Hunted

Twenty-Five: Matters of Conscience

Nicholls' eyes were fixed on the woman, who was slowly breaking from the trance The Charmer had held her under, her eyes blinking madly.

"Now princess, show us what you're worth. And watch out for her - she's got a pretty nasty bite," The Charmer winked passing her by.

"Miss Owens, I wish for you to destroy her," Nichols said in an even tone, waiting for the entertainment to start. Charlotte felt her muscles relax, her body coming back under her own control as The Puppeteer released her from his alteration.

The girl who was to be Charlotte's victim, glanced at her with wild eyes, a madness lying with in them. The smell of fear dripped from her, almost choking Charlotte, as the woman crouched defensively, growling gutturally at Charlotte, ready to strike.

"You leave her touch you princess, we might not be able to help you," The Charmer teased from behind her.

Charlotte hesitated glancing from the wild woman, to Nicholls and back again. "Mr Nicholls, I can hardly just attack her," she mumbled. "I have no cause". Her alteration lashed out at her, admonishing her for her refusal, the same sort of refusals she had been punished for in Kingston, but also for denying it a free victim.

"No cause?" Mr Nichols repeated slowly, tilting his head as he looked at her. "I ordered you to attack her, oh yes - is that not cause enough?" he breathed.

"Sir... I can't just..." she replied, balling her fists, very aware that she was alone in a room with four altered; the growling girl she was to attack, a man who could control her movements, a man who could tell her what to feel and the worrying Edwards. She didn't want to know what he could do, yet somehow she knew she would learn about his abilities very soon.

"If that is the case, Miss Owens, we will need to recondition you, oh very much yes," Nicholls breathed and before he said another word, an almighty crack echoed through the silent room, accompanied by a pained scream, which broke through Charlotte's lips, fresh tears rolling down her face as she collapsed on to her knees, her right arm jutting at a dreadful angle to her body.

It had been snapped cleanly, without any force, without any obvious perpetrator. Though Charlotte knew immediately that this was Edwards' doing. A brief sense of déja vu hit her, before the pain caused her to forget her thoughts.

The agony made Charlotte break out in a cold sweat, her entire body trembling. Her eyes rolled in her head as the shock and pain threatened to tear her from consciousness, her breathing was ragged, her heart pounding, her alteration thrashing madly to be released, to target Nicholls, but she wouldn't allow it. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of forcing her to use her alteration, especially when surrounded by so many enemies.

She took a steadying breath trying to take control over her reactions, when her arm suddenly repaired itself. The two pieces of bone reformed as quickly as her arm had been snapped; her limb settling back to the position it should rightly have been in. Charlotte whimpered, looking at it fearfully, unsure of what had just happened, whether it was real or not; she could never be sure if the effects, so obviously caused by alterations, were real or not.

"Miss Owens that is one bone, oh yes, oh yes. How many broken bones will it take before you obey me?" Nicholls hissed. Charlotte didn't answer, she couldn't. Though the pain had vanished, the break mended, the memory lingered. "I want to see your alteration now, oh yes".

Charlotte winced at his deranged ferocity, the word yes echoing from around the room. She waited perhaps too long, because with an ear-splitting snap, she found herself lying on her stomach, her face colliding with the hard ground. An all-consuming agony enveloped her as her femur shattered into what felt like innumerable pieces.