Day 13
Her head was on fire, she was sure of it; there could be no other explanation for the searing pain that was pumping through her head. She noticed it more and more with every beat of her heart but there seemed to be no way of getting rid of it. She took a deep breath, hoping that the cool air would offer her some relief but it did little. She kept her eyes shut, not wanting James to know that she was awake but she needed to know where she was, what had happened to her.
The ground was hard beneath her and cold as stone, it was stone, and she reached out her fingers a little and felt where the stone gave way to wooden panels. She resisted the urge to react as the rough wood gave her a splinter and she withdrew her fingers as quickly as she dared to. The air was cold around her and she thought that she must be outside somewhere, or at least not inside of a proper building. Perhaps she was on a porch or something? She didn't know, she couldn't work it out.
Deciding that touch would get her nowhere she decided to focus on what she could hear. There were no distinguishable human noises, just the sound of the wind blowing through the trees around her, they creaked slightly but the wind wasn't strong, she couldn't feel it so she knew she must be sheltered. Braving whatever would be facing her, Tanya eased open her eyes.
The first thing she saw was the moon. It was late at night, again, judging by the position of the moon it had to be past midnight. She could see the trees outside of the window waving slightly in the wind, as if to foretell a storm. She deduced that she was in some kind of hut that was half wooden and half left to stone. She turned her head and groaned, instantly regretting it as pain seared through her skull. She could see water and she realised she was in a docking hut where boats were rented to take out onto one of the lakes in central park. She sat up slowly, beginning to scan her surroundings and trying her best to ignore the pain in her head. It became easier as she sat up and realised that she had pain in other places. Most worryingly, on the insides of her thighs and in her lower abdomen. It didn't take her long to work out what had happened, what James had been driven to.
She didn't know what to feel, she felt numb. Anger and pain and sickness coursed through her and she wanted nothing more than to dive into the lake and scream and scream until the water filled her lungs. But that wasn't who she was and that wasn't the way to handle this situation. She was, however, paralysed with shock and fear of where James was now and what else he planned to do to her.
Slowly, she stood and tried her best to keep her balance at the room spun slowly. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths until it steadied, but it didn't stop the sick feeling that was nestling in the pit of her stomach. She had a concussion; she didn't need to be smart to work that out. But there was little she could do about it at that moment so instead she decided to try and work out how to get out of her difficult situation.
Once she felt steady enough, she turned slowly around to look around the room; there were boats and gear that was of no use to her. She hated the water, she always had done, swimming was her idea of horrible and the ocean was a real fear. She didn't intend to be getting out of the hut via the lake; she intended to find another way. She walked through towards the door that led to the office; through there would be a door to get out into the park. Once she was in the park she knew that she would be able to get her bearings and get to the police, maybe even to Peter so they could get James and detain him before he did any more damage. Despite what he'd done to her, Tanya still saw her best friend in James, he'd just lost his way a little and needed some help in finding his way back, she would help him even if it sickened her every step of the way.
She reached the office door and went to open it but it was locked. She rattled it for a few moments to no avail but refused to let panic set in, instead she looked around calmly to find something to smash the glass with. She found a long rod with a hook on the end, something used to pull in the boats when the customers were unable to row them in properly themselves. Tanya grabbed it and stood back, raising the rod above her shoulder. She paused and took a deep breath, readying herself to strike, when a voice from behind her made her jump.
'Why wouldn't you just ask for the key instead of vandalising property?' James asked her in a sickly tone. She turned suddenly, ready to defend herself; but his powers wrenched the rod from her and it flew in a high arch and landed with a splash in the lake behind James. He had changed again, he had returned to his evil alter ego, the image of himself that sickened Tanya even more than she already was.
'James, what's happened? What have you done?' She asked slowly, trying to remain as calm as she possibly could be and quell the panic bubbling inside of her stomach and throat.
'I think you know what happened Tan; I honestly don't know what possessed me to do it. All I knew was that it was my right.' He replied coolly and Tanya knew that her best friend was still in there and he was sorry for what he had done.
'James, how can you think it's your right to hurt me like this? Let me go and get some help and we'll see to it that you get better, just like we're doing for Harry.' Tanya said to him taking a step towards him even though every single instinct she had was screaming at her to get as far away from him as possible.
'You really don't understand? Even after everything that's happened in the past two weeks? You just don't get it; I don't want to be cured! I want to stay like this, powerful.' James told her and there was a coldness in his voice and eyes that scared Tanya and she did wonder truly whether he could actually be saved.
'James, this isn't you. This isn't the friend I've known since we were small. Please let me help you.' She pleaded and he looked momentarily confused.
'You want to help me, even after what I've done to you?' He asked her and she tried her hardest not to let her heart break at the surprise in his voice.
'Yes, James. I want my friend back, not this monster.' She told him honestly and he smiled and walked over to her. She forced herself to remain frozen despite her fear, he took her arms in his hands and squeezed hard; she wanted to wrench herself away but even if she tried she doubted she would be able to.
'And then...?' He began but didn't continue; Tanya furrowed her brow.
'And then what?' She asked quietly, worried about his intentions still.
'And then we can be together properly. Just like I want, just like what is right. Tanya do you believe in destiny? Because I do, and I believe that when we met as children and remained friends for so long, we continued to have major influences on one another's lives and so, we were destined to be together.' James explained to her excitedly and she felt tears pricking at her eyes and a lump rising in her throat as his elongated fingernails dug into her arm so they drew blood. She knew that James had no intention of changing and truthfully, even if they did manage to cure him, he would continue to think in this way and believe it.
'James, I'm sorry. I don't feel about you in that way.' Tanya told him softly, trying to ease the blow the best she could, but she knew it would insight anger and sure enough it did.
'It doesn't matter how you feel Tanya. It's about what the universe wants and this is it.' James said sternly.
'Then I'll fight it.' She replied firmly, growing tired of catering to him even though the fear was running through her, increasing her adrenaline with every heartbeat. Tears escaped her eyes now and James could truly see that she was afraid of him, but this only made him angry.
'Why don't you care? Why don't you choose me?' He yelled suddenly and let go of her arms, but the relief was only temporary as he transferred his grip to her neck. He hoisted her up by her neck and her feet dangled in the air. She tried to kick at his legs but her feet always seemed to miss and they sailed uselessly past, missing the mark every single time.
'James. Stop.' Tanya croaked, clawing at his hands but it was to no avail.
'You know, maybe vandalism is the answer sometimes.' James crooned before suddenly launching Tanya through the window of the office door. Tanya screamed as she smashed through the glass and landed in a heap on the floor on the other side. For a moment she was paralysed in pain at the impact and the various shards of glass which had become embedded in her skin.
'Get up.' She whispered to herself, breathing heavily as James approached the door in a saunter. After a few more moments she managed to pull herself up by the desk to limp around to the other side. She surveyed her injuries and noticed that none of the cuts were too deep, they just hurt a lot. Her entire body ached from the impact with the glass and her head was pounding harder than ever.
'James, it doesn't have to be like this.' She cried as he pushed his way through the door, his boots crunching on the broken glass. She backed away until her back connected with a bookcase and her eyes scanned the room. The door was to her left, but closer to James than to her and she knew that he knew she would make a break for it. The chances were that door was locked too anyway.
'How else can it be Tanya? You want the monster, this is how monsters behave. I thought you knew that better than anyone, considering your new boyfriend.' He sneered and they stood in silence for a moment, either side of the desk, staring one another down and daring the other to make the first move. Tanya decided that if she didn't try and then she would never know, so she ran.
She made for the door but sure enough, just as her hand closed around the handle she felt James' hands winding around her and yanking her back. She screamed again as she was launched over the desk and back into the bookcase. She lay on the floor, sobbing as her body continued to complain in pain. She eventually forced herself up as James sniggered.
'It's actually quite fun being like this. I feel like a God who gets to play around with human life. There's actually something else I want to try.' He told her as she stood and balanced herself against the wall, struggling to remain upright but trying hard all the same. She focused on the sound of his voice and glared at him through her red haze of pain.
'James, please, just let me go.' Tanya pleaded, unable to truly focus on whatever he was saying, she didn't care about his deluded ramblings, and she just wanted to get away from him.
'I intend to.' James said quietly and flicked his wrist. The door leading out of the office suddenly flew off its hinges and towards Tanya. Adrenaline spiked inside of her and she dived aside just in time so that it sailed above her head and crashed into the wall behind her. She cried out as the splinters rained down on her and she shuddered to think of the pain it would have caused her if the door had hit her. Once she was more in control of herself she dragged herself up again and James smiled at her.
She glared at him as he gestured towards the now open door. Thunder rumbled in the distance and Tanya heard the first pattering of rain outside.
'Go.' He instructed her and she was frozen in confusion.
'What do you mean?' She asked and he smiled in a way that made her worry, it was the largest cause for fear she'd had yet.
'Run. I'll give you a head start.' He grinned and she realised that he wanted to play some kind of sick, twisted game. She caught her breath in her throat and forced herself to calm down a little. He laughed at her and gestured to the door again, his voice colder this time.
'I would start running if I were you.' He threatened and she suddenly realised that if she didn't then she would be punished. She slowly edged around the desk and towards the door, scared that it might be a trick and he would drag her back at the last minute.
'Thirty seconds.' He whispered and covered his eyes with a sick grin. Tanya didn't need to be told twice; she turned and sprinted out into the night to the sound of the thunder growing closer and a distant flash of lightning. The rain seemed heavier when she was running through it; it drenched her in seconds as she sprinted down the path and reached a fork. She didn't think she just picked a path at random and continued to sprint; she didn't care where she was going as long as she was as far away from James as she possibly could be. She didn't know whether it would be better to scream for help or not, she decided against it for fear of him finding her faster.
She came to a dense pack of trees and bushes and dived in without thinking, she burrowed down into the dirt underneath a bush. The twigs and branches and thorns all snapped at her scratched her skin but she knew she couldn't be in more pain than she already was and she was right. Once she was burrowed as far down as possible, she placed her hand over her mouth and peeked out between the leaves.
After the fast pace and loud noises of her breathing and panic, it was suddenly quiet as she lay in the dirt. There was only the sound of the rain hammering down around her, something which she could use to her advantage, and the sound of the thunder growing ever close; and then the sound of footsteps.
Tanya held her breath as she saw James round the corner and walk onto the path where she was hiding.
'Tanya!' He called in a bright tone and thunder clapped again, ever closer. 'Come out, come out wherever you are.' He sang and she closed her eyes for a moment as tears leaked from them.
'This is fun isn't it?' He called again and the way in which he paced up and down past her, slowly, she knew that he knew she was somewhere nearby. He didn't appear to know exactly where she was though so she wondered how long she could wait him out and whether he would eventually give up and go away.
'All this suspense, do I know where you are or don't I?' He continued and she stifled a whimper, grateful that it coincided with a clap of thunder to disguise her noise.
'I bet you're absolutely bricking it at the moment. Isn't it funny how things can change in such a short space of time? Two weeks ago we were joking around and laughing, excited at the prospect of my new life here in the grand old US of A. But now, you're hiding from me somewhere in the mud; in the dark and the rain. I suppose you could stay out here all night if I didn't find you, but then you'd probably get all your injuries infected and possibly die. Or catch a cold so bad you'd die. Or even bleed out, I didn't see how deep some of those cuts were but you seemed to be pretty cut up about it. Get it? Cut up? I'm hilarious.' James continued to talk as he paced up and down in front of her and she watched his feet with wide eyes full of fear.
'Now Tanya, I'm going to give you to the count of three. If you come out then I'll give you another thirty second head start, if you don't, well you're going to die either way. You have no idea how little I care for your life anymore. I tried to save you but you just wouldn't let me.' He said and she bit her lip hard.
'One.' He called in his sing-song tone and Tanya raced her mind. She didn't know what the best course of action would be to take.
'Two!' He continued and Tanya removed her hands from her mouth. If she got up she could find somewhere else to hide but she doubted James was to be trusted. Besides he was right, even if she did find somewhere else to hide it was very unlikely she would last until morning.
She heard him take in his breath to yell the final number and she knew she had to make her decision fast but her mind was racing between the two options. If she remained hidden would he believe she wasn't there and go somewhere else? Was there another option that she couldn't think of? Did she believe or trust him? Of course she didn't but she was quickly running out of ideas. She didn't want to die whilst hiding under a bush.
All of this was rushing through her head and fighting for her approval when she heard James begin his final number. But he was drowned out by the sudden whoosh of a jet engine and Tanya looked out to see him splayed out on the ground, Harry a few metres away in his goblin suit. Harry stepped off the glider and strode over to James, crouching beside him and striking him hard across the face so he groaned and stayed down. James laughed suddenly and looked up into the sky.
'What? Was Spiderman busy?' He asked Harry mockingly and Tanya worried for James' safety if he continued to vex Harry. She willed herself to move, she knew that if Harry didn't know she was there then he would kill James, but she couldn't bring herself to move yet.
'Where is she?' Harry asked in a low voice, he was angry, the angriest Tanya had ever seen him. But he wasn't the goblin, which surprised her. He was still Harry; someone who cared about her and was trying to protect her, he was proving that he didn't need the goblin to still be someone with great power.
'Seriously? No Spidey? I'm disappointed.' James muttered and Harry struck him again across the face and Tanya was brought to her senses. She began to disentangle herself from the branches and claw her way out of the hole she'd burrowed herself into.
'Where is she?' Harry yelled this time, anger mixing with desperation in his tone. 'Don't doubt I will kill you if you've hurt her.'
'No! Harry, stop!' Tanya yelled as she managed to stumble out from the bush and both men looked up suddenly.
'I knew you were close.' James whispered but Harry simply let him go and rushed over to Tanya.
'Are you okay?' He asked and Tanya nodded quickly, clinging to him for support as he began to guide her over to the glider.
'I just want to get out of here.' She told him honestly and He helped her onto the glider, taking his position himself. James began to get up slowly, grumbling as he watched them begin to take off. The lightning was closer now and Tanya knew that they couldn't go too high or they would run the risk of being electrocuted. Unfortunately that meant that they couldn't escape James' range of powers.
They hadn't gotten far at all when they felt the pull of the glider being dragged back towards James and his grunts of exertion.
They fell back onto the path and Tanya rolled away from Harry who sprung up immediately to defend them against James.
'Do you know why I did it?' James asked, gesturing to himself with a smile, his sharpened teeth were covered in blood. 'Why I became this monster, the Hyde to my Jekyll?'
'To be honest I don't care.' Harry said to him, standing between him and Tanya who was scrambling back and out of the way.
'I think you might care more than you think you do.' James said to Harry with his gruesome smile and Harry didn't retaliate, he remained silent and simply glared at his adversary, ready to spring into battle at any moment should it be required of him.
'James please don't...' Tanya whimpered as she curled up on the floor a little way away. She couldn't even bring herself to stand she felt so weak and in pain.
'I did it for her.' James told Harry, ignoring Tanya's pleas. 'I wanted her to fall for me in the same way she appears to have fallen for you. What I don't get is why! You're the villain! You've hurt people, you've killed people! You are the bad guy in this city but she's still infatuated with you! I became this monster, I sacrificed myself and my life to become a hero, to take you down and claim her, my damsel in distress as my prize.'
'You don't get to claim her. She's not a prize.' Harry retorted heatedly, 'She's a human being and she makes her own choices, just like you. What's different about you and her is she makes the right decisions; you've made the wrong ones. I don't want to hurt you because I know she wouldn't like it but if you don't leave right now and let us go, I will kill you.'
'I'm right here you know...' Tanya breathed but she could barely raise her voice above a whisper so neither of them heard her.
'Honestly, sir.' James sneered, 'I'd love to see you try.'
The fight broke out before Tanya had a chance to cry out. They were on top of one another and punching and kicking and clawing at one another. Harry had his suit for protection and he could easily kill James but he didn't want to upset Tanya, he had to find a way to subdue his foe without killing him. James, on the other hand, had his powers and had every intention of ending the life of the famous Harry Osborn.
'You know...' James said as he threw Harry to the floor, 'I don't know why I didn't just take her before. I didn't need these powers I could easily have gotten what I wanted.'
'James don't.' Tanya warned him but he ignored her. She began to try and pull herself to her feet but she struggled. Harry was already back on his own and launching another attack on James.
'I only wish she could have been awake, that way I would have been able to see her eyes. Been able to feel the way she wanted me. It wasn't that I was forcing myself on her; it was just that I would have liked to know she was enjoying it as much as I was. I know she would have done.' James sneered and Harry stopped suddenly as he realised what James was talking about. Simply to relish the moment, James allowed him to turn to Tanya who was still sat on the ground. As Harry's wide eyes met hers, the crushing reality of what James had done to her kicked in and Tanya couldn't help the hysterical sobs which rose up inside of her. She broke down suddenly and buried her head in her knees, hiding away in shame and fear.
'You...' Harry began breathlessly as he too came to the realisation of the extent James had gone. There was a moment of shock and Tanya swore even the thunder stopped in anticipation; but then it was over and Harry was roaring obscenities at James. Tanya looked up in time to see Harry deploying a star from his arm and James wasn't looking, he was still sneering at her.
'Harry no!' Tanya screamed and James' attention returned to Harry, but it was a second too late. Everything seemed to fall into slow motion as the star flew through the air in the direction of James' throat. Forgetting his powers James panicked and his face fell as he raised a hand to block it, but he wasn't fast enough and the metal sailed into his throat and flew out the other side again, slicing his neck. Blood spurted from the gash and James was dead before he even hit the floor. Tanya stood slowly, unable to process the idea that her best friend was dead, let alone her tormentor.
'Tanya?' She heard Harry's voice but it sounded so distant, she could barely latch onto it. She couldn't remove herself from this world where there was only her and James' dead body. Suddenly Harry's hand was on her shoulder, shaking her slightly and she was brought back to the real world with a crash. She backed away from him suddenly, afraid of what he might do to her.
'What did you do Harry?' She demanded as she heard the sound of sirens approaching them. She knew that the goblin must have been sighted and therefore someone had had the initiative to call the police. They would find her and Harry Osborn with the body, not the goblin.
'I was protecting you!' Harry retorted but Tanya could see the darkness in his eyes and she shook her head slowly.
'No Harry. You were giving into the darkness. You were giving into the goblin.' She laughed suddenly and began to walk away but stopped and turned back around sharply to face him, he seemed perplexed.
'You know what Harry?' She yelled, 'I don't know why I ever thought I could help you. You're not Harry and the goblin separately you are one and the same and you won't ever change. You're always going to be the green goblin and you're always going to hurt people, you can't be helped.'
They stood staring at one another in the rain for a few moments and the sirens got closer, Tanya could hear the shouts of policemen trying to find them in the dark.
'I hope you never find a cure. I hope you're plagued with this forever, it's what you deserve.' She told him bitterly and she'd never seen him look more hurt. She'd never seen anyone look so hurt.
'Hello! Is someone there? Shout out to me, do you need help?' A man shouted from a little way away and they saw the beam of a flashlight approaching.
'You'd better go before you get caught.' Tanya told him sadly and he stopped for a moment and took a step towards her.
'Tanya...' He began softly but she was too angry.
'Go!' She yelled and he jumped at the harshness of her tone.
'Hello?' The man yelled again and Harry paused for a moment before rushing to his glider and taking off quickly, hurrying away. Once he was gone, Tanya allowed her emotions to overwhelm her and she sunk to the ground, sobbing. The police arrived and found James' body, they found her bleeding and broken and they saw the goblin soaring away. Tanya wished she could tell them the truth but she couldn't bring herself to recount her story so instead she kept quiet. After all, she was going home the following day.