Supervillain Soulmate

Chapter Fourteen

The toes of Nora's shoes scuffed across the floor as her lifeless body was carried out of the interrogation room. The two thugs were holding her tightly enough that she was sure they were going to leave bruises, not that they'd stand out against the myriad of other bruises likely already blooming as a result of her interrogation. Letting her head hang, she tried to watch the floor tiles in a vain attempt at memorising the path they were taking just in case she managed to get free of them and escape.

It didn't happen. She had no energy left at all to fight them, her limbs refusing to cooperate. She didn't even have the strength to put out her arms and stop herself when they opened the door to her cell and tossed her in without a care. Thankfully her shoulder bore the brunt of the impact instead of her head.

She wasn't sure how long she was on the floor for, but after a while Nora felt some semblance of control returning to her limbs. It came back like a wave of pins and needles, made worse by her attempts at moving.

Once the sensation had passed fully, she clambered up onto the poor excuse for a bed and slumped against the wall, raising her legs to wrap her arms around them, making herself as small as she could.

Nora wasn't entirely sure what she had expected would happen when she had gone through Cataclysm's portal this morning and finally left his apartment, but it definitely hadn't been this. It felt like everything in her life had been turned upside down. The Saviours were meant to be the good guys and they had treated her like a villain instead of asking if she was ok after being kidnapped by Cataclysm.

It was exactly what he had warned her would happen, and she hadn't believed it at the time. She still couldn't believe it now, really. Had he somehow given them the idea that she was working with him now? It was possible, she supposed, since she didn't know where he went when he left his apartment.

It had been weeks and he'd never given her any hint as to what he did, or where he went, or even what was going on in the world outside his apartment. Did her family miss her? Did they even know she was missing?

The whole time she had been cooped up in the apartment she had been imagining people flyering telegraph poles and bulletin boards with pictures of her face asking for any and all information. But now? Now she was starting to wonder whether the Saviours had just covered the whole thing up. Surely her work colleagues would have noticed that she'd gone missing?

Unfortunately there was no-one around that she could ask. The cell she was in was all concrete aside from the steel door, so she couldn't tell if there were any prisoners in adjacent cells, not that she expected them to have any information that would help her. But there were no footsteps outside either. She couldn't hear anyone moving about in the hallway, so there didn't even seem to be any guards she could summon.

Nora couldn't get comfortable. The mattress on the bed was practically paper thin and her aching limbs could feel the hardness of the metal bed frame beneath it. Not for the first time, she found herself wishing that her power worked on herself. If she could just take away a little bit of the pain then maybe she'd be able to get comfortable enough to sleep a little bit and recoup some energy.

Summoning her power to her hands, Nora placed her palms on her legs and focused the way she would do if she was trying to numb someone else's pain. She hadn't tried to heal herself since she had synchronised with Cataclysm, and since powers were supposed to evolve and enhance after soulmate synchronisation, she figured it was worth a try.

Nothing happened. Her limbs continued to scream at her, nerve endings lit up like neon signs. Frustrated, she let herself slide further down on the uncomfortable bed, annoyed that she couldn't help herself in this situation. She'd never felt as powerless as she did right now.

Staring up at the ceiling, Nora wondered whether Cataclysm had noticed that she was gone yet. Unfortunately she had no indication of what the time was, so she had no idea whether he would've gotten back home yet or not. She tried to imagine him coming back to find her gone and what his reaction would be. Would he be angry? Worried even? Smug? That one seemed a little more likely, since he'd been adamant that this very thing would happen to her if she left the apartment.

Maybe he'd be glad to see the back of her, especially after they'd fallen out. She was one less thing for him to worry about. Perhaps he'd assume she'd gone back to her old life and tried to get over what had happened? Would he check up on her? If he knew that she was being held at the Saviours HQ would he come for her?

"I've come to get you out of here." Cataclysm told her as his portal appeared right in front of her. She was so happy to see him that she didn't even stop to wonder how he'd known exactly which cell to look into to break her free from.

"You really came for me?" She asked, wincing as she pushed herself up from the bed and stumbled towards him.

"What did they do to you?" He asked, voice bordering on a growl as he stepped through the portal to take her into his arms.

"It doesn't matter, you're here now, that's all that matters. Take me home?" Funny, when had she started thinking of his apartment as home?

"It does matter, I'll make them pay for laying hands on my soulmate." He told her, pulling her against his chest, his arms tightening around her...

A loud bang shocked Nora back into consciousness and she didn't know whether to be upset or relieved that it had just been a dream. When had she even managed to drift off? She scrambled to sit up on the bed, arms shaking in protest as she looked over to her cell door.

There was a small hatch in the bottom of the door that had been opened and a tray had been shoved through it. "Meal time." The guard on the other side of the door told her. "You get fifteen minutes to eat and return the tray."

"Or else what?" Nora found herself asking.

"Or else we come in there and take it back."

Nora's eyes widened at the thought of anyone coming into her cell, and she lurched forward to eat as fast as she could, unsure when she'd next be fed. It wasn't much, just some rice and a plain stew of some kind, but she ate it quickly and washed it down with the meagre offering of water.

As soon as she was done, she pushed the tray back through the hatch in the floor, peering out as she did so. There were other doors with hatches all along the corridors, though not all of them were open. The one across from hers was, though, and she made eye contact with the person in that cell.

It was a woman, the tips of her fingers blackened. She bared her teeth at Nora revealing fangs that she hoped were cosmetic, and threw her tray across the hallway at her. Nora jumped back with a gasp, kicking the hatch shut and retreating to her bed.

They really had locked her in an actual prison section of HQ with the rest of the inmates. And for what? Having a villain for a soulmate? Something wasn't right here, but what?