à la folie (To Insanity)

Chapter 7- Raven

    I press my hands weakly into my burning side. The pain won't stop, but instead deepens with each passing moment. Evan demands an answer from Jackson again. His defiance is fading, Jackson may not hold the answers back for much longer. Evan turns completely away from me, instead walking towards Jackson. His voice is dangerously calm as he asks once more for an answer. Jackson doesn't give anything, shrinking back against the wall when Evan raises his arm. I drive my free arm backwards into the person behind me, struggling to stand as he roars out in pain. I'm just barely able to roll out of the way as someone's boot comes flying towards me, slamming into the wall beside my head. I am on the ground again, staring up at the bright white of the ceiling, not quite sure when I fell. I struggle as someone's arms wrap around my midsection, pulling me back up. My back explodes in pain as I'm slammed into the wall behind me. I scream, no longer able to pretend that what they're doing to me doesn’t hurt. My vision blurs and I realize I'm crying. The two guards that dragged me in here roughly pull me up, tearing another agonized scream from my cracked lips. Every movement is torture as they drag me out of the room, spots clouding my vision. I let them take me from the room, in too much pain to struggle any longer.

    I am taken not to my original room, but to one on the floor above it. It looks about the same as the last, but I can feel that something is different. They lie me down on the cold table in the center, sliding my arms and legs into the leather restraints and pulling them tight. As soon as I am secured to the table, Evan barks an order at the guards.

    “Leave us.”

    They leave quickly and it's just me and Evan. He pulls a bronzish key from his pocket and wrenches a cabinet open, drawing a small bag from it. I'm dazed but still tense up when he approaches, pulling medical supplies from the bag. I draw my breath in sharply when he lifts my shirt to reveal my injured side, fingers brushing lightly against my skin. He injects me with something that takes the feeling from my side, some form of numbing agent. I feel nothing as he stitches my wound closed, a strange expression on his face. It is a look Jackson often wears, a look of concern.

    When I wake, I'm confused. There is a dull ache in my side and I can't move my arms or legs. I can't remember what happened or how I got here. I close my eyes again and fall asleep; hoping that when I wake up again, my head will be clearer.

   I do come around, eventually, and Evan is just walking into the room. I see he is holding a needle in his right hand, and a pill in his left when he comes closer to me. 

    “You can take the pill or the injection, both have the same effect. Your choice. The pill will dissolve in your mouth so if you do choose to take it, you won't be able to spit it back out. ”

    I ask what they do but he gives me no answer, only a slight smile. After a few moments, when I haven't said anything else, he smooths my hair from my neck and pushes the plunger down. For a couple minutes nothing happens, then it's as if everything has changed. I can't see Evan but I can feel his presence, he hasn't left yet. I'm starting to lose feeling, I can't feel the table below me or the leather restraints holding me down. It's becoming difficult for me to think, fear is the only thing left in my mind. I'm not sure when I went fully under, but I wake to see Evan standing over me. Still unable to move, I try to feel what's under me. Whatever he drugged me with is still clouding my head, I'm not sure what happened or where I am. He injects me again and I fight to stay awake, I don’t want to fall asleep. When he sees i'm still awake, he smiles and gives me another dose. This time, I fall under within seconds. Everytime I wake, Evan is there to inject me again, the doses getting larger and making it worse. 

    I'm not sure what his objective is, but when I fall under its influence I'm filled with fear. The next time I wake, Evan does something new. I am hooked up to an array of wires that snake into a monitor that's in the corner opposite of the door. A needle is pushed into my vein and Evan flips a switch on the monitor once it is secured. I watch in fear as a thick, bluish liquid flows slowly through the tube and into my arm. For a few moments nothing happens, than I feel tired. Against my will, my eyes close and I am dragged down into the uncertainty of this new form of torture.