Chapter twenty four

Chapter 24
Kichi
My head ached, badly. It felt like someone was pounding it with a baseball bat. I tried to reach up and rub my head but my hands were suctioned to my side. I squirmed; something firm was holding me in place. Every time I tried to move the pressure pushed harder on my chest. I tried to scream. A light skinned woman was walking in the room with a syringe, she looked up. She made eye contact with me, the laughed. Really, she was laughing!
“My, we got ourselves in a little jam. What is it like being a caged canary once again?”
Did she just call me a canary? I couldn’t think straight, the plastic wrap was squeezing me. I couldn’t breathe! I tried to holler at her but all that came out was a mangled moan. The lady laughed again. She took a large sharp knife from a tray table near and I fell silent. This was how it was going to end. I looked around. Fire, Ethan, and Adara were all in similar predicaments. Ethan was flailing panicky, Fire was still out cold, and Adara was staring at me with a sad solemn expression on her face. Where was storm? My focus was directed back towards the woman when she slid the knife against the plastic rapping. It slid easily through the material, which fell away from my body quickly. Without the support of the cellophane, I collapsed on wobbly knees. I felt a rough hand on my arm. The woman yanked me up harshly and pierced my shoulder with the syringe. Then she roughly led me out of the room. I could feel Adara’s eyes on my back as we left.
The hallway was long and endless. At the end the woman stopped, opened a door, and then threw me in. I collapsed, the syringe weakening me further. Ares stood above me smiling, he offered his hand. When I refused to take it he yanked me up by my hair, causing stinging down my scalp.
“Come,” he said “join our little party.” He gestured to Storm, who was being held in place by not two, but three different scientists. You could tell she had had some medicine to dull her powers. A little girl who looked much like storm stood in the corner of the room, looking at me with afraid eyes. I guess this is what Ares was talking about when he said Storms little sister. Speak of the devil, Ares half shoved half knocked me into a chair. There were cuffs on the arm rest which the woman scientist chained up. I could still feel the magic pulsing through me though, which confused me. If they wanted to kill me wouldn’t they have dulled my powers also?
“Let us begin our little session.” Ares started, “Alina, just wanted to ask you a few questions to start off with.” I noticed him looked down at the little girl lovingly, as he used to look at me, then nod to her.
“First. Where is the most pleasant place you have been to?” Ares inquired. Storm looked at him appalled.
“I believe we are still in America. So I still reserve the right to remain silent.” Storm replied. Ares tsk tsked.
“Well, if you refuse to vocalize your ideas, I will for you.” He looked over at me. “Kichi, would you be a doll and search little Alina’s thoughts for me?” I was about to resist him, but I saw a glint sticking out of his pocket. It was a warning, he was armed. Compliantly I slipped out of my body and into Storms mind. Storm was desperately trying to not think about the answer to his question which made it much too easy to spot it. “Venice, Italy.” I reported without leaving Storms mind.
“Thank you.” Are mocked, “Kichi you may unfaze.” I let go of my connection with Storm. “Now, Alina, you are probably seeing your precious Italy. Now you are probably seeing it burning.” Ares said causally. The look on Storms face was terror, shock, misery and aguish.
“To play fair, I will tell you how I am doing it. Little Eva here has a gift. An unnatural one too, meaning she was born with it. But she can break into people’s minds. She cannot see what you are thinking, which is why I invited Kichi. She can cause thoughts, visions, memories, and pain. She can convince your brain to do anything she wants. You are at her mercy. And she is mine, so you are at my mercy.” Ares put his hand on Eva’s shoulder. Storm doubled over in pain, throwing her head back screaming. A smile played across his lips.
“Who do you love the most? Who is missing from you life?” I took that as a cue and keyed back into Storm’s thoughts. Storm didn’t try to hide her thoughts this time; she was in too much pain to think. That made me job much harder, because her mind was foggy and all she was thinking of was pain. But I found her answer, more like a memory. It was a boy, a handsome boy. He was blond, really blonde, with a broken nose and blue eyes. He was a mutant. “A boy. His name is… Alec, about 14. She got separated from him when they both broke out of the lab the first time. They were like brother and sister. She doesn’t know where he is…” I was interested. Then Ares, or Eva, or whoever was doing it started again. First, a clear picture of the boy was displayed and then him screaming. Blood running down his chest, the teen was wailing in pain. Storms mind was in frenzy, she was panicking and worrying and although stressed to her limit. I keyed out of her mind, I felt bad. Storm was writhing on the floor screaming and crying. It wasn’t just the memories; you could tell Eva was throwing plenty of pain into the mix. Then Ares grabbed the little girls shoulder. She looked up at him innocently. It made me sick; I didn’t think she knew how much pain she was inflicting. Storm tried to stand up. She wobbled a little bit and threw a punch at Ares before she fell again. It caught him in the chin and he got angry. He kicked her, hard.
“Well, this was fun for the both of us. We will have a similar session tomorrow.” And with that Ares stepped over Storm and headed towards the door.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Storm whimpered, “What did I ever do?” Ares turned around and sneered. “You were born. You left. You lead these escapees to safety. You made my father spend millions to try and capture you. You wasted out precious lab time and resources. You escaped us yet again. You. Did. Everything.” Storm bit her lip and yelled back, “Did it ever occur to you and you dad that you were too harsh?!? It was your entire fault. I don’t think any of you understand how hard it is to have powers and live as a science experiment!!! I just wanted to have a good life! There is a simple thing that could’ve prevented all those things. It is one word. Hospitality!!!” With that Storm broke down crying. Ares snickered. I lost it then. This couldn’t have been the boy who kept me alive all those years! Who wiped away my tears, and assured me that it would be okay. And here he was, laughing at a 13 year olds tears. I stood up and lunged at him. I think it took him by surprise, it also surprised me. I pulled his hair and bit his flailing hand I punched his face so hard pain shot through my fists. His nose started bleeding and tears formed in his eyes. I heard two gunshots. Oh crap. The sticky cellophane thing connected with my chest in a blob, and spread across my torso incasing me in the stuff. So that’s what came out of those odd shaped guns. Another cellophane chunk connected with my temple. My vision went spotted. I blacked out.