The Sound Of My Vendetta (A Killjoy Stori/Fanfiction)

Better Living Industries

     Korse entered the room about an hour later. At first he said nothing. He only paced back and forth like a disappointed parent. I felt triumphant, even though I knew I was in for the beating of my life.
     "So you've proven that you're not as smart as you seem. But I have a question for you," Korse said. I didn't respond. "If those Sympathizers, the 'friends' that you helped escape, were really your friends, why didn't they take you with them? Or better yet," he laughed, "Why haven't your Killjoy companions come for you? A month has passed and they've already condemned you. You have no one." I sat quietly, attempting not to let his words affect me. He squatted in front of me and whispered, "You are alone, Gingersnap."
     "Never," I replied defiantly. I knew why the Sympathizers left without me. I told them to. I knew why Party and the other Killjoys hadn't come, and why they wouldn't. I was never alone. I knew that. I knew my brother, and both my parents were always with me. Always.
     "If you wanted to be alone," Korse continued as if I hadn't spoken, "All you had to do was say so. We'll leave you alone." With that, he walked out of the room and locked the door.
     He hadn't lied. They did leave me alone. No one came to retrieve me for beatings. No one came to punish me for helping the others. These I didn't mind so much. The problem was that no one came to give me food or water either. A week passed and the only water I got was on the rare occasion when it rained . Then I would get sick from drinking the polluted rainwater.
     The illness combined with starvation and dehydration soon became a major issue. As I was laying on the ground, certain that I would die soon, the lock turned and Korse came through the door with a team of officers. He nodded to one of them and, just as I blacked out from my ailments, they loaded me onto a stretcher.
     When I came to, I was still on the stretcher, but in a hospital. I was taken into a room and placed on a bed. I gagged slightly on the sterile smell of the bed sheets. It hurt my stomach to gag even the little bit I did. A doctor and two nurses stepped into the room. One of the nurses carried an IV.
     "We need to restore your hydration. You need it desperately or you will die. We're going to inject it into your arm," the doctor explained. I couldn't focus on his words. The nurse stepped closer with the needle, and I had a panic attack. Screaming, flailing, crying, the whole nine yards.
     "Please, calm down! It's just an IV!" The nurse shouted. But I couldn't hear her over my own screams. The other nurse went to the door and called for assistance. Another doctor came in with a syringe full of tranquilizer. That wasn't very smart.
     Even though I was exhausted and weak, I screamed more and struggled to sit up and scoot away from them. I hate needles. We were all stuck. They couldn't get near me. Finally Korse came through the door casually as if I wasn't screaming my head off.
     He waltzed right up to me and gripped a pressure point at my shoulder. I blacked out again. I didn't dream again. I also didn't wake up for a long time, but when I did, I felt better. There was food sitting on the table beside me that I could tell was still slightly warm. I began to reach for it, but then realized that the IV was now stuck into my arm. I gagged at the feeling of the needle under my skin.
     I didn't really care if the food was mine or not. I knew that if it wasn't I would be punished later, but I didn't care. I figured that anyone irresponsible enough to leave warm food next to a starving person deserved to have their food eaten by said starving person.
     My stay in the hospital was brief, but resulted in a full recovery. When I was escorted back to BL/Ind, the first thing they did was shove me into the cooling chamber.
     "That's for helping the Sympathizers escape!" the Drac that shoved me into the room said. He informed me that Korse had ordered this, and then slammed the door.
     "Oh yeah, 'cause the week without food or water wasn't torture enough," I muttered, crawling and sitting up against the freezing wall. I was condemned to two days in the cooling chamber. They were attempting to freeze me. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.
     The wall was to frigid to lean against, so instead I sprawled out on the floor in the center of the room. After a couple hours of doing nothing had passed, I got bored. I stood and began doing jumping jacks. I went through a work out routine Owen and I used to do when he was training. When I got to the end of it, I didn't know what else to do, so I danced. I danced to imaginary music until fatigue took over and I collapsed on the floor. The next day I repeated the cycle a few times just to stay warm.
     Finally, a Drac came to retrieve me. Korse spoke as I stepped out of the cooling chamber. "Clever, Gingersnap. That was clever, good job."
     "Why the hell do you keep calling me that?" I gasped as the warm air filled my lungs. I was escorted into a room like the ones I'd been beaten in before. Korse explained it after the Drac was dismissed.
     "When you first arrived, I recognized the rebellious spirit in you. It's very similar to your ginger friend, Party Poison," he said.
     "Alright, so that's the ginger part, but what about the snap?" I asked.
     "I'm going to break you," Korse growled menacingly. Korse held out a raygun that had a pale yellow stripe swept across it in paint.
     "What is this?" I asked, examining it rather than taking it from him. He shook the gun impatiently.
     "It's a safety gun for training. The lasers will sting for a moment, but otherwise will not harm you," he explained as I took it from him and frowned at it.
     "I know how to shoot a raygun." I muttered.
     "You're not training to shoot the raygun," Korse told me, "you're training to dodge the lasers. We need to see if you're capable. No one else has been capable so far. Get familiar with the raygun that will be shooting at you." I could feel my eyes widen, but I couldn't think of anything to say against this.
     He took the gun back from me and nodded towards a door to a training cell much like the one I'd fought the Scarecrow in. For many hours, he and several other sharp-shooters traded out shifts of shooting at me. I could sometimes escape the laser in time, but more often than not, I was hit. By the end of the day, I was tingling all over from where the lasers had hit me.
     This training went on for about six months, alternated with camouflage training and survival training. I never became completely successful at dodging the lasers, but I excelled in the camouflage and survival. At the end of the six months, Korse gave up trying to teach me to dodge things and finally decided that I was almost ready.
     "But that spirit is still in the way. You're just not broken yet," Korse grumbled to himself one day as I stood across the room from him, hands on my hips. He glanced over at me and frowned. "At attention!" Korse barked. I ignored him and inspected my nails. I could imagine his annoyance ith that. "Gingersnap, are we going to have to go back to basics?" He punched me in the stomach. I hadn't been expecting it. I hadn't been through beatings in months.
     But this time, I fought back. I punched Korse in the face. He recoiled from me in shock as I straightened. He came at me again and I blocked the best I could. He pushed away and called in some Dracs. It was just as well. Being close enough to Korse to punch him repulsed me.
     "Dracs!" Korse shouted. He grabbed my arm and threw me to the floor where I was met by the feet of Dracs. I covered my head and curled into fetal position. It was just like the beginning again. Beatings followed every day after.
     I lasted for about a month, then I started to wear down. The Dracs were getting harder and harder to beat, which is a sad statement in and of itself. I knew I had injuries that should probably have checked out or set, or both.
     One day at the end of the month, I was sprawled out in my little white cell. I could tell some of my bones were fractured, if not broken. It was then that I had the brilliant idea to fake it. I could pretend to be broken, and pretend to join BL/Ind, just so they would stop beating me. I was just about to celebrate this idea when the door unlocked and Drac entered the room, swollen with pregnancy. When I looked up, I knew who it was despite the mask. Horror crept across my face.
     "Oh my god.." I breathed, unable to comprehend what stood before me. It was the woman. The woman I'd seen in my dreams, whose name I'd never learned. She had been Draculoidized, but the child inside her remained. She yanked me up and escorted me out of the room. It couldn't get it through my head that she was gone.
     When I reached the training room, I didn't have to remind myself that I was weak and frail. The thought of the woman being a Drac made me vulnerable. The battle began with a punch to my face. I kicked back out of instinct. The blow to the face got my mind into the situation at hand. I put up a fight in the beginning, but somewhere in the middle, I began to weaken my blows. In the end, my defeat consisted of a kick to the stomach, my legs kicked out from under me, and a knee to the face.
     I let myself fall to the ground. Blood trickled from my nose, and I could tell it coated my lips as well. Korse stepped into the room and applauded the Dracs for their first victory over me. It was easy to convince the Dracs, but Korse was a different story. This was the moment of my big performance.
     "So Gingersnap? What say you?" Korse whispered, kneeling down beside me.
     "I give up," I choked, spitting my own blood off my lips so that I wouldn't taste the iron, "I'll do whatever you want. I can't take this anymore." Despite my attempts, the iron managed to invade my sense of taste. I gagged at it and frowned. For a moment, I thought Korse wasn't buying it. Then he patted my hair.
     "Good, Gingersnap," he said. The moment the words were uttered, a cry erupted from across the room. Everyone except me looked up. I knew what it was: the woman was going into labor. Korse jumped up and I rolled over to look at the Drac. She was doubled over, holding her stomach. Officials were rushing to help her as Korse barked orders. He shouted something about getting both the woman and me to the hospital.
     I closed my eyes and pretended to be unconscious. I could feel them take me and put me in a car. I was dying to open my eyes on the short ride there, but I knew I had to pretend or they'd just knock me out. I missed the outside world. I could feel them take me out of the car and into the hospital. I listened silently as they checked me in. The bastards checked me in as Gingersnap.
     Once I was still and it was quiet, I opened my eyes. I was in a white hospital room, alone. There was no IV, thank goodness. I sat alone in silence for a while, staring out the window. A nurse entered the room and greeted me.
     "It's good to see you're awake, Miss Gingersnap. I was told to check in on you. Would you like a record of your injuries?" the nurse asked politely. I winced at the kindness of her voice. She reminded me slightly of Skylar. I nodded mutely. She went on to tell me that I had one healing broken arm that the hospital was going to cast, a pair of sprained legs from the knees down, a sprained wrist, three concussions, four broken fingers, and a fractured rib bone.
     I meekly nodded, still pretending. I wanted them to think they'd broken me, and I had no doubt that they'd asked this nurse to report back on my behavior. The nurse smiled and left me to contemplate my wounds. My injuries were not as severe as I'd expected. I was joined again in a half hour by a doctor with a white cast. He set my bone properly, having to rip it out of the healing stage it was in, and cast it. I couldn't write anything because my writing wrist was sprained.
     I was discharged after about two weeks. The injuries took two months to heal completely. During that time, Korse sentenced me to care for the woman's child until they figured out what to do with her. I knew her face before I saw her. The Girl's face had been in my dreams as well. I'd been told the woman died in child birth, so I was the only female with a soul who could take care of the baby. I used this time to teach myself obedience and self control as well. So that Korse would never know when I was cursing him in my head.
     "We're going to dispose of her in the morning," Korse informed me one morning as I was feeding the child. I glanced up at him, almost shocked, but did not argue. It was still too soon for me to dispute him. I watched his reaction, trying to figure out if my shock had escaped my mask of emotionlessness. It hadn't. I turned back to the baby without a word, but nodded. With that, he turned to leave me and The Girl.
     "Can I take her out to see the world before she dies?" I asked simply. He paused, but did not look back at me. I could tell he was thinking it over. "I'll take an Officer with me," I added, hoping it would convince him to permit me. For a moment, I thought I could feel his surprise and empathy for the request I'd made in the name of The Girl. Empathy. I didn't care what it was, because he nodded and left without another word.
     After I fed The Girl, I grabbed a small sheet of paper and wrote, 'Handle With Care' on it. I took the girl with me to the mess hall and found the certain Officer I was looking for. The Officer was an undercover Sympathizer. His name was David and his wife was one of the Sympathizers that could get in touch with the Killjoys. David was the Official I decided to take with me because I knew he could get The Girl out before dawn.
     "To the man who plays the songs?" he asked as we drove away from BL/Ind HQ. I shook my head.
     "She has to go to the Killjoys," I told him. The note was tucked into her blankets. The Girl smiled up at me and made little cooing noises. I knew above all else, this baby girl had to survive.
     "Ma'am, my wife can get The Girl out there, but what about Korse. He will be angry if you return without a child," David reminded me. I nodded, not worried about it.
     "I've got that worked out. If Korse asks, the baby's lungs were not strong enough for the city air. She choked to death, and I disposed of her body properly. Got that?" I said, reciting my whole plan. I'd had time to think about it.
     When we pulled up to Battery City Primary School, David's wife was waiting. I got out gently and handed The Girl over to her. David's wife smiled at me and cradled The Girl in her arms. I made sure she knew about the note and that it was specifically supposed to be given to the Killjoys. She nodded and smiled at The Girl.
     I turned around and let whatever attachment I had to The Girl go. I stopped just before getting in the car. "Hey," I called, turning back to David's wife, "Take care of that baby. She's going to save everyone and she's more dangerous than anyone knows. I know it sounds crazy but.." I trailed off, realizing how utterly crazy my words really did sound. Then I decided it didn't matter; it was the truth. "Just trust me. Be careful with her and make sure she gets to the Killjoys."
     With that I got back in the car and willed myself to ignore the worry that was rising inside me. Paranoia lurking in the back of my mind made its way around front, and then retreated back to where it had come. I could not be like that when I returned to BL/Ind. They would never believe my story. I could do this. I knew I could. And I did.
     "Where is that baby?" Korse growled as I walked back in empty handed.
     "Dead," I stated simply. He stared at me, silently demanding elaboration. I raised an eyebrow at him and then continued, "Her lungs were not strong enough to handle the polluted air of Battery City. My mistake." With that, I returned to my room, not allowing any weakness to seep into my attitude as I walked away from him.
     I could hear Korse as I walked away. "Good job, Special Agent Arké."