Back to the Dream Page
Chapter 10
Juliet leaned against the door she had just closed, shutting herself away from the world. The headache that she'd gotten after they'd left Simon's home had grown steadily worse and now pain from her injuries from earlier that day made themselves known. Wearily, she made her way to the kitchen for some aspirin. After she'd gotten some water, she reached up into a cupboard to get the painkillers when a short stream of Fire raced across her face and marked the wall next to her head. Startled, she spun around and gasped. "Cynthia!"
"Surprise!" Cynthia grinned.
Juliet felt the world close in around her as she scrambled out of the small kitchen. As soon as she was out though, she ran smack into another body. Looking up, she found herself face to face with the man from the bus. "Well, hello miss. Fancy running into you again, or at least, having you run into me."
He laughed and Juliet wrenched herself away, running to her bedroom. There, on her bed, was yet another man. "My, my, my, how you've grown. Remember me? I held you in my arms a long time ago. I see you've met my partner in crime recently. You already know him as Jess. I don't think I ever introduced myself though. My name is Alec."
Juliet shook her head, stifling a cry of defeat as the guy called Jess pushed her into the bedroom. She watched in terror as the two men stood above her and Cynthia watched from the door, laughter in her eyes. "What do you want with me?" Juliet asked. She couldn't help the tremor that had entered her voice then.
"I have a proposition to make."
Juliet glanced up at the two men towering above her before looking back to Cynthia. "Get to the point."
Cynthia gave a careless shrug and took her time in answering. "How about you end it right here, right now, then? The Nica know you have Powers that could greatly help us in times of battle and otherwise. You can help us…" She looked down at Juliet, eyes narrowing in warning. "Or, you can die fighting."
Juliet's mind raced. She needed time, but she was too exhausted. Still, she needed to stall… "What do you mean help? I thought none of you cared for anyone else. Isn't it a man eat man world for you?"
"Of course," Cynthia snorted. "What do you think? We do however, see our limitations and under pressure, we're forced to work together."
"Oh, how touching. Just like a family," Juliet sneered in reply.
"Look, I don't have all day. Would you just tell me your answer already?"
"Aww, you're asking me? How nice." She'd gone too far, she knew but she didn't care. Cynthia's eyes blazed and Juliet saw how her hands glowed, ready to strike with another of her outbursts. "You should know my answer by now. I would never turn my back on the people who told me who I was. I would never turn my back on the ones who helped me instead of attacking me."
The corners of Cynthia's mouth twisted up into a wicked smile. "Such a shame that so much talent and Energy will be wasted." She finally let out the Fire she'd held back on for the past couple of minutes. She laughed as Juliet instinctively ducked, awaiting the pain she was sure to come. When it didn't though, Juliet blinked open her eyes, confused. There, the blaze hovered just inches from her face. "You're not the only one who's full of surprises," Cynthia purred, and with a sudden flick of the hand, the Fire stretched itself out into a chain pattern and started racing towards Juliet once more.
Again, she raised her hands to protect her face and was shocked when she felt iron encircle her wrists. She looked up, confused and saw that a long chain now led from each hand. Before she could register anything, the two men had bent down and taken a chain each. Easily, they carried her to the bed and tied her arms to the bed.
"Well this sure looks familiar," Jess chuckled from where he knelt beside her on the bed.
"Sure does," Alec replied.
A weak 'no' escaped her lips as she struggled to get herself free but it was to no avail. Her Energy had long been spent and she could do nothing but groan in pain and frustration as the men busied themselves with her. As she felt the darkness fall about her though, she strained her head for one last glimpse of Cynthia, certain that she'd find a look of triumph on that face of hers, but it was too late. She was gone, and Juliet finally succumbed to the darkness that ate at her soul.
What's wrong with me? Why can't I move? Why do I feel such pain? Juliet struggled to open her eyes but gave up quickly, finding them incredibly heavy. I've never felt so exhausted in my life! Why?… And then images of what had happened to her recently flooded her mind and she groaned quietly. Quickly, she did a mental check of herself. She noticed quickly that her hands were still bound to the corner posts of the bed. And then she realized how cold she was. With a sinking feeling, she realized that the guys had torn off all her clothing.
Gingerly, she tried to move the rest of her body to see if she'd been hurt anymore. Bruises made themselves known and her muscles screamed agony. What the hell did they do to me? She didn't want to know. From the twisted position she found one leg in, she figured that they'd had fun and amused themselves greatly while she was out. Squeezing her eyes tight against the pain, Juliet stretched her leg out and then stifled a scream when she felt it brush against something warm. A low chuckle told her it was one of the guys and fearfully, she opened her eyes. Grinning down at her was Alec. "About time you woke up, sleeping beauty. Ready for another round of touch and tease?" Without waiting for an answer, he took one hand and softly traced the outline of her lips. Lightly, his fingers continued to trace a path further down her body when the bedroom door banged open.
"Well, look who's up." Cynthia grinned happily.
Alec whined. "Aww, come on Cynthia. I was just starting to have fun."
"You'll have more time later, dear. Time for you to get some rest since you've been up all night watching her," she winked. "Now get out of here. I need to be alone with Juliet." Alec quickly moved out of bed and walked out the door. Before he could shut it all the way though, Cynthia called once more. "And under no circumstances shall we be disturbed, you hear? Until the door opens again, this room is off limits!"
"We hear you," the guys called back to her and the door slammed shut.
In the commotion, Juliet had forced herself to sit up in the bed, letting the wall behind her support her in her weak state.
For a moment, the two women stared at each other, as if uncertain of what would happen next. Then Cynthia smiled and made her way to the bed, sitting herself at the edge of the bed. She laughed when Juliet drew her legs back closer to her body. "You know, for someone who's so brave in battle, you act more like a child."
A soft blaze lit in Juliet's eyes but she bit back her tongue. If she wants a fight, she can look somewhere else. I'm not going to play her game.
However, Cynthia made it quite difficult for her to stay so neutral. Cynthia crept closer to Juliet until she knelt right in front of her. Even that wasn't close enough for the Nica woman though, and she leaned forward till their faces were barely an inch apart. "You know your boyfriend did a very bad thing keeping us here. Bad for you that is. He couldn't possibly think that we'd be here waiting for you. It's only slightly unfortunate that we're going to be stuck here with you for so long, but we'll get rid of him just as soon as he lets us out, don't worry."
"First off, Lance is not my boyfriend. Second off, I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. He could destroy all of you if he wanted," Juliet retorted, gritting her teeth.
Cynthia leaned back and gave a loud hoot. "Oh, Jules! You're such a riot! It's going to be such a shame to kill you."
Juliet winced when Cynthia used the pet name Lance had given her. "Why would you want to kill me? I thought you wanted to use my skills to further yourself in this world."
Cynthia only shrugged. "You already gave your word you wouldn't help any of us. Would you have me think that you're backing down on your word now?"
"Of course not."
"Well then enough talking and let's get started."
"Started with wha-"
Juliet locked gazes with Cynthia once again and almost instantly, she felt the change. It was as if something… or someone… was inside her. But how?
"Simple," Juliet found her own mouth saying. Before Juliet could muster up any response though, she watched in amazement as her legs moved without her will. She crossed her legs without consideration of the pain she'd caused.
You're not really in me, are you? But she already knew the answer to that one.
She felt her mouth turn up into a smile. "Of course I'm in you, silly. And that was quite simple too. You barely put up any fight."
How do you expect to fight what you don't expect!?
"Learn to keep your guard up at all times, even in your sleep," Cynthia chuckled.
What do you want me for? What can you get from inside of me?
"Plenty. Now relax. None of this should hurt."
Before Juliet could form any kind of response, she found herself backtracking in her memory, much like Simon had done sometime earlier. How long ago was that? It seems like ages… And here she was, in the hands of someone far superior to her. She hated the feeling.
"Interesting…"
Juliet was going crazy. There must be someway to fight her…
"You fight and you'll be sorry," she heard her voice speaking.
Juliet's anger peaked again. Instead of bursting out though, she stilled her mind. She let Cynthia continue with her fun while Juliet channeled her thoughts, cloaking them from this intruder. Just because Cynthia was in her body didn't mean that she'd come to know everything about her. She found it quite easy in fact and soon, she started feeling Cynthia's own angry side start to boil. "Don't make me hurt you, Juliet. Just let me get what I want and we'll both go our separate ways."
There's no way that'll happen. One of us would have to kill the other first.
"And believe me, it won't be me who's going to die."
And you think I will? You sure are quite confident with yourself, Cynthia. Tell me what makes you think you're going to win.
"You must be joking. After all, you've already seen some of my powers. Looking into your thoughts, it doesn't even look like you know what you're doing when you're fighting."
But isn't that the most dangerous kind of foe? One who is able to react to anything that comes their way? And not only react, but also make it so that they are successful. I'm afraid it doesn't look like you're capable of that.
"Be careful of what you say, Juliet. You're begging for a beating."
So go ahead and beat away. What's stopping you? You've already seen for yourself what a nobody I am. Why are you sticking around and wasting your Energy on me?
"Oh believe me, I already know this is a total waste of time. You're not worth all this attention, but orders are orders."
And you'll do anything you can to win the favor of this master of yours, how cute. And you said you didn't care about what anyone else told you.
"I don't," Cynthia snarled. "But I have to start somewhere. Soon enough, I'll beat them at their own game. It all just takes time. And besides, with you under my control, things should be so easy from there."
And what makes you think you're going to have me under your control?
"I am in your body, aren't I?"
And what's going on in yours?
Juliet felt her face turn sour, a frown crossing her face. Quickly, her head was lifted up to look into Cynthia's eyes. An empty gaze greeted her and both Juliet and Cynthia gave a slight shiver.
Still shielding her thoughts, Juliet began to put things together in her mind. If she can't be responsible for what happens to her own body, there must be a way to defeat her. It can't be too hard to finish her off while she's in me, can it? Juliet knew better than to be as overconfident like Cynthia. But a spark of hope had ignited and it wasn't about to be put out anytime soon.