Y'all have been asking for a visual of Hudson. This was the photo I found that depicted him best!
HUDSON
As I flew back early that night, I had replaced the helmet on my head—the one Mara hadn't ruined of course, after re-entering my ship.
There was a weird feeling inside me when Mara declined my offer. Was it sadness? Maybe even something that many called heartbreak? I had never felt something quite like it.
Either way, I told myself I could care less, as the Capitol building finally came into view. Flipping the switches on automatic land, I eagerly await my arrival to see King Red. Note my sarcasm? He will be absolutely furious that Mara isn't dead. My first lie will be that she is heavily beaten up, and that she was too powerful for me to kill her. And if he didn't believe me? Then I would try my convincing powers on him.
As I stepped foot out of the ship, I was immediately questioned by lower-ranking generals and councilmen who all wanted to know why I made the executive decision to remove all ships from the battlefield. I could care less about them as I kept walking towards the throne room, rehearsing my lines for later in the day when I would be meeting with King Red. I hurry back to my room, as I rush to change my bloody shirt before anyone noticed.
"Commander G-R72," a female voice from behind me calls. I hated that code name with my life now. "King Red wants you in his throne room. Immediately."
The woman wasn't going to leave unless I followed her. I received many stares throughout the halls, wondering the reason as to why so many people were looking at me.
I read one person's mind who made direct eye contact with me. They were afraid. Not of me, but for me. King Red must've said something to everyone regarding me, and I wasn't having it.
Finally we had reached the throne room, and all I could sense was the pure anger radiating off the man sitting there. I crack my knuckles, preparing myself for another long, boring speech. As I look to Red's face, I sworn he could've aged since the last time I saw him. His dark beard now had hints of grey wedged in between individual strands, and his wrinkles under his eyes were now more prominent.
"Come in, my boy," King Red announces with a hint of annoyance in his voice, as his words echoed off the walls of the large room. "Kneel."
I slowly follow his orders, until I stopped myself halfway. I didn't want to. It took every last fiber within me to follow his commands. But as I searched for any will to do so, there was none left.
Mara had changed me.
I stood in defiance to his orders. With raging eyes, Red stood from his throne.
"You dare defy my orders? From a king?" He shouts, his voice deafening through the speakers of my helmet. "Bow down to me, or I'll send you through reform so harsh, you'll forget who you are!" His horrifying shouts echo through the large hall.
Swiftly, I get onto one knee.
"Much better." An evil smile stretches across his face as he sits his fat ass back on the throne. "So tell me, my boy. Why did you send an entire fleet of ships out to that small skirmish?"
"I showed them who was boss," I say, my voice deep and filled with anger. "They should have never attempted to capture our base."
"What about the mutant girl?" He questions. "Did you finally kill her?"
"She is heavily wounded. I left her on the field barely breathing so she would know to never come out of her pathetic hiding spot again." I was lying straight through my teeth, but I sounded believable.
"You're telling me..." King Red mutters and pauses, rubbing his face in anguish. "You risked hundreds of Plague lives to put out that small flame, yet you didn't kill her?!" He rages.
"They were about to steal our base that contains our strongest of military weapons!" I claim fighting back. "You think I was going to kill—"
"SILENCE!" He orders, and the whole room falls dead quiet. Nothing remained but his harsh words echoing off the walls. He begins to walk down the steps to his throne, taking painfully slow steps as his eyes didn't leave mine once. He was just twenty feet away from me now, and it was just enough for him to analyze me completely.
"That tear on your shirt," he says as calmly as possible. "There's blood around it, yet no wound."
My heart skipped a beat. I forgot to change my shirt from where I was healed by Mara earlier.
"Yes, King Red. The girl tried to stab me as a last effort, but only managed to slice the fabric of my shirt. She stained her blood all over me."
He stays silent, as I hoped whoever was watching over me would protect me. The lie was half effort, but I think he believed it.
"She healed you." The words came out of his mouth so deeply I could barely register them. A feeling of unease had risen in my chest. How on Earth could he tell? Was he able to see the past? "If her blood was spilled on you, it would be in a handprint or a splatter pattern."
"I can assure you, King Red. That is what happened on the battlefield—"
"She's trying turn you to the Rebel side, against me." He paces back and forth, putting the puzzle pieces together. I knew I was in deep shit. There was no getting out of this one, especially when Red was a man that didn't like when people challenged his beliefs. "You... you like her. So much to the point where you're willing to give up your hidden identity to be with her."
"Where are you getting this bullshit from?" I question angrily, trying to sound as intimidating as possible. I stand my ground, still slightly shocked at how he was able to come out with the surprisingly truthful conclusion.
King Red sighs, before turning around in his position and heading back towards his throne. "I am sorry, Commander. But the next action I an about to take is for your own good." He gets up and walks out a door next to his throne, leaving me with nothing but my heightened senses. Someone, or something was in this room with me.
I hardly have time to react as a soft click came from behind me, when an excruciating pain shot through every nerve in my body. It felt like the world's largest taser was being used on me. My limbs trembled uncontrollably, as I fell to the ground in pure anguish. I tried to move, but my body wouldn't respond.
My brain then became foggy. I couldn't think any rational thought as I felt three pairs of hands on me, dragging me to reform like a toy doll.
Whatever reform Red had planned surely wasn't going to be forgiving. And my last thought was one I had never expected to think.
Wherever Mara was, I prayed that she wouldn't be able to feel the pain I was about to go through.
—😔—
MARA
As I laid in bed, I wrapped myself with the blanket that Hudson had given me earlier. To say I was overwhelmed would be the understatement of the century.
As soon as I was brought back to the Rebel base, hundreds of people were awaiting my arrival as soon as I stepped foot off the rescue ship.
First came the medics. Half a dozen nurses came scrambling through the crowd, each checking everything from my heart rate, blood pressure and temperature as I could barely process what was happening.
Then came the security checks. I had just made communication with the other side, and the process you had to go through to be secured was lengthy. They scanned the blanket and I for any potential threats such as tracking devices or diseases that could cause an outbreak in our base, but they found nothing. Hudson would never do that.
And finally, the overwhelming questions coming from Wes, and hundreds of other Rebel guards who all wanted the scoop—or daily tea, in other words. Not much happened around the Rebel base, and everyone wanted a lick of this new 'gossip' flying around. I was confident hundreds of rumors were spreading like the Bubonic Plague as to what happened on that battlefield. Others were sympathetic of me. They knew how stressful being a mutant was, and they felt sorrow.
As I finally reached my room earlier, Priscilla and Elaine were both waiting for me with heavy hearts. I dropped everything I was carrying, as they both embraced me in a group hug. A hug I didn't know I needed until it actually happened.
Priscilla had gone to her room just a few minutes ago. She left Elaine and I alone for the night. Elaine was sleeping in her usual position safe and sound, while I laid in bed restless. I wrapped Hudson's blanket around me closer. It smelled exactly like him — what on Earth. Help me, I'm becoming a freak.
As minutes passed, I kept feeling small taps on my back, as if someone were touching me. They almost stung a bit, as I wondered if it could be Hudson and I's bond acting up again.
Then, it hit me.
What if he was in reform? What if someone had watched every single second of what went down just a few hours ago, and he was in trouble?
The worry suddenly consumed me like a tsunami. I sat up in bed, more anxious as ever as the taps on my back were becoming more persistent, yet there was hardly any pain.
Elaine was fast asleep by now, and it was only eight o'clock in the evening. I needed to recollect myself, and what better way to do so by getting food?
I silently open the door, trying my best not to wake Elaine as I am greeted with the metal, steely hallways once more. After being outside, I didn't realize how confined I had been for the past two months. I wasn't able to breathe real oxygen. Being on that field surrounded by nature... it felt like I was in a heaven of some kind. Now walking these halls once more was almost suffocating.
As my eyes land on the cafeteria, almost nobody was around. Everyone was sleeping from the small skirmish earlier today, as the morale for Rebel soldiers was lowered from the loss. The cafeteria workers were as busy as usual, silently preparing meals for those in need.
All of the workers' eyes turn to me as they see me walk in. Nobody else sat in the cafeteria as my footsteps were audible on the cold floor. I grab an apple and a slice of vanilla cake that the baker had prepared, and I softly smile to him in thanks.
"Hey, Mara," a soft voice from the corner makes my head turn. A cafeteria lady is standing there with a soft smile on her face as I stood at the checkout. "We're all rooting for you, no matter what happens."
I weakly smile, yet the normally happy side of me was gone.
"I'm trying to as well," I say quietly. "But lately, all she's doing is making the wrong decisions."
I walk out the door with another word, eating my cake with a regretful heart. But I had to keep fighting to defeat King Red, and more importantly to help the people.
As I walked, suddenly my vision blacked out for half a second. I dropped what was left of my cake and my apple rolled away, as I toppled to the ground in shock. My hands hit the cold floor, as I felt like the walls around me were closing in. I couldn't breathe, nor think straight as nothing but waves of fear flowed through my brain.
It was Hudson. He was in trouble, yet there was nothing I could do about it. If I were to somehow appear in his mind, I wouldn't be able to see where the guards were to attack them. Our bond only enabled for us to see nearby objects or even sometimes the entire room.
My ears began to ring, as my breaths became labored. I perched my back onto the wall so that I could sit up correctly. And I probably did that for the next five minutes until the dizziness finally receded.
As I closed my eyes, I could've sworn I saw flashes of Hudson's face. He looked horrible, like he had just swam through an Atlantic Ocean full of hungry sharks and back. All he wore was a pair of black tunic pants, displaying his muscular build. His eyes were dark while massive bags hung under them as they looked down to the ground in regret. Guards stood behind them with batons in their hand, while Hudson couldn't do anything about it.
His gaze shoots up to my face, sensing that I was connected with him. His eyes widen slightly in fear as his bloody lip hung open.
"I'm—" he manages to choke out in a soft whisper. "I'm sorry."
And then, I come back to reality as I am faced with a metal wall once more. I release a breath I hadn't realized I was holding back, as my hands were shaking from the frigid temperatures from the base. Or was it from Hudson?
Then I look down to the spilled cake in front of me.
How worse could this day get?
_________
Double update because you guys are amazing!😎💗
Also, please comment any criticism! Should I split this chapter into two different parts? You tell me!
Welp, I have work for 5 hours later today (it's currently 1am) and I have no plans of sleeping (: As usual, have a good day/night!