The Undoing Of Villains | ✓

twenty six

(a/n: dedicated to ADream_Catcher for the comments & votes! much love from little me <3.) 

twenty six

WAKING UP WAS not a peaceful affair.  There was a pounding going on in my head, and not the nice kind from overly loud music but the painful kind, which made the first sound out of my mouth something which sounded like 'arghhghghg'. Completely non-understandable garbage is the direct translation. 

The second thing I noticed save for the disgusting pain in my head was the room around me. Cracking my eyes open at a snail's pace, the light blinded me at first - a bright, stark white it hurt my eyes, so I clamped them shut again. It took a few moments, then I opened them again - I noted I was sat at a table, and my hands were locked into handcuffs connected to a steel bar in the middle of the table. 

This isn't the Ritz, I thought, then wanted to kick myself for joking when I was captured, in pain and handcuffed to a table. You're an idiot, Charlie. 

I know, I thought, to myself, then deemed it possible that I was going a teeny tiny bit crazy. 

I pulled at the cuffs, but the chains didn't give an inch - instead the metal cut into my wrist, and I hissed as my skin was chafed by the chain. I averted my eyes, glancing around. An opaque glass window sat mounted in a wall, leading me to conclude it was an interrogation room. Well, that, and the staggering amount of security cameras inside. Three. Three cameras. 

If they thought they were getting a show, they were sorely mistaken. Instead of having more time to study the room, my eyes shot to the door handle as it jiggled. Then the door opened.

Inside stepped a familiar figure, closely followed by two other men clad in identical suits. My eyes narrowed in on Sawyer. 

"Hello, traitor." I forced out, dry throat aching, "- just in time for your ice bath." 

Sawyer didn't respond, but tugged at his shirt instead, his Adam's apple bobbing. He thought he was the one uncomfortable in this situation? Sawyer shot a glance to the agents by his sides, then moved beside the door to stand guard, I assumed. I kept my glare leveled on his face until he averted his face.

Oh, I want to smack you, brother dear. In the face - with a piece of solid concrete. Anger simmered, but the reserve for my powers felt unusually empty. I tugged at it, but nothing responded. A bubble of worry burst in my chest, spreading through me instantly. What had they done to me? 

After the three male agents came yet another man - leading me to believe whatever corporation Sawyer worked for had a few policy issues regarding employment  - but he was clad in a different suit. A metallic brooch was pinned to his chest, glimmering much like gold and shaped like a coiled snake. 

"Hello." He said, deep voice reverberating through me, "Charlotte. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." 

"I'm handcuffed to a table." I deadpanned, raising my brow, "- can't really say the same. Your hospitality sucks balls, by the way." 

The pain in my chest from the fact that Sawyer - the brother I'd grown up chasing throughout our family's estate, the brother I'd looked up to,  my only older brother - had betrayed me seemed neverending. It had grown, until it encompassed my entire being, squeezing every part of my brain until that betrayal was all that stuck on my conscience. Nothing else mattered - not my display of foolish confidence, my smart-assy quips, not even the sudden lack of powers I was experiencing - I wanted answers. This interrogation was a waste of my time.