Page 98 of The Not So Super Hero
Zane didn’t battle through the rest of the walk where he was taken to greet Law in a tiled room.A chair sat in the center.Zane knew what to do and took a seat.
“I’m so happy you’ve decided to join us, Zane,” Law said while beginning the same treatment he used to give Zane.Except when the needle pierced his skin, there was pain.It rippled through him so ferociously that all he could do was throw his head back to release a scream.Something was horribly wrong.He could feel it but didn’t know what it was.
“I wish I could say you’ll like it here, but that would be a lie,” Law continued to speak while Zane struggled to remain conscious.The pain was pure fire in his veins.He wanted to scratch, fingers twitching uncontrollably at his sides.“This is a very special facility for very special children such as yourself.In order to test the true strength of your abilities and to better understand the makeup of mutants, we have to bend a few rules others don’t always agree with.And you, oh, you, we’ve been waiting to have you here since the day you were born.Right, Antoine?”
“Indeed,” Antoine replied.“We were starting to lose hope.”
Zane’s watery gaze landed on Antoine, confused and terrified.Antoine’s gaze didn’t hold a piece of remorse or care.Zane’s chest tightened, no longer certain if it was from realizing his father didn’t care or the agony overtaking him.
“We always wanted to know if a mutant could be made, could be manipulated.The very genetic makeup of a person and finally we have an answer!”Law smacked Zane’s arm before jumping out of his chair with delight.“Though I admit you came out different than we expected.Not a complaint, mind you!”
“Don’t bother holding back,” Antoine said, grinning.“It’s time to see what he’s really capable of.”
“You’re the boss!”
And with that began Zane’s dark days at Raiffel.Although there was someone who brightened his days even a little.
Guards tossed Zane into a dark, dank cell.His vision had grown blurred, body tingling.Whatever they gave him stole his energy, although that didn’t prevent him from banging against the doors.“L-Let me out!”
“It’s no use,” a voice said.Vision returning, Zane caught sight of another boy in the room, sitting on the top bunk in the tiled room.“Shouting, banging on the door, jiggling the lock, don’t bother.They’ll just laugh at you for trying.”
The stranger had eyes of gold and burgundy hair knotted atop his head.Freckles stained his pale cheeks and down his neck to the tip of his hands.Though his demeanor wasn’t intimidating, Zane pressed his back against the door.
“What’s your name?”The stranger hopped off the bed to approach Zane.When he snarled, the boy chuckled.“Ah, I should probably introduce myself first.I’m Isaiah, your new roommate!”
Saying it like that made it seem like a good thing, but this whole situation was terrible.
“That tired feeling you got will go away in a few hours, maybe less, depending on your level.Law made some twisted formula off Harmon’s mutation.The guards will use it on you again if you make too much of a fuss,” Isaiah hissed.“You probably don’t know who Harmon is, either.Um, he’s the one that keeps the barrier up around here.He’s also a colossal pain in the ass, so if you run into him, keep your mouth shut.”
Zane had a feeling that Harmon wasn’t the only pain in the ass at Raiffel.
“Who are you?”he finally asked, earning himself a raised brow from Isaiah.“I mean, why are you here?”
“Same reason as you.Just another lab rat for Rebirth.”Though Isaiah rambled on, Zane didn’t process a word.He focused on the name that rang in his ears.
He heard about Rebirth on the news, made jokes about it with Marceline, claiming that one day he would grow up to bring them down.The truth was; his father was part of an organization that cared for no one, that took lives like it was a normal thing to do.
“Hey, you actually look like you’re getting worse.Are the effects wearing off?”Isaiah inquired.
Zane answered by shoving past Isaiah to vomit in the toilet at the back of the room.Everything happened too fast.He had fallen into a nightmare.
Isaiah rubbed Zane’s back.The touch wasn’t soothing.Nothing was.Zane couldn’t stop shaking.Most of all, he was too frightened to ask Isaiah what was in store for him.
“So this is your bunk!”Isaiah announced once Zane had finished.His attention shifted about the room, small, disgusting green tiles and ugly gray walls.The door was a deep black iron and there were no windows.The bathroom wasn’t even hidden, there was a toilet and a shower that were completely open and cameras in the corner.Zane shivered.
“You’ll get used to it,” Isaiah said, nodding at the camera.“Took me a while to take a shower without my clothes on, but well, not like I am ashamed of anything!”
Zane gave Isaiah an incredulous look.
“Sorry, I was just trying to get a laugh, maybe even a small grin?”
Zane did no such thing.He shuffled into bed, in no mood to talk or do anything.If Isaiah had more to say, he kept it to himself.But his lack of speech made the room deathly silent.Zane realized, in that silence, that he could hear outside the walls.Whimpers and crying from other rooms.Children, like him, begging to be let out, to go home, screaming for help.How many were there?
His legs and fingers twitched.He told himself to get some sleep.He’d wake up, and it’d be okay.Naïve thoughts for someone unsure of whether he could handle this.Rather than listen to the horror around them, Zane whispered, “How long have you been here, then?”
“Don’t you think it’s a bad idea to ask questions with what you suspect to be poor answers?”
“By evading the question, you’re making it bother me more.”
