in which a girl burdened with bad luck finally has some good luck and meets a man with a facade everyone has fallen for, including her
peter ballard x oc
athena casteel
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ATHENA HAD BEEN ANNOYED. Being drugged and then tattooed on, and then being told she was stuck somewhere away from her family? She had the right to be annoyed.
The thing was that Athena had a horrible clinginess to her family after that one night. She always had to be reassured they were there and she always had to hug them to prove to herself that they were real and alive. She got homesick if she was away from them for even a few days, and she had to go back to them earlier than expected at sleepovers.
So when Athena had been told she was stuck in some prison with men watching her and no freedom at all, she was upset. And when she was upset, she lost control over all her mercy. Many had paid for it, and she was left overridden with guilt because of it.
Back then, the worst thing she'd do was explode a light or cause an unnecessary argument, but now - she had killed someone.
flashback Athena looked down at Brenner who was cockily smiling at her. She looked at the men in the door, holding tasers. Her stomach churned at the painful weapon in their hands, and her anger quickly rose. She let go of Brenner, but not before knocking him unconscious, and got up to her feet. She lifted a hand to them, slamming one of the men against the wall painfully. She looked at the scared men in the doorway, smiling in amusement. She looked at the man she held in the air, tilting her head to the side quickly, a snap echoing throughout the room as his neck snapped. Athena carelessly dropped his body, barely sparing a glance at him.
She wiped her hands as if there was invisible dust on them. "So, who's next?" She asked the visibly trembling men, smiling broadly. They sent a hidden nod to each other before they all charged. Athena was about to throw a hand out to throw them back but stopped once a prick distracted her. She quickly collapsed to the floor at the drug, not even registering the men tazing her and kicking her side.
Her vision darkened almost instantly as she fell into a deep slumber.
present
Athena had been super lucky to wake up to men once again, in front of her. A sense of deja vu flooded through her seeing the tazers they had in their hands. She simply looked up at them. Dr. Brenner's voice ran in her ears as he stared down at her.
"Let this be a reminder of who has the power over you. Do what you did back there ever again, and you'll suffer a fate worse than death." Athena simply smiled up at Dr. Brenner, hiding the fear she felt at his words.
"You can try to kill me, but it won't stop me. I'm always going to be stronger than you." She spat out the last word, making sure it hit him deep. It did. Brenner nodded to the men who immediately attacked her with the tazers. Buzzes of electricity emitted from it, pain shocking her. Quite literally.
She made sure no matter how much it hurt, to never let it show. She didn't scream, nor did she yelp. She simply sat in silence as her body sputtered and shook with the electricity. She soon fell ill to the pain, drowning it out while her mind went somewhere else. Deep breaths escaped her as they upped the voltage level once they weren't satisfied with her reaction.
But even then, she didn't crack. She refused. She instead focused on memories of her family, laughing around the dinner table at Reagan's experiences with school.
She had "accidentally" punched one of the girls bullying her at school, earning a proud fistbump from Laila and a hair ruffle from Athena. Tears nearly fell from her eyes as the pain increased immensely.
And then, she couldn't stop it. Screams erupted from her mouth loudly, her whole body trembling in pain. She tried to muffle her sobs, tried to stop, but she couldn't. The pain was too much. Her teeth gritted tightly, she tried to suppress the screams so they wouldn't get the satisfaction, but she simply couldn't. Her throat ached from screaming so loud but she couldn't stop. The pain reminded her of no other.
That day, the kids and even the adults were reminded to never disobey Brenner, for the punishment would be inhumane with no mercy.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• EVENTUALLY, ATHENA AWOKE IN A VERY UNCOMFORTABLE BED. Her body was still shaking and her limbs were aching in pain. She turned over to her side, facing away from the door as somebody walked in. She sniffled quietly, trying to hold back tears as somebody walked around to her point of view. Her eyes shut tightly as she braced herself for the tazers again. She slowly opened her eyes when nothing happened, seeing the hot guy from earlier.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, sitting on her bed and staring at her shaking form. She simply shook her head.
"It's fine." She reassured him, even though she knew it wasn't. He nodded although he knew she was lying.
"I shouldn't have injected that in you. I didn't think they'd be so rough, so I'm sorry." He sounded genuine, making her slowly look up at him. She focused on his features rather than the shaking that steadily brought her anxiety up. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly, and his jaw was clenched. His eyes were darker than they were before, she somehow noticed. Instead of an ocean blue, they were navy blue.
She cleared her hoarse throat. "What's your name?" She asked him, suddenly finding herself looking into his eyes. He smiled slightly, looking down at his hands.
"I'm Peter. Peter Ballard." He told her, holding a hand out for her to shake. She slowly let herself smile, grabbing his hand tightly and shaking it.
"I'm Athena. Athena Casteel."
He smiled wider, his dimples showing. Her heart skipped a beat at that. She didn't know that he had known her, for some time now, and the confirmation of her last name was all he needed.
When Henry was younger, he had shared a connection with a girl. They had talked telepathically for years until they were both 14. Once Henry was captured by Brenner, he suddenly couldn't talk to her. She had vanished from his mind, which had completely and utterly broke him. She had been the one to remind him of his humanity that was buried deep once his mother treated him like he was an abomination. Once he had allowed himself to succumb to the darkness inside him.
Peter had truly enjoyed her company then, and he still did now. He could finally see her, face to face, and she was gorgeous.
Athena smiled a little wider at him shyly. She never had a boy as handsome as him show any kind of interest in her. If it were under any other circumstances, maybe she'd ask him out. But there was only so much courage in Athena.
And maybe, just maybe, being trapped in some prison wasn't so bad. As cheesy as it sounded, he seemed like he'd make it bearable.
