Chapter 10
"Peter? Peter!" yelled Olivia as she saw him collapse and sprout vines that coiled around his limbs like snakes. Not focusing on Diamond she was back handed into the shelves knocking down several others like dominos and she felt as if all of her ribs shattered into dust. She lay there in a pile of splinters and shredded paper with no strength left in her, not even enough to tilt her head up to see the women who would kill her. "Why can't I do anything by myself?" she thought as she looked up at the lights above. "Why does this always happen when I try to do something by myself?" she thought again as the footsteps of a woman echoed through the library. "Why am I so pathetic in everything I do?" she thought once again as the voice of her latest torturer rang throughout the room. "Why are you here? Why are you with these guys? You could've been so much greater than the filth that is the addict and the alcoholic. You're almost as pretty as me and you're one of if not the smartest person in the building, so why do you choose this suffering? And don't say you like Peter because we both know he looks terrible." Said Diamond as she picked up Olivia from the rubble, cleaning off all the dust and splinters in her hair like a young girl with her favorite doll. Olivia with her broken will, though only of her father. The only ray of sunshine in her world that was no longer.
* * *
"Olivia, Honey come on we have to go, your Dad is waiting outside in the car." Olivia's Mother said. It was Olivia's 14th Birthday that day. They were going to the beach and meeting her friends on the board walk. She loved the beach like it was an old friend. The road was bustling with traffic so they went a different route to get to the beach and they were going to be a bit late to meet Olivia's friends. Her Mother started to get mad and was fighting with her Father for a little bit. Olivia could never remember what they were arguing about but she only remembers the split second afterwards of the truck smashing into them. Ambulances couldn't make it in time and Olivia's Mother was declared dead before she got to the hospital. She waited in hospital with her Aunt as her Father was in a coma for three months. When he woke up and heard the news he looked out the window at the dark emptiness of the night and knew that that's what his soul would look like for the rest of his life.
Everyday from then on the light that was once in his classroom was gone and he did not care much for what would happen to his books or Library. When the Library was shut down he moved all his books to the basement of his home. He then became the Drunkered of Princeton. He would leave at 4 a.m. and return at 11:30 p.m. She would go to school then go to work and then return to make sure they had food and a place to stay. Once he returned she would make sure he went into bed and didn't break anything. Her Aunt would regularly come and help out and try to tend to her brother who couldn't see the difference between a bottle and his hand. Her friends tried to console her but all she did was make sure she looked okay. She got together with a guy at her school and she was happy but she broke up after only three weeks. She could find any happiness in the world. The only thing that she could remember that made her happy was when she went to the Library with her Mother and listened to her Father give lectures about almost everything including his precious little daughter.
When she was 18 and heading off to University she was getting ready to go when her Father came into the room with a half empty bottle of Jack Daniel's. "Please don't go." He said. "You know I have to." she said with a hint of annoyance. "I... I want you to know that I don't blame you for what happened. It was my fault that this happened. Everyday I think about everything I could have done differently to make sure she stayed alive but...but I can't think of anything...I just go back to the car and sit there to keep time in a beer bottle and remember what she was like. The scarlet red hair of hers that you inherit, the warmth she gave me when I was cold, the songs that healed me, the love that saved me. I say I drink in her memory but now I drink to make it go away...but I can't let her go. Please…....please don't go...…my soul feels like the night and your mother was the moon that gave me light...you are the last star in the sky. If you go I'll be trapped in darkness. I was already there when I was in that coma and I don't want to go back...… I don't want to die. Please, please, please, please, PLEASE DON'T GO!" He began to cry and was left there clinging to her like she was heaven and if he let go he would fall into the darkest and deepest pits of hell. "I'll come back and when I do you won't be alone anymore." She promised with tears in her eyes.
* * *
All Olivia could do was look at her capture with wrath and disdain in her eyes. "Oh! Do you actually like him!? How is that even possible? He might honestly be one of the worst people I've ever seen! Well now I know you have to die because I can't let you be with this guy." Diamond said now with a new glow in her eyes. The small hum of her heat vision powering up was the only noise in the room for the next 5 seconds. She remembered her promise to her father at that moment. It didn't matter that he'd gone missing three years ago and it didn't matter that she was in this conspiracy and it didn't matter that she was about to because she knew that she would find her Father again. Olivia regained her strength and with the loudest and most terrifying scream that Diamond had ever heard she took her daggers and stabbed them into both of Diamonds eyes. The head of Diamond exploded from the great release of energy from the heat vision, sending Olivia's daggers flying and melting through walls like butter. The corpse lay in front of her and blood was all over the walls, the floor, the ceiling and her. "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! YEAH THATS MY GIRL!!!" cheered Ruby Queen in the back of Olivia's mind. She stayed there on her knees for a little bit before getting up and picking up Peter and walking away from the library. She didn't know what happened next but she heard a bang and was knocked out.
Peter awoke in a pristine white cell not too dissimilar to that of the labs in Ouroboros Industries. There was nothing. No furniture, no windows, no door and no toilet. Nothing. As if the entire area did not conform to what was possible. All that was there was a reflexive void that glared at him with the same regret and anger that he did himself . He tried to walk around but found that there was some kind of invisible chain holding his hands down, limiting his movement to only 5 ft radius. A hole appeared in one of the walls and three men walked in. The first of the three was Mr. Waker in his shadowy form from before. He seemed saddened to be here like something else had transpired before this meeting. The second man was a foreign face not known to Peter. He had a silver cowboy hat and a bomber jacket with a metallic fur collar. He seemed like he was somewhere else or in some other time. The final man that walked in was a more familiar face, attached to a rather large and muscular body with rings adorning his fingers. "What did I do to be graced with the presents of none other than the CEO of Ouroboros Industries himself, (Name)." Said Peter in an amusing tone. (Name) then lifted up his index finger that had the Mexican Flag and, without a second thought, the second man immediately kicked Peter in the face and provided him with a black eye. "Are you going to interrupt me before I even speak? At least be a bit more amusing with the voice I have to listen to for the next 30 minutes." (Name) said with only the words of disappointment ringing in the room. The room then started to morph around these three and their prisoner as two chairs and table appeared for Peter and (Name). "Now, let's get started shall we?" He said as Mr. Waker handed (Name) a file.
"Peter Maxwell, age 25, you live at Wagon House Apartments, 315 Red Fall street. You're an avid fan of many works of literature. You are a ...gamer. You seem to have an okay life with some close friends and tw—no…one healthy parent and the elephant in the room that is your addiction. So, how did you do it? How did you get such a thing when I made sure that you and Olivia were able to work together in your right mind and not be anything like Alex." (Name) asked in his usual interview voice. He was a master of speech whenever he was in public. Many people to this day say that there was no way he could have been such a terrible person. "You know I had high hopes for you. If you were simply more cooperative things didn't need to go this way. We could have made you into some of the greatest achievements in all of history comparable to—no, greater than Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project which led to the creation of the deadliest weapon mankind had ever created...until, no I can't say that yet it would be poor business practice." he said with a small chuckle. "What do you want?" Peter said now tired and starting to wonder what happened to Olivia and Alex. "Oh, don't be like that! Getting straight to the point is so boring! Now I'm not necessarily here for you, however you are integral to the plan. I just wanted to talk with you for a little bit because reading a little deeper into your file you are a very interesting character. Born to loving parents you had an average life up until the day your br-" "SHUT UP!!!" Peter screamed, not really in anger but just to keep out the life that wouldn't let go.
"Alright! Fine! I will not speak of that. I promise you. Now let's go pay a visit to your friends shall we?" (Name) said as he signaled to Mr. Waker to activate the room once more. This time the room shifted to have the table and chair flow back into the floor and for Peter's chains to whip him around and slam right into the wall behind him. He felt some kind of metal form around his jaw sealing it shut with no noise escaping it. He then saw Olivia materialize from the wall opposite of him chained up in the same way as himself and Alex emerged from the floor like he was getting out of a swimming pool. Alex was tied differently to how Olivia and Peter were tied. Instead of arms out and stuck to a wall, the chain connected to the floor in front of him and he was on his knees slumped over not looking at Peter or Olivia. "It's good to see you Alex, even if it's in one of my Special Containment of Armored Revenants cells," (Name) said as his voice echoed throughout the room. "Oh, please I'm the one who created the S.C.A.R cells, all you did was drink martinis and complain about the West Coast," Alex said looking up with blood on his lips, most likely from a kick from that other man in the cowboy hat.
"Oh, Alex, let's not be bitter, you brought this down upon yourself. You're the one who gambled away all your money and came to us begging." Alex begging? That was one of the few things Peter knew about Alex. He would never beg for anything. "Now let's get to the point here. I need your help and you don't have any options." "Now what makes you think I'm going to help you, huh? You already know I have nothing to live for ever since she died, so what else would make me work for you again?" "Well, you know I've never been a gamblin' man but I'm willing to bet that you finally found some kind of kinship or, let me rephrase this, family with these two here." "Oh, please, you think that these two bums could have replaced her!?" "No, but it's better than the pain killers that you think are at the end of every bottle." "Fuck you." "No, thanks. I already have enough people to give it to in Nevada. Mr. Waker, could you please start the session now?" said (Name) but Mr. Waker didn't move. He stood there for a few seconds pondering before being snapped out of it by the voice of Alex saying "Yeah, go do his dirty work again." There was some underlying bitterness in that statement but all Mr. Waker did was grit his teeth, look down and walk out the room, with his eyes glued to the floor.
With a sigh (Name) then looked at the other man and said "I will go and deal with this, you can handle the rest. Good luck, Lucas." "Don't need it, sir but thank you anyway." responded Lucas in an almost robotic voice. "All right, now let's get started. Alex, would you so kindly help us again with the Sulfur Project, please?" "No." "Pretty please?" "No." "With a cherry on top?" "Are you fuckin' stupid?" "Nah, just making sure. Anyways, time for pain!" he said with a bit of enthusiasm. Peter and Olivia then fell slightly as the chaise let them hang a bit forward. Then they both felt it at the same time something ripping and tearing at the very fiber of their Gauntlets. It felt like fish hooks had been attached to every plate, chain, and molecule and pulling so hard it would rip them into a million pieces. "AAAAAAAHHHHH. PETER, WHATS HAPPENING!!!???" screamed E.L in Peter's mind from the pain of his very existence being torn apart. At the same time, in Olivia's mind, the same thing was happening to Ruby Queen as she roared "OLIVIA, BREAK OUT OF THIS ALREADY!!! PLEASE!!!". "All right Alex, you ready to reconsider buddy!?" Lucas said as he held the remote in his hand jestering it towards Alex. Alex tried to not look but when he saw Olivia with a river of tears going down her face as muffled screams slipped through the restraints he could no longer bear it. "Fine! I'll do what you want, just let them go!" Alex pleaded for the second time in his life. "Good! See you in a bit!" he said with more enthusiasm. He disappeared into the wall and slowly the same happened to Peter and Olivia as they melted back into the walls finally rid of the horrific pain. Alex before he too melted back into the floor screamed at the two of them "Remember that I hate the Left!". After these words sound ceased to exist in that cell with the only evidence that it existed were the people who had no voice.