Duality
Chapter 2
When he hears the door click shut behind him and he winds the corner, he stops and backs up into the wall. His hands come up to grip his head. He feels so odd. Like an intoxication. A wash of emotion attuned to nothing he has experienced before.
He doesn't understand. She is so pure, so Light. He should hate her. He should destroy her. But he feels himself inexplicably drawn. He tries to mold herself into something detestable in his mind, but he knows it is a worthless task. There is a connection between them. Her Force energy drew his in a way that he couldn't grasp, like two giant magnets held facing one another for eternity.
The way she broke into my mind…
She was powerful. Her energy and skill was like a ball of molten steel, waiting to be shaped into something useful. He hadn't expected such resistance from a scavenger rat from a desolate desert planet. But then again…possibly it was her…
And then the thought creeps into his head like a timid serpent. She could…she could be his. He could mold her. He had offered to her just minutes before, but that was just a ploy. Now…now he wanted to. He wanted to teach her. Eradicate her Light and fashion her in the shroud of Darkness. Make her into his weapon and his tool. Just his. He feels himself grow hot with a sort of boyish excitement.
Snoke would want her. He knew his Master would find out about this girl, this rose from the dead planet. He would want to crush her. Make her an example. But Kylo wouldn't let him. She was too beautiful. He wanted the little light for himself. Together, they would finish what his grandfather set out to do.
As he turns to leave, his mask reset firmly in place, he senses someone approaching. He turns to locate the intruder. General Hux. Of course.
"Ah, there you are, sir," the man announces with a slight snarky grin. "We were getting worried about how your interrogation was going when you didn't emerge for quite some time."
He didn't hate General Hux. The man was more of a nuisance to him than anything. They had a friendship once, if one could call it that. But then power was introduced into the mix, and they became at odds. They were in a continual struggle to move pieces in their own way across the board.
Kylo sneers. "It went quite well, I can assure you."
The General lifts an eyebrow. "Ah, then I assume you have gained the map?"
The back of Kylo's neck burns with anger. "No," he bites out. "She was too resistant. It will be but a matter of another interrogation to break her."
"Well, let us hope it goes according to your hopes, sir."
Kylo's eyes flash and he quells the urge to reach for his lightsaber. He merely nods once at the man, and then waives his hand in dismissal. The General grimaces almost imperceptibly, and then is gone. Good riddance, worm.
Kylo turns to look at his captive's cell down the hall. He wonders how long it would take to break her. He didn't want to hurt her. Didn't want to harm her. But he would have to do as he must to show her the correct side of the Force.
Yes, she would be his.
oOoOoOo
As soon as he had walked out of the doors, she had begun to formulate her way out. There had to be a way out. She tugs at her wrist manacles but they won't budge. She kicks and she finds the same for her legs. And then she senses another living presence in the room. Probably a guard stationed at her door. It was still odd to her that she could simply know there was a life force there. Even if she didn't want to, she would still know. It was just an awareness. A tap on the shoulder.
She focuses with all her might on the manacles on her hands. Through the Force, she can feel them, run their edges. But she just can't move them. Her powers aren't strong.
She suddenly remembers an old story told to her on Jakku about the Jedi. She had been told they could manipulate people's minds to get them to do things. "Jedi Mind Trick", it had been called. Kylo had played with her emotions, had rummaged through her head like an old box. Why couldn't she do it?
With the Force she reaches out to the life force in the room and tries to pinpoint its thinking processes. When she thinks she has it, she pokes at it with her power. Summoning her best command voice, she calls out, "You will remove these restraints and leave the room with the door open."
She is met with nothing but a resounding silence. And then there is a snicker. Embarrassment razed her cheeks. The trooper is laughing at her.
But she had to try again. "You will remove these restraints and leave the room with the door open."
This time she is rewarded with a growl. The footsteps of the Stormtrooper spring to life and echo in the room as it makes its way over to her.
"Say that again, and I'm going to have to teach you a lesson," it barks, before coming into her view.
Han. Finn. She had to do this. She focuses again and finds that it was easier to grab ahold of someone's thought core when one is looking at them. She gives a strong push, and feels herself break through. Energy comes rushing through her head.
The Stormtrooper's arms go slack and his head lolls slightly. Relief floods her. She has her chance.
"You will remove these restraints and leave the room with the door open."
The Stormtrooper's limbs snap back into place and she finds him begin to repeat exactly what she had just said.
In a hollow voice, it drones, "I will remove these restraints and leave the r-,"
It never finishes its sentence. Rey jerks her head back as an orange beam of light suddenly bursts through the trooper's chest and comes a mere foot from her face. She yelps in surprise. The beam disappears as quickly as it had materialized, and the body of the Stormtrooper careens to the ground.
She is held fast by sheer shock and terror. And then that familiar silky voice fills her head, and she sees him.
"That was a clever little ruse, Rey. You almost had your ticket to freedom."
"No…" she whispers, realizing that with the fall of that trooper's body, her hopes had similarly been dashed to death.
"Yes," he affirms, kneeling again before her. This long black locks partially cover his face. "It is over, Rey. No one is coming to save you. You are where you belong, now. You were meant to come here. They were simply holding you back."
Rage and desperation flood her. Tears prick at her eyes.
"You…you monster…" she says, voice shaking. He smirks, and she tries to hate him. Tries to hate his face that was too beautiful for evil. Tries to hate his perfect words. But she fails.
"The people that dumped you on Jakku?" he continues. "They aren't coming for you either."
That hits her like a bag full of spare speeder parts. The wind leaves her, and she can't help the sob that tore from her throat. Gods, he is so cruel.
"Rey, I can help you now. They aren't coming for you. You don't matter to them." He narrows his eyes, looking almost angry himself. "To them you aren't a desert rose, but a scavenger piece of filth."
For a moment, she is shocked at the almost genuine way he speaks of her. As if he believes it himself. But she knows he is trying to break her. She had to fight him. She would not be his to control.
"You're wrong," she spits. "They are nothing like you and your people. They're good. They will come for me."
He laughs almost softly. She is struck with the wild urge to scream, to kill him.
"No, Rey," he states firmly. "They aren't. You have a choice, now. You will be mine to train, or you will die. Be smart."
She imagines the faces of her friends and conjures from deep within her a shield against the Darkness filling her head. It is tantalizing, like a dancer that captures attention and doesn't let it go. Her teeth emerge from behind her lips.
"No!" she roars. "You are a coward and a traitor, and Vader would have been ashamed of you!"
Instantly, she knows she has struck his weakness again, but harder. She feels his anger through the Force, and it almost singes her. Her nerves twinge painfully.
His lightsaber is on, and she watches him in rapt horror as he swings it a foot from her chair, slicing through the floor and leaving a swath of molten metal. He grabs her neck brusquely with his free hand and jerks her head towards him.
"You little schutta," he hisses, and the sound is infinitely more dangerous to her than the blade of energy in his other hand. "I am your Master now and you will not speak to me that way!"
He releases her throat and draws his arm back, and her head snaps forcefully to the right as his hand connects with her cheek. Pain fills her head, and it swims with the blow. She cries out, and the tears fall freely from her eyes. This was it. He was going to kill her.
A moment passes, and the lightsaber is suddenly turned off. Another goes by, and she is confused. Why hasn't he ended her yet? Was he toying with her?
She turns to look at him and is shocked for a second time that encounter. His eyes, his deep russet orbs are filled with a pain. She is floored when she realizes it must have hurt him to punish her. He was vulnerable to her pain.
"Kylo," she pleads. "You don't want to hurt me. Let me go, please. Please."
He stares with wounded eyes at her for a second, and then stands.
"You're right," he says. "I don't want to hurt you. But nothing has changed. The choice is yours."
And then he is gone again, and she is left confused and angry.
