Summers' Purpose

Chapter 48

A/N: Warning dear readers, slight depictions of self-harm early in this chapter. Skip the 9th paragraph if you need to. Take good care of yourselves!

It was as if everyone simultaneously released the breath they didn't know they were holding. A delighted smile spread on Dr. Erik's face as he cupped his hands together. "Wunderbar! We did it! I did it!" He laughed joyously, grabbing onto Lyssa's shoulder as she watched him. He moved away slightly, took out a silver flask from his pocket, and raised it in view of the laptop. "Hail Hydra," he declared proudly, a gleam in his eyes as his colleagues cheered on with him on the screen. Susie smiled as she watched the spectacle with interest, Timmy and Marco stepping back after she cued them to do so.

A dull pain filled Lyssa's head, several parts of it feeling worse for wear. She glanced behind her, looking at the chair and the device that was attached to her moments ago as Dr. Erik continued celebrating. Her eyes were drawn to what seemed to be a crudely made metal headpiece, with several rods protruding from the circumference. She assumed that that must be the cause of the throbbing pain in her head. She carefully touched a particularly tender part, the right temple to be exact. She felt a warm and sticky liquid on her fingertips, shocked and confused when she checked and saw that her fingertips were red.

Red. Red, like—Her mind wanted to tell her something but the other part of her was louder now.

"Ah, about that. Entschuldigung, liebling." Dr. Erik grabbed a small bottle of aspirin from his bag and handed it to Lyssa. "Here, take these as advised. I know you can heal pretty fast on your own but it would help to ease the discomfort for now."

Lyssa took the bottle without a word and pocketed it. One of the people on the laptop screen suddenly called out, a man who looked to be in his 40s with an unmistakably arrogant look on his face as he corrected his glasses. Lyssa looked at him, the air about him reminding her of somebody else. Another distant face, calling silently to her from her clouded memory.

"We need proof that she is properly coded. Allow me," the man asked, as Dr. Erik gestured for him to continue. "Please hand her a knife." Dr. Erik and Susie looked at each other briefly before he urged her to do so. Susie frowned, feeling reluctant as she flipped her knife and held the blade, pushing the handle in Lyssa's direction. Lyssa reached out, carefully taking the knife, feeling a slight resistance from Susie. "Солдат. Cut a line along your forearm. You only stop when I tell you to."

Lyssa's brows pulled together as she tried to think about what she had heard. To reason against it. But it felt as if her ability to do so was taken away from her. It was pointless trying to resist, it was like trying to catch smoke with her bare hands. Her control slipped away between her fingers, like something else she knew she was constantly reminded of, but can't remember for the life of her. She raised the knife, bringing it to her forearm, stopping with the tip of the blade against her skin. She heard the man talking again. "Ah, of course she hesitates. You are her handler, Dr. Erik. Please tell her to do what I asked."

Dr. Erik coughed, clearing his throat and his nerves. "You heard him, soldier. A red line, starting from the inside of your forearm."

Sweat formed on Lyssa's brow as she tried to fight her own self. But their words, especially the doctor's, seem to ring the loudest in her head. Like something she can't ignore. A small part of her was begging not to do it, not because she was afraid of being hurt, but because that meant that she gave them control. Alas, a more dominant part of her chose to follow his order as she dug the blade's tip into her arm. She winced as she drew blood, but she pulled the blade slowly along her forearm anyway, grimacing as she felt her skin and flesh give way to the sharp metal. It took a lot in her to try and stop, but it took more not to cut too deep. She gritted her teeth as she continued, approaching her wrist slowly.