Reflections; a KOTLC fanficion

Chapter 19

Caroline found herself sweating. This was not happening. She knew that the Council's betrayal shouldn't surprise her. But it did. It was a horrible feeling she got in her gut that something was wrong. And seconds later, the intercom blared.

"Caroline Foster, report to lab 7 now."

Surprisingly, she knew where that was, but she was not going in that direction no matter what. Retracing her steps, Caroline ran past all the open doors toward the room where they entered, only to run straight into Councilor Emory.

"How dare you? You all are just a bunch of rats," Caroline said, at a loss for words. Behind him stood the rest of the council. They pushed her friends down on their knees, gags were in their mouths. Ash, Eve, and Melody stood behind them, faces as stoic as ever, and next to them was a tall, dark-haired man with an addler around his neck. His face was distorted under the device. Caroline assumed he was Wolf, the man Ash talked about.

"I think you have some explaining to do," Emory said, forcing Caroline down with the rest of her friends. He placed a gag over her mouth and some sort of device on her arms. She stole a glance at Ash. He looked down at her, and she thought that she could see some compassion in his eyes, but then it was gone just as fast.

Caroline tried to send some snarky comment back, but the gag held her mouth in place.

"Take them to one of the interrogation rooms. Make sure to separate them." Caroline was shoved to a standing position again and led in a different direction than everyone else. The one Ash called Wolf was dragging her by her collar.

The interrogation room was completely dark. There was a single chair that could be seen by the light from the door. Once the door was closed, she would not be able to see the interrogator. Closing the door behind him, the man plunged them into darkness. A faint glow emanated from where she thought her neck scar must be. She was forced into the chair. Time seemed to disappear in this room. She had never been in an interrogation room before.

"First question," his voice was like pure ice. "How were you able to access this facility." The man ripped away the gag so fast that it gave her burns.

Caroline was relieved her gag was finally gone. She rubbed her burned cheek. "Okay, for starters, can we drop the clueless act? I know for certain that the council is working for you and not against you, so why don't you ask them?"

An icy slap hit her on the cheek. She knew that was going to leave a bruise. "There is no affiliation between us and the council. They helped us because they knew that you were going to invade our complex."

So now Caroline knew what was really going on. They were both being set up. However much she hated the MRD, the council was worse for doing this to both of them.

"Only because they told us to invade!" Caroline yelled back, struggling in her chair. She hoped Wolf's face was as surprised as she thought.

"Second question, how were you able to recover your abilities? As far as I know, you have nowhere near the genetic knowledge to be able to fix the disablement we placed on your DNA." Caroline strained her neck to try to see him, but he was enveloped in shadows.

"If I tell you, you won't believe me," Caroline tried.

"Try me, I find that everything can be believable," Wolf said.

Caroline tried to smile. "Fine then, it was Mr. Forkle."

"Ah, so that's who gave you this scar."

Caroline could feel pressure against her glowing neck. She thought she could see the silhouette of a hand, but it was gone before she could get a good look.

"Interesting way to show the world just exactly what you are." Wolf paused. "A freak."

Caroline lashed out. She tried moving against the chair, but it pinned her in place with unyielding force. Suddenly, the door opened, flooding the room with light. She was momentarily blinded, and all Caroline could see was a lone figure standing in the doorway.

"Sir, I'm glad I could find you." The voice felt familiar. Caroline's eyes adjusted to see Ash walking towards Wolf. The man's form kept changing, fading into the shadows.

"Melody wants you," Ash continued.

"Let me finish my interrogation, boy," Wolf insisted, but he couldn't finish his sentence before Ash kicked him, dropping him to the floor, but Wolf got up just as fast, returning a jab to Ash's side.

Caroline watched the fight intensely. Ash was good, but he was not built for fighting, and Wolf seemed to have impossible training. He punched Ash in the nose, making him bleed.

"A little help?" Ash asked as he ducked onto the floor. Wolf's punch hit the wall instead, making a deafening vibrating sound. While the man was recovering, Ash quickly slid over to Caroline to untie her from the chair, but the knot seemed to be made of something tougher to work with than rope.

Finally, the knot was undone, just as Ash was shot to the floor. Strange shadows seeped from the wound. This time, he didn't get back up. Caroline didn't really have a plan, but she hastily dragged Ash towards the door. Her abilities still seemed strange, but the risk of using them was worth it. She opened her hand to unleash her pyrotechnic ability, and the interrogation room was flooded with fire.

That seemed to slow Wolf a little bit. Caroline continued dragging her friend down the hall, but when she looked back, the leader of the MRD was still following, but something was different about him.

His addler had melted off.

And in its place, was the face of Tam Song.