Jane's Story

Chapter 5

In front of an iron door, in the middle of a long corridor flanked by multiple identical doors, stood two men talking to each other. One of them was bare-chested, while the other wore only a bathing robe.

  - Hey! You just got out of room 45521?

- Yeah. Damn, we still can't finish inside. When will they allow us to?

- C'mon! It's only been two days; of course, they wouldn't allow that.

- Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Meh, that's alright. She's feisty—it's fun. But I still haven't been able to collect any energy from her. And you?

- No luck on my side either. Nobody could, even when there were multiple of us in there.

- Well, have fun now. I'm pretty tired.

- Yeah, go rest.

The bare-chested man patted the other man's shoulder before walking away along the corridor, disappearing behind a door at the end of it.

The other man entered the room, revealing a lone double bed and a dull green crystal next to it.

On the bed lay a young woman with striking red hair. She was a total mess, bruises covering her body, and a white liquid smeared over most of her skin. Her expression was vacant, but a hint of defiance could still be seen in the depths of her eyes.

That young redhead was Jane. For two days, she had been subjected to the worst torture a woman could endure. Each time her gift of speed began to purge the drug from her system, they would administer another dose into her bloodstream.

The man looked at the young woman, a wicked smile on his lips. For the next two hours, only his groaning could be heard. Occasionally, there were sounds of pain from Jane, preceded by the noise of something blunt hitting flesh.

After finishing with the redhead, the man left the room, feeling as though he had forgotten something. Jane was alone again, eyes closed, tears streaming down her face. A whisper escaped her damaged lips.

- Anna...

{ - For fuck's sake, she can't hear me! Fucking drug! I'll burn them all to the ground! }

Jane's eyes shot open when she heard a familiar voice spewing insults one after another. Then it suddenly hit her: the last man had forgotten to give her another dose of the drug. Her gift was already working hard to get rid of it from her system. She could feel it in her body.

[{ - Anna? You... You're here? }]

{ - What?! Jane?! You can finally hear me? Ha-ah! These idiots forgot to drug you again! Damn, I spent two whole days trying to call you! Each time it was nearly happening, they drugged you again. }

Anna's voice cracked at the end of her words. Jane heard her taking a deep breath before continuing.

{ - Listen, Jane. First, slow down your gift, please. We need to make them think you're still under the drug's influence. But don't slow it too much. If I understood correctly, right now you should be alone for two hours, right? I... saw everything that happened, and... damn, I'm so sorry. I should have stopped you from going into that facility! }

A sad smile appeared on Jane's lips. She followed Anna's instruction before shaking her head.

[{ - No. You have nothing to be blamed for, you know that. Don't worry, I... I'm fine. }]

The soul was rendered speechless. In that groggy state, Jane forgot that all her emotions were felt by Anna. And there were a lot of different ones : pain, sadness, and a deep, dark anger. Even though it wasn't directed at her, Anna felt scared just sensing it. She was reminded of an abyss and feared that if she looked into it, it would stare back.