Runaway

Chapter 25

I wake up in a large room, a cell. I quickly sit up, making me dizzy. I look around and find myself on some sort of cot, three walls surrounding me and a glass window making up the fourth. I see Sam and Clint in the cells across from mine and begin to calm down slightly.

I stand up from the cot but fall to the ground instantly, attracting the attention of the men across from me. I push myself up and turn over, looking down to see that the only thing left of my left leg is half of my thigh. My hands begin to shake as I reach towards the amputated appendage, touching the end of it, only to pull my hand back when pain shoots through it, making me cry out.

"Easy." Sam says, walking to the front of his cell. "It's okay. It's still a pretty fresh wound so don't touch it."

"What happened? Where are we?" I question, feeling my panic rise.

I feel the power coursing through my veins but nothing happens. I reach up and find a collar around my neck, stopping me from utilizing my powers. Pain courses through my veins as the fire builds and is unable to be released.

I look at my reflection in the window and see the flames licking in my usually dark green eyes, the veins all over my body glowing a bright red. I scream as the pain intensifies and begin breathing heavily, clawing at the collar in an attempt to get it off.

"Rebekah. Rebekah, you need to calm down." I hear Clint say but I can't process his words through my pain.

"Hey! Hey, we need some help in here!" Sam yells. I barely see a guard walk in, my vision hazy. "You need to get that thing off of her."

"We can't do that." He says. "She's a liability."

"She's terrified! She's in pain!" Clint yells, banging on the glass wall of his cell. "That magic is building up inside of her and she can't release it. She has fire coursing through her body right now and she can't let it out. It's hurting her. It's gonna end up killing her if you don't take that thing off of her!"

"I can't take it off. Secretary Ross said that the collar isn't to come off under any circumstances." The guard says.

"Let me in there then." Sam tells him quickly. "Let me in there to calm her down and help her."

"You can be with her until she calms down." Sam shakes his head.

"She can't move man. She only has one leg." He points out. "Someone needs to help her." The next thing I know, Sam's crouched in front of me.

"Rebekah!" He says over my screaming. "Rebekah, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down."

"I can't." I manage to get out, tears streaming down my face. "It hurts!"

"I know. I know it hurts. But you need to calm down or it's only gonna get worse." He tells me. He continues to try to calm me down for a few minute but nothing seems to work, the pain only intensifying.

"Hey!" He yells to the guard who was still in the room, waiting for the situation to pass. "We need some music in here. Get her phone and bring it in here."

"Look, I already broke the rules by letting you in there." He says. "I can't bring her phone in here."

"Just leave it outside her cell." Sam tells him. "It helps her calm down. And when she's calm, she's in control. If you don't get that phone in here for her music, you're gonna have a death on your hands that could have been prevented." Moments later, I hear my music playing, Billy Joel's Piano Man filling the room.

"Focus on the music." Sam tells me quietly. I focus on the soft music, slowly finding myself regaining the ability to breathe. "That's it. Just focus on the music. There you go." I take a deep breath, the pain finally subsiding as the last note plays.