Stockholm Syndrome

Tricked

I turn to my lab assistant, holding the syringe. "He needs to brought back underneath our control Max. If you don't help, many could die." Max averted his brown eyes from me as I smile maliciously. If only he knew what he was really doing. "Randel...I don't- I can't do this again. I still have nightmares." I grin; he's so easy to manipulate. "Come now Max, you're doing this for the majority. Many more people will benefit from this." He looks at me, fixing his cold surgical gaze on me like he's dissecting me with his eyes. "I find that hard to believe Professor Randel." I go to say something, but instead change my mind. "Well, that's a shame. I guess you'll never really know..." I turn away slightly, letting my fingers dance over the frigid steel examination table as I wait for his inevitable reply. "Know what?" I hide my smile. His curiosity has been piqued. "Nothing you would like to know unless you participate in this activity." He scowled. "You call turning someone into an animal an activity huh? You really are a cold-hearted bitch." I shrug. "Those words don't really have much of an effect on me Max." He presses his lips together in a thin angry line, his eyes narrowing. "You have lied to me countless times. Told me it was for medicinal purposes, or the Army. But no, we're dissecting people for your own sadistic pleasures. You disgust me." I whip round, anger rushing through me. "Oh ho, look who's talking. I saw you smile when he screamed, you enjoy it as much as I do my lying colleague." His eyes widen and I know he's trapped. I smirk. "Now are you going to help me or not? I have valuable information that you would want to acquire, but only after we perform the surgery." He sighs and I know I've won. "Very well, but only for the information." I laugh coldly. "I have trained you well."
***
Screams. Knives. So many knives. Blades push through skin, through bone. Piercing soul. Tearing apart insides. Sweat breaks out on back. Cold droplets run from forehead. Knives are everywhere, my blood dripping off their cold metal blades. Then, I hear a different scream. Unfamiliar in my dreamlands. Sky Eyes' scream.

My eyes snap open. I'm panting, SSundee's scream still echoing in my head. I hear a knock at the door and it opens quietly. "Derp?" I hear Rose m a r y whisper. I force my teeth to stop chattering and sit up. "Y-Yes?" "Th-the Professor wants you." I get up off the bed and open the door fully. I see her blush and avert her eyes when she sees my scars. I sigh. Scars...knives. I frown. "Is Sky Ey- I mean, Ian, ok?" She looks at me questioningly. "Yes, I guess. Why?" His scream is still in my head as I blink. "No reason." She smiles slightly and I raise my eyebrow. "What?" She shrugs and turns away as I grab my shirt and jacket, putting them on and following her out the door, shutting it. She flashes a curious glance at me. "Derp, you seem...different. Less angry than usual." I blink. My head is clearer than normal, the hurtful conflicts that usually torment me reduced to white noise. "What are you thinking about?" I sigh wistfully. "Sky Eyes." She looks worried. I don't know why. We reach the white door. I hate this door. It's the door to the Master's torture chamber. The Lab as Rose m a r y calls it. I've been taken through this door so many times. Taken, pushed, shoved, hit, threatened. Oh no, the hurt is coming back. My mind is cloudy again. Sky Eyes is fading away. I shake my head and Rose m a r y takes my hand. "It's ok Derp. I won't let him hurt you again." I nod and push the door open, the hated screech of the hinges scraping against my thoughts, drawing blood like a knife of sound. Rose m a r y breathes in. I don't know why people do that. The only reason I breathe in in The Lab is to scream it out again. Tears are already coming. I see the Master standing beside The Table. The place where I was tied down so many times, had knives and needles ripped through me before being stitched back together again. The place where they gave me my eyes. I'm shaking now and Rose m a r y is told to let go of me. I stand before the Master, thinking angry thoughts so he won't stick needles in me to make me evil again. "So, Subject-" DERP SSUNDEE "-do you know why you're here?" "N-no." He smiles, but it's a nasty smile. Not like Rose m a r y's smile. I trust her smile; I hate his. It's like he's smiling, but he's not. My thoughts are clouding over again. I'm scared. "You're here because we feel as though, lately, things have been...getting out of hand." His fingers stroke the metal table and I shudder. "W-what do you mean?" Another man appears and anger flows hot through me, burning my mind. He always held the knives. He doesn't meet my eyes as he goes to stand at The Master's side. He looks like he doesn't want to be here. Neither do I. The man hands The Master a syringe filled with green liquid. I step away as the Master takes a thing that looks like a gun and puts the syringe inside. Rose m a r y's eyes widen and I think something bad is going to happen. The Master pulls a thing back on the gun and raises it, pointing it at me. "Just relax Subject. This won't hurt at all." HE'S LYING!, Hate screams right before he shoots me. I fall. For a few seconds I'm fine, then pain engulfs me like flames, tearing into my skin with claws and talons, screeching and biting my bones with sharp teeth. I hear a deafening scream ringing in my ears. My lungs are burning as I try to breathe, but can't. Pain screams louder than me, digging it's claws deeper as my vision goes red. I can hear an overwhelmingly loud sound pounding in my head and chest. The scream gets louder; I cover my ears as it gets to the point where it's all I can hear and breathe. I feel hands on me, grabbing me and yelling. Sounds like...Rosemary. I see a flickering image form in my mind. A young girl gazing at me sadly. She has pink...rosy eyes, like the petal have fallen into dark pools and formed her eyes. Rose. As I stare at her, ripples spread out from her pupils, her entire image moves with them. She raises her hand to mine and grips it tightly. "Remember who you are Joseph." Then the scream tears through my mind and blood splatters everywhere.
***
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?!" I screamed at Randel. His smug face enraged me beyond belief. "I have made him a more efficient machine." "HE IS NOT A MACHINE, HE IS A HUMAN BEING!" The other guy, I think his name was Max, looks away sadly, biting his lip. Derp's scream was still ringing in my ears. I still saw him fall to the ground, shaking as his eyes turned bloody red. A scream of agony so inhuman ripping itself free from him. He passed out afterwards. I sat beside him, running my fingers through his hair as he takes shuddering breaths, his body trembling. Quiet whimpers escaped him every then and again. Randel rolled his eyes and left the room. Max was over to us in a flash, down on his knees beside me. "I had no idea I swear. He always tricks me. He said he had information for me about my purpose here. About my past. I had my memory wiped you see. In a way, I'm like Subject 304 here-" I narrowed my eyes at him. "His, name, is Derp SSundee." He frowned. "Derp? Well, uh, ok. And isn't SSundee the name of the prisoner?" I nodded. He looked sad. Broken. Betrayed. How Derp looked when he staggered out of the shadows, eyes wide in fear. I lifted Derp's head up gently onto my lap, holding him. "How could he have done this to a human being?" Max looked extremely guilty. "H-he said it was for Science." I scowled at him. "You know that's bullshit right? He'd kill someone in under a minute if you paid him enough. Only after he'd tortured them to madness mind you. He wants power. Domination. He had a bone to pick with Derp's family so he took their two kids and turned them into psychos. He had a brother, heaven knows where he is now. He might be up there for all we know." Max sighed, laying a hand on Derp's shoulder. "Poor guy. He doesn't deserve this." I looked at Max. I'd only seen him as a sadistic scientist until now. Now I saw the person who'd been manipulated and tricked with lies into doing the wrong thing countless times. I laid my hand over his and he looked up at me. I smiled sadly. "None of us do." He smiles back slightly and lowered his head. That was when Derp woke up.