyes.
I can't think anything specific or she will read my mind and use it against me. I need to be conscious about my thoughts from now on. I don't miss the way her eyes fluttered for a mere second before she focuses intently on me once again.
"I will accept it when Yuri himself comes and tells me he doesn't love me," I answer her and ignore her frustrated exhale.
"Why won't you just believe me?" she says, almost whining and I compare her to a child who's not allowed to play with her favorite toy, or in this case, Yuri.
"Because you're a liar and I will never trust you anymore in my entire life?" I say with a shrug, "That good enough answer for you, Natalia or maybe I should call you Number Five since you're back here, too?" I give her a small smile.
"Natalia is fine," she replies smugly, "after all, I wasn't captured like some wild animal – I came here voluntarily."
"I'm proud of you," I mock her, and avert my gaze from her smug expression.
"We have to talk about what's going to happen from now on, Aleks,"
"Don't call me that!" I hiss, pointing my finger at her. "Only Yuri is allowed to call me that!"
"Seriously, what is it with both of you and using that name? That is so pathetic of you to give a name such importance." she huffs, also crossing her arms now.
"Are you jealous because we never gave you a nickname, Nat?" I say haughtily, almost laughing at her scrunched up nose.
"No!" she defends herself, "why in the world would I be jealous of something stupid like that?"
"I don't know, it just seems like it..."
"Well, you're wrong so can we please move on?" she tells me, and I answer her with a simple nod. "I saw that Dr. Valkov made a clone out of you?"
"Hm," I reply disinterested.
"Why is that?"
"How should I know?"
"I'm curious in why he would want a clone of you when he already as the real...you," says Natalia, moving her arms all over the place. She looks more confused than me at the very aspect of the thought that clones exist in our reality.
"Same," I answer curtly and almost laugh when her eye twitches.
She's getting angry...
"Yes, I am!" she hisses, "because you are not co-operating at all!"
"You seriously think I would answer any question you desired?" I ask her, raising my eye-brow at her questionably.
"I thought we were friends, so yes?" I bark out a laugh at that.
"Friends?" I gasp out between laughs, "you think we're still friends after all of this?" I point between me and her and continue laughing at her stupidity.
"When you see the truth, you will thank me, Aleksandr," she answers very seriously. I wipe away the stray tears and stare at her like she's lost her mind; which she admittedly has, in my opinion. "You- we, are destined for many great things if we allow Dr. Valkov to help us along the path of enlightenment."
"What now?"
"I was blind before, thinking that he did this for his own benefit, but in reality...he is doing this for us!" she gives me a giant smile that has me feeling a chill, deep down in my bones.
"You call being raped and experimented on every day, being enlightened?" I say with a frown.
"That was merely a test of will, to see how strong we are and to test our perseverance," she answers me. Why does it sound like she has rehearsed all these lines? This does not sound like Natalia, at all!
"I don't know what drugs he's given you to make you so pliant and almost clone-like, but-" and that's when it hits me...
What if this is the clone of Natalia and Dr. Valkov is just luring me into believing this is the real Natalia?
"No, Aleksandr, this is the real me," she answers me in my mind. "Ask me any question and I will be able to answer it. But I have simply been shown the truth and I am trying to bring you along with me because you deserve to be happy..."
"I'll be happy when I escape this place and reunite with Yuri," I answer her out loud, not wanting her a second longer inside my mind.
"I am sorry to tell you, that will never happen," she says lowly, almost sadly to the untrained ear but I can hear the false undertone and the true meaning behind it.
"And why is that?"
"Because when all of this is over...Yuri will be mine..."
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