ɢʜᴏꜱᴛꜱ | ᴅ. ɢʀᴀʏꜱᴏɴ

chapter 34

34. the revival of ghost

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two days later

PAIGE HAD UNDERSTOOD WHAT IT FELT like to be a prisoner in her own life. Somehow, she managed to never be able to escape it. Time after after time, she was being forced into something that she didn't want to do. Now was no different.

She had become a laboratory experiment at Cadmus like she had been at the Organization.

The woman had sat in a white room, arms and legs chained to the metal chair that sat right in the middle. From behind her, she heard the large steel door slowly open before it closed again.

"Hello, Paige. Looks like we meet again."

She didn't have to look to know who it was. That voice sent her back to a place she did not want to be. The hairs on her arms raised, her heart was beating quicker, fear ran down her back with a chill. She felt the man behind her get closer before he brought his head down to reach her ear. "I told you I'd find you..."

The woman tried to fight but forgot that her hands were cuffed behind her. She watched as he circled around her letting out a laugh, mocking her. Making her feel useless like he always had.

Refusing to look at the man who took advantage and controlled her life for years, she continued to stare at the wall. "What do you want from me, Daniel?"

"What, can't a man see how his girlfriend's—?"

"I'm not your girlfriend you piece of shit, you tried to kill me."

"You tried to do the same."

"I was defending myself," she said through gritted teeth.

"Bullshit!" he yelled, causing her to flinch in her seat. She could feel tears brimming at her waterline as her mind flooded with the horrible memories the man left her. All the fighting and the shouting and the pain that he caused her suddenly felt familiar. "You wanted me dead! All I wanted was to love you."

"That wasn't love, it was torture."

"Of course, 'cause like you said, I can never do anything right. Is that correct?"

"I never said—"

"Stop lying!"

"I'm not lying!" she snapped, her anger finally boiling over. "But you wanna know the truth? You are sad and pathetic and the idea of me being better than you, terrified you."

"Liar—"

"Than why am I chained up, huh? You love the control and it's fucking pitiful—"

"Shut up!"

"You're nothing but a poor excuse of a man with mommy issues cause she never loved you enough. Well guess what, Daniel, wake the fuck up because you'll never get it. She's fucking dead and living in paradise cause she doesn't have to deal with the embarrassment of a son she gave birth to!"

The man let his anger win as he punched the woman straight in the face. His chest rose and fell as he breathed unevenly, his irritation rising with each malicious word she spat at him like venom.

A dry laugh escaped Paige's lips as she finally brought her gaze to him. When his eyes locked onto hers, he was met with an unfamiliar look. He didn't see the scared woman that immediately fell into submission whenever he wanted her to. There was no longer fear in her eyes when she looked at him. All he could see were the devilish eyes of a woman who had had enough and was seeking revenge for years of abuse. "Is that all you've got?"

He went to punch her again but the sudden rigidity of his hand had caught him off guard. The woman had easily phased through the metal cuffs in time to block the attack. A small smirk curled at the corner of her mouth. "How..."

"Guess you've missed a couple of things." As she twisted his arm, he let out a scream of pain. Moving beside him, she slammed his head down onto the metal chair. "See, the thing is, Daniel, you don't control me anymore."

He looked up through his eyebrows at the woman who rested her arms and chin on the top of the back of the seat. Feeling something trickle over his lip, he brought his hand up to his nose. Looking back down at his fingers, he noticed the smeared blood. "You bitch."

Giving him a sympathetic look as her eyebrows knitted together and her gaze softened. "Oh...I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" She backed away as soon as he lunged at her. She shook her head tauntingly. "I thought you were better than that, I'm disappointed."

Having enough of the woman's games, he reached out, grabbing her hair as he pulled her towards him, getting a clean punch to her face. Recoiling, she got herself together quickly as she side kicked him in the stomach before kicking him in the crotch. As he doubled over from the pain, she pushed his head down into her knee.

Seeing a brief opening, he pushed her away from him. During her stumble, she caught herself with the chair that she had once sat in. After folding the chair, she swung it in his direction as he charged at her. The impact caused him to hit the ground hard.

Standing over him, the woman pushed him down with her foot. Cracking echoed through the room as she applied pressure to his ribs. His screams of agony filled her ears while she chuckled at his misfortune. Using the top of the chair, she pressed the metal into his throat, ignoring the sound of his choked pleas.

"Please..." he choked out, "Please, don't—"

Crack.

She watched as his eyes closed. The body in front of her went limp. Looking over at the now dead man, her face scrunched up in disgust before she spat on his body.

Unfolding the chair, she placed it back down in the middle of the room. Paige sat down with her legs crossed as her gaze shifted towards the one-sided mirror on the wall.

On the opposite side of the glass window stood Mercy Graves with a proud grin on her face. "Truly excellent," the woman said into the microphone beside her. "You're ready for Phase Two." She watched as a smirk curled up on the woman's face.

When Paige, Gar, and Conner had been brought to Cadmus, they had all gone into brain surgery. They had been weaponized for the benefit of the organization — for the benefit of Mercy Graves.

Mercy looked at the man's body. It wasn't Daniel. Paige's brain hallucinated that it was him. Daniel had died the night Paige escaped. Mercy knew Paige didn't know that and used it to test out her new puppet. She looked at Paige like she was nothing but a lab experiment for her to play with. As long as Paige was at Cadmus, Mercy had full control over her rage.

And Paige had a lot of underlying rage.