LoveBite [2]

67

After hours upon hours of forgotten memories being forced into her eyes and ears, the screams, shouts, and pain, Satine remains seated in the same red room she was forced into two weeks ago, curled into herself on the floor. Her hair is knotted and greasy, skin and lips are dry, she hasn't seen the sun in far too long.

She knew she would be here for some time, but not this long and Haven has refused to tell her how long it really has been. All she knows is that she's spent far too much time down here. She has begun to have doubts about if she will ever be found, but she tries her best to keep her hope. Though, it wavers with every passing minute that she stays, still in the same room. Her new normal.

-

After she hesitated to come into the large lab, Wanda steps up to the door and it slides open for her to walk right in. Searching for Peter, she finds him at one of the desks after he made the mistake of sitting on one of the stools. He's far too exhausted and busy for that to have been one of the things he decided to do, but he did it anyway.

He fell asleep while trying to find a way to locate Satine's suit, but they never thought to put trackers in their suits. It's never crossed their minds, because they always assumed they would be together and safe. And now, Peter sits here, clueless and irritated, even in his sleep.

Wanda nods with a sigh and makes her way towards him, stepping quiet to not scare him awake. She places her hand on his back and leans down beside him to start whispering his name. His eyes flicker open within seconds and he lifts his head to look around.

"Hey." She calls gently and he sits up while clearing his throat. "Maybe you should go to bed, instead of --"

"No." He stands up right. "No, I'm fine here."

"Peter." She shakes her head.

"Wanda, I'm fine." He itches the back of his head as he looks down at his computer and she tilts her head. "I'm fine."

She takes a deep breath while putting her hands together in front of her. She hesitates before she nods and heads towards the exit. He closes his eyes, annoyed in himself and everything around him, and rubs his eyes and face.

"Friday, why'd you let me sleep?" He rubs his face as Wanda stops by the door.

"You need it, Peter." She states surely and he shakes his head, pulling a saddened sigh from Wanda before she takes her leave.

-

Laid on the floor of her confined space, Satine pushes her hands into her hair as she begins to overheat. The tears on her face have dried up and left a tight feeling on her skin. So scared and tired in her locked box, she feels the worst she ever has in her entire lifetime. The tightness in her chest causing physical discomfort and making her feel almost sick to the stomach. She can't fathom where this is all coming from.

As she rolls to her side to push herself up on her palms, her attention is gathered to a noise coming from the large door.

"No, no." She breathes fearfully as the door opens. "Haven."

She steps into the room, wearing the same mask she wore ten years ago, when she fought LoveBite on that random roof. Closed tightly over her mouth and nose, she only breathes in the clean air that peaks through, unlike what Satine has been breathing in for nearly fifteen days.

Satine rests on her knee and puts her hand up to defend herself if need be. Her cautiousness came in handy when she tried to get up on her shaky legs and Haven rams her fist into her cheekbone, sending her back to the floor. She attempts to pick herself back up before a boot kicks into her side, forcing her down, where she stays. As Haven grabs her shoulders and picks her up to hold her against the wall, it becomes apparent to her that holding her own isn't much of an option anymore.

"It's working." She smiles as she straddles her waist and holds her in place by the straps of her tank-top. "You're getting weaker. This room is doing exactly what it was designed to do. And, you'll be ours again soon and you'll be strong and powerful again, but not before this." She gently places her hands on her cheeks. "Not before you lose yourself and everything about you that you love. Because you know who you'll look to when that happens?" She scooches closer and pushes her hair behind her ear and Satine takes a deep breath while turning away. "Me." She pulls her eyes back to hers. "You won't just be ours again, you'll be mine." She nods with a small smile behind the mask. "Alyona, you'll be my любовь again." She brushes her finger down her cheek and Satine shakes her head.

"I need Peter." She breathes weakly and her smile begins to fade. "Let me go, Haven."

"You need Peter." She mocks while tilting her nodding head. "You want to go home and be with Peter? The boy that still hasn't even come close to finding you?" She lies convincingly and she hangs her head with an exhausted exhale. "And, believe me, he's looking." She smirks. "He's been searching every single day that you've been gone and he hasn't even been back to this building." She chuckles and she begins to breathe heavily. "Might as well just get rid of him." She shrugs and Satine's eyes flicker back up to hers. "Oh, did that hit a nerve?"

"Don't touch my family." She grits breathlessly with clenched fists.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt your loving husband." She rolls her eyes. "But that little girl of yours, on the other hand." She sings and her heart plummets. "She'd be the perfect asset. She's small and smart. She's a strong girl, I'm sure she could handle the --"

Satine slams the heel of her fist to the side of her head, knocking her off of her legs. She takes a deep breath, fighting her tight chest, and crawls up to her hands and knees. She balances herself on the wall to get up on her feet and push herself towards the exit.

She takes her first step out of the cage, into the darkness that she assumes to be a crawlspace of some kind, or a passage between walls. Forcing herself forward, she starts for the sliver of light coming for a crack in the wall with her arm over her stomach.

Just as quick as she was finally able to make her escape, her knees hit to ground. Her eye sight has gone blurry as she hangs her head and grips her shirt to pull it away from her heaving chest.

"Don't think you're getting out any time soon, Satine." Haven pushes her down to her back, gaining a huff in return and she holds her down by her boot. "We need you too much to let you go."