Chapter after the first

Warnings: violence

Disclaimer: don't sue me. I am not claiming to own any of these characters.

(**)

Which was worse? Being in a horrible place, crying every night until your eyes ran dry or being in a horrible place and simply not caring anymore? What happened when the terribleness of one's surroundings no longer mattered, when taking the next breath meant absolutely nothing and dreaming of another place, a better place was impossible? What happened when you stopped living while your heart was still beating? When slaps, punches, needles, pain got little to no reaction and even hallucinations with warm smiles and open grasses could not promote even the littlest of attention?

That was where Carrietta was as she was thrown back in her cell, landing half on the bed then sliding down to the floor. It did not matter where this husk landed, emptied of life and hope so why not allow it to rest on the cold floor instead of the thin bed? Her blue eyes stared unblinkingly up at the dark ceiling or what might have been a ceiling seeing as they still found the need to keep her blinded. Why? She wouldn't fight, she had nothing to fight for. No reason to try, nothing to do.

Footsteps.

Carrie did not move, did not clutch at her sheets or concentrate on her surroundings. Instead she idly noted that they were faster. It was actually like someone was running, their footsteps pounding into the ground and idly she wondered what that meant. Was there a fire? Had someone broken free and destroyed them as they deserved? If there were dreams to dream, she would say hers was rivers of blood drowning this prison, soaking the walls and drenching the stairs.

The door opened, slamming into the wall with a harsh clang.

"Oh shit, shit, shit. What did they do to her? I knew that they would hurt her but she… she's all… oh Carrie," a voice whispered in a tone that was both urgent and deeply upset. She knew that voice. Something in Carrie shifted like a tired beast behind its cage and for a second she thought she might care for a second. She thought she might try to figure it out why the beast had even moved but she didn't bother. She didn't see a need. Hands, soft and warm cupped her face and turned it left to right, one brushing her forehead and then grazing the damaged skin around the terrible mask.

"I had tried to get to her faster but it took me several months just to climb to this level… the things they've done to this poor child," another voice replied and then the heavy blindfold was peeled (quite literally) away from her face. Once upon a time she might have screamed as the newly healed skin was torn off along with the mask it had been clinging to or flinched as a face suddenly appeared in her blurred vision. Now she simply stared ahead, looking at the blurry mass of green, white and brown. She blinked several times until her vision cleared into something more recognizable. It was a man, a few years older than her with brown hair cropped short and piercing green eyes. He gave her a rather grim smile as he looked her over, flashing a light in her eyes and waving it back and forth. It burned to see such brightness but she didn't flinch. What was this little pain compared to the pain she had already suffered?

"Hello Ms. White. I know that you are a bit disoriented but we mean you no harm. I was sent here to rescue you from this place but you must stand up so that we must go," the man stated, searching her face. What he found there did not seem to satisfy him but she did not care. It was too late, it was much too late. She no longer wished to live in this cruel world, in this world of needles and tests and pain. She hated their illusions, their words, their lies. Even now, she felt that this was another lie. A way to get her to interact with them but she would not, she could not.

"Tom, the lassie is not in the right state. I am afraid you might have to push her if we wish to save her," another voice insisted, this one more familiar as it was the most recent. She associated it with the candy that smelled of peppermints. She associated it with warm hands guiding her, an accented voice encouraging her to continue on but she knew that the voice lead to nothing but lies and pain. It let them take her.

"No, at this point, I am not sure what pushing her would do," the man frowned and leaned away, a thoughtful look overcoming his face, "Sue, come here."

Sue? Carrie almost felt her heart beat faster, almost desired to turn her head to see that finally, finally she was going to be saved. This was real, she was going to… no. No. She wouldn't fall into another trap, she wouldn't be hurt again.

"Carrie… please Carrie," the female voice came back and now she knew why she thought it was familiar. It sounded just like Sue, oh it sounded just like her but it couldn't be. They had kidnapped Carrie, stolen her right out of the hospital and no one knew where she was. No one knew what happened, they all thought she was dead. She had to believe that because the thought that Sue hadn't looked for her, hadn't thought to even call out for her hurt more than their needles, harsh words and relentless attacks. Carrie closed her eyes, afraid that she'd lose her will to die if she were to see this sickening clone of the girl she fought for.

"Carrie, open your eyes. Please, just open your eyes. I know they've hurt you and I know that you want to give up and I don't blame you. But you can't Carrie, you can't die. You have to fight—."

"NO! SHUT UP!" Carrie shouted, her eyes snapping open and nothing but furious anger filling her soul. She gazed into the face of the girl that had convinced her to go to prom, to try and be normal, to have fun, to… to live. She had listened to her all those time but no more! She sent a pulse of power that slammed into the girl's jaw, successfully rendering her silent. Sue let out a muffled yelp, pulling desperately at her lips although she seemed more shock than scared. She wasn't afraid of Carrie, not even when the abused girl forced herself onto her shaking legs and another pulse of power coerced Sue into doing the same. Out of the corner of her eye, Sue saw her partners take a step forward, intent on attacking Carrie but a quick wave got them to stand down. She was fine. She trusted Carrie, she did.

"NO!" Carrie suddenly repeated, "Stop it Sue. I don't believe you. I won't, I won't! Why—how can you ask me to do anything more!? Have I not done enough!? Haven't I been through enough, don't I deserve PEACE!? D-DAMN YOU SUE! You lied to me. You said you'd be there for me, that you would help me but you didn't. You let them take me away, you let them hurt me and I HATE YOU! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU ANYMORE!"

"We're gonna be in a well of shit pretty soon," the candy breath man sighed. Well shit," a voice said to the side. Carrie whipped her head around, ignoring the handsome man with piercing green eyes and focusing on the man that smelled of candy. His eyes were a bright blue that twinkled and seem so very friendly. He had graying reddish hair that he pulled back into a ponytail and was rather tall or at least much taller than her short stature. He was calming, an anchor to the storm swirling around her. Carrie clutched at her dressing gown; blood was rushing to her head and her heart was trying to pound its way through her bones. She didn't like this. She wanted her solitude back, she wished for her walls and her emptiness.

But it wasn't meant to be. The room was drowned in blinking red and there were pounding feet and shouts that were only getting louder with each passing second. Carrie looked to the green eyed stranger who was staring at her curiously.

"We may have tripped some alarms and your power usage probably hasn't helped. Jesus, Albus is going to owe me more than a few drinks and a thank you after this," the man sighed, rubbing the space between his eyes.

Carrie frowned and released Sue from her hold. It wasn't as though she would hurt the girl, Carrie didn't think she could ever, ever hurt her so she would have to settle for the second best thing. Carrie stepped into the hallway, roughly swatting the square hand that attempted to grab her. She could do this—after all that's what they trained her for isn't it?

The round faced girl turned her head left and then right, gazing at the many, many guards that had stopped at either ends. They had her surrounded and more were coming. They had their guns pointed and were yelling things. They wanted to hurt her, to hurt the ones in the room. They wanted to do more than kill her, they wanted to control her. They wanted to kill Sue and while she was angry, so very angry and tired because of her Sue… she couldn't let that happen. So she would do this. She would fight one last time and then, maybe then she would find some peace in death.

"Halt, patient 1408! Return to your room—now!" the leader shouted once the last of them settled into position and there was some semblance of silence. Carrie said nothing, staring impassively at the man. The man repeated his order but this time he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight for her shoulder as a warning shot. Carrie twitched a finger, the bullet slowing and spinning in place just centimeters from her body. A smile curved upon her lips. She was so much stronger. Her eyes flicked to the man and suddenly the bullet went flying back, breaking past the Kevlar and going right into his heart. He didn't make a sound as he fell to the ground.

"Oops," she whispered and then slammed a fist into the wall beside her. The men let out cries of shock as cracks appeared, deep and damaging. The floor shook on its foundation and shouts to retreat were called out but it was too late. It was much too late. Carrie's anger ravaged the armed men, tearing, tossing and crushing them. She would kill every single one of them, she would vent her wounded soul until there was nothing left but dirt and dust. Whoever was left to witness this damage would remember her name and her pain—they would remember that Carrietta White had been broken.

Tears pooled in the girl's eyes, burning tracks down her cheeks as she observed what was left of the red soaked walls. She wasn't done. There were still more and she wouldn't rest until she got every single one of them. Carrie stepped to the edge of a deep gouge she had created, feeling her power pull her into the air until she hovered like an avenging angel in her torn hospital gown.

She floated down the halls, listening to the shrieks and the screams of doctors, more armed men and patients still trapped in their cells. She wasn't the only one, of course she wasn't. They had hurt people, people like her and she would let them free! Her power slammed into every door she came across, ripping them from the hinges and throwing them as bullets began to finally soar towards her. She pulled one of the heavily reinforced doors in front of her, blocking her from damage.

"Thank you, thank you!" a voice sobbed out to her left but she ignored it in favor of summoning another metal door to block the people who were either standing by her side to fight or escaping behind them in fear. Someone growled nastily by her side, sounding more like an animal than a person and she knew that her name wouldn't be the only one that the walls remembered by the end of this.

Carrie smiled and dropped her shield just a little so that the ones that had broken them could see her black eyes and know just what Hell would look like once their hearts no longer beat. When the footage was found under the rubble and rocks and broken bones and lifeless bodies, people would cower in fear and they would never, ever dare chain her or any of them up ever again.

"Go," she whispered and they attacked.

(**)

TBC

So this is the shortest chapter in the history of chapter-dom. Comment anyway?