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warnings: strong language, violence, mentions of murder, screaming, crying, blood/bleeding
song to listen to: all for us, labrinth
~~~~~
"Then let's kill the bitch." Illyana says, and I grin slightly. I get to my feet and grab my sweatshirt off the ground, putting it back on as everybody else starts heading out into the hallway. Sam's at the doorway as I grimace, pressing my hands against Reyes' desk as pain fills my body, much stronger than before. "Hey, hey, hey..." Illyana rushes to my side, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Something is wrong." I manage to tell her, and after a minute of waiting for it to stop it does. I try to catch my breath, and force a smile on my face as we follow the rest of our group out into the hallway. Rahne is leading us, Dani right behind her, Berto third in line, and the three of us following.
The intercom makes a piercing noise as it turns on, and we all look around as Reyes' voice comes over it. "Tonight, I'd like to talk about responsibility. You have a responsibility to your treatment." Sam holds my hand as we begin to walk down the hallway again, slowly following Rahne. "I want all of you to go to your rooms right now! If you disobey, or if you try to leave this facility, I have a responsibility to stop you...no matter what it takes."
Rahne leads us into the infirmary, and the only true sign of Reyes we can see is a bloody hand print on the glass.
"How do you know she's still in here?" Dani asks Rahne.
"I'm a good smeller." Rahne tells her, and Reyes' voice comes over the intercom again.
"You're a good killer." I see her bloody hand put the mic down, and all of us stop in our tracks.
"What's goin' on?" Sam raises his voice. "What's Essex Corp?"
All of us let out guard slightly down in some way, our eyes widening at the sight of Reyes stumbling out of her hiding spot and leaning against a cabinet for support. "It's a scientific organization founded by my superiors."
"Founded to do what?" Sam asks. Our guards have never been up stronger than they are now. "What...screw with our heads?"
"To save you!" Reyes screams at us, and I take a step back. "If...if it wasn't for me, you all would've been dead a long time ago!" She throws one of her hands out in our direction, and individual force fields cover all of us. She urges all of us to calm down already, but I've already dropped onto my knees. I take my sweatshirt off once again; it's too hot in here, and it's too small in here...it's making breathing as a whole harder for me to do. I can't even pay attention to Reyes' words, or even to Illyana when she kicks at the force field, screaming for Reyes to let us out.
"It's for her own good." Reyes says, and I piece together that she's not planning on letting Dani out. "And yours...I'm sure you've figured out her power by now. So special...she takes your greatest fear, your darkest secret...and makes you live through it over, and over, and over, and over...over...until it kills you."
The force fields have us all kneeling or lying down on the floor, and panic fills every inch of my body. I press my forehead against the floor, holding a hand out and pressing it against my force field, reaching out to Illyana's. She holds her hand out for me as well, and we don't take our hands away until the wall crumbles apart. My eyes widen as I watch a large, red eyed bear kill Reyes through the blurry orange force fields. All of our force fields disappear, and the bear ducks down. Sam turns around to face me, cupping my face in his hands and wiping away the tears. I get up on my knees, wrapping him in a brief hug before realizing Dani is completely passed out on the floor.
"Guys, she won't wake up!" Rahne says as she holds onto Dani's limp body, and my heart drops. "Help me! Dani...Dani!"
"It's coming back!" Sam shouts, and helps Rahne pick Dani up as we all scramble to our feet and down the hallway. I glance back as the bear puts it's claws in the infirmary, and Illyana grabs my hand to speed me up. All of us crouch down, and I pull the sleeves of my sweatshirt over my hands.
"It's hunting us." Berto says.
"No...it's hunting Dani." Rahne tells him, and my eyes widen.
"Why Dani?" Sam asks.
"Because that's what she fears." Rahne says, and with Sam's help we continue down and into another hallway. The entire building shakes, and several of us stumble forward and down onto the ground. I pull myself upright, taking a deep breath and looking at Illyana.
"Take Dani to a safe place, and I'll take care of this bear." She gets to her feet, facing her back towards us. "Sopheet limbo om limbotance!" She calls out, and a portal opens up at the end of the hallway. She starts walking towards it, and I press my back against a wall as I watch.
"What are you going to do?" Rahne calls after her, obviously panicked.
"I'm going to play with it." She tells her, and a very small, very short lived smirk comes across my face. "Get her out of here." Illyana starts transforming her arm completely the closer she gets to the portal, and Sam glances at me.
"Are you crazy?" He shouts after her. "That thing will kill you!"
"He's right, it's magic." Rahne adds, and I scoff.
"So am I." Illyana looks back at us, her eyes glowing blue before she jumps into the portal. It closes behind her, and Roberto and Sam run down the hallway to look out the window. I sigh and jog after them, leaning against the wall every now and then. I see Illyana landing behind the bear, Lockheed landing on her shoulder, and smirk.
"Holy shit!" Sam exclaims, his eyes wide.
"I'm gonna marry that girl." Roberto claims like it's a fact.
"Yeah, right." I scoff, and when I hear Illyana scream outside stumble back a little bit. I squeeze my eyes shut as Roberto runs down the hall and back to Rahne and the still-unconscious Dani.
"Raiy?" Sam's voice sounds muffled as I lean against the wall, and I don't open my eyes. "Raiya? Raiya, open your eyes, please. Come on, baby, open your eyes. Raiya? Raiya, come on! Come on, we can't lose you, not now. Raiya? Raiya!"
