The End of Everything :: Part 2

With a groan Jane awoke tied against a wall with ropes. She blinked slowly, trying to get her blurred vision back into focus as she tugged on the wrist restraints. Her eyes settled on Mark, who was in the same predicament as her, but still unconscious. Her head was pounding and fogged up as she continued to glance over her surroundings. Jane saw a lot of strange devices she could only assume were meant for torture.

Finally her eyes fell upon the middle of the room where a table stood covered in vials, test tubes, burners, and a lot of papers. The modern lab set up looked rather out of place in such a medieval room. Jane didn't have much time to think on it when a woman in red robes came up to her.

"Where… am I?" Jane mumbled, her vision still swimming and her memories fuzzy. A strangely familiar buzzing hummed through her head, as soft as a whisper on the wind that she just couldn't quite make out.

The woman didn't respond and simply walked past Jane to Mark. She grabbed him by the face and turned his head side to side with a sour expression. Unsatisfied she let go, his chin hitting against his chest with a soft groan.

The foggy feeling in Jane's head gradually lifted and with a prickling sensation of panic she became painfully aware of her predicament. She started to struggle against the bonds, barely aware of the ropes rubbing her stinging wrists raw.

The strange red robed woman glanced at Jane and fetched something from the table before heading to her. To Jane's horror, the woman was holding a syringe filled with a clear liquid.

"S-Stop!" Jane pressed out weakly, but her limbs felt like lead and she groaned when the robed woman injected her with the needle. The strange whispering buzz in her head faded again to silence. Jane's vision kept going in and out of focus as she panted, watching the robed woman return to her paper covered desk.

It was only a few moments before a man strolled in dressed in a far more elaborate red robe than the bowing robed woman.

"Sir, we have found the one," she told her leader.

"Are you sure?" the man asked her looking at the two bound to the wall.

"Yes sir, we've done quite a few tests-" the robed woman replied picking up several papers to show him, but he had already gone to Mark and mustered him with a snort.

"He doesn't look like much."

"That's because he isn't the one, she is," the robed woman corrected with a nod towards Jane. The robed man turned to Jane and grabbed her by the chin to look her over. She gritted her teeth and tried to pull away from his grip, but she was still too weak.

"She 'really' doesn't look like much," he determined letting go of Jane and her head dropped down with a pained groan.

"I know, but the tests all point to it that she is," the robed woman tried to explain to the unenthusiastic man.

"I want her properly examined. I will be back for the results within two hours," the leader scoffed and briskly left the room. The robed woman sighed, leaning against her desk a moment. She turned around and looked through a microscope jotting down more notes. Her back was to Jane, who was slowly gathering her senses again.

"... don't give up… listen to what's inside of you… feel it… be it…" a strange wispy voice hushed in Jane's ear, causing her eyes to snap open. She slowly looked side to side, but there was no one else in the room other than Mark, the strange robed woman, and herself.

"... concentrate on the ropes that bind you… feel them, undo them…" the voice whispered again a little stronger.

Jane's brows furrowed in confusion, but she did as she was told. Her eyes closed and she focused on the ropes. Slowly she could feel them being tugged on as if they were being undone. She clenched her jaw in concentration as the ropes gradually loosened and finally gave way. Jane dropped to her knees with a heavy thud, not even feeling the sting of the cold floor against them.

The noise startled the robed woman and she whipped around to find Jane struggling onto her feet. The woman cursed and grabbed a taser from her desk and ran towards Jane.

"… don't let yourself be recaptured... Fight!" the words echoed in Jane's ears and without a thought she grabbed the woman's outstretched arm. She pulled her forward and right into her balled fist, knocking the woman's head back. The robed woman tried to stumble back with a groan, but Jane had an iron grip on her wrist. In a quick motion she smashed her captors hand into the wall, breaking the device and causing her to cry out.

With another strong pull, Jane flung the robed woman head first into the wall with a sickening crack. She collapsed against the wall, leaving behind a trail of blood as she slid into a heap on the ground.

Jane was panting heavily, her vision still fading in and out as she sank to her knees, staring at her shaky hands.

"... you have to get out of here. Get up, free your friend... run!" the voice screamed in her head. Jane rose to her feet against the pain and stumbled to Mark. She slapped him across the face, finally jolting him awake.

"Ugh… w-what happened…?" Mark muttered in a hoarse voice as his eyes fluttered open.

"No time, we have to go," Jane interrupted him. With a touch from her hands the ropes around Mark's wrists untied and he dropped. Before he could even try to gather his wits, Jane grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the room.

With an uncanny certainty Jane ran through the hallways despite never having been here before, yet she knew exactly where to go. Strangely they did not come across anyone, almost as if Jane knew when and where someone would be. They ended up in front of a winding staircase and Jane sprinted up the steps.

"W-Where are we going?" Mark gasped straining for breath following, but Jane didn't respond. She just kept on running with him closely behind. Finally, they could see daylight up above and Jane picked up speed to escape the hellish dungeon they'd woken up in.