EXECUTIONER. the boys

prologue

EXECUTIONER
chapter  ──  zero.
꒰   PROLOGUE   ꒱
"They'll fix you."

... NEW YORK, 2015

The rain hit the windows like stones, hard and relentless, drowning out the city beneath it. The dark clouds hung low over the skyline, suffocating the world in its grip. Evangeline stood in the centre of the office, her heart pounding against her chest, her breath coming out in a shallow grasp. She felt like a caged animal, trapped, waiting for the inevitable blow. Everything she had ever known was being stripped away from her.

Madelyn Stillwell stood in front of her, calm as always. Her expression never wavered, that same cold, calculated smile on her lips. The kind of smile that never quite reached her eyes. Evangeline had seen it so many times over the years, but now it felt more menacing, more final. Cold and empty. A lie that held her under Vought's control for far too long.

"You understand why we are doing this, don't you, Evie?" Madelyn's voice was saccharine, too sweet for the moment. It was the kind of sweetness that rots your teeth and makes your stomach turn. The way she said Evie-soft, almost affectionate-made Evangeline's skin crawl. It was the same nickname she used when Evangeline was a child, back when Madelyn wanted to make her feel special, valued. Now it sounded wrong, a weapon disguised as warmth. Fake sympathy dripped from every word, coating the sharpness of the truth she was about to deliver. Evangeline had heard this tone before, but this time, it hit differently.

The words hung in the air between them, thick with tension. Evangeline could feel the weight of them pressing down on her, crushing the air from her lungs. She didn't say a word. What was there to say? She wanted to scream, wanted to cry out in protest, but the lump in her throat choked back the words. She was only 13 years old, everything she thought she knew was being taken away from her. Everything she thought she was.

Her whole body was trembling, but not from the cold. No, it was something intense-a primal, raw fear gnawing at her insides. There wasn't a thing left to say. She had no fight left.

Madelyn stepped closer, her heels clicking against the polished floor, each step deliberate and precise. Her gaze was fixed on Evangeline, scanning her like she was inspecting damaged goods. "You've become... unpredictable. A danger." She paused, letting the word linger. "You've lost control, Evangeline. Your illusions... they're seeping into your reality, and we can't have that here."

Evangeline's fists clenched at her sides, her nails digging into her palms until the skin broke. Liability. That's what she had become. A tool for Vought to wield until she wasn't useful anymore. All those years spent inside their sterile walls, her powers bent to their will, spying on people, politicians, anyone they needed leverage over. They had told her she was important, that she was special. But now? Now, she was just a liability. An error in their carefully controlled system.

Madelyn's voice cut through her thoughts, smooth and practised. "The Red River Institute will help you," she said, her tone softening as if she actually cared. "They'll fix you, I promise."

Fix you. As if she were broken.

The words stung. Evangeline wanted to scream. She wanted to lash out and tell Madelyn that she wasn't broken, that she didn't need to be fixed. But the weight of it all was too much, the walls closing in on her, the suffocating pressure building in her chest. They didn't want to help her. They wanted her gone. Swept under the rug like all the other failed experiments, the forgotten children of Vought who didn't live up to their expectations.

"I'm not crazy," Evangeline whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. She could feel her throat tightening, her words strangled by the fear coiled around her chest like a vice. "I know what I saw..."

Madelyn's smile faltered briefly, the mask slipping just enough to reveal the steel behind her eyes. "What you think you saw..." She shook her head, her voice sharpening, cutting through Evangeline's defences like a knife.

"You were nine, Evangeline. You're confused. Your powers have warped your sense of reality. You can't tell the difference anymore."

Evangeline's breath caught in her throat. The room seemed to shrink around her, the walls pressing in, the air growing thick and heavy. The memories flashed behind her eyes, the images of that day seared into her mind. She wasn't confused. She wasn't imagining it. But no one believed her. They had all said the same thing-her powers were messing with her head. It was just another illusion.

But it wasn't.

The guard behind her shifted, his heavy presence looming over her like a shadow. Evangeline could feel him there, waiting for a signal. Just another cog in the Vought machine, indifferent and cold. He didn't care about her, about any of them. They were all the same-moving pieces in a game she was never supposed to win.

Madelyn gave a slight nod, and the guard's hand landed heavily on Evangeline'a shoulder. His grip was firm, unyielding, pushing her toward the door. Eve didn't resist. There was no point. She had already lost.

The rain was still pounding against the windows, the storm outside growing fiercer by the minute. As they led her out of the office, Evangeline glanced back one last time. The towering Vought building behind her, its bright lights glowing in the distance like a beacon of everything she had once believed in but never truly belonged to.

They had lied to her. Used her. Broken her.

The cold rain hit her face as she stepped outside, mixing with the tears that had begun to spill down her cheeks. The sky above was dark, the storm raging around her, mirroring the chaos inside her mind. She had been nothing but a pawn in their game, and now she was being discarded, left to fend for herself.

She looked up at the sky, the rain pouring down in sheets, her fists clenched at her sides. She wasn't crazy. She wasn't confused. She knew what she had seen. But none of that mattered now.

As the guard ushered her toward the waiting van, Evangeline could feel the weight of everything pressing down on her, the despair clawing at her insides. She was being sent away. Sent to Red River, where they could simply forget about her.

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