Mental Pictures

Chapter Eighteen

I should stop getting knocked out. It has embedded into my routine. At least I won't have huge eyebags now.

Jaden thought as he gained consciousness. His head was throbbing with pain from the time the soldier hit him. He felt dried blood on his forehead, the strong coppery smell was not hidden from his nostrils. He was retrained with chains, his hands were bound on top of his head. He was forced to stand, his arms burning with lactic acid in his muscles, making them sore.

It did not matter to him. All it matters was Kate's survival.

Was she alive? I need to save her.

Jaden looked around him, the chains rattled as his body turned. He was in a cell, long metal bars which made it impossible for him to escape. He swore, knowing there was no way out for him now.

In his state of despair, two soldiers appeared in front of him, holding Kate, who was unconscious. The soldiers were expressionless, like the situation did not affect them at all. It was just another task for them.

"KATE!" Jaden thrashed around, the chains cutting into his wrist, his vein oozing out blood.

Footsteps were getting louder and Jaden could see a silhouette of a man. The man came into sight.

Ethan Peyton. The bane of Jaden's existence. The one who caused his pain. And Kate's pain.

Peyton chuckled. "Hey Jaden, nice to meet you again. Slept well?"

Jaden tried to spit at him but missed. "Screw you."

"How polite. Well, I guess you will be after I finished her." He brandished a knife in a blink of an eye and held it against Kate's throat.

"Wait! No, I'll be polite! I'll do anything you want!" Jaden protested, squirming like a worm.

"Oh no, it's not you, it's me. You see, her Oneiro cannot work for my machine. My machine needs someone with a strong mind, like you."

"What do you mean?"

"Your Oneiro overpowers you. You can't stop it."

"You're wrong. I can stop my dreams. My mother told me so." Jaden said with gritted teeth.

"Your mother? She's dead, isn't she? You dreamt about her dying with your father and yet you did not do anything about it. You killed them."

"I DID NOT KILL THEM." Jaden was trying his best not to cry, not to give in to this villain.

"Oh yes, you did. And now you are going to watch Kate die, like how you 'watched' your parents' death." Peyton said menacingly, his soldiers still unfazed.

"No! Don't-"

Peyton slashed Kate's throat in one clean cut. Her head rolled back, blood gushing out of the cut. The soldiers let go of her, her lifeless body slumped onto the floor.

"NO! You will pay for this, Peyton. I swear on my parents' grave."

"No, I won't!" Ethan sang as he dropped the blood-stained knife and walked away, his 'minions' following him.

Jaden was left alone to see Kate's corpse immersed in her own pool of blood. He thought of the things Kate had done for him. He owed his life to her. Kate just wanted to save the world. And she didn't make it.

I wish I could save Kate.

I like her.

Jaden couldn't resist and broke down, his salty tears mixing with his blood, his sobs echoed in the cell. Looking at Kate one more time, he gagged and threw up. His vision started to blur.

Not again.

Darkness consumed him again.

*****

Jaden woke up to the sound of heart rate machines.

The white light blinded him for a moment.

He opened his eyes and was in a state of shock. A familiar man was next to Jaden's bed. It was the same man who betrayed him. The same man whom he trusted.

Wayne.

And then, a sense of realisation hit him.

It was all a dream. I'm in the hospital.

He thought for a moment.

I'm gonna control my destiny. Kate shouldn't die. Peyton should. He is going to pay. Blood for blood.

A/N: Thanks for a thousand reads! Please vote and comment! :)