the soul thief ↬ b. barnes

deja vu

Bloody and bruised, Tessa was lying in the floor of her cell when six guards opened her door and strapped her in handcuffs. It was the day after Jackson's death, and the pain was still fresh. Usually, Tess would struggle against the guards, but today, she walked meekly alongside them.

———

They guided her into a room she hadn't seen before, but the person in there she had seen many, many times. Dr. Volkov.

"Ah, Ms. Smith." He greeted her, smiling. "I trust that you have recovered well from the incident yesterday, yes?"

When he was met with silence, he sighed, then continued, "I should probably tell you why Jackson was here. You see, because you had  exhibited such great results, we trusted that Jackson would produce the same results. It was a logical assumption, no? However, it turns out that his body did not have that fight that yours does, and so, he died."

"So it didn't matter how old he was?" Tessa muttered quietly.

"I'm sorry, I did not catch that."

"So it didn't matter how old he was?!" Tessa yelled, moving towards the scientist before guards held her back. "It didn't matter that he was five, that he hadn't even started elementary school yet?"

"Well, I suppose we could have waited-"

"Waited! You shouldn't have done it at all! It's your fault he's dead!" Tess broke free from the guards and ran up to Volkov, closing her hand around his neck. "And I'm going to make sure you feel all the pain I feel."

Before she could kill him, a searing hot pain sliced through her shoulder. Tessa dropped to the ground, clutching the stump that used to be her arm, screaming in agony.

"I didn't want to do that, but you needed to be taught a lesson." Volkov stated, before he walked out of the room, followed by the guards. Leaving the teenager crying on the floor, missing an arm.