I am so sorry that I haven't updated this. I had written around half of the next chapter, but have been preoccupied with stuff happening at home. From family arguments and celebrations, I have been distracted from most writing except for short stories I've been writing on and off.

I will update this as soon as I finish, and with the follower count almost 50, this will push me to finish it sooner.

i still have little time to write, but when I do it will be solely on this.

Thats the explanation for the lateness, and now for something for you. This is a sneak peak to what you can expect for the next chapter, but also I have made a terrible trailer for the fanfic on youtube as I now have an account.

Here is the link:

/8D9qFaCE4j0

hopefully this will work, if not, I will try and put the link on my account bio.

Thank you to Tiger Mutant and asdfghikl1292 for the reviews!

Tiger Mutant ~ I watched it just recently, the song is still stuck in my head as well as the songs from Guardians of the galaxy. Both are awesome! GOTG defiantly deserves to be the movie of the year!

asdfghikl1292 ~ so happy you are enjoying this! Seeing your review also pushed me to continue after I had been off fanfiction for a long while. so thank you for that!

disclaimer: I only own OCs.

with that done, on with the chapter...

Cold.

That was the only feeling I felt wash over me.

Unbearable coldness.

I was in near complete darkness, but somehow I just knew the room was large, maybe even damp due to the coldness and the loud drips of echoing droplets.

I wasn't exactly coherent, in truth, I felt numb. Lifeless. But feeling returned, if only a little, and an uncomfortable pitch seemed to be pressed into my leg. I groaned not on my own accord, the groan sounding too squeaky to be my own. Slowly senses became clearer and more connected, however, this only made the situation more complex. I was lying on a cold metallic object, my fingertips scraping across the shiny surfaces again, not on my own accord.

I realised that I had no control over my own body, I was trapped, watching everything unfold behind strained eyes. But to my horror a figure came into view. Leaning over me was a man dressed head-to-toe in scrubs, even the shower head caps, the whiteness blinding me. I whimpered and tried to move, but the rubbing feeling of leather clamped over my wrists and ankles, tethering me down.

"She's waking up...shall we sedate her before we continue?" The scrubs wearing man asked, speaking to someone I couldn't see, but a voice resonated from my feet.

"No, it will waste time, continue now."

It was gruff, without care, and worst of all sounded it sounded hateful. The doctor sighed behind his white facial mask, shaking h head a little before disappearing out of my eyesight. Panic quickened my heartbeat, as I frantically began trying to get my wrists free from the clamps, but I was too weakened.

"Stop it!" I screeched, the voice again sounding squeaky, young even. I knew why as I caught my reflection in a machine that looked like a monitor. I was a child, perhaps five or six, sweat and tears falling down my sunken face, the paleness and daunt expression more terrifying than the doctor.

"Can't you hear her? Stop this!"

I know that voice...

I spoke somewhere deep inside my head, the thoughts not of the younger version of myself, but my own in this nightmare. It was Dad. It had to be by the gruff southern accent. I felt sick, knowing that the man who had caused me so much pain was here, watching me being tested on, which was what I could decipher as more pinching sprouted from my waist, arms and legs.

They were extracting something, the sensation of being drained causing my further weakness and paleness. I thrashed in my restraints even more, head rocking from side to side as I caught glimpses of other doctors, screaming no over and over again until my voice shattered.

I was crying, or more sobbing as the pinching quickly turned into large shocks of agonising pain. A figure quickly slipped next to my head, brushing my mangled black hair out of my eyes, almost lovingly until I saw the man was my father. He stared down at me, shaven, the pink pigment skin around his mouth and chin actually surreal. But his eyes, they were truly saddened by my state, and I couldn't help but whimper at him.

"Please make it stop. Please make the pain stop!" I cried out as I thrashed one last time, but found it useless as my chest heaved, too weak to even move a finger.

"Please sedate her. Stryker you won't get the best results if you don't sedate her." My Dad pleaded to the man in the darkness, and after an extremely long pause of consideration, the man chuckled cruelly.

"Sedate the mutant." He responded loathinly, and a jabbing pain was pressured into my neck, but I was unable to look at the sedatist as weakness and exhaustion overpowered curiosity. Very quickly, I found my hearing became muffled, and I couldn't focus on anything as my eyes and mind buffered. However, I managed to focus on Dad's face long enough to see him look lovingly in my eyes before brushing my hair out of the way again.

"You're safe now baby girl."

I promise to make it worth that wait, but until then, I'm so honoured you have stuck with this even with the long periods in between the chapters. Thank you :)

~ BehindTheMasqueradeMask