"Do you remember now?" The blue-haired girl with those unsettling peach eyes stared down at me.
"I do."
I didn't. But I'd reached my breaking point. The torture had to end.
We were both sitting on the elevator floor. I had no idea how long I'd been trapped - could've been an hour, could've been four. Time loses meaning when you're getting systematically beaten by a psychopath.
I was sprawled across the floor with my head resting on her lap - which was, admittedly, incredibly soft and comfortable. She ran her fingers through my hair like nothing had happened.
"Really?" she asked, her voice mixing hope with suspicion.
I forced a nod.
"Good!" She hugged me tight, pressing my face against her chest.
I couldn't breathe, but honestly, there were worse ways to die.
Sigh.
One conclusion: this girl was completely insane.
Who is she exactly? the voice in my head asked.
You know those people who thrive on chaos? The kind who'd laugh while getting stabbed through the heart? Yeah, that's her.
How did you get involved with someone like that?
I didn't want to think about it, but the memories were coming back anyway.
"So..." she said, pulling back slightly. I could breathe again, though part of me felt oddly disappointed. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"You promised you'd come back for me, but you never did. Why?" Her voice cracked, and I could see tears forming in her eyes.
Shit. It really was her.
"I... tried," I said, scrambling for a believable lie. "I really did. But I was weak back then. I almost died so many times. It was difficult to come back, and when I finally could... you were gone."
Short and simple - fewer details meant fewer holes she could poke through. The problem was, she was too smart for her own good.
"Really?" Her smile widened in a way that made my skin crawl.
"Yeah."
WHAM!
"CHRIST!" I gasped as her fist found my stomach again. My life flashed before my eyes.
"Why are you lying to me?"
"I'm not lying!"
WHAM!
"STOP LYING!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face. The audacity - she was crying while beating me half to death.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I WAITED FOR YOU? DO YOU?"
"I said I'm not—"
WHAM!
"Stop! I'm not—"
WHAM!
"Wait! Fine! Yes, it was a lie! I never came back for you!" I confessed, teetering on the edge of consciousness.
This is hard to watch, the voice commented.
Then help me, you bastard.
You know what my help costs.
Forget it. I'm not merging with you.
Your choice. But how did you even meet this psycho?
The memories came flooding back. Two years ago, traveling around the empire, getting kidnapped, meeting her in that hellhole. She was just a kid then, but there was something different about her. Something dangerous.
I'd spent two months in that place, watching people get sold off as lab rats or slaves. This girl didn't seem to care about any of it.
She didn't talk at first, but eventually I got her to open up. We became friends - or at least, she thought we did. When I figured out she had powers, I convinced her to help me escape. I promised I'd come back for her.
I never did.
You used her to escape and then abandoned her?
Pretty much.
I escape with her help... but she got caught.
Well, at least the plan worked.
"Did you really see me as a friend, like you claimed? Or was I just a tool for your escape?" she asked, her eyes cold as winter.
This was it. The question that would either save me or kill me.
Deep down, I already knew the answer.
I was going to die in this elevator.