Tyrant (Lazaretto Sequel)

three

March 21, 2094

VAL

It had been nearly week since mother passed. She had stage four lung cancer and decided not to follow through with treatments. Why she kept it from the family, I will never know. I had stayed by her during her final moments, aiding her. Lauren was out hunting for the girl, and I knew she would have wanted to be there, too. Calling her and telling her to come home, I hoped she would make it in time to say goodbye to mother. She didn't.

Lauren walked through the threshold of the door and set her backpack down softly against the floor. Her boots were coated with mud, and my controlling side hoped she wouldn't track any inside. She then proceeded to place her hands behind her back, her eyes glowing into mine. This version of Lauren was very boring and dull, rolling my eyes at how professional she was being. Then again, I made her this way. 

I knew Lauren was going to hate me for what I was about to do, but I couldn't risk her running away or injuring herself, or worse, hurting me. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

"Follow me," I commanded. Lauren nodded once before following me into the living room of our house before motioning her to sit down in one of the chairs, and she did so without question. The fireplace was crackling as the dark room was illuminated by the orange flames, the air smelling of warm vanilla. I walked behind her and gently pulled her arms around the back of the chair waiting for her to protest, but she never did. I then proceeded to fasten the handcuffs around each of her wrists, locking them in place before grabbing the duct tape off of the nearby table and making my way in front of her. Looking into her neon eyes as I crouched in front of her legs, she kept her gaze on the fire behind me, completely mesmerized. Not once did she ask what I was doing or why. She remained completely silent. I sighed at her cooperativeness as I pushed her legs together and wrapped the duct tape around them.

I sat on the coffee table in front of her and watched as she sat motionless, waiting for her next command. I hated what I was about to do to her, but I knew Lauren would want to know. She would want to feel. 

Slowly reaching out and touching her face, she didn't even flinch. I mumbled an "I'm sorry" before reaching into the front pocket of my jeans and pulling out the device, looking at her one last time before turning off the switch. Lauren's body instantly slumped in the chair, her head hung at her chest. A couple seconds later she shot up, inhaling a sharp breath as if she had been under water for too long. Her neon eyes had returned to normal, and this time they weren't submissive. They were dark, and full of malice. She gritted her teeth when she saw me sitting in front of her. She tried to reach for me, only then realizing that she was restrained. She pulled hard against the cuffs, and I was sure that she was going to rip her skin off.

"I hate you!" she spat. "I'm never going to hurt her, you understand me?" She continued to yell and scream, the veins in her neck bulging with rage. "No matter what you do, no matter what you say, I'll—"

"Mother is dead, Lauren." I interrupted, not wanting to hear her yell nonsense at me anymore. She immediately stopped her rant, her breathing ragged. She leaned back against the chair, no longer seeing the point in trying to break free.

"W-What?" she stuttered. It was then that I finally managed to look her in the eyes again, and the once darkened orbs were now soft and filled with tears. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair as Lauren looked at me expectantly.

"She died a couple of hours ago. I called you as soon as I could. I thought you would get here in time to say goodbye, but—"

"You are unbelievable, you know that?" she scoffed. "I bet you haven't shed a single tear. You're heartless, Val! I bet you're the one that killed her just so you could take over the Region and facilities..."