Final Truth

Chapter 2: The Mind-Set

Peter's point of view:

We walk away from the cells, leaving Julia to wallow in herself and what she has become.

Images of the argument we had before I was "turned" flash through my head, fueling an unquenchable rage I feel within myself.

It's as if my brain has vanished any memories of goodness I shared with Julia Lancaster, instead leaving me with only the bad ones. Like it's trying to tell me to stay away from her.

And that's fine with me.

I don't want to remember anything good about her, because it would all be a lie in my eyes as far as I'm concerned. She is none of my concern anymore.

She's nothing to me...

WHAM!
Almost like a sudden blow to the head I am stricken with an image, a wisp of something from the past so powerful that it causes me to stagger to the nearest wall and put my hand on it for support:

I looked at her, and she was looking back at me. Her dark hair was tousled, her green eyes sleepy. She still had a small cut on her cheek from where her mask caught on the barbed wire. She was still angry at Adam, but she glanced at me like I was all she hoped for. "I love you. Don't let me forget that," she said, her voice thick with fatigue. She took a breath, and closed her eyes, sleep taking her. I just held her, wondering how one person could be so complex and yet so simple.
I remember that she was beautiful...
***

"Peter?" Henley asks, noticing me just now leaned up against the wall clutching my head with my hands.

"Are you alright?" She asks, although her tone suggests that she's more concerned about what is causing me pain rather than my actual well being.

"I'm fine..." I trail off, but when I glance at my reflection on the steel walls, I see it:

My eyes flickering from gold to brown, not being able to decide which color they want to be.

"Come with me," Henley orders in a cold tone, grabbing my arm firmly and dragging me down the hall. My shoes scuff the metal floors, creating an awful screeching noise that sets my teeth on edge as I go.

Henley leads me to a door and opens it, pushing me quickly inside of it as I stumble to regain my balance.

"What in God's name is the meaning of-" I begin, but immediately quiet myself when I see the room's contents:

A chair is bolted to the ground as a lone lightbulb sways from a wire above it. Next to the chair lies a table with a tray practically overflowing with scalpels, syringes, and various other items that one would use to prod someone with.

"Why don't you sit down?" Henley asks me.

I look at her uncertainly, this room screaming danger and a meek voice whispering in my ear not to listen to her.

But in turn, she uses her power of control and slams me into the chair.

She comes over and slips metal restraints over my wrists, preventing any means of escape.

"What are you going to do to me?" I ask, feeling afraid.

She circles me, looking me up and down like a predator about to massacre its prey.

"The power of evaluation is wasted on you. You can't even look past the mind control I have on you to see what's real anymore, can you?" She asks, although her tone suggests she prefers the way things are.

"What do you want from me?" I ask.

Henley approaches me, eyeing me ferociously with her gleaming eyes.

"What do you remember of Julia?" She asks, as if that's the only thing she cares about.

On impulse, I want to say that Julia's a monster. An evil being that destroys everyone and everything in her path, leaving hurt and loss in her wake.

But before I can get the words out, another memory hits me like a speeding freight train:

As my constricted wrists suffocate in the binds of the ropes encircling them, my head slumps forward in defeat. With deep lashes pooling blood on my back and the hot sun setting my skin on fire, I squint my eyes shut, not wanting to see myself. I hear a gun click into place as it is held against my forehead, and I brace myself for the end.

But before anything can happen, a cry from far off rings out, and people begin to charge in. I open my eyes to see people battling one another, bursts of power exploding here and there.

I feel a gentle hand on my shoulder, and I look up to meet the person's eyes.

A girl, one with nearly raven-black hair pulled out of her face. Medium height, small hands that are gentle and careful. She seemed familiar, but it was only when I saw her eyes that I knew. The dazzling green that could only mean it was Julia.

"You came back," I croak out, a small smile spreading across my face.

She put her hands up to my cheeks, holding my gaze with hers as tears pooled around the edges of her eyes.

"Of course I came back."
***

"Well, what do you remember?!" Henley shouts, bringing me back into focus.

I shake my head, the memory nearly as fresh as the day it happened.

I remember now; that memory is from three years ago when I was supposed to die, only to be rescued in turn. That memory is something good from Julia Lancaster.

Bit by bit, other memories begin to arise, faint wisps of a past that is now gone.

I remember her now, and I remember that she is not my enemy.

"I remember everything," I spit at Henley, the truth finally clearing its way back to me.

"Julia's not the enemy, Henley. You are," I tell her, severely shaking my wrists in hopes I can somehow break out of my restraints.

Henley grabs me by the collar of my shirt and holds me in a death grip, a look of murder on her face. "You're in my domain, boy. You don't want me as an enemy," she says before releasing me.

"I suspected that my power of control over your mind would only be able to last so long before it finally wore off," she begins, "but unlike most people, I always come prepared," she finishes with a wicked grin on her face.

Henley walks over to the tray of wickedly sharp objects and picks up a syringe, a syringe filled with a bright orange substance that promises an unknown amount of torture for me.

"My powers are used for so many things that it takes too much energy to focus everything on you, thus explaining why you return to who you once were," Henley says, walking towards me with syringe.

"But luckily, this has the same properties that the power of control has, so once I inject you with this, you won't have anymore problems. No more remembering, no more memories of what once was. Only what I tell you what is real, and what is not. This will be your new mind-set, Peter," she says.

I start panicking, writhing in my chair.

"Oh come now, this won't hurt a bit," Henley says, only inches away from my arm.

"JULIA!" I scream, hoping that she can somehow hear me.

"The one you call on doesn't know you anymore. And how could you blame her, after everything I have planned for the two of you," she says wickedly, pressing the needle against my skin.

"I REMEMBER YOU!" I yell desperately, foolishly hoping that maybe this will be some sort of compensation for what Henley will make me do to Julia.

"Not anymore, you don't," Henley says, pressing down on the syringe and injecting the liquid into my system.

I let loose one more cry for Julia, and then I black out.