eleMental: The Gifted

Chapter 5: Itchy Collars and Isolation

I found out that the dad's name was Reed Strucker. He used to prosecute mutants until his children became them. Now he's the one in handcuffs beside a mutant... Ironic. I was immediately separated from Reed and taken to an interrogation room. I was there for a while with an uncomfortable collar on. These things were used to control mutant's by shocking them every time they tried to use their powers. This was going to be interesting. I was waiting for quite a while until a large man entered the room.

"Hello, Dylan. We've been looking for you for quite a while." The man said obviously annoyed that I could avoid the authorities for that long.

"Yeah... I'm not a fan of small enclosed spaces, so prison wouldn't be good for me." I replied sassily. 

"Cute. I'm Agent Jace Turner with Sentinal Services and I'm told that you have some valuable information about the mutant underground. Maybe we could make a deal to reduce your sentence. Possibly place you in the same facility as your friend, Lorna." He said with the authority that he knew he had. 

"I don't know anything. Don't really like Sentinal Services, now that I think about it, so I'll take my sentence and be on my way. Thanks." I said twiddling my thumbs through the handcuffs while giving him a smirk.

"I don't know you have some pretty serious charges against you. You left a star high school football player paralyzed from the chest down. I don't think that's gonna be just a few months in jail." He replied staring straight into my soul.

"I didn't know I was a mutant back then and he deserved it." I said looking anywhere but his eyes.

"Really? What person deserves to be wheelchair bound the rest of their life?" He asked skeptically. 

"A guy who..." I was about to say something that I've never told anyone.

"Who what? Wanted to have fun on prom night with the girl he loved? Maybe you got a little too excited and your powers manifested that way, huh? You were scared, so you left the boy you loved behind to possibly die." he said standing up raising his voice.

"I didn't love him. Who could love someone that tried to force themselves on someone? I was trying to stop him. THAT'S how my powers manifested. I saw how everyone treated mutants. Nobody would have believed me. That's the world we live in and the only people I have...The only family I have are those mutants. There's no way you can turn me against them. I'd rather die." I said with angry tears in my eyes making dead eye contact with Turner.

"You're gonna wish you made this deal where you're going." Turner said turning to leave the room.

"And where would that be?" I asked stubbornly.

"I don't think prison is the right fit for you. You seem unstable, dangerous. So, I think you need a psychiatric facility equipped for your needs. Maybe your parents will drop by to visit you. They haven't seen you in what... eight, nine years. They'll be happy to see you can't hurt anyone anymore." He said leaving the room. 

He left me speechless at the mention of my parents. They were Purifiers, a Mutant hate group dedicated to eradicating mutants. They would want me killed if it were up to them. The hatred I had for my parents was more than they had for mutants because they raised me to hate mutants even though they knew nothing about them. They made me terrified to go home after my powers manifested and made me ashamed of what I was for the first few years I was on my own. When I met John, Lorna, and Marcos, they were the first people that helped me embrace my abilities and use them for something bigger than myself. I was broken from my thoughts when orderlies entered the interrogation room to take me to a psych facility.

"Time to go..." One said.

"Listen, I think this is all a big misunderstanding. I'm not crazy." I said.

"That's what they all say." The other one said.

I tried to push them back with my powers, but was instantly electrocuted by my collar. One of the orderlies came up to me with a syringe and gave me something. I got really tired and then started to black out. That bitch drugged me... I was then encompassed by darkness.

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I woke up with a splitting headache. I went to touch my head, but found that my hands were tied down to some sort of bed. I looked around and saw nothing but white. It smelt like a hospital and I was still wearing this itchy uncomfortable mutant collar. 

"HEY!!! HELP ME!!!" I yelled out desperate to get out of these binds. I was starting to get claustrophobic. 

"Shut up or we will sedate you." I heard a voice say outside. It must've been the orderly, but I couldn't see his face because I was still anchored to the bed. 

I tried to focus on anything else besides the predicament I was currently in. Lorna always used to tell me about her experiences in one of these prisons. She said it was hell and I believed her, but this was really bad. I could hear screams of different mutants the whole time. It was constant and usually when you got used to a sound it would become background noise, but I could never get used to these screams. After a few failed attempts of getting out of my restraints, I was starting to get light headed. The room began to spin and I was wondering why until I saw an IV in my left arm pumping me full of drugs of some sort. The next thing I know, I was passed out. 

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I saw him. John. He was reaching out to me trying to save me, but all his attempts at grabbing me failed. 

"John... Please... Come find me..." I said tears threatening to spill.

"It's ok, Dyl. I'm gonna find you if it's the last thing I do." He replied determination written on his face.

I called out to him almost as if I was leading him to me. I felt really light and almost like I wasn't in my body. The wind was carrying me towards the building that I loved so much, headquarters. A place I called my home. Everyone looked stressed. The building was wrecked, but I could see everyone was safe. Thank God. Even if this was just a dream. I saw John looking down at a sleeping Clarice and Marcos trying to get people to volunteer to find Lorna. I stood next to John and tried whispering in his ear.

"John... I'm not with Lorna. I'm at some psycho hospital. They're pumping me full of drugs and I can't..." I said and it looked like John actually heard me, but before I could react, I was awoken by some serious pain. It was my collar shocking me. I wasn't even using my powers I was dreaming... wasn't I?

"Hey... There's more where that came from if you keep trying to get out with those powers!" The orderly shouted again. I didn't use my powers... or did I?