Unngh… Something hurts… No… Everything hurts… Shit… It feels like I got hit by a car… I'm tired… My body's so heavy…

Havilah blinked, sleepily, squinting at the sudden bright light that was flooding her eyes. The room spun, and she was suddenly flooded with pain. Intense and sharp, it crashed down upon her, tidal waves of agony cutting through her body like swords. It was in her chest, on her arms, her shoulders, her stomach, all over her. It clawed at her body, ripping through her insides, and she whimpered, wishing, praying, hoping for death to come, to free her from this prison of flesh and pain.

She stayed like that, still and weak, for what seemed like hours, until she came to terms with the pain she was feeling. With a deep breath, Havilah sat up, moving gingerly and wincing as her body screamed in protest.

"Uhhg…" she lifted a hand to move her hair out of her eyes, her limbs heavy and difficult to move. She licked her chapped lips, her tongue sticking to them briefly as she did so.

I'm dehydrated, she realized, running her index finger over the cracked, rough skin of her mouth. How long have I been asleep? And why does my neck hurt so badly?

She knew she couldn't answer the first question, so she settled for the second one; with a cautious hand, she began to probe the skin at the base of her neck, wincing at the sharp tug she felt. She moved upwards, and the pain grew more intense, making her grit her teeth to hold back the whimper that threatened to erupt from her. Her hand finally found the source of her discomfort, and she cried out in shock, pulling her hand away.

There's… There's something stuck in my neck! She gazed at her palm, eyes widening at the smear of blood that coated it. Something sharp…

She glanced about the room, confused, taking in the plain white walls and concrete floor of the space. It was a small chamber, about ten square feet, and it had no windows, only a heavy, metal door. Avi stood up and looked down at the chair she had been sitting in, touching its hard steel surface. It looked to be the type of chair that would sit in an office, sturdy and unyielding.

Where am I? She wondered, sitting back down. Moving around made her feel sick, and she didn't want to hurl in a place she didn't know.

That would be rude.

The heavy door to the room opened, and she jumped slightly, her hand flying to her throat instinctively when she accidentally jostled the injury.

A tall man stood in the doorway, his light brown hair sheared close to his head, his eyes cold. He said nothing, simply crossing towards her, holding something in his hand. Avi felt her breath catch, and she tensed up when he finally stopped by her side. He crouched down, his expression stony, and reached for her face. Havilah flinched, but he held her still, his eyes moving up and down her body.

What is he doing? She trembled inwardly, horribly violent images flashing through her mind.

The man pulled something out from behind him, and it glinted under the fluorescent lights of the room. He moved the tool closer to Havilah's neck, and she froze, waiting for something to happen. With a quick, precise movement, he jabbed it into Avi's flesh, causing her to give out a yelp of pain. He dropped something on the floor and raised the tool again. Down it went, into her wounds, making her bite her cheek to keep from letting out any more noise.

I won't give him the satisfaction, she decided, attempting to keep her pride intact.

Two more times, the man cut into her, each one worst than the last. He stopped, putting down the bloody instrument, and picking up something else, giving Havilah time to look at what he had put on the floor.

Pieces of glass… Bits of metal… Was that what was stuck in my neck?

She looked back up at the man, meeting his eyes. She found no emotion, and she shivered. He dabbed at her neck with something, and Avi knew it to be disinfectant, judging by the sharp, chemical odor. It stung, but she knew it was nothing compared to what she had experienced earlier. The man taped a patch of gauze to her neck, before standing up and exiting the room, leaving her alone, once gain.

She was conflicted, unsure as to whether she was disappointed in being alone, or relieved that the man had left, his frightening aura gone from the room. Avi sighed and looked down at her feet, bare and dirty. The big toe on her right foot was cut open, and she knew there was a piece of glass embedded somewhere within her heel.

Where are my shoes? She mused, attempting to retrace her steps. And what happened to my dress? I remember the gala, but…

She furrowed her brow, her mind empty of explanations. It was like hitting a wall. She knew something had happened, but she wasn't quite sure what. She was searching for a memory, just out of reach, and finding nothing. It was as if she knew what she wanted to say, but didn't have the words to articulate it.

Something happened… Something bad… But what? What happened to my friends? To Miss Hartwell?

She continued to search for an answer, barely noticing the person entering the room. It wasn't until she heard his footsteps that she looked up, blinking in confusion. The man's face swam before her eyes, pale and sharp. She knew him! He was-

He smirked, interrupting her thoughts.

"You seem to be a bit confused…" he told her, his voice sweet.

Havilah closed her eyes, and it all came back to her, crashing over her, pulling her down, down into a dark place, cutting at her heart and breaking her into pieces.

"No…" she could feel dampness on her face, and she knew she was crying. "Naomi…"

She shook, her body wracked with sobs as she mourned for her friend. The wound on her heart had been reopened, and she could feel herself falling apart, ripping at the seams.

I know what happened…

Avi sniffed, rubbing a hand across her eyes and taking a deep breath, pulling herself together.

I won't let him see me cry. She told herself, biting her lip. She tasted blood, salty and warm.

"Why am I here?" She asked him, avoiding his gaze.

"You're my 'trump card'," the man- Loki, she reminded herself- explained. "As long as I hold your life in my hands, my enemies will hesitate."

"Enemies?"

"A man like me has many." He laughed, the sound turning Havilah's stomach.

"I'm… A hostage?" She asked, her voice faint.

"Yes."

"What will you do with me?"

"You are my prisoner," Loki explained, leaning forward and lifting her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "You will follow my orders without question."

"And if I don't?" Havilah swatted his hand away, frowning. She felt dirty where he touched her, tainted.

"You die. It's as simple as that, Miss Sverrir." He stood up, turning his back on her and shrugging, as if it was all self-explanatory. She watched him exit the room, his steps quick. He had left the door open, she realized, as an invitation for her to follow him. She got up and followed, running down the hall after him, ignoring the pain she felt.


The halls were as blank as the room Avi had been held in, completely white, without any windows leading to the outside. Every once in a while, she would see a sign fixed to the wall, stating things such as "Kitchen" or "Bathroom- Men's" or "Supplies". She continued to trail after Loki, glancing around in confusion as she did so. They turned down a large, clean hallway, making their way towards a large door. Havilah read the label, "Main Laboratory", and furrowed her brows. The building was cold, and the lights constantly flickered, causing shadows to dance on the walls, dark and eerie.

"What's wrong with the electricity?" Avi asked him, hurrying up so as to fall in step with him. His legs were longer than hers, so she was forced to half-run, half-walk as she tried to keep up, a rather difficult action in her condition.

"There's nothing wrong with it," Loki told her, stopping at the door that led to the lab and pausing briefly, waiting for her to catch up. "We just have too much."

"Too much? I don't-"

"We have too much power, and you have too many questions," he snapped, entering the pristine, bustling room. "Do yourself a favor and keep your thoughts to yourself."

Avi nodded, chewing on her thumbnail nervously. Satisfied with her silence, Loki opened the door and ushered her inside.

The space was huge, almost twice as large as her house, with several steel ramps and catwalks leading up to suspended floors. There were still no windows, but the large floodlights on the ceiling illuminated everything. Everything was made of metal or glass, solid and well-built, with modern tools and fixtures. She looked into a connected chamber and found even more desks, with dozens of personnel scrambling to and fro, chattering as they compared notes and sheets of data. The lights in the lab were hooked up to a generator, she realized, suddenly wondering if that helped keep them from malfunctioning.

"Follow me." Loki commanded her, not even looking back to check on her. She hurried up, the deep, aching feeling of the wounds on her feet throbbing as they rushed towards an older man. "Doctor Selvig, this is Havilah Sverrir. She will be your assistant from now on."

The man's hair was a greyish blond, thinning in such away that his widow's peak became pronounced. He was about average height, but solidly-made (Avi's way of saying he was a bit thick around the middle), and with glittering, sharp eyes that seemed to understand things far beyond the teenager's understanding.

"Yes, yes," he smiled at both of them, nodding cheerfully. "Thank you, Loki. This is just what I need!"

"Good. Carry on with your work, Doctor." He left, his boots clicking against the clean laboratory floor.

Avi felt her stomach clench from nerves, and she looked towards Selvig cautiously.

He may look like a nice man, but you can't trust anybody here. Nobody. She reminded herself of this, biting the inside of her cheek as she waited for the doctor to speak.

"You look like you've been to Hell and back," Selvig broke the silence, smiling good-naturedly. "Did Loki give you much trouble?"

"Um…" Avi scratched her head, glancing around awkwardly in an attempt to avoid meeting the pair of greyish-blue eyes that seemed to look right into her heart. "I- I fought him…"

"So did I," he told her, turning back to the desk he stood at and beginning to rummage through a pile of creased and wrinkled papers. "But he opened my eyes. What we are working on is more than knowledge… It's truth."

He spoke the words as if he had said them many times before, with an eerie reverence.

"What truth?" Avi inquired, tilting her head to the side and looking at him quizzically.

"You will learn, Havilah. Now, I need you to do something for me." His eyes still on the papers he held, her gestured towards a stainless steel table in the middle of the room. It was covered in paper, just as messy as Selvig's workstation. "There should be some blueprints on that table. Fetch them for me, please."

Havilah complied, her mind bursting with questions as she began collecting the sheets of high-quality paper, covered with sketches and notes.

Maybe… She looked around nervously, making sure that nobody was watching her, before looking at the plans. Maybe I can find out what they're doing? What this 'truth' is?

"The 'Tesseract'?" She whispered, wondering why the word felt so familiar. It seemed to her that she had heard it a long time ago, as if in some sort of dream. She didn't know what it was then, nor did she now, but something about it made her mind itch, as if she was looking for a word but couldn't quite think of it. She shook her head, looking back down at the paper.

A power source. She understood, the crudely drawn diagrams and quickly scrawled labels coming together. That's what they're making.

"Havilah?" Doctor Selvig called out to her from the other side of the lab, making her look up with fright. "Are you having trouble finding them?"

"N- no! I've got them!" she began rolling up the sheets, panicking slightly. "It just took me a bit!"

The Tesseract, she repeated inwardly as she returned to the scientist's side. The Tesseract… I can't forget this.


Work didn't end soon enough, and by the time Selvig let her go, Avi would have gladly fallen asleep on the floor. She had done her best to follow the doctor's commands, but her exhausted and injured body screamed in protest whenever she moved, making it difficult to dash around the lab at the speed Selvig expected her to. She apologized multiple times, constantly telling him that she would do much better "next time". He always laughed kindly, reassuring her that he wasn't angry and that she was obviously doing the best she could.

Havilah checked in with Loki before bed, her body so weak that she needed to lean against the wall in order to stand up straight.

"What now?" She asked him, her voice slightly hoarse.

"You can use the women's bathroom to clean yourself up before you sleep," Loki told her, flipping through a book. "Your room is connected to mine, so don't even bother trying to find a way out. I'll know."

"I wouldn't dream of it…" Avi grumbled, muttering the words under her breath as she began to march off.

"How you still have the audacity to say such a thing after all this…" Loki shook his head, finally looking up, his green eyes meeting hers. "It astounds me…"

Havilah paused, searching for something snarky to say, but her mind failed her. She sighed, defeated, turning away from him to keep him from seeing her expression. Loki gave her a satisfied grin, before looking back to what he was reading.

"Good night, Miss Sverrir." He chuckled as Avi ran off, her cheeks flushed in anger.

When she entered the bathroom, Havilah was surprised to see it empty. It wasn't an exceptionally large bathroom, but it was very clean, with a supply of fresh towels and various sorts of products used in showering. Avi sighed in relief, the silence of the room soothing, especially when compared to the bustling lab. She slipped out of her dress, sadly surveying the damage. It was completely ruined, covered in muck and stained with blood, large rips in the fabric, with entire chunks of the dress missing. Avi ran her fingers over the tattered remains of the gown, her naked body prickling with goosebumps as the cold air hit her bare skin. She shivered from the chill, and quickly shoved the dress out of her sight.

Who knew that such a magical night would end with so much ruin? She thought to herself, a bitter taste rising up in her throat. She turned away from the dress and looked in the mirror.

She muffled her scream of shock by stuffing her hand in her mouth as she stared at herself.

"Oh… Oh, my God." She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, and she attempted to swallow her fear and pain. Her entire body was a collage of blue and purple bruises, the dark colors blooming across her skin like dark, brooding flowers. Scratches covered her back and arms, her left shoulder completely crusted with dried blood. One of her eyes was swelling up slightly, and she knew it would be completely blue by morning.

Avi looked away, avoiding her own reflection as she entered the shower stall and pulled the heavy, plastic curtain over the doorway. With a shaking hand, she turned on the hot water and closed her eyes. Naomi's body, limp and broken, flashed before her eyes, and Havilah began to weep, the events of the past day crashing over her and burying her in sorrow.

"No," she whimpered, sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor, her body shaking sobs. "Stop it…"

A tiny whirlpool of blood and dirt formed near the drain as the scalding hot water washed away the grime that coated her skin.

But nothing could wash away the pain and grief she felt.