Just Him&I: In a Universe of Cruelty

Part 10

Honestly, I don't know how I made myself leave the house. The weather is just horrible. It's cold, and it's raining.
I was lagging behind James, his steps seemed firm. I was very short and weighed barely 50 kilograms.
I should start working out; otherwise, I'll lose shape completely if I just lay on the couch all day. The first thing we did was throw away the phone, so l don't even have anything to do.
The only activity is cooking and cleaning. We don't even go outside unless we need to buy groceries or run small errands. Being in four walls can drive you crazy.
The streets seemed deserted and empty. It's like everyone deliberately hid. I felt a bad premonition, like something terrible was about to happen. My heartbeat quickened, and my hands started trembling. Something is going to happen, I feel it. James was walking two steps ahead.
His hands were hidden in his pockets, with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head.
I looked at him through the brim of my cap without lifting my head. A dull sound echoed, and he suddenly collapsed to the ground. In panic, I ran up to him and noticed a small dart near his neck and started pulling it out.
Someone pressed a damp cloth against my mouth. I tried to break free, but his grip was too strong, and eventually, I lost consciousness.

***

I woke up in a dark room with old rusty couches. It smelled like no one had been here for 20 years. I don't know how to explain it, but it reeked horribly.
The ceiling was covered with mold, syringes and some bottles scattered on the floor. It was very damp here, and my sweater felt wet. My head was ringing, and I tried to focus my gaze. I was sitting on a metal chair with cuffs that were far too tight, my legs also tied.
Brock was standing without a mask, his face marred with scars and tiny cuts.
It looked as though this was just a mask he'd soon take off and reveal his old face. It was so unpleasant to look at that I closed my eyes and exhaled.

— Where's the serum? — he asked, spitting on the ground. I smiled, perhaps out of despair or nerves, and didn't say a word, not even lifting my head.

— Where's Barnes? — the only thing I cared about right now. I didn't care where I was, what they wanted from me, or what they'd do to me. I only worried about him.

— He's been given a horse dose of a sleeping drug. He'll rot there without ever waking up. I guarantee it. — This can't be. I assured myself he was still alive, maybe even searching for me. Or maybe not searching, as long as he was alive. My chest tightened, and I bit my lip hard. Blood spurted, and I licked my lips, tasting the metallic taste of blood.
A painful electric shock ran through my body, and I closed my eyes, hissing through my teeth.

— Then we'll talk differently — he smiled and nodded to the man in the mask. He approached me and slapped me. My cheek stung and burned. I silently begged for it all to end as quickly as possible, for them to finally kill me; I didn't know if I could take it.

— Where's the serum?! — his voice echoed in my head. The voice was insistent and firm. I remained silent. I knew where it was.
With Rogers, who probably handed it over to the government. Barnes had given it away when we first met. I'd heard them talking about it. I hoped they had destroyed it.
This time, the blow was to my stomach. I gritted my teeth and spat out the blood filling my mouth. I laughed, a loud, deranged laugh. It was so loud that Brock's face twisted and he looked
at me with a kind of disgust.

— Then we'll come back to you later, think about this question better. If you come up with something, just say it out loud — they left me, and I began to look around again. I noticed a small camera in the corner. Nothing else new. The cuffs painfully pressed into my wrists.
I simply closed my eyes and took deep breaths through my mouth. Time dragged on endlessly. I hummed something under my breath to calm myself. My throat was dry, and my whole body was numb and sore. I couldn't even move. My cheek and ribs ached. Rumlow opened the metal door and entered the room.

— You know, it's in your interest to tell us where it is. After all, no one's going to save you anymore. But if you tell us where it is, I'll let you go. And I won't use you for my purposes. You don't know who your mother was, do you? — I squinted, listening carefully to what he was saying. I froze for a few seconds, then looked up, my eyes filled with fear and confusion at what he'd just said.

— Didn't Daddy tell you who your mother was? Or where she disappeared to?! - he exaggeratedly pouted what was left of his lips and showed his white teeth. He spoke so disgustingly about Pierce that I almost threw up.

— What are you talking about? — he clearly knew something, and that terrified me.

— Oh! Your mother — a Hydra experiment, voluntarily, surprisingly.
As a result, she became a telepath.
Kristina fell in love with your father and married him. — I opened my mouth in amazement, not understanding what l was hearing or if I was hearing correctly. — Then you were born. And when your mother found out who your father really was and what he was doing to people, she filed for divorce. - Nausea rose, and I closed my eyes as if it would stop me from hearing him. I wanted so badly to cover my ears and curl up in a corner.

— He didn't like that very much, and he ordered her killed. Too bad I don't know who did it. I remember us burying her body. She was a beautiful woman, by the way. You look a lot like her. - Tears involuntarily streamed from my eyes. I looked up at the small dirty lamp, trying to hold them back.

— I suspect the telepath gift was passed on to you. But it needs to be developed. You probably haven't heard of it, have you? — I couldn't believe my ears; l'd never heard this, and Pierce had never told me. That's why he wanted me on his side so badly. The ability to read minds — it's simply unmatched. The things I could accomplish with this ability.

— You... freak! - I yelled it out and gritted my teeth. I thought they'd crumble into dust.
I couldn't hear anything anymore; my ears were ringing so loudly I thought my eardrums would burst.
He beat me, leaving bruises and bloody wounds. I didn't care; I paid him no attention, just endured. Then I stopped feeling anything altogether.
Blood was everywhere - on the ground, on my body, on his clothes.
In my mouth, and I periodically spat it on the floor, leavina a bloody puddle. Blood was everywhere - on the ground, on my body, on his clothes.
In my mouth, and I periodically spat it on the floor, leaving a bloody puddle.
Blood poured from my nose. At first, he beat me himself, then started using electric shocks. But I continued to stay silent, which drove him insanely mad.
He trembled with rage.

I hoped James was alive. He had to be alive; otherwise, l'd pull him out from under the ground.