'It don't matter what you see,
I know I could never be,
Someone that'll look like you.
It don't matter what you say,
I know I could never face,
Someone that could sound like you.'
-All The Right Moves, One Republic
Beth woke with a start, the sounds of Orc's loud curses filling her ears and fueling her headache. She groaned and got to her feet, popping the bones in her back. She peered out of the window, glancing up and down the dark street. Flashes came from the Plaza, the noises, the screams, almost impossible to block out. It was time, she decided.
'Where're you going?' Orc grunted and Beth jumped, her eyes wide.
'Away from here.' She finally answered slowly, carefully skirting round him.
'You know he'll find you.'
Beth wasn't sure where this conversation was heading. The boy had never spoken to her much before and she wasn't particularly interested in starting right now. She dodged past him and slipped out the door. She decided she was going to go back where she had come from. Back to the place in the forest, far away from this madness. It was safe there, everything was familiar, even her cell. She wasn't sure which way to go but following her natural instincts, she set off.
Howard didn't notice her at first as she walked down the street, kicking her feet against the rough tarmac. She saw him out of the corner of her eye but ignored him anyway; she didn't want to talk to him. He was mean, cruel and cowardly, always hiding behind Orc. She cast him a withering look as he passed and he raised an eyebrow at her. He hadn't gone two steps towards Orc's house before he stopped and spun on his heel, sauntering back towards her. She glanced over her shoulder and her ears flattened. She resisted the urge to snarl like an animal.
'If I were you, I'd go back where you came from,' he jerked his head back down the street. 'Drake won't be too happy to see you.'
Beth shrugged in answer, curling her tail round her waist. 'You haven't seen Drake yet, have you?' He commented mildly, but there was an edge to his voice, something unspoken. Beth didn't answer. She just carried on walking. 'His arm was half burned of, y'know,' Howard carried on, 'and now it's changed. It's-,' he leered down at her, 'well I guess you'll see for yourself.' With that being said he turned back around and walked away.
She watched in silence as he slowly made his way to Orc's house. She stood there for a few minutes, unsure of what to do, of where to go. Howard's words flashed back in her mind and with a shaky sigh she carried on down the street, her nose on high alert for him, for his smell. The noises from the battle being carried out at the Plaza were getting louder with every step she took. Suddenly she stopped dead in the street and looked up, her eyes wide and her heartbeat speeding up considerably. She stared at him. At the thing writhing and curling at Drake's side. It looked like he was holding a whip but it was somehow attached to his arm, the one that had been burnt off. His blue eyes flashed down to her and he smirked as he saw her looking at it.
'Been a while, eh?' The whip hand flicked, cracking through the air, and Beth took a step back. She looked like a deer caught in headlights. 'I hope you weren't thinking of running off,' he smiled, noticing her gaze on the whip hand. 'Do you like it? It's very effective.' He winked and she flinched. He stepped closer to her, his face lit up by a flickering street lamp.
Despite all she had said to herself, all the reasoning that had flitted through her mind during her stay at Orc's house, all she wanted to do now was just run. So she literally turned tail and sprinted in the opposite direction. Behind her the whip hand cracked and she felt a rush of air on her back as it just missed her. Drake cursed and broke into a run, enjoying the feeling of the chase, the exhilaration it brought. He was easily faster than Beth. She was weak and he was strong. She was skin and bones and he had muscles, albeit he wasn't the muscle man, but he had enough to launch himself on her and tackle her to the ground. She shrieked and scampered away, crawling on hands and needs, but the whip coiled around her ankle, yanking her back against his chest. His arm wrapped around her neck and she grabbed it with both hands, pulling desperately as she tried to suck air into her lungs. He wouldn't kill her. Not now, not after all this. But he showed no signs of letting up and just as her flailing kicks were dying away, he let her loose and she slumped to the ground, sucking in great lungfuls of air.
'I missed you, y'know,' he commented mildly, watching her as she gasped on the ground. 'Missed the way you used to follow me around like a little guard dog. Just in case things got out of hand and then, bam!' She jumped as he raised his voice. 'You'd be there, doing all that snarling and biting.' He tilted his head to one side. 'But you're not fully trained, are ya'?' He smirked. 'We can soon change that.'
Beth raised her head and spat in his face. His eyes flashed, the smirk dropping. The whip cracked across her cheek, leaving a trail of blood that dripped from her chin and splattered the concrete. She winced and her head hung between her shaking arms as she struggled to stay upright. This was not what she had anticipated. Sure she had expected him to still be him. But not like this, this Drake was colder, crueler and a lot more uncaring than before. He grabbed her arm with his good hand and pulled her up. She cringed as his whip hand came a little too close for comfort but he just motioned with it and she started walking, wondering where he was taking her this time.
'You much of a fighter.' He broke the silence.
She looked up, startled, but he wasn't looking at her. 'I – I don't know.' She said, her voice hoarse.
He didn't respond, just kept going until Beth finally realized where they were going. He kicked open the door to his small house and closed it with a hard slam, barely waiting for her to slip inside. She darted around him and into the living room before turning back and watching him expectantly. He opened his mouth to say something but suddenly there was a muffled pop and Taylor appeared in the middle of the room. Beth had never spoken to her, only watched, as she seemed to magically disappear before reappearing somewhere completely different. Right now she and Drake were staring at each other. He was quick to react, cracking his whip but she was gone in a flash and they were left alone again.
'Sit.' He muttered and she obediently dropped to the floor.
He stood over her, as if debating something, his hard eyes cold and calculating. He gave nothing away as he watched her and she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, itching to get away. Finally he turned away and began to pace. Back and forth, always at the same speed. Beth measured the distance between her and the door, wondering if she would make it in time before his whip would strike her down. The idea slowly slipped from her mind, though, and so she just sat there, staring into space as the minutes ticked by.
She sat in a corner, knees pulled up to her chest, skinny arms wrapped around them. The collar was cold against her neck but it didn't seem so alien. She watched nervously as Drake paced back and forth before her, his whip hand coiling and un-coiling like a viper waiting to strike. A howl broke through the silence and both of them looked up; Drake wild-eyed with adrenaline and Beth, fearful of what the howl brought with it. Suddenly, and with inhuman like speed, Drake turned towards her. Beth cowered away from him but she knew deep down that there was no escaping the boy now. He stomped over to her and crouched down, his eyes glittering with malice. Beth tried to look away but he grabbed her chin with his left hand, forcing her to stare into his eyes.
'Do you know what you are, Beth?' It was the first time he'd said her name and it sent shivers down her spine. 'You're a freak,' he continued. 'Not like them, like me. And we freaks, we gotta' stick together, you know?' His face darkened. 'If Sam wins this war, Beth,' more shivers, 'you know what's gonna' happen to you? They'll treat you like dirt, they already hate you just 'cos you're with me. You'e nothing to them, just another threat to Sam's perfect little world.' The words came out bitterly now, the grip on Beth's chin tightening. 'You see why we're fighting now? You and me, we're fighting for our freedom. Don't matter what Caine and them do, this is about the food chain.'
He almost looked sincere as he spoke and Beth was hanging onto his every word. 'Sam did this to my arm. You want that to happen to you? Of course you don't. So you get out there and do what's right.' He nodded and Beth found herself nodding along with him. It was cruel, cold-hearted manipulation and it had worked like a dream. Drake grinned as Beth got to her feet, her eyes trained on his, waiting obediently for his next order. She was his now. His own creation, his own little killing machine.
'Stockholme syndrome,' Astrid murmured as she watched Beth walk alongside Drake, glacing up at him almost adoringly. She shook her head and picked up the walky talky, preparing to tell him the bad news.
