Fatal Attractions

XLIII

Ever since I was young, I thought that if you could fathom every possible event that could go wrong, nothing bad would happen. Like bringing an umbrella on a sunny day in case of a storm. If you worry yourself when getting on a plane wondering whether or not it's going to crash, chances are it's not going to crash. It's as if it's your way of telling the world it's not going to surprise you, so it doesn't. It never did. Every single time, I fathomed the worst thing that could go wrong, and it didn't happen, I was just overreacting.

I fathomed this moment so many times in my mind before, I almost didn't believe it could ever happen. Somehow, I never managed to fathom it in this scenario. Before I left, it never crossed my mind that maybe this was all a trap, that I would be caught tonight. Maybe this is the world's way of saying "You couldn't think this one up, Madi, we got you." Maybe if I had only considered the thought before I left, I could've avoided this.

But here I was.

I came to again with my head pounding and vision blurry, hearing nothing but my own labored breaths as I struggled to lift my head.

"Look who's here," I heard a deep voice say, that voice reverberating in my mind.

I tried to put a hand on my head but to my dismay, they were bound behind me.

"Took her long enough." The voice said.

My vision adjusted and I threw my head back, coming face to face with-- you guessed it-- Hypothermia himself.

I frantically wiggled in the chair, trying to see if the bounds would give way, but they didn't and I sat there, completely vulnerable and surrounded by Hypothermia and his followers, along with Star Blade and Helix.

When I made eye contact with Helix, he quickly averted his gaze from mine as I suddenly felt the chilly absence of my mask.

I was exposed.

Blood surged through my head as my breaths became more rapid, perspiration forming on my head. Suddenly, I was gasping for breath and shaking as a panic attack cursed my body.

"Calm down, Madisyn." Hypothermia chuckled. "I'm not going to hurt you." He took a step towards me and put a freezing hand on my cheek, making me breath even heavier. I tried to look under his hood for any sort of facial marker I could try to recognize him by, but being the careful person he was, he only exposed the lower half of his face to me. "Worrying won't do you any good."

"Please." I begged, tears welling up in my eyes. "Please let me go. I'll do anything. What do you want?" I stammered, trying to calm my rapid breaths. I didn't like begging, I didn't want to beg, but it's come down to my identity and I would do anything to get out of this.

"Information." He smiled, amused as he twirled a strip of my hair around his finger.

"Then you'll let me go?"

He laughed. "Of course not."

Tears started to spill over my eyes and I was praying someone, something, anything would get me out of this right now.

"Oh no," He cooed, frowning. "Don't cry. You can't cry."

I was really trying hard to keep my composure, but was failing miserably. I wished so badly I could just put on a brave face and pretend to be unfazed, but I couldn't. I wasn't brave. I wasn't unfazed. I was so damn scared right now I almost pissed my pants.

He began to pace in front of me, making me even more anxious. "Out of everyone in Comet city, I didn't think you were Voltage. Honestly, this came as a surprise to see you under that mask." He chuckled, shaking his head. "I mean I guess I should've known after all of those statements you made about protecting vigilantes. Still, I'm astonished."