Overdose

8. The Executioner

"Knock knock!"

"Why knock if you're going to come in here anyway?" I put the book down that I was reading and placed it on the dresser next to me. Xander came in, looking all high and mighty as he usually did.

"So, Executioner," He gave me a strange look. "How are you and Yvonne getting along?"

"Um, fine. Why are you asking?"

"Oh, I just think it might be nice for you to have some friends in here." He stood up and walked about my room. "You know, other than me."

"One, you and I are not friends." Xander smirked as he played with a few pens I had lying on the desk. "And second, why on earth would I want to be friends with anyone in here? There's such a high possibility you'll either kill them or turn them into something...non-human."

"And is someone who is non-human unworthy of your friendship? What do you consider human, Executioner?"

I was stunned. The question caught me off guard, and I didn't know how to answer it.

"I don't consider you human." That was the only thing I could say. While it was definitely an insult, Xander seemed to take it as a compliment.

"Not the answer I was looking for, but I'll take it." He sighed and turned away from me. He walked over to my door. "Get ready, you have training in thirty minutes." He slammed my door shut behind him.

I reluctantly left my room and headed for the training rooms. It had been a while since I had to train, and I was hoping they weren't going to make me do it anymore.

"Ah, Executioner." Dr. Henley greeted me. "How nice of you to join us for training today."

During training, they were always sure to keep a doctor on hand in case of extreme injury or death. Not many people had died during training since I had arrived, but sometimes it happened. Most people didn't die from training, but from failed experiments. Some people were killed by staff if they attacked them and, in some cases, they managed to kill themselves. It's strange how the staff wanted us to, in their own words, "make us strong", but some seemed so eager to kill us. This was the perfect job for people who wanted to tap into their inner Marcel Petiot or Jane Toppan.

"What do you have me doing today?" I asked, ready to get training over with.

"Just some exercises." Dr. Henley said. "I suggest you start getting ready. Today might be a bit of a doozy for you."

Dr. Henley left me alone and went over to talk to some of the other teenagers.

Training surprised me.

Some teens who came seemed to just fall right in line, enjoyed the training as though it was a regular physical education class at school. Maybe it was a chance for them to get their anger out, or maybe they really just enjoyed fighting.

I exercised for a bit until Dr. Henley came back over and started talking to me again.

"So, you're going to be fighting someone today." He said.

"What, another one of the prisoners?" I rolled my eyes. "I'm so scared."

"Nope. A former patient." Dr. Henley smiled. "Come on out, and meet our Executioner."

Rachel stepped out.

Rachel, the girl who could do something horrifying that I couldn't. The girl who was terrified when she came to the Facility, the girl who swore she would never be violent, the girl who then took the serum and was never the same. And here she was, blonde hair flowing, shining green eyes, wearing a pastel pink dress and white heels, looking too sane to have ended another's life oh so long ago.

"Hello, Executioner." She gave me a wave. "It's so good to see you again."

"Well, I'll let you two catch up." Dr. Henley walked away. Rachel kept a smile on her face, it almost looked like she was forcing it.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"Well I wanted to come and visit."

"Visit the place that took away your humanity?" She laughed.

"Oh Executioner, this place fixed me." She looked around with a look on her face that matched a child who was at Disneyland for the first time.

"They made you kill someone. How is that fixing someone?"

"I was weak before I came here. Suicidal, low self esteem, now look at me." She did a pose. "I'm so much better. I'm simply living a good life."

Rachel inspired me. She inspired me to make sure this place wouldn't turn me into some delusional robot who only did what the staff told them to do.

"I'm not going to fight you." I stated.

"Oh?"

"You don't deserve my time. I don't fight people anymore."

"I don't usually see staff fighting." She crossed her arms. "Funny how you speak so badly of this place when you yourself have been carrying out orders from Xander. You may not be official staff, but you're just the same."

"I'm not like the staff."

"You're not? You're working for the Master. You have privileges that the other teens and children here don't have. And judging by how you're talking to me, you don't face the same consequences they do." She laughed into her hand. "Sorry, but I have to laugh. You're just the same as the rest of us. Don't get so cocky, Executioner. I did what you're doing. Surviving."

I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it. She was right, I was doing the same thing she did. I might not have killed someone, but I was hurting other people because Xander told me to. And even though I never spoke to the Master, I knew all these punishments weren't set in place by just Xander. The Master had to be doing something.

"Evan, can I give you a piece of friendly advice?" She leaned in close.

The name shocked me. Made me pause for a moment. I didn't really register it at first. Being called Executioner for so long made me just that. The Executioner, not Evan. Evan had a brother, and a mom and a dad. Evan was a Straight A student. Evan was kind and cared about people. The Executioner had no family, and certainly had no one to care about in the Facility. It was this moment that I blame for the change I went through.

"You're going to have to change to survive in the Facility. I changed and I made it out alive. I had to change my name, and who I was. I have nothing left of my old life before I got here. My family? I don't know them. You might think you're going to be able to hang on to this humanity of yours but you're going to have to give it up if you want to get out alive." Rachel looked, and sounded, serious. She didn't sound like she was teasing, or lying. She truly believed in what she was saying. And sadly, I believed it too.