Delirious || Bozari

Chapter Twenty-Six: Atomic

Every part of her ached.

She hadn't moved in over a week. Her back was sore, her muscles were tight, and her neck was exhausted. The second she got out of here, she was going to go on the longest goddamn run she'd ever gone on in her life.

Over the past few days, she'd mastered blocking herself off to the outside world. Whenever Vixen spoke, she could barely hear her. She retreated into her own brain, mulling over her memories with Silver; the good ones. The ones she knew were real.

Maybe that was why Vixen hadn't shown up yesterday for their daily sessions. She probably knew that her words weren't having any impact on her anymore. Hopefully, it meant that she gave up. Atomic certainly wouldn't miss their little talks. Whatever Vixen had planned next, at least it wouldn't involve looking at her face.

Not that Vixen was ugly. Quite the opposite, really. Vixen was one of the most attractive girls0 that Atomic had ever seen. But knowing what she knew about her had tainted her features somewhat, like she was looking at her through a funhouse mirror. If she had the choice, she'd choose to never look at her again.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Rebel walked in. Vixen kept the door unlocked now, to tempt her, so Rebel walked straight into her cell. That in itself wasn't unusual; Rebel was the one that brought her her food. But Rebel didn't have any food in her hands this time.

The redhead walked behind her and tugged on her gag. For a few seconds, Atomic had no idea what she was doing, but she figured it out as soon as Rebel had the clasp unfastened. Rebel slid the gag out of her mouth and dropped it on the table before leaving, not looking Atomic in the eye once during the entire exchange.

Atomic opened and closed her jaw a few times, trying to get rid of the soreness. What was going on? Vixen had taken off her gag once, but she'd done it herself. There was no reason for her to get Rebel to do it for her. From what she'd seen of Vixen, she only ever had other people do things for her if she couldn't do them herself.

Something was going on.

Excitement and uneasiness bubbled in her stomach. What was going to happen to her now? She couldn't see how it could get much worse than it already was, but Vixen was a psychopath, after all. For all Atomic knew she was about to be beaten by every girl in the Compound, and Vixen wanted to hear her screams. You never knew with her.

She shot a glance at the girls watching her through her through the window. They didn't bother to run away anymore. That was the whole reason the jail had glass walls, after all; so everyone could see the inmates shame through their bars. Atomic was busy remembering all their faces. Once she got out of these chains... those girls would regret the day they were born.

All of them were looking off to the right, at something Atomic couldn't see. All she could do was sit patiently, waiting. A few seconds later, the doors opened, and in walked the last person Atomic expected.

Okay, well, she would've expected Donald Trump less, but still. She was surprised. 

It was a blonde girl, wearing a lab coat. But it wasn't just any blonde girl; it was Courtney.

Atomic's eyes widened. What the Hell was she doing here? Courtney wasn't a part of Vixen's world; not by a longshot. Why had Vixen summoned her, of all people? All she wanted to do was turn her back into Mari, to the person she was before Silver. What could Vixen possibly gain by-

That was when it clicked. Suddenly, everything made sense. Why Vixen had let her figure out that it was her who killed Silver. Why she'd been reading her passages from her book, trying to get her to remember her past.

There was only one reason why she would have Courtney talk to her. Vixen wants Mari back too.

"Mari?" Courtney stopped on the other side of the cell wall. There was a look of disbelief on her face, like she couldn't believe she was actually there, in front of her. Her mouth broke out in a smile. She looked like she wanted to rush forward and give Atomic a hug.