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CHAPTER TWO | THE FIRST CONVERSATION
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i withdraw and the act of withdrawing does not diminish the pain. it is delicate, it is, in my head, tragic and delicate. i withdraw and this seems to rather accentuate the importance and the strangeness of everything.
-the diary of virginia woolf vol. 1: 1915 - 1919 // virginia woolf __________
Hawkins Lab was a large, imposing building that sent heebie-jeebies up and down Jackie's spine as she stared at it.
"I'm not going in there," Jackie hissed, setting her jaw and glaring at her aunt.
"I spoke with the head doctor on the phone," Peggy said evenly. "Dr. Owens is a very nice man and only wants to help you."
"How?"
Electroshock therapy? Being prodded with needles? Waterboarding? What various forms of torture could this laboratory cook up to test her with?
"Dr. Owens said they would only talk to you today... see how to progress from there."
"I don't like this." Jackie crossed her arms over her chest and bit down harshly on the inside of her cheek.
"Do you want to keep falling through things?" Peggy asked, sighing. "Or do you want to have a chance at normalcy?"
[ ... ]
TAPE 001 — DECEMBER 02, 1983
DR. OWENS: Hello, Jackie. I'm Doctor Owens. Please, sit down. I hope you don't mind that I'll be taping this session, and any future sessions.
[CHAIR SCREECHING]
JACKIE: What do you want with me?
DR. OWENS: Right now? Right now I just want to talk. I want us to understand one another.
JACKIE: Okay, shoot. What's there for me to understand?
[DR. OWENS CLEARS THROAT]
DR. OWENS: I only recently came to this position here. Before me, the labs were run by a man named Doctor Brenner. He used these labs to create an undercover experiment to help us fight the Russians. From the time Doctor Brenner was in charge until only a few years ago, he went around acquiring children for these experiments.
JACKIE: And by acquiring you mean kidnapping, right, Doctor? Don't sugarcoat it.
DR. OWENS: Yes. Kidnapping. You were one of those children, Jackie. But you knew that already, didn't you? Have you never wondered why your childhood kidnappers chose to tattoo the number ten on you, of all things? Or why, one day you just showed up on your aunt's doorstep?
JACKIE: If I'm one of these children, why did they just let me go?
DR. OWENS: I've done some digging. Dr. Brenner's files show that you didn't show any sign of their experiments taking hold. You showed no sign of extraordinary power.
JACKIE: Why now? Why are these powers suddenly showing up?
DR. OWENS: Early last month, a gate was opened.
JACKIE: A gate?
DR. OWENS: A gate to a different dimension. My theory is that when the gate opened, your powers awakened.
JACKIE: That's fine and dandy, but I don't care about this gate, Doctor Owens. I really don't. I just want to know how I can control them. I want a normal life. You know?
DR. OWENS: And I want nothing more than for you to have a normal life, Jackie. You didn't choose this to happen to you. For now, my suggestion is for you to try and use your powers. Exert control over them. Force them to listen to you.
_____________________
This is just a small amount of insight into Jackie's childhood. She doesn't know what happened to her when she was kidnapped, as she was only really little and then discarded when she was four, but she did know that she'd been kidnapped as a child.
