Janus 02.Redemption #Wattys2018

2.05 I come undone.

Ed opened his eyes. He tried to move but he was fastened to the bed. He tried to break the bonds.

"Aren't you bored of these pointless efforts?" Faceless asked him. "Do you really believe that you can escape this place? Or that I can't prevent you from doing any irreparable damage? I own you.

Despite what you may think, I have more important things to do than play "fetch n' catch" with you."

"Where's Eden? I want to talk with her!" Ed demanded to know.

"I'm afraid that wouldn't be convenient for the time being." Faceless answered as he turned on screen on the wall. Eden was intubated, sunk in a sink, floating in the water with her eyes closed. "It's not safe for her, to wake her up. She's hibernating as we speak. She doesn't feel anything. She doesn't think about anything. She just take all the time she needs to heal and recover. Once you are both ready, you shall be together again. I honor my promise. Are you ready to move on with your training?"

"Yes." Ed replied with a grimace of disgust on his face.

"You should be thankful that you can do that now. Take him! He is going down for training!" Faceless people came and took him with them downstairs. He spent all his day fighting them, till his exhaustion was bigger than his pain. Then the Outcasts took him into another room and gave Ed his guns.

"Let's find out where I actually am" Ed mumbled as he grabbed one of those men and put the gun on his head.

"In case you are still in your bed, you will be confined for more time than you will ever know. In case you are actually here, you kill me and the rest drag you back to that bed. It's a lose-lose situation for you. Choose wisely." His trainer replied determined to keep on with the training. Ed pointed his gun to the fake targets and started shooting till he run out of bullets without releasing the man.

"Are we done here or you have more bullets to waste?" Ed asked his trainer,  ready to hit him with his gun.

The trainer nodded to his men to hide their weapons.

" Be patient. Be at peace, not in pieces. A soldier follows orders. A fighter controls the fight. It's on his will whether it's going to start and when it's going to end. Never "do".  "Be". Always. Before the one who is orbiting around you. Gravity is your power, not your enemy."

" I come undone." Ed released the man.

" You are water my friend." He said and took a bow before Ed.

"I am not your friend."

"I know but I am your friend." His coach answered while he was leaving the room. "Take him to his room. Let him rest. He will be waiting for me here, first thing in the morning."

The men took him to his room. It wasn't the bed with the monitors. It looked more like a small underground apartment. They locked the door behind him without speaking a word. He was left alone, bruised, bleeding and so tired that he could just lay down on the floor and fall asleep. 

He looked at his hands. His need to wash away that day prevailed. Water would remove any blood, smell, taste of theirs from his body. Once Ed was certain that there was nothing more to wash away but for his memories, he got out of the shower. He recalled a big mirror in the living room. He didn't reach for the towels. He just moved towards the looking glass.

Ed stood in front if the mirror, starring at his face. Faceless had improved his previous one. He was almost unrecognizable. He turned his head starred at the camera and then starred back at the looking glass.

"My warmest compliments to the team. You got it almost right. Devil hides in details though. Ed was circumcised. My penis isn't. I am not Ed. Get me out of the tank now, or I will wake myself up and you will waste your time trying to undo the damage. I start counting down. 

3.... 

2... 

1."