The Life of Jezebel Firetongue

19

"Are you okay?"

I snarled, wanting to kill the Man. Why couldn't he have let me die? He had been willing before. Why this sudden change? Pure evil, I thought to myself, wants me to be tortured. Or his employer did. Either way, the Man was the one doing this to me. Therefore, he had to be destroyed. In my mind, that was a simple fact.

"Go to hell!" I screamed.

He smiled at me, as if we were friends, and whispered, "It'll all be over soon. Your pitiful life will be done. You won't remember a thing." Then he lowered the gas mask over my face.

I squirmed and kicked, trying to break free from the bindings of the table, but it was no use. Instead I watched my fate descend towards me, filled with horror at the knowledge I couldn't stop him. The mask went on, and the chemical soured air flowed through. I fell asleep with the smell of sharpie markers, the procedure I knew all too well taking effect. First to go, the old memory and way of thinking I was accustomed to. Then they would replace all I've ever known with what they wanted me to think and feel. I should know. I had seen it happen before.

My parents stood before me. I knew it was a dream, because it was also one of my worst memories. They were cowering in fear before the Man, and another man that remembered very well. My enemy, the man I wanted to destroy.

Dr. Jonathon Davis.

He was a not a very fat man, but he still had some baby fat coating him. Dr. Davis was balding, with a yellow tooth askew in the front. He was of medium height, shorter than most men his age. His only good feature was his bright green eyes. I glared, recognizing this day. It was the day that had started my running.

"I am giving you the chance of the lifetime. You two and your daughter will save this hell hole of an Earth, and bring it to justice."

"Don't you dare bring our daughter into this, Jonathon!" my father shouted.

"But it has already been done. She is not really your daughter, Jesse. Rather, she is my experiment. Jezebel Firetongue."

"Her name is Jezebel Wright."

"Legally. In actuality, it is Jezebel Firetongue. My fine little dragon. Now, if you two will simply ingest the formula-"

"Never!" I watched as my parents tried to escape, but the Man caught them and dragged them to the lab table, tying them down like I was tied down now. I turned to see myself peering in at the door, an expression of horror filling my face. Turning back to my parents, I saw the same thing that woke me from my nightmares every night with a scream. My mother, tears streaming down her face, mouthing at me to run.

The Man sees this and chases after me when I try to escape. I followed slowly, knowing that it would be a bike ride and two buses later before the man would catch up. And he wouldn't catch me for the first time until months later.

I turned back to my parents, knowing I was about to join them. "I'll avenge this soon," I told them. "Please forgive me for losing to Dr. Davis."