The Enhanced

Chapter Fifty Two

The next day, they let me out of my room. I had expected to be a full-time prisoner for a while. I assumed they would expect me to try to kill myself any chance I got, that I was more of a risk than ever. But, at the same time, did they really want a suicidal test subject? How successful would that be?

The more I thought about it, the more I suspected Jones had had something to do with it. I was sent to lessons as normal, and still I did not participate, I had no desire to help anyone in this facility in that way. And somehow in my head, I had decided that doing what the facility wanted was not what Jones wanted.

If I was the daughter that he had lost all those years ago from this drug trial, surely the only favour I could do him was leave this place alive, leave it happy and healthy. That was the best thing I could do for him.

Strangely, I still had Combat class in the afternoon, with my arms still bandaged up and the lasting effects of blood loss still ever present. I hadn't looked at my wounds yet, in honesty, I was too scared to. So I had no idea whether they were healing properly or not. But the fact that I could already bend my arms without pain told me i was well on my way.

I arrive at Combat and Aaron is in his place on the bench. I take a seat next to him and anger seems to radiate off of him. If he truly was angry, he doesn't say anything about it. But even without words, I felt guilty.

"Aaron," I say, quietly.

"Juliet, I need you to understand something, Even though you're hurting and you're in a bad place, even though you feel like at the bottom of the world. There are still people that care about you, still those that can be affected. Why would you ever want to do that to yourself?" he asks. His hand brushes past my right arm, right along the scar that had just barely healed.

I look at it and cringe. It was a horrific scar, extending along my entire forearm. "It wasn't that I wanted to die, or even that I was necessarily suicidal, Aaron. It just felt like my only option. It just felt like a way out of here, locked in my room, away from everyone. It's as if I'm living in this mass grave and I should be grateful that I'm here, alive. But I'm not, I found freedom, happiness and someone to love. Being back here feels like Hell compared, and I don't think I can manage to bust out this time. There are always people watching me, always waiting for me to try to leave and stop me." I explain.

He sighs and nods. "I know, I know. Sometimes I feel like that," he admits.

I look at him and chuckle. "Are you even allowed to say that to me?"

He glances over my shoulder and shakes his head slightly. "This place is above the law, above morals, above natural human lifestyle, its a different world to the one you experienced. I've lived in this world for far too long to go anywhere else now. I am not a creature of change. But I'd like to think you are, you could build a life out there," he tells me.

I nod and blink the tears away. "I did, I had a life, family. It was perfect."

"I've not had anyone in so long, I don't even want to imagine having to leave them for a place like this,"

*

*

*

The day wears on and once again, I am in my bedroom. My heart had warmed ever so slightly after the conversation with Aaron, the human interaction, the emotional connection we had formed. What a dysfunctional family I had formed within these walls.

The darkness comforts me for once, I didn't need to stare at anything then. I could just sit and stare into the abyss. A sense of content had come over me, acceptance maybe. The feeling of being at one with one's own misery was a sobering experience.