Eden's Gate

Chapter 14 - I Will Save You, Hudson, I Promise

My vision finally began to return to me as I woke up. I was in some kind of underground bunker, lying on my back as two Peggies stood above me.

"Take them to John. He's ready to hear their confession." One of the Peggies said, the other picking me up carefully. I blacked out again.

When I woke up again, my chin was against my chest. My arms were bound to chair arms with rope, my legs bound to chair legs with rope too. I could hear a faint scream and almost a sawing noise, muffled. As if I was listening to them through cotton wool. I flexed my hand, pulling on the restraints, trying to loosen them. Through my still blurry vision, I could make out a figure struggling in a chair across from me. My vision came into focus after a second. I saw Hudson tied to a rolling chair, struggling to get out, with duct tape covering her lips. A wooden workbench sat next to me in the dimly lit room, the lights casting a red glow everywhere. I tried to open my mouth, to call for Hudson, but my lips were sealed with duct tape too.

Hudson stilled as whistling echoed through the room. Chills ran down my spine as it grew louder. A metal bowl was placed on a table to the side of me, whilst someone carried a green toolbox to the workbench. My right ankle began to burn, I didn't need to look at the person to know exactly who was in the room with Hudson and I. John continued to whistle as he lifted a compartment from the toolbox, placing on the workbench beside the box. He stopped, both hands planted firmly on the workbench, before turning to me. A smile plastered on his face as he looked at me.

"My parents were the first ones to teach me about the Power of Yes." John spoke. I could hear the quiet whimpers from Hudson, scared of John.

She must have gone through something terrible. Don't worry Hudson, I'll get you out of here! I thought, determined to help my friend. John turned back to the toolbox, grabbing out a slab of something and a stapler as he continued.

"One night, they took me into the kitchen, and they threw me on the ground, and I experienced pain after pain after pain after pain –" He slammed the stapler on the counter, making Hudson gasp and jump. I sat still, anger and sadness filling me. Both for my friend and for John as he told me his story. "And when I didn't think I could take any more, I did." John picked up a tattoo pen from his toolbox, walking towards me. He turned a lamp towards me. "Something broke free inside. I wasn't scared. I was... clear" He hooked the pen up to the electrical cable. "I looked up to them and I started to laugh. All I could say was... Yes." He turned the pen on, Hudson gasped louder, struggling from behind John as he watched me. He turned the pen off, putting it on the table before continuing with his story. "I spent my entire life looking for more things to say 'yes' to." John put his hand to my face, before pulling my vest down, ripping it in the process. "I opened up every hole in my body and when those were filled, I created more." John looked at me. Love, desire and madness swirling in his eyes. The bond was developing as I was in his presence, affecting him as much as it affected me. He stepped back, still watching me. "But it was Joseph who showed me just how selfish I was being." He took a cloth and began to clean my chest. My skin burning whenever his hand brushed against it. "Always receiving. Always taking. The best gift isn't one you get, it's the one you give." He stopped looking in my eyes. "But there is one gift that beats all the other past gifts, being given you. Our soulmate, the one that binds us together, that makes us stronger. You are our greatest gift. But giving takes courage. The courage..." He put the cloth back in the bowl and walked away, turning around halfway. "...to own your sin. To etch it on to your flesh and carry its burden and when you have endured – when you have truly begin to atone – to cut it out like a cancer and display it for all to see. My god that's courage."

I've been doing that since I stopped hiding how my mates are. I've stood as a beacon of hope to others, telling everyone that I was never going to be The Seed's soulmate. I wear my 'cancer' on my skin every day since I was 15. I wanted to scream at him, but my lips were still sealed. I glared at him, hatred burned in my eyes.