The Brave One

Chapter 10

Fighter

Sam had never been so terrified in her life. A few seconds of Crane's toxin and she was already on her knees crying in terror. She saw things, horrible things that made her want to vomit.

One of the first things that she saw was her mother covered in blood and screaming in agony. It was only a hallucination, but it felt so real to Sam. Her mother kept crying out for her and Sam completely broke down crying on the floor. Sam knew somewhere in the back of her mind that it wasn't real, but it still made her really distressed. Seeing her mother dying was one of Sam's worst nightmares.

Crane had just sat back and enjoyed watching Sam trembling on her knees. At one point he had asked her what she was seeing, but Sam couldn't answer. The hallucination was too strong for her to turn her attention away from it.

The toxin consumed her like a virus. She could barely breathe, let alone think clearly as her heart pounded wildly in her chest. The pain and terror continued till morning and Sam was exhausted. Crane walked up to her and spoke to her after the toxin had made its way out of her system.

"Let this be a warning to you, Samantha. If you keep talking back to me, then I will make you suffer much worse than you had tonight. Understand?" Crane stated as he crouched down to her level. Sam's hair covered her face as she continued to look down. Anger began boiling inside of Sam, but she decided it was best to hold her tongue. Instead, she continued to look at the floor and slowly nodded her head in response. However, Crane was not pleased with her response.

He grabbed her chin and forced Sam to look up at him. Crane stared into her eyes, interested in searching for emotions, especially for fear.

Instead, he noticed Sam's anger and defiance etched onto her feminine features. Her eyes narrowed at him as she clenched her teeth, which was something that Miss Steller would typically do. She also sat up straight as he saw her tighten her hands into tiny balls and her knuckles began to turn white. Crane was a little taken back by her body language. Many of his patients would normally cower in fear and try to turn away from him, but Samantha had locked eyes with him and didn't even flinch at him. Crane was awestruck; the girl had still managed to stand up to him and his tactics. It was impressive, but Crane already knew how to deal with people like her. It would take time, but he would eventually break her. He held her chin firmly as he spoke to her.

"I would prefer that you look at me when you are responding to a question. Do you understand all that I have said? If you cooperate, I won't make you suffer that severely." Crane repeated, once again searching the girl's features.

"Yes." Samantha hissed at him as her anger was becoming more obvious. She wasn't ready to put her tail between her legs just yet. Crane was slowly getting annoyed with her constant defiance.

"Good. Now that the toxin has worn off, I would like to ask you some questions. I want you to answer them to the best of your ability." Crane explained as he pulled out a notepad and a pen. Sam was appalled. She couldn't believe that he was seriously going to ask her questions after the horrible experience with the toxin he injected into her. However, she really wasn't prepared to take another shot of fear toxin to the neck.

"Ok." Sam replied quietly as she resisted the urge to furiously lash out at him. Sam had to admit that she was afraid she would get punished if she was disobedient again. She knew that she wouldn't be able to take another dose of toxin after already going through it once. So it was best if she just did what he asked her to do, at least for the time being. Besides, it was only a few questions.

"Then we shall begin. Let's first talk about your experience with my toxin. The toxin creates hallucinations to whoever ingests it. What were you seeing under its effects?" Crane asked in anticipation for her answer. He really was interested to find out her inner demons and more importantly if they had anything to do with him. He usually asked most of his patients this after their first dose with his fear toxin, if they had even survived it at all.

"I'd rather not say." Sam answered cautiously. She became even more appalled that he had asked her that question. What person asks that kind of question anyway, a therapist? Sam couldn't tell whether the man was interrogating her or trying to give her therapy. Either way, she did not want him to know her fears.

"Samantha, there is no need to keep things from me. Please describe to me what you have seen or else I will have to give you an extra dose to help you with your memory of it." Crane said with amusement in his tone. He almost wanted the girl to misbehave, so that he could hear her lovely screams again.

"Fine, I will tell you." Sam sighed knowing she was beaten, but the war was far from over yet. "I saw my mother." She said simply, trying not to go into any more detail than what she had to.

"Go on." Crane pushed for her to continue. Sam was starting to get emotional.

"My…My mother was shouting and covered head to toe in blood. She was trying to get my attention and I was paralyzed. She kept screaming in pain." Sam described as she suddenly felt her eyes starting to water.

"So that explains why you were sobbing under my toxin's influence. Losing someone you love is a common fear among most people. I assume you are fairly close to your mother?" Crane probed further. He was interested to know Miss Stellers and her daughter's relationship with one another.

"Yes, I was always close with my mother." Sam replied, trying not to cry from the memory of her mother and how she may never get to see her again.

"What about your father? Were you also close to him?" Crane asked. He had never heard of Miss Steller's husband before, if she even had a husband.

"I never met him before. He left my family before I was born." Sam spoke, once again turning her head down to look at the floor. Crane stirred a bit in his seat, he had something in common with the girl. His father had also left before he was born.

"That is rather unfortunate." Crane commented blankly with memories of his childhood coming to mind, while putting down notes about his patient.

Sam was silent. She hadn't expected him to make a comment like that, but she doubted it was sincere. He was probably trying to get her guard down, trying to make her feel comfortable enough to spill her guts out. Well, she wasn't going to fall for it. Her mother had taught her better than that. After a few seconds, she looked up and faced Crane.

"Are we done yet?" Sam said with irritation, just wishing the man would give up and leave her be.

"Yes. That is all for now." Crane stated as he put the notepad back into his pocket and stood up to leave. He turned back to address Samantha one last time.

"Don't try to escape. You'll be punished severely." Crane warned, and with that he turned and left Sam alone to the darkness once more.

She sobbed for hours.

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