Lost In The Shadows (A Sarah Barton Sequel)

Chapter 1

Bucky's POV

Once again, I saw her, I saw those people put their hands on her. Hold knives to her body. Punch her. Cut her. Had their fun. And all I could do was watch and scream. These people had no mercy on anyone. I had to watch it all. They stopped for a moment, then looked back at me. They handed me a knife. She looked up at me, eyes red, swollen, and smiled through her pain.

"It's okay," she had told me, "I love you brother." Then I had shoved the knife in her chest. Her last words echoed through the room, although it had been a whisper. I saw those eyes filled with tears, then her head fell, and she was gone. I had killed her. It then hit me what I had done.

I screamed.

I screamed her name, over and over until my throat was raw.

Then I woke up, strapped into a chair, people surrounding me, acting as if all of this was normal.

It took me a while to finally stop hyperventilating. To focus on the facts on what had actually happened. I didn't kill her. She was alive. Not well, but alive nonetheless. I didn't kill her. I didn't. No matter how many times I said it, I couldn't fool myself. No, I didn't stab her. I just brought her to a fate worse than death. The loss of her free will, no doubt. I dragged her down to her grave. I shouldn't have kept her close to my heart. Anyone I ever got close to and cared about ended up suffering on my behalf. Steve. His friends. Now Sarah would be the next one.

I didn't want her to end up like me. She didn't deserve it at all. I knew she would try to fight it. She was strong. But she eventually would have to break. I broke. Everyone they ever did this too broke. It had been a long time since I saw her. Since I really saw her. It had been 3 years, I think. I had lost track of the days. Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. Months into years. Most of my time was passed in silence or darkness. Most of the time, I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or not. I didn't know, and they never told me anything. All I knew was I was in the hands of the enemy, and that they hurt Sarah. They hurt her. They didn't kill her. How did I know this?

I saw her. Not really, but I know it was her. I could tell. They were trying to put her inside a cryosis tube, and she was kicking. Throwing punches. Screaming. I could tell she was under many drugs. I could tell they already wiped her mind multiple times by now. Not well enough, however. She screamed for me. Screamed my name. She didn't call me Bucky, however. That meant her mind was already going. She called me James. I knew because she had said that, they would 'punish' her again. I wanted to turn away, but I felt as if someone deserved to watch. Someone should be a witness to the horrors she would experience. I hated to think this way, but I couldn't help but be curious. I had always been on the other end of the whip. Now I would get to see it from a new perspective. I was always the one being frozen. Now I was the one watching it happen. I didn't like it, but I couldn't change anything. If I did anything, they would kill her. I couldn't let that happen. I guess I hoped that when we were released, I would be able to bring her back. The only problem was I would have to find my way back too. I hoped her face would help.

One thing I feared was them making me kill her. I thought about that a lot. More then I should, I think. Anytime anyone stepped near me, I was always on edge. I was waiting for them to pit me against her. I would hate for that to happen. For me to be the cause of her death. I would rather her kill me. Unfortunately, I knew she would be thinking the same way I am. Not that we would have much of a say if they used the book.

The book. Oh God, the book!

I had nearly forgotten about that. I wished desperately for that thing to be thrown into a pit of lava, wished it could be blown up with a bomb, lost at the bottom of the ocean. Destroyed. Like they would ever let that leave their sight. They had already memorized the contents of that book by now. Probably made back up copies in case I ever got ahold of the original. Or so I assumed. I truly didn't know for sure, and didn't think it would be worth it to find out.

Then the doctor stepped in front of me. In his hands was the red book, probably written by the devil himself.

He read me the book, and it was the exact opposite of story time. My mind screamed in protest against it. But the barriers I had set up broke. I was gone.

Where was I?

Who was I?

What am I?

The people in front of me.

I lived to serve them.

They give me a name.

Sarah Jane Barton.

They want her dead in 3 days.

No later.

Or else I would be punished once again.

I leave that night.

Sarah.

Someone I didn't even know.

Why?