TELEKINETIC │ p.p

Chapter Fourteen

Vanessa crept into the alleyway, searching for Peter. She felt vulnerable, as if eyes were locked on her every move.

"Your little boyfriend can't protect you now," was all she heard before something metal-like clashed against the back of her head and her body fell to the floor with a thud.

When she woke up, she found herself laying face down on cement flooring. She tried to move but was incapable of doing so. She tried to scream but found her voice weakened. What happened to her? Where was she? She moved her head around, analyzing the room.

"You won't be moving for awhile," a low voice growled, stepping into the light that shone directly on Vanessa. "The injection of paralyzation should be wearing off soon though."

"Where am I? Who are you? What do you want with me?" Her mind was racing; surprisingly, and horrifyingly, slower than her heart.

"You're in hiding," he smirks. "We haven't quite sent out our message yet to Spider-Man, but we know he'll come as soon as he sees the prize we caught."

Vanessa's eyes widen. "Don't you dare hurt him," she grumbles.

"I can't promise anything," the man chuckles. Vanessa squints her eyes, trying with every fiber of her being to fling the scary man across the room. "The walls around you contain your powers," he explains, "so it's just a waste of your energy to try anything."

"How- How do you know about my- my powers?" Vanessa weakly questions.

"We know everything," the man cackles. "We do our research before taking down our threat."

"Pete- Spider-Man isn't a threat," Vanessa spoke through gritted teeth, knowing full well that Peter was their only and biggest threat.

"See, we punish prisoners that lie," the man speaks, stepping closer. "You have a lot to learn, little lady."

His spiked boots sprung onto her back, a cry and whimper spewing from Vanessa's mouth as the boot clamps and releases. "Try to stand up," he mutters. Vanessa does as told, knowing she'd be punished otherwise. But the man cackled, and kicked her hard in the upper stomach, knocking the wind out of her as she fell back onto the ground. "Pathetic." Then he disappeared.

Vanessa cried into the cement, praying silently that somebody would rescue her.

- - - - -

Peter knocked on the front door of the Stark home, waited for about 3 minutes, then knocked again. He was growing impatient, and slammed his fists against the door this time. Tony answered the door, pale as can be, a shade that a person who was nauseous would sport.

"Is Vanessa with you?" Tony questioned in a panic, moving Peter out of the way to check behind him. He grew more concerned when he found nobody there.

"What do you mean?" Peter quizzed, glancing behind him. Tony jerked him in, informing him of Vanessa's disappearance. "Have you called the police?"

"They just tease me and ask where Iron Man is," Tony responds, leaning on the back of the couch. Peter gulped, looking around anxiously, as if this was all a joke and Vanessa would jump out and scare him. But she was nowhere to be seen, and he couldn't hear her giggle.

Peter's phone went off, signaling he had received a text. He glanced at it, showing Tony immediately. Tony could've crumpled the device in his hand right then and there but didn't feel like destroying Peter's phone in this moment. He needed to keep this information in tact.

"I should've caught that guy the other night-"

"This isn't your fault, kid," Tony mumbles, sighing as he reads the text another time.

Another sound went off on his phone, an image coming in. Tony had finally lost it, his face red and his ears blowing steam. He handed Peter the phone and stormed to the forbidden room.

Peter felt his heart shatter as he stared at the picture, unable to turn away. Tears welled in his eyes as they scanned every feature of hers. She had a cut lip, bruised right eye, and several markings along her bare arms. He glanced at her apparel - a black spaghetti strap tank top and light wash skinny jeans, that were now stained red. She looked so lost.

"I'm coming, Nessa," Peter whispered to his phone before tucking it away, joining Tony in the room.

- - - - -

"Lover boy got the picture," one of the men spoke to the other. Vanessa slumped over her thighs, breathing heavily. Her wrists and ankles were sore from the ropes cutting into her flesh, her butt aching from sitting in the metal fold-up chair for so long.

Vanessa tried once more to crush their heads with her mind, but failed. She was sick of feeling so useless. She didn't want to be rescued as much as she wanted to rescue herself. She wasn't a damsel in distress, she was just Vanessa - a version that lacked her telekinesis, strength, and voice.

She felt something dripping down her hands, making her move her eyes slowly toward them. Blood. She was pushing her wrists further into the ropes by trying to relax her body forward, meaning the ropes had cut open her skin finally and released the liquid her body desperately needed.

The men left her alone again, laughing about how they were going to bash Spider-Man's head in before they used Vanessa like a doll as they walked. Vanessa cried once more, not knowing what else to do or how to feel. Was she supposed to be happy and relieved because she was possibly going to be rescued? Or upset and heartbroken that Peter's slow, painful death may be inevitable?

"I need to fucking get out of here," she whispers to herself, sitting up straight. She tries to tug her wrists free again, then her ankles, realizing how useless it was to even attempt an escape. What would she do after she did? She couldn't attack anyone, she was too weak and extremely low on energy. The toxins they injected into her were still wearing off, leaving her to feel a bit nauseated and dizzy.

All she could do in this moment was pray hard for Peter's safety, and that she would die before him. He saved the world, he was something to this planet; Vanessa was just another person walking on said planet, carrying a special and very rare power. She had yet to learn how to use it properly, and didn't want to overdo anything. She could pass out, or worse.

The only thing on her mind was a specific sentence Peter had spoke the other night, when they were standing on the half-wall of the rooftop.

"I won't let a thing hurt you, ever."