Shattered Souls - Clark Kent AU

Chapter 17

Slowly, I groaned my way back to consciousness, only to be met by a sharp sting of pain shooting through my body. Ouch. Seriously, can't catch a fucking break.

I cracked my eyes open, and the first thing that greeted me was the icy touch of metal on my back. Lovely.

I tried to shift my weight, but the restraints dug into my bones, and I could feel my hair clinging damply to the sides of my head. Someone apparently thought it was a good idea to give me an impromptu shampoo session while I was out cold.

With a groggy huff, I managed to lift my head, only to see that I was clad in a strange white lab gear. It wasn't just my hair they tampered with; they dressed me up like some doll in their demented experiment.

A surge of anger and violation rose within me. Some nerve they had. What other messed-up things did they pull on me while I was knocked out? Just the thought was enough to make my blood simmer.

I felt so damn powerless. It was ironic, really—I actually missed my freakish strength for once. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to rip these restraints apart and wreck this entire lab. A day didn't pass without me cursing it, without wanting to feel normal. But breaking the occasional door handle was nothing compared to this feeling.

Who was I kidding, door handles were far from the only thing I had broken.

Mom... My eyes welled up and my throat clenched tight. How long had I been trapped in this soul-sucking hellhole? Time was playing games, slipping through my fingers. She must've been going out of her mind with worry. I could almost picture her waiting for me, coffee cup in hand, only to find out that I was just... gone. Would she think I'd run away on my own?

So many questions I wished I could ask her. The doctors actually believed I hailed from another planet, a creature not of this Earth. Explained a few things, I guessed. Lord knows I'd always felt like an outsider, like I didn't belong in this world. An alien in my own skin. An alien who killed his own father and left his mother scarred for life. The weight of that truth hit me hard. Something wet trickled down my cheek. Just great, those tears again, dammit.

My thoughts wandered to that towering behemoth. He had his own set of issues, just like me. He also had abnormal strength. Did he, too, screw up everything he touched? Did he also hurt the people he loved? Both of us were stuck here with these control collars, like a pair of wild beasts being tamed.

That brawl we had kept looping in my head. He punched me like a freight train, but it was like my body just laughed it off. And the guy had soaked up my hits like a champ. He seemed unbreakable, so I ditched my usual restraint. Probably helped that I felt weak as hell after wearing that collar for so long. Gotta admit, it was equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. How many times had I wished I could deck someone who pushed me too far? But then I had to rein it in to avoid making them a permanent part of the wall.

And then there's the million-dollar question—how the heck did Mr. Mountain-Man know about what I did to my father? Did they brief him before the fight? Was it part of the plan to get me all worked up to see what I could do?

If anyone's got the blame pie, it's probably that shadowy military maestro behind the glass. The one I overheard talking to Jake about me on the phone. He dropped that line about deploying me, finding a way to control me. The mere thought of it filled me with dread. Visions of being turned into some mindless weapon flashed in my mind. I could already picture myself forced to do their dirty work. No obstacle too big. Nothing could stand in my way. The thought made me shudder. No way in hell. I was nobody's puppet.

The silence shattered with the creak of the door, and my heart leaped into my throat. I went for my face out of instinct, wanting to wipe off any sign I had been crying, but the restraints weren't having any of that. In walked Doctor Stirling. He'd always been the compassionate one, but deep down, I knew he was still one of my captors.