FIRE [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 9: Where the Truth Lied

 Aimee woke up, dizzy, and slowly recalling the tentacle that had slithered past her eyes, holding a syringe – or was the syringe a part of the machine itself? She remembered the sting of the needle in her neck, the icy sensation of whatever substance it had held as it was released into her bloodstream.

The first thing she saw was a blurred array of colours, which then formed Stefan Summer's hair, his face, and the tentacles that held him. Aimee shifted her body and realised with potent discomfort that she was free and able to move. She felt deadened, like her nerves had been shut down. It may have been a good thing, since it reminded her where she and Stefan stood, that they were broken up, and she couldn't just jump up and hug him. However, she still questioned why he was captive, held motionless by tentacles, becoming increasingly numb, and she was not.

He was black and blue again, like he had been under that barn when Celeste's AIM America coterie had made it their mission to discipline him. Aimee hated seeing him like this, with a seething and austere passion. And at that moment, all she hated more was her mother. Her eyes found Abba, and her robot captor, she noticed, was standing beside her like a puppy awaiting a treat.

"Why did you bring us here?" she moaned, her words slackening off from her tongue.

"Well, I needed this," Abba held a vial between her fingers, in it was an intense red liquid, thick in texture. "And plus, you volunteered, remember?"

"You needed my blood?"

Well, now she knew why she felt drowsy. She placed one hand on the backrest of her chair and propped herself up. She stumbled at first, but soon steadied her stance.

"I still do, actually," Abba stated dully. "Not only do I adore you and your company, but in order for my Dominoes to fall, I need your blood. It's complicated."

For a short time, Aimee said nothing. It wasn't complicated; the way she saw it, Abba needed another reason to have her daughter by her side – a darker reason. She dared not risk being called 'soft' by her soldiers. She wanted Aimee with her, without having to admit that she had some sort of longing for the daughter she had lost years ago. So, her blood was the finger that would tip the first domino and allow for the others to fall, the key to her death device. It was simple.

"Are you gonna let us go then, now that you have it?" Aimee asked bluntly.

Abba's eyebrows pulled close towards the bridge of her nose, and her eyes lit up for a second.

"That's it? I thought you would be at least a little defiant. Is it the Doomsday thing, is it bringing you down?" she said that with pseudo sympathy.

There was a look about Aimee, though, or maybe it was the mere presence of her, that brushed Abba with guilt. The more she encountered Aimee, the more she got to know her, the more she regretted what she had missed: the chance to be a mother. Abba's pride however reminded her that guilt was an unacceptable emotion, one she would not let soften her metallic heart.

"Stefan," Aimee shook him awake and began pulling at the tentacles helplessly. "Stefan, come on. Wake up."

After watching Aimee struggle for a moment, Abba clicked the button on her remote and Stefan was released. Aimee backed away and allowed the heavy, tuberous shackles to uncoil him, until he fell forward like a ragdoll and she caught him at his shoulders.

Stefan opened his eyes, his words slurred and forcibly bitter, "Aimee? What are you doing here?"

"There's no time. We have to go, the others need us. Abba's letting us go, come on!"