089 ━━ the key

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oh ur all gonna hate me so much and i love it HAHAHA

reread that title <3

w; back to the pill addiction

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IONA DIDN'T know how long she had been running. All she knew was that- after her adrenaline subsided- all of her pains came flooding back, filling her eyes with tears of frustration and exhaustion.

She leaned against a tree, groaning quietly as her hand found her abdomen. The wound had been healing, albeit slowly, but she'd somehow managed to strain the stitches and caused it to openly bleed.

"Fuck," Iona growled, closing her eyes. She held the spot that had been bleeding, clenching her other hand into a tight fist, nails digging into her skin.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could she be so stupid?

Iona knew better than to run a marathon while she was covered in wounds. She was usually so smart, so reserved, and despite her habit of healing fast, she felt no such way as the bleeding area stung with pain.

She knew she couldn't stand. She knew she couldn't do much other than to sit there and wait for it subside, but she was growing impatient. Patience was a virtue she always lacked, but now, when she needed it most, was when it seemed the most painful to have missing.

Iona squirmed uncomfortably, trying her best to find a decent way to sit that would then allow her to stand- but everything hurt.

Her feet were nearly numb from all the running, burning from overuse. Her hands were stained with blood, but she could still see the burns etched into her skin from years of fighting with no breaks.

And, of course, the stupid bullet stuck in her abdomen.

Iona froze when leaves began crunching around her. She was weak there, in her vulnerable position, and narrowed her eyes. She tried to look daunting, grabbing her katana with a firm grip and scouring the bushes.

When she saw a figure, Iona was taken aback.

"Abby? What are you doing here?" Iona questioned, furrowing her brows as the woman got into her line of vision. She tilted her head slightly, teeth digging into her bottom lip painfully, "It's not safe out here."

Abby said nothing, merely staring at the woman's crippled body beneath her.

She still looked strong, despite wincing and being covered in blood, gashes, and dirt. She took notice of how the girl failed to pick herself up, lip quivering every time she adjusted her torso or applied any sort of pressure.

Iona, who had been sharing looks with her, too, narrowed her eyes suspiciously once Abby's eyes glossed over. She glanced to her left, as if someone was there, speaking to her, before looking back at Iona with determination.

The woman slowly approached, and Iona couldn't help but lean back into the tree more, lifting her chin out of suspicion.

Something wasn't right.

Abby knelt down, eyes scanning the woman's figure. As if detecting her wounds via some scanner, she smiled. Without hesitation, the woman reached her hand out, lifting Iona's shirt and closely examining the wound she'd bandaged a few days prior.

"What are you doing?" Iona huffed out, watching as Abby's face contorted into one of focus and thoughtfulness.

As if an idea sprung to her head, Abby gave Iona a smile she could only describe as too sweet, almost sickly. It appeared far more evil than the woman intended, she was sure, and found herself swallowing thickly under her scrutinizing gaze.

"Remember when I told you to learn your limits?" Abby questioned, and even her voice sounded wrong.

Iona furrowed her brows at this, a confused glint in her eye, and a lost expression taking over her features. Abby merely reached a hand out, tucking a piece of Iona's hair behind her ear with that same sickly smile.

"Yeah..." Iona muttered quietly, almost by force.

"I'll give you two of these," Abby pulled a pill bottle out, shaking the tantalizing bottle of painkillers in front of Iona's eyes. She swallowed thickly, and Abby could tell she had the woman wrapped around her finger.

Oh, how addicts succumb so easily.

"If you take this," Abby added softly.

Iona hadn't really been focusing much on the other object offered to her. Her eyes were still on the painkillers- the medicine that seemed to wipe all her problems away with one smooth motion- as if she'd been hypnotized.

She knew she needed the medicine- and even if she didn't, she wanted to take the pills- and hesitantly held her hand out.

The medicine would make her feel whole again, as if she'd never been harmed in the first place and she wasn't full of bloody wounds and scars. She'd feel normal for the first time in months, and she craved it.

She desired it.

Abby put the object in her hand, and Iona reluctantly inspected it. It looked like a small chip.

"Is this even edible?" Iona raised a brow, shooting a confused look at Abby who merely nodded, watching her expectantly. Iona swallowed thickly at that, hesitantly adding, "What does it even do?"

Abby gave her that same smile that sent a shiver down Iona's spine, "It makes all the pain go away."

Iona's gaze softened at that.

She was experiencing a lot of pain, wasn't she? Physical and mental- any type of pain in the world, really, she had it tucked under her belt. Perhaps she deserved to indulge herself- she deserved to feel painless.

Yeah, she deserved to feel happy again. She deserved to be free of everything that weighed her down. She shouldn't have to deal with the pain.

Giving Abby one last look, Iona nodded slowly.

Then, she swallowed the chip.

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