An Eternity of Change

Chapter 24

July 15, 1945

Jaylyn didn't even bother to struggle as she was dragged into the building by the Nazi guards. She knew what they were going to do to her now that they saw her disappear, they would cut her open to see how she worked. The fact that the entire place smelled of blood didn't help hide that information, even if the place had been cleaned to hide the evidence. Instead as she entered the room she found several other guards holding Adam, who was bleeding from several wounds to his legs and lower abdomen.

Mengele stepped out in front of her but looked at Adam. "Do you know this woman?"

Adam glanced at her and she shook her head slightly, he looked away. "No, I've never seem such a pathetic person in my life."

"He has some spirit left..." Dr. Mengele sneered down at him. "I'll break it soon enough."

Jaylyn gave him an approving look while the crazed scientist's back was turned before wincing as her guards yanked her roughly towards a metal table. She couldn't help the fact that her heart started beating faster, fear starting to seep into her mind.

Mengele turned back around with a wicked grin. "You know, I think you're lying... but perhaps I'm wrong. I guess we'll find out when I make you watch my little experiment on this nice subject here; her screams shouldn't bother you too much if you don't know each other. I've heard the two of you have a unique ability anyway..."

She paled a bit at his words, already knowing some torment he used, but could do nothing as they tied her down and brought in knifes and syringes. Adam was now out of her field of vision but she hoped he didn't give anything away; it would only give their captives greater pleasure in torturing them. Her old wounds from two days ago still weren't close to healing and the violent dragging to bring her to the building had reopened a few of them. The bright light above her reflected off a syringe as Mengele picked it up and held it over her neck, the needle poking into her skin before the plunger pushed its contents into her throat. He repeated this several more times until Jaylyn's entire throat felt like it was on fire; poison rushing through her blood.

She couldn't really say what it felt like; it was very hard to explain the effects the different toxins created, though it was blinding pain. At first that's all it was. A burning sensation growing that continued to burn hotter until she was withering and screaming on the table, then she found she lost her sight, throwing her into darkness and a nightmare world of terror. She wasn't quite sure how long she was like that but eventually a numbing sensation filled her, it wasn't a relief though, it only made her panic and the pain seemed to seep deeper into her being out of reach of the paralysis. Her screams had stopped at some point, she didn't know when, just that at some point she started suffocating before going limp, unable to keep us her attempts at escaping. She could faintly hear voices before disappearing.

Jaylyn shivered as she swam for shore in a river a few miles from the camp, for a moment she thought she could actually escape from the place altogether despite not having a safe place to hide, but then Nazi soldiers showed up and recaptured her... she was just grateful they gave her some clothes at that point. Two soldiers walked ahead with their guns drawn while she walked next to the third; who was also one of the youngest people she'd seen in the camp. She briefly thought about taking him out, Adam had trained her how and the man didn't seem like he wanted to be there, but her loyalty to the other immortal was strong and she realized she couldn't leave yet without planning how to get him out.

"Take her to Mengele... unless you can't handle it." One of the first two guards ordered, mocking him by referring to something he apparently messed up on. "We're giving the report."

"Right away." The guard beside her said with a downcast look, submitting to the other man's taunt.

She flinched, expecting him to shove her forward like the other guards had, but he simply gripped her wrist loosely and guided her back towards the special section of camp set aside for Mengele's specimens. The guards at the entrance parted for him as he yanked her forward half heartedly, obviously putting on a display of toughness for the older men, before relaxing his grip once more as the door shut behind him. Jaylyn shivered as she heard screams from the building beside the one she was in now, but was a bit relieved it didn't sound like Adam's... at least he was being spared for the moment.

A door unlocked and she was pushed into her dark cell before the lock clicked back into place. She turned with a slight frown when she didn't hear the man's footsteps walk away and found him staring at the other victims in cells identical to hers. He gave a weary sigh before walking away with a mutter. "I'm sorry."

She actually almost laughed at that. A Nazi wasn't sorry for this; if he were he would do something about it, though he was scrawny enough to snap like a toothpick if anyone so much as glared at him. Hopefully he did snap like a toothpick, or get blown up, burned, shot... it really didn't matter. It would just be great if all the guards just dropped dead. Jaylyn turned away from the dim lighted hall and curled up in the darkest corner of her cell. She was trying to find a comfortable spot against the bars when the person on the other side shifted groggily.

"Jaylyn?" Adam spoke with a hint of pain in his voice. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." She replied. "Did they torture you?"

"Tomorrow, according to that man's threats."

"Stay under as long as you can, try to swim away." She instructed. "Next time I die I'll try to join you."

"That won't work."

"How do you know?"

"Nazi soldiers may be stupid but they won't fall for that twice." Adam stiffly shifted again. "I already found that out, how do think I got here?"

Jaylyn didn't respond for a few moments. "You were free, you shouldn't have come back..."

"I had to try getting you and my son out." Adam snarled quietly. "He is still alive right?"

"I don't know. The only prisoners I've seen are those in these cells... most don't come back." She fell silent again and Adam never replied, probably thinking of a way to find Abraham and get the three of them out while leaving Marie behind.