Powers Unwanted

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

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Rowan

I can't breathe. I can't think. I know what I'm seeing isn't real. I keep telling myself that, but it doesn't help. My fingertips tingle; my vision is blurry at the edges. My thin shirt is soaked through with sweat and then it comes to me.

The pills. Of course... they're doing this to me. This same thing happened when I took the pills the first time. It's happening, what I was afraid of.

I'm slipping away. I really am going crazy.

"Errrggg," I groan, grabbing my head in between my hands. Make it go away... stop it...

"Stand up, son, and take it like a man."

"No," I mumble. I can barely look at her, my mother. Her light, sandy hair and evil eyes. She's here, right next to me. But... how?

"You deserve this," she says.

I flinch, my hands shaking, but no pain comes. I wait to feel the stinging belt on my back and arms and legs. I wait for the pain.

My eyes blink open when nothing happens. I shake my head and peer at the room. Empty. Another hallucination. But it felt so real.

I can't do this. I can't. I can't I can't I can't.

My feet pull up under me; I rise to my feet, dizzy with fear and panic. I'm crazy. I can't do this. I can't do this.

My hands pulls back, still locked together in the cuffs, the fingers curling into a fist. Then I slam them into the wall. My fingers smash right into the cement, but no pain comes.

"You deserve pain. Now, hit it harder."

I hit the wall again, cracking it further. Pieces of the cement spit and spray out into the room, hitting my face and clothes. Still no pain. But it will come. It always comes.

After the tenth time, I can start to feel it. Just a small throbbing at the base of my stomach. I'm not surprised; my stomach is the most abused place on my body.

I press my back against the smashed wall and sink to the floor. I inch up my shirt, seeing the beginnings of a bruise already forming on my chest.

Footsteps. They echo down the hall, becoming louder as they near. It must be that Vas girl, is my first thought.

I pull my shirt down just as the door opens. Brett enters and stops, his eyes going round. I close my eyes, focusing on the pain.

"Rowan... what in the world?" Brett's tone is shocked and angry. I feel him enter and come near me, but I keep my eyes closed.

"What... happened?" Vas gasps.

The pain is worse now. It's getting hard to breathe, almost unbearable. I take a shallow, shuddering breath, grinding my teeth to keep from crying out.

Hands grab me and then pull me onto my mattress, lying me on my back. Brett shakes my shoulder. "Rowan, man, open your eyes."

I obey this time, but my vision is blurry and I wish I had kept them shut. Brett is angry, his jaw clenched, his forehead creased.

"Why did you do that, kid?" He shakes me, and a small hiss escapes my lips from the pain that ensues.

I stare at him, almost wishing to speak just to defend myself. To explain how he and this facility are ruining my life. The pain is the only thing that keeps me grounded, and it helps me to find some escape when I need it. I can't let that go. I won't.

Wow, so this chapter was quite depressing... man, poor Rowan. What do you think made him hurt himself?

Rowan - Ithildae