Chapter 14: Eyepatch
"We've been looking all over for you Soldier.."
I looked up at the man who had just walked in.
I didn't recognize him though..
"Do whatever you want to me. Just don't kill her." I knew it wasn't going to do anything. They didn't care how much I begged for mercy.
"Don't worry. I won't kill her..where's the fun in that?" He laughed. "But I plan to do something else to your friends.."
He stepped back into the shadows.
The only thing I could hear was my heart pounding and my fast breathing. I didn't know what to do. I felt so hopeless. Tears pricked my eyes as I knew what was going to happen. I was going to keep hurting people. It would never end. Ever. This is my fate.
The room lit up, only to find Natasha in the same kind of chair I was in and Steve on the other side of me.
I looked at Natasha, she was just opening her eyes. When she realized where she was her expression was horrified. She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face.
"Natasha.." I whispered, my voice breaking. "I'm so sorry. God, this is all my fault."
She looked at me. "Don't be sorry James-.."
"Shut up!" The man yelled. He looked at me. "You are going to change the world..one last time."
I heard that before..
My hands were shaking, tears spilled from my eyes, my lip was trembling even as I could hear the familiar sound of a machine starting up. "Barnes..James Buchanan. Sergeant. 32557038." I muttered, remembering the very first time I got taken by these monsters. I don't know why I kept repeating it and repeating it but it helped.
"Buck.." Steve whispered.
I ignored him, and kept repeating the same thing. My name. Rank. Serial number.
"Barnes, James Buchanan. Sergeant. 32557038."
My tongue felt like sandpaper in my mouth, the only noise in the room was the sound of heavy breathing and beating hearts and my hoarse voice.
And the machine.
I could feel the cold metal press onto my left temple and cheek. "No..." I whispered. "Not again.." I struggled to move, trying to break free of the restraints with all my strength. "Barnes, James Buchanan. Sergeant. 32557038. Barnes, James Buchanan. Sergeant. 32557038. Barnes, James Buchanan. Sergeant. 32557-.."
That's when the pain began.
There was so much pressure I was sure it was going to crush my skull. I bit my lip hard, tasting the blood as my teeth dug into my skin. I couldn't hear anything but my screams, begging for it to be over.
But it didn't stop.
The world was spinning, I felt sick to my stomach. The walls were closing in on me, pressing into me. My breathing became more demanding, I thought I was going to run out if oxygen. My mind kept reminding me:
Don't forget. Don't forget. Don't forget. Don't forget. Don't forget. Don't forget. Don't forget. Don't forget. Don't forget.
The pressure stopped but the pain was still there. I gasped for air, leaning my head against the chair, trying to remember how to breathe.
Every bone in my body ached, my head felt like it was going to explode.
What was my name?
...
No. I have a name. What is it? I have to know. I have to remember. I have to remember. I have to-
I could hear something...it was very faint..someone..crying?
I looked towards my left, there was a woman in a chair just like mine, she was looking at me in horror. "James.." she whispered.
James?
I know that name.
Where do I know that name?
"Желание..."
I looked up quickly to see a man, a red book with a silver star in his hand as he was reading.
"Ржавьlй...Семнадцать..."
The room turned blurry the more he read, the walls began closing in again, my head was throbbing.
"Рассвет...Печь...Девять..Добросердечньlй.."
I then regained focus, staring at the man in front of me.
"Возвращение на родину...Один...Грузовой вагон.."
He stopped reading.
All that went through my mind as I looked at him was:
Obey his every command.
"Солдаты?"
"Готов соблюдать." I responded.
The man smiled. "Идеально."
I could hear the machine starting back up again. I closed my eyes, waiting to feel the pain, waiting to hear my screams. My begs for mercy.
I heard screams and begging but it wasn't mine.
I opened my eyes, the woman and man beside me were being brainwashed as well.
I looked back at the woman, trying again to stand but the restraints were stopping me.
The lights went off and I couldn't see anything. My heart was pounding, I didn't know what exactly to do. I felt a stinging pain on my flesh arm. I wanted so badly to move, to do something.
But I didn't.
After what felt like hours, the light turned on.
There was a different man standing in front of me now.
He was wearing all black clothes, he was tall, bald, and he wore an eyepatch. He was holding a rifle in his hand.
Before I could do anything he raised his arms and hit me upside the head with the back of the rifle.
That was the last thing I saw before I was engulfed in darkness.