III: The Soldier and the Fairy Queen: Red Eve

XII: Brain Blender

Her eyes shot open, then narrowed in the light. Back to square one. She yanked against the bands. She screamed through her teeth and blinked away the tears in her eyes. No. She would not cry.

The restraints bit into her arms, and she could see the scabs where they'd scratched her before. She remembered what the girl surgeon said about weakened states. She pulled against the bands again, ignoring the dull ache from the purple bruises that covered her skin. She still had bruises, which meant that she had probably not been unconcious for very long.

She moved from side to side, making the chair rock on it's legs. She lurched and the chair fell on it's side, taking her with it. Her skull knocked against the concrete. She rested her cheek on the damp floor for a long moment. Her vision cleared, but the ringing in her ears didn't. She squirmed, and the restraints cut her more.

She howled, rattling the chair. She could barely hear it over the ringing. She had to get out of here! She couldn't remember why... but she had to get out! Now! She growled and tried to think. The chair was plastic, which meant that it could break if subjected to enough pressure. If she was in a weakened state from the sedative or whatever they put in her, she couldn't break metal... but perhaps she could break thick plastic? She opened her fist and reached down, grabbing the vertical plastic rod that held the armrest to the seat.

She pulled at it steadily with her fingertips, adding more pressure when her hand cramped. She heard a quiet snap through the ringing in her ears. She looked down at it. She grimaced. It had broken in the middle, just beyond where her hand could reach. She screamed again. She swung her legs back and forth to no avail.

She was considering trying to get her chair back up on all fours when she saw the new doorknob turn and the door open to two men speaking German.

"Yeah, but what if the-- oh, no. I'm not taking the blame for this. It's your turn to get lectured by Stauffer," one of them said, he was significantly shorter than the other, and sickly-looking.

"Look, she's alive, idiot." The second man, who spoke with a slight lisp, said, poking her ribs with the hard toe of his boot. "Help me get her."

Sickly raised his hands, "Do we have to? You saw what she did to Doyle."

She looked up at the two men, observing the exchange. What were they doing here?

Lisp lifted her chair and set it right, "Come on, we don't have all day."

Sickly pulled at little ring of keys from the pocket of his uniform. He shuffled through them until he found a long fob and pressed a button. Lisp grabbed her arm as the bands coiled up and fell to the ground in little bars.

She looked up at Sickly and smiled slowly. Might as well add to her reputation while she was at it. Sickly shuddered and dropped the keys back into his pocket. She peered at the name on his chest while he helped Lisp hoist her up. Meisel.

She stood and put one foot in front of the other. Her feet wouldn't obey her. They were slow, and didn't move correctly. She stumbled and fell to her knees, held up only by Lisp and Meisel.

"What's wrong with her?" Meisel asked, trying to keep her upright.

Lisp grunted and did a one sided shrug, dragging her down the round hallway, "Probably the aftereffects of that tranq they used on her. They developed that stuff for the likes of Captain America and the Hulk."

They walked, dragging her behind them, until they reached the room full of machinery. She peered down at the floor as they dragged her in. Red stained it, in huge circles. She could still smell rubbing alcohol, but it was mostly stifled by the smell of old blood. The men dropped her on the ground in front of the hulking piece of machinery Gozakas and Stauffer had been working on. She lifted her head from the floor and saw a dark woman with a large bosom, dressed in a slim-fitting navy blue dress.

"I guess I don't have to tell you to kneel, do I?" The woman laughed, a bell-like sound that didn't belong in a gray, cement room. She identified the woman in the back of her mind. Leila Astor. Although she looked much different now than she had in that green silk monstrosity. Leila was accompanied by a large assortment of people, some in white coats and some with clipboards. She clapped her hands and motioned to Meisel and Lisp, "Come on, people, let's get this show on the road!"

She felt hands on her arms again as she was lifted and dragged toward Leila. Leila moved out of the way and she saw something from her nightmares. A dentist's chair, surrounded by machines and screens. Above the chair hung the metal mask that administered electroshocks. She straightened and pulled back, adrenaline giving her energy. She shut her eyes, trying to shut out the screaming in her memories. "No, no, no, no," she whispered.

Her eyes still shut, she felt the men set her down and the cuffs closing around her arms and legs. She opened her eyes and saw a hazel-eyed woman offering her a rag. She was familiar with this routine, and it made her blood turn to sharp ice in her veins. She kept her mouth shut.

The woman sighed, "This would be easier if you stopped resisting."

She snarled in response.

Leila spoke from in front of her, "It's fine, Drina. She'll learn eventually."

Drina pushed her back into the chair, and snapped the mask over her face before she could sit back up. She balled her hands up to form fists and waited, savoring the coolness of the metal on her cheekbone and forehead while she could.

She heard Leila speak, "Turn it on, Gozakas."

"Yes, ma'am," she heard his voice answer.

She heard the whirring and let out a shaky breath.