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🎶 game of survival — ruelle
ASPEN FELT FILTHY. She hadn't been able to shower in a week, so despite his creepy and discomforting tone, she felt a small ounce of relief when Lance told her she could finally go take a shower. And even if it was only for a short amount of time, it got her out of that blank, white-tiled cell.
She had two orderlies on either side of her, two men, forcefully grabbing her by the arms as she walked down the haunting corridor of the closed unit towards the shower room. One of them had no name tag. And then there was Schrader, the man, who had wide, bug-like eyes. The two orderlies were there to make sure Aspen didn't step out of line or try anything that Lance wouldn't approve of.
As Aspen was forced down the hallway, she glanced side to side at all the people in the cells. Even though what she was going through was arguably worse than some of the people down here, she still felt immense empathy and sorrow for each and every individual in this place.
And then she passed by one cell in particular that made her heart physically ache. There was a young man, with much longer, darker hair than she remembered him to have. He was strapped down to a chair—one identical to the one in her own cell. His eyes were shut and his head was dipped down in weakness and fatigue. Aspen's eyes widened at the sight of him, and the bruises down the side of his arms from needles—bruises that looked identical to hers.
"Ace—!" she couldn't stop herself from crying out at her brother, trying to jolt her body forwards over to him, but she was harshly held back by the orderlies and their harsh grip on her.
Her brother's eyes flitted open at the sound of her crying his name.
Her voice was the last one he ever wanted hear down here.
Ace lifted his head up, staring out the impenetrable glass wall to the brunette being forced down the hallway. The two damaged, traumatised siblings met each other's eyes.
This was the first time they'd seen each other in nearly a year.
Aspen could see by the look in his eyes straight away that he clearly hadn't been informed of her presence here. They hadn't told him that the results of the experiments they were conducting on him were being compared to his sister's, that she was suffering the exact same thing.
"Aspen?" Ace's voice originally came out as a whisper of disbelief, but then when he continued, it became a pageful yell. "Aspen! No— no what is she doing here?! Aspen!"
A tear fell down Aspen's cheek as she was forced to walk right past her brother's cell. She heard the sound of his angry screams, and all she could do was cry. He had been down here as a sacrifice— a sacrifice for her. He'd given up his own freedom so that his little sister could have hers.
