Tethered

5: First Attempt

You felt him before you saw or heard him. His presence filled the hall with something you could only identify as Kylo Ren.

He came in the dead of night, breaking the silence with heavy footsteps that came your way.

You'd been trying to sleep, the thin mat beneath you providing little comfort as always, when you felt him. But, even though his presence was overwhelming, you hardly stirred. You closed your eyes and tried to even your breathing. Maybe it was because some part of you desperately hoped that he would see you asleep and turn back.

You were not so lucky.

You heard him stop outside your cell and stop. He was silent for a few moments before he said, "I know you're not asleep." His voice was distorted by a modifier so you knew he was wearing his mask. "I may not be able to see into your head but I can feel your consciousness."

You paused for a moment before you slowly picked yourself up. You couldn't bring yourself to look up at him. "Why are you here?"

"Is it not obvious?" You heard him unlatch the lock on your cell and push the door open. "I've come to find out why you call to me." He took slow steps into the cell. "I know you want to know as well, and so maybe this can help you... Maybe you can finally learn to use the Force." There was a low hiss as his helmet came undone and you felt him lower himself to the ground beside you. "Why won't you look at me?" he asked, his voice smooth and curious.

"Because I want to pretend you're not here. If I don't acknowledge you, maybe you'll be simply a figment of my imagination."

"But you just acknowledged me there." He chuckled. "You don't have to be scared of me, I have already said I won't hurt you. I just found you. Now... Look at me."

You were almost scared to look at him. You didn't know what he wanted to do with you, but you also knew that it might be worse if you resisted. Slowly, you lifted your gaze to meet his eyes.

A small smirk played at his lips. "Very good," he mused, rolling back to sit down across from you. "First, I wanted to see if you know you're calling to me. Even now I can feel you tugging at me."

"I'm not doing it on purpose."

"I figured as much. But try to. See if you can intentionally reach for me. If we can get you to do it on your own, we might be able to understand why you've been doing it for all this time."

You couldn't help but think that this was stupid and he was crazy. His thought process was totally foreign and alien to you. Doing it on purpose would stop you from doing it on accident? Did he forget the part when you told him you couldn't control the Force at all? You frowned at him. "Sir, it won't work. I don't-"

"Just try. You won't know until you try. And if not for your sake, then do it for mine. I'm tired and I need sleep. I can't do that with you in my head at night." His voice was exhausted, pleading. It was something you weren't used to.

"And how do you expect me to do this?"

"Reach out. You feel the Force around you. You can feel me in it. Reach for me. Make it intentional and give it purpose."

"How do you know this will work?"

"I don't, but you'll just have to try."

That failed to reassure or guide you and you found yourself dreading the task ahead of you even more. You were terrified of your failure and what it would mean, but you knew Kylo wouldn't leave you until you'd tried. Taking a deep breath, you straightened up. "Alright. Fine. I'll try." You tried to guide yourself into a state of peace. Until this point, you'd been forced into anger and hatred, told to use those to channel your power. But now you were safe-or as safe as could be with this stranger before you. He said he wouldn't hurt you; you could try in peace.