I've been imprisoned by this mad man for roughly three months now. I'm slowly becoming someone else. My actions, my temper, my powers, my appearance. I look in the mirror and see someone else. I'm different, but in the situation I'm in, could I be blamed?
After two weeks, my leg had completely healed. It was a secondary mutation and though I still couldn't use my psychic powers, I could used my healing mutation. Sabretooth passed down the mutation to me, but I didn't have the same level of healing as he did.
While it might take him an hour to fix a bone, it took me weeks. His healing was fast enough to keep him alive when he receives a fatal wound, but I would die before I healed enough. But I was okay with that, I didn't want anything from him. I didn't want to be near him.
Not that I had a choice.
He came everyday to my room (I learned that we were at some training and experimenting facility, and that this was not my real room. He just stole the stuff from my room from the old farmhouse before setting my house on fire, and set it back up here). He would try to get me to talk to him, but I would not talk to him. He tried to bring me special foods or gifts, but I still refused to acknowledge him. My ignorance angered him quickly. Most of the time he would settle for destroying things around the room, but every so often he would hurt me. He would stop himself before paralyzing or killing me, and then mutter something about how I'd better learn to treat him better soon, or else I wouldn't be so lucky next time.
The healing ability did come handy. It got me out of bed from the broken leg quick enough. The day that a doctor came into my room and removed my cast, he Okayed me to go to training.
Training, all the time. Fighting men nearly to the death. Running through obstacle courses until I drop. Hunting wild animals. At first I refused to play their games, but Sabretooth started beating and hurting me. The men they made me fight would have no mercy. Just because I didn't want to hurt them, it didn't mean they would feel the same.
Hurt or be hurt, that's the logic here.
I learned quickly that Victor Creed (aka Sabretooth) liked to claim things as his, perhaps the reason he had some sort of weird protectiveness over me. He had no problem with beating me or forcing me to be mentally scarred by the "training" he makes me do. But if some soldier tries to flirt with me at dinner (when he makes me leave my room to eat with him, to have "daddy daughter" time) he would get in their faces and throw them around. Or if he thought someone was disrespecting me, he would snarl at and hurt them. He liked to see me lose my temper (with someone else) and hurt the men during fights, some kind of weird pride about how I'm taking after him.
I guess it's his feral nature to want a "kit". It was also his nature to kill and hurt people if they annoyed him. It's his nature to like to hunt things (animals and humans), and to eat only meat.
Its getting harder everyday for me to control his nature in me.
Along with the enhanced senses, agility, natural fighting skills, and the rapid healing; "daddy dear" past down his feral nature to me.
It was a lot like back at the Institute, when I was thinking like an animal and ready to kill others. Without my psychic powers, it got harder to control the beast within me. The nature of the animal kept me alive in the fights during training, but it also made me go too far.
Like right now, I thought grimly, holding a soldier by the throat against the wall. The man (man, ha! He was barley eighteen!) was sputtering his begs for mercy as his face turned purple. He really didn't seem so pathetic three minutes ago when he swore to the other men that he could "take the little girl".
"Go, on Lioness," Sabretooth purred behind me. Lioness was the codename he chose for me. It sickened me to see he was taking pride in his kit while she held a man's life in her hands. Like a cat bringing home a live mouse to her kitten to play with before eating.
"Snap his neck, make it end."
"Plubss, don't," The man sputtered.
The look he gave me made me let him go. It was the same look I've seen others show before the Sabretooth killed them.
I may be the spawn of a murderer, but that didn't mean I was one.
I turned and started to walk away from the spared man. Trying to regain my calm, a small voice inside of me yelled "watch out!".
I slowly moved my head, just a fraction, and saw the man was up and had out a knife. Carefully he crept towards me, trying not to make a sound. True, I didn't hear him, but I did smell him. I saw Sabretooth start to come over, but I already made my move.
On the spin, I high kicked the man in the face, breaking his nose. Blood flowed from his nose as he clasped into a pathetic form, cowering against the wall.
"Stupid," I spat. "Trying to sneak up on me? What were you trying to do, get back at me? I'm obviously superior in hand to hand fighting, but you wanted to try your luck on being a weasel and sneaking up on me. You're pathetic enough, why don't you leave this base and, I don't know, get an honest job? No killing and no skill needed, that's the job I recommend for you."
"Aren't 'ou gonna kill me?" He gasped, trying to stop the flow of blood.
"No. You maybe stupid, pathetic and would have gladly killed me; but I'm not a murderer." I said. I felt Sabretooth come up behind me, I tried not to shiver at his presence.
Turning to make an escape to my room, I heard Sabretooth snort.
"Just cause she won't don't mean I aint gonna." Sabretooth broke the younger man's neck in one quick movement. He looked over at my shocked face and gave me a feral grin. "Yah gotta realise that the world aint rainbows an lollypops, kid. Just cause yah don't wanna kill, it don't mean yah won't. Yah got good instincts, yah just gotta follow through on 'em. When we say "fight to the death", yer actually supposed to finish the job."
"I'm not a murderer like you." I snarled at the large man.
He wrapped his hand around my throat and pushed me up against the wall, my feet dangling. "Thought I told yah not to sass me, kid."
I stared straight into his eyes, knowing that my eyes had the same cat-like look to them. During every training session, they became his eyes. He liked them because my silver eyes "creeped him out". Too much like my "bitch mother's" he said. Everyday it took longer for them to return to normal. I was afraid that if I ever escaped, I would have to go through life with his animal eyes.
He let me go and I dropped to the floor, clutching my throat and gasping for air.
Glaring up at him I asked, "May I go to my room now? Or do I have to eat with you in the mess hall?"
Victor sighed, almost as if it hurt him that I didn't want to eat with him. "Yeah, yah can go."
I got up and walked towards the training arena exit, pleased that I got away with only a mild stranglilation. I knew it was too good to last though. As I typed in the code to open the large metal doors, Creed called to me. "But I want yah to come to my study tonight, round seven. I have some old friends coming over that I want yah to meet."
Study, ha! It was just a room he uses to put his animal head trophies in and drink until he passes out. But still, I knew the only way I could leave this room with only a few bruises.
"I'll be there." I answered emotionlessly, while picturing him burning in Hell.
"Yah know, things would be a lot easier fer yah if yah just accept yer nature and me." He looked at me almost sadly. He murders my real family, takes away my life, hunts me for months, kidnaps me, beats me, mentally torments me; and he wants to guilt me into loving him? To just forget about all the suffering he's put me through and be "daddy's little girl"? Give him corny "world's best dad" mugs on father's day and go out on his killing sprees with him?
Fat chance. The vision of him burning is looking better and better to me.
I gave a short nod to acknowledge that I heard but did not answer.
I quickly made my way up to my room, ignoring greetings from soldiers and scientists. I didn't need my powers to know why they do it (when they're not fighting me during training or sticking me full of needles). Its because they think if they get on Creed's daughter's good side, they'll be safe from him. And, I'm one of the very few women on base. Sure I'm just sixteen, but what do secret government soldiers care for laws about having sex with minors? One scientist actually said he would stop the needles going into my spine during one of those awful tests if I slept with him. Before I could get my claws into his eyes, Creed had run down from the observing deck and snapped his neck. My hero. They weren't supposed to leave the base unless they were on missions or granted leave, but surely there were better pickings than me? I wish they'd hit on the old cafeteria ladies and leave me alone.
Not looking where I was going, I rounded a corner and ran into someone.
"Sorry," I apologized before looking up.
The man I ran into was about fifty or more, dressed in an army suit exactly to regulation. He didn't smell like all the other soldiers here, blood and sweat, but neither did he smell like the scientists and doctors, drugs and blood. He smelled more like, I took another sniff, like a man who tried to wash the blood off his hands. It was that guy, Striker or something, the one who ran this base. I didn't like him at all, he was the one who gave Creed military power and let him do all the killing he wanted as long as he would do his "missions". I didn't really know what this base's purpose was, something about training humans to fight mutants and mutants to do as they're told. They had certain mutants to help capture other mutants, like Creed. He was the one that ordered all the tests to be done on me.
"Hello little one," He gave me a sickly sweet smile, but I knew he didn't like me any more than I him. He's a mutant hater, and will only tolerate the ones that will do his biddings. "You're the lady of the base, aren't you? Cathleen, Victor's daughter." He explained to the other men in suits around him.
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
"Quite powerful telepath and telekinesis. Also has her father's talents." He continued saying to the others, who looked at me hungrily. I felt like he was a farmer trying to sell his cow to prospective buyers. Turning back to me, he gave me that awful smile again. "Yes, we're expecting great things from you. Are you enjoying it here?"
Can you seriously ask that? I'm a prisoner!
Ignoring my glare and the fact that I didn't answer, he continued talking. "I've heard about how your training is coming along very nicely, you're a very talented little lady. Perhaps we'll put you on one of our teams soon, let you get some real life experience. Your father must be very proud of you."
I can't take any more of this, I thought frantically.
"Perhaps you'd like to come to my quarters tonight? We can discuss your future here over some dinner. A pretty little lady like you shouldn't have to eat with soldiers every night." His eyes scanned me, lingering longer than I would have liked, then returned to my gaze. His eyes looked hungry, yarning for something.
You dirty old pervert! I thought astound. You're hitting on me! I think I'm going to be sick. I wonder if dear old dad would kill his boss if he knew he wanted to bang me. So he hates mutants, but not enough that he wouldn't sleep with them. My God, the men must be desperate here, to hit on a teenage girl like me.
I hate this place so much.
"I'm sorry, but Creed wants me to accompany him and some of his old friends tonight." I told him, trying not to flip out.
"Ah well, another time then?" He genuinely looked disappointed. Then forced another smile. "Another time, perhaps? Maybe we could go off base?"
You can offer me Paris and I would still never be alone with you, I thought, but said, "Yeah, sure."
Never going to happen.
"Good good, I'll have my secretary set something up." He then turned his attention back to the other men. "Right this way gentlemen."
Once I was in my room, I flopped down on my bed. Great, a new danger. How am I suppose to avoid the man who runs this base? Should I tell Creed? Actually, that could make things worse. Anything to do with Creed makes things worse.
Well, I don't care what he does or threatens to do, I will do nothing with him! I vowed. I will not do it, and will give up nothing to that old monster!
Thinking about how much I hated the men here, it made me think back to my gentle giant Russian back at the Institute. We left on such bad terms, I wonder if he's still mad at me? Or if he didn't care what happened to me anymore? I haven't stopped thinking about how I should have just told him everything that night, how I should have stayed with him. I should have admitted how much I felt for him.
Some nights when I really feel hopeless and sad, I imagine him coming here and rescuing me. Sure, I've never wanted to play the part of the damsel in distress who needs saving, but now a days I really didn't mind the image of my knight in shining armour coming and taking me away from this place. And me being in his big safe arms, watching a sunset or something corny like that. Being safe with Peter…
Why haven't the X-men come yet? I thought for the thousandth time.
I fell asleep thinking about the Institute, my friends, the X-men, and Peter….