Asylum

Pushed to the Edge

Kya Carter

Today was, to say the least, full of surprises. Surprise number one started when Alistair drugged me to turn me into the Reaper and Cerberus. Surprise number two followed shortly thereafter, when I learned that Alistair is actually Xavier Walker. From there, you can guess my day was pretty crappy. Reaper thinks that my dark strain is only the ability to freeze someone. Hah! I wish that were it. On top of that, she's been trying to force me to demonstrate on Cerberus, and I've done just that: freeze him in place. Nothing more, nothing less. Each time my skin remains unmarked, she punches me, or kicks me, or gives me a cut that isn't gory but wouldn't go unnoticed. "Try harder," she would tell me. But how can I possibly freeze someone "even harder?"

I don't know how long it went on for. From the time I was drugged to the time I woke up, it could've been hours. Maybe days. I don't know how much or whatever it was that Xavier slipped in our waters, so there's no way to tell. But from the time I've been awake to the time to the time my friends barged into the bunker, it's been a couple of hours.

In the times when Reaper yaps my ear off, which is a torture in itself, I think about exactly where this all went wrong. Was it when I purposefully lost the Sages this afternoon? Or when I agreed to go out with Alistair on a "spontaneous" date? No, maybe it was before that...perhaps it was just the first night I met Alistair? Or when we kissed? Oh, disgusting...I kissed Ren's dead brother. That's not going to be a fun story to tell. That is, if we all make it out for a story to be told.

When Sarah and Leo first came in here, mildly loopy and half-awake, I was sure they were drugged with whatever I was drugged with. They didn't seem hurt, so that was reassuring. But that didn't mean that they weren't going to be hurt. Still, even with them being here, there was a third chair positioned, and I wonder who would fill it. Elektra? Ren? Maybe it was for Reaper when she was tired or Cerberus when he was bored? I wasn't quite sure until two people walked in: Ren and his brother.

It didn't take a psychologist to notice the riff between those two. I mean, obviously Xavier absolutely despises Ren with everything he's made of, and Ren didn't seem to like him, either. I'm sure Xavier would've been sliced and diced like sautéed tomatoes if Ren knew who he really was. Sure, I figured it out after I spent so much time with "Alistair," but Ren seems clueless. Perhaps because in his heart of hearts, Xavier is really dead, so there's no way that this could be him.

Which brings me to surprise number 100: Xavier even appearing here. I know he promised me he'd make things right, but coming here to aide his brother in finding me seems like a bit much. Plus, it doesn't make me feel any better that he's here. What if he only showed up just to make things even worse? I really like you, he had said. In fact, Xavier said a lot of things. But was any of it true? Was there meaning behind his words, and that's why he's here? Or were they all lies and he's only here to make matters worse for us?

Either way, the tension was already thick with the Reaper here. Xavier showing up didn't make things any better. I might be a bit more eased if Xavier looked like Xavier instead of Alistair. Because if that was the case, then it would mean that he got the same handcuffs as Leo and Sarah and Ren – the kind that restrict all powers. But he still looks like Alistair. Do his artificial powers not apply under the cuff restrictions, or did he get a different set?

Whatever the case, he's extremely untrustworthy and when this whole ordeal is over, I want him gone.

Anyways, nothing was looking up for us. Leo's arm is broken, Ren's shoulder is wrung through and through, and now I have to step up to the plate and face Reaper.