The Nemesis Syndrome

15. Eliza

When they came, she was ready. The second she heard the lock click she was on her feet, braced again the walls.

Not ready to run or fight- she would never win with that- but just ready.

But when the man came in, he barely looked at her. Instead, he took a step towards Leo, the boys eyes still blurry with sleep, and she knew.

'No.' It was a mutter, a whisper, and so full of rage. 'No!' she said louder. 'You promised.'

She received only a smirk in answer as the man grabbed Leo and pulled him to his feet.

'You promised.' She screamed at them. 'Leo, they promised, I swear, they said they wouldn't!' She wanted to cry; Leo's eyes were wide as he looked back at her, wide enough to make her step forward to try and stop it.

But the door slammed shut in her face, and she threw her hands at it, still screaming, though it had turned wordless with her rage. The door shook with her weight.

'You can't do this.' She whispered.

But they could, and that was the problem. They could do anything they wanted because there was no one to stop them.

She slammed her fists against the door once more before resting her forehead against it.

'You said you wouldn't hurt him.'

They were watching her, always watching. She had worked out where the cameras were in the room the previous day. One in the light, one above the door and one on the opposite wall. What she didn't know, was if they could listen as well as watch.

She stayed where she was for precious silent minutes. Minutes that were broken by the sound of Leo's cries, ones that made her hands curl and her shoulders stiffen.

'You can't do this.' But this time, the phrase was not a helpless plea, it was a demand full of anger.

She raised her head to look towards one of the cameras, the corner of her lips quirking up as she raised a single finger. An insult. And a challenge.

She took three steps back. Then slammed herself into the door. Another three steps, another slam. She felt the door give. Another three steps, another slam.

It broke, and she almost flew through, regaining her balance just before she hit the wall opposite.

'Come find me.' She muttered. And they would, she knew they would. She didn't know where she was and how to leave, she didn't know who was on her side and who was not.

But what she could do was raise as much hell as she could in the seconds she was free. After all, what more could they do to her?

She went in the opposite direction to the one she had been in before, walking away from Leo's cries even as her heart told her to help him. Only ten paces away from their cell, a siren started up, and she grinned, knowing it was because of her. Her footsteps quickened.

There was a white door a short distance away, and she ran to it, grabbing the handle and pulling it open. She didn't know what to expect, maybe more people like her, like Leo, maybe nothing. The notes on the door were useless, random letters and dates- ones it took her a second to realise had already been and gone.

She was only a foot into the door when she looked up and froze. The room was a mockery of the one they used for their 'experiments' but there was one difference.

Where there was a table covered with a sheet in the one they had taken her too, this table only had two things on top of it. Clear glass jars filled with liquid.