Jayden returned to the conscious world one sense at a time.
First was the bitter taste of copper, closely followed by the incessant noise of a ticking clock, third came the feeling of being shrouded in something warm and comfortable. She wrinkled her nose at the antiseptic stench of medicine and chemicals with an undertone of soap. It burned her nose to the point she could almost taste it.
When she cracked open her eyes, she was greeted by pure panic, how she came to be wherever she was came to her like a rushing wave on the beach. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and swung her legs to the edge of the bed. Her intent to stand was cut short by her arm jerking back by handcuffs that shackled her to the thin metal railing above her pillow.
She tugged harshly but all it did was make the chain clatter, she tried to twist her wrist from the restriction but to no avail, it was too tight.
It quickly dawned on her that the cuff wasn't only the restraint, a familiar tightness was sealed around her throat. Her free hand flew up to find a thick, metal collar, just like her old one.
"No!" Jayden choked, her hand tugging at it harshly in a fruitless vain. "I can't! I can't!"
There suddenly wasn't enough air. She tried sucking in one breath and then another, she was breathing but it didn't feel enough. The room was too small, she was trapped and everything was shrinking.
She clawed at the skin around her collar, too blind in panicked desperation to feel the pain that blossomed soon after.
Everything was on overload. The ticking of the clock boomed like cannons, the metal of her restraints were blocks of ice surrounding her skin, and the chemical scent in the air was poison clogging up her throat and burning her lungs.
"St-stop!" Jayden heaved, gripping her hair.
It's just a stupid nightmare, Tony would wake her. Tony always woke her!
But he didn't, there was nothing but her and the cold. She mindlessly pulled her knees up to her stomach and hugged them tightly in an attempt to comfort herself.
She didn't know how long she kept herself there with her eyes scrunched up and forcing her only focus to just breathe.
Eventually, she was able to relax somewhat and gain some clarity. She sighed and banged her head lightly against the metal bars of the bedpost. She was completely stuck. The only thing she had on her side was Theo.
She lazily looked around to ask what he believed they should do but frowned. He was nowhere in sight.
"Shit"
Her hand flew to the cursed collar. When she was knocked out, Theo was inside her pendant which meant he was, in all probability, still there.
Her agitation was renewed, and with jerky movements, Jayden returned to scratching at her collar and consequently her neck. With a choked breath, she smacked the collar with frustration, she was alone. For the first time in her life, she felt truly alone.
No Theo to comfort her, no Avengers to care for her, no school children to play with, not even the horrible Elizabeth.
Perhaps she already lost all of those things, she could still feel the warm, wet blood of Melissa dripping from her fingertips and the coppery smell of the stained floor of sanguine fluid from enemies and innocents alike.
Even the memory made her sick, how many people died? How many did she kill?
She remembered Theo's face after she regained herself after her loss of control, the disgust and hatred pointed toward her would forever be engraved in her memory.
YOU ARE READING
Unforeseen
FanfictionJYD2641 had enough. In her seven years of living, she's only ever known the cruel hands of her doctors who were determined to make her the next Winter Soldier. Death was becoming a familiar friend and it scared her so she did the only thing she cou...
