"Limitation test number thirteen for Project Alpha-Omega," Whitlock spoke into a microphone, his voice projecting loudly over the intercom speakers in the test room as it was recorded. "Subjects 647 and 648 have both undergone four trials of MGA. We are hoping to reach Omega levels soon."
I watched as his eyes briefly flicked over to a screen that was displaying the vitals and brain activity of myself and the brunette girl standing across from me.
"Pre-test vitals are normal," Whitlock continued to drone on from his place outside of the test room.
My eyes lingered on the girl across from me; subject 648 as she had always been known to me. Shortly after they began injecting both of us with the orange serum, I occasionally heard her referred to as Phantom when I was occasionally referred to as Wraith.
She was a thin, frail thing with dark hair and dark eyes. She'd always been quiet and friendly and she hated these tests as much as I did. But the electric shocks they inflicted on us motivated her to attack me, and staying alive motivated me to fight her off.
"Subjects 647 and 648 begin limitation test number thirteen," Whitlock ordered us.
The girl's eyes darted nervously towards the window where Whitlock was observing us before shifting quickly back to me. She sent me an apologetic look before her hands curled into fists at her sides. They raised in front of her slowly and only a moment later the familiar dual black blades sparked behind her fists before darting out, cracking with energy.
Resigned, I felt the energy vibrating behind my eyes as I raised my hands defensively in front of myself. Phantom lunged at me, transforming from the scared girl into something feral as her psionic blades swung hard and fast, looking to sink into any part of me that they could. I dodged and rolled each deadly punch, throwing a leg out to trip her with. She went down briefly but was quick to get back on her feet; she spun around before running towards the wall and jumping off of it, propelling her body towards me, the blade projected above her fist hurtling towards me in a punch. I threw my hands up, shooting a blast of telekinetic energy towards her and throwing her to the side, but I screamed in pain as one of her black blades caught my ankle, burning as it cut through flesh.
She pushed up from off of the ground, her eyes glaring back at me. The blades retracted back towards her wrists, disappearing as the energy fizzled out. I frowned, confused as to what she was doing as her fists raised towards her face and she smiled back at me.
She threw her hands forward, opening them with a rough, forward force as a black whip sparked into life, shooting straight out of her palm. When the whip had shot out about ten feet of length, her hands snapped shut around it, gripping it tightly in her hands. It cracked and sparked along the cement floor of the testing room before she snapped it up, swinging it in a diagonal X pattern before she forcefully swung it at me. A sharp searing pain shot me through my arm where the whip had hit and I recoiled, eyes wide as one of my hands came up to cover the bleeding gash. I had never seen her use anything but the blades before.
Forcing myself to focus despite the questions running through my head, I went to throw another blast of energy towards her, but she melted downwards into the shadows on the ground like smoke, losing all corporeal form. My hands halted in front of me as I frantically searched the room. She had never done that before, never just disappeared out of thin air.
What the hell is going on?
Something wrapped around my neck, coiling tight as sparks of electricity pulsed painfully through me before I was tugged sharply backwards. I flew back onto the solid cement, hitting my head hard as I landed. Staring down at me was Phantom. She had one hand curled around the end of the black whip, her other closed in a tight fist, a black blade crackling loudly as she lowered it over my chest. Her eyes were clouded over in pure black, the veins just beneath them were pulsing, just as dark as her eyes had become. She looked like she had an aura of black smoke emanating around her. Her lip pulled back in a snarl as her hand yanked on the whip, cutting off my oxygen.
Gasping, I woke, clawing my hands at my throat trying to pry the black whip from around it frantically. I was breathing hard, trying to kick the sheets from off of my legs but I kicked something solid in my panicked attempts.
Cautious hands were on my heaving shoulders, warm and calming. My hands stopped clawing, grabbing instead onto the collar of a tank top I had changed into before I'd gone to sleep, gripping the fabric tight in my fists.
"It was a dream, Olivia," Matt's calm tone whispered.
He shifted slowly on the bed, moving closer to me very carefully. My head darted towards him as the bed shifted beside me, my heart hammering away. Matt stopped moving for a moment, shushing me gently as his hands on my shoulders very slowly pulled me into him. I resisted for just one moment before I curled into his chest, burying my face into his bare shoulder, my arms wrapping around his broad back. The feel of his warm skin against my hands and my face in conjunction with the soothing strokes his hand was making on my hair was calming.
"Was it him?" Matt asked anxiously.
"No," I whispered. "It was…from The Facility." I shook my head before pulling myself tighter to him. "There were other kids there. I didn't see them often. Mainly just…just this one girl," I told him softly. "We used to get…'socialization' time as they called it together. As young kids it was working on our studies together. Or sparring together. When we…when we got older, and they injected us with that…serum, they had us spar with our abilities." I laughed bitterly. "Fight or be tortured, one way or another. We had no choice. She never wanted to but there was one day when it was like something in her just…broke."
"She had abilities like you?" he asked.
"Not like me, not exactly," I answered. "They called her Phantom. I was Wraith. Because of how we look when we used our abilities." I shrugged slightly. "Or so I assume. But my abilities were always more mental–telekinetic and a…a little telepathic." I swallowed hard, trying to calm my racing heart as I spoke. "She harnessed something I once heard them call…psionic energy? It was like some energy she used with her mind. I've–I've never been able to do what she does before." I burrowed into his neck, fingers digging tight into the flesh of his back. "I haven't thought about her in a long time," I whispered. "I always felt guilty I never tried to go back and help her."
"You think she's still there?" he questioned just as quietly.
I sighed, feeling my body finally calm down from the dream. My breathing had relaxed and my heart rate was returning to a normal rhythm.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't–don't want to go back there. When I got out I just–just tried to be normal. Forget it happened."
"Hey, it's okay, you're not going back," Matt murmured into my hair. "You're here with me."
"I'm sorry I'm such a mess," I apologized into his neck.
He lightly kissed the top of my head. "You're not a mess. You've just had a traumatic beginning; you've been through more than most people ever will," he told me, continuing to stroke my hair. "You're stronger and more compassionate than most people I've ever met despite what happened to you." The hand in my hair stopped and suddenly slid under my chin, pulling my face to look up at him as he leaned back a bit. His soft eyes somehow managed to hold my gaze as he smiled warmly at me. "I think you're beautiful just the way you are, sweetheart."
Heat rose to my cheeks at his words; I felt more naked and vulnerable in front of him now than I had last night. His hand came up to brush against my cheek lightly. I leaned upwards, placing my mouth to his in a light peck.
"Thank you," I whispered against his lips.
I pulled back from him, scooting across the bed and reaching out for my phone on my nightstand. I groaned when I read the time. It was just after six.
"You should probably be getting to work," I told Matt over my shoulder. "It's a little after six. And I should…probably get ready and get back to dealing with the bullshit that is my life right now."
"Hey," he called from behind me.
I turned, seeing him sitting on my bed in just his black boxers, my sheets tangled up by his feet. His eyes still looked tired from just having abruptly woken and his hair was a tousled mess on his head–from sleep and from multiple rounds of sex the night before. There was a warm smile on his face as his sightless gaze landed along my chin.
"Come back here," he said gently, raising one of his arms.
A small smile spread on my lips as I scooted back across the bed to him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me between his legs. His arms remained hugging me around my waist as he playfully kissed at my neck. I laughed a little as he rubbed the stubble of his cheek against my skin next, intentionally trying to tickle and scratch me with it.
"I'm going to miss you today," he told me after a moment, a smile in his voice.
"Hopefully today will be the end of this," I said with a sigh.
I turned my head to the side and pecked his temple. Then I patted his muscular thighs that were trapping me between his legs.
"As much as I enjoy being in between your legs," I teased him, to which he playfully nipped at my neck, earning an amused giggle from me. "I really should go deal with reality."
"Maybe I'll see you tonight?" he asked hopefully. "When I get back from…my nightly activities?"
"If I'm here and alone, you're definitely welcome," I assured him. I gave his thigh a light smack as I said, "Now you should get back to doing the sexy lawyer thing."
One of his hands slid down my stomach and dipped below the fabric of my underwear, his fingertips grazing my clit. His mouth was suddenly on my neck, lightly sucking. I gasped in surprise at the sudden gesture.
"What're you doing?" I breathed out.
He pulled away from my neck, his fingers resting atop the sensitive spot, unmoving.
"Is this not the sexy lawyer thing?" he asked, feigning innocence.
I snorted in response as his hand slid out of my underwear.
"The other sexy lawyer thing," I told him, lightly slapping his thigh again. "Where you go help innocent people."
"Oh, you mean go to work," he teased. He placed a chaste kiss on my cheek. "Yeah, I probably should."
As I walked down the darkened hallway, I could make out the back of Trish's blonde head sitting at the desk. Standing beside her in a well tailored skirt and suit coat, with cropped dark hair, was another woman. I assumed Hogarth, the lawyer "friend" of Jessica's who was handling Hope's case, but I had yet to meet her.
When I got closer to the room, the two women turned towards me. Trish smiled a tired, strained smile while Hogarth raised a single, perfectly penciled brow as she eyed me.
"Hey, Trish," I greeted her before turning to the woman beside her. I extended my hand to her as I said, "You must be Jeri Hogarth. I'm–"
"Olivia Allen, yes," she said, briefly shaking my hand. "Jessica has filled me in on this whole… situation ."
Her eyes darted to the glass enclosure before us and mine reluctantly followed. Standing stock still a few feet from the glass was Kilgrave; his eyes were wide and pleading as he stared back at me. I noticed there was something he had smeared across the glass on his side, spelling out the words 'help me' in dark red. I glanced back at Trish, brows furrowed.
"That's not blood, right?" I asked her nervously.
"The fact that you have to ask that speaks volumes about what you're all asking me to take part in," Hogarth muttered behind me.
"No," Trish answered me, ignoring Hogarth. "Ketchup. From a burger Jessica got him last night."
My eyes slid back to the man behind the enclosure; he'd stepped forward beside the writing and had a hand pressed up against the glass. He was still eyeing me solemnly and I felt my stomach stir with guilt. I knew what he was thinking–he'd once saved me from a similar situation. And here I was, the reason he was trapped in his own glass cage.
I forced my eyes away, turning my back to him. The image of Ruben's bloody body in Jessica's bed came to my mind. Hope crying in handcuffs, tears pouring down her face as police led her to the back of the car, the blood of her parents splattered all over her winter coat. The haunted look on Jessica's face whenever she heard his name. The way Matt's hands nearly pulled off his mask to reveal himself, helpless to the commands. So many countless others who flashed before my eyes: strangers choking each other on the street; a man cutting off his fingers, one knuckle at a time; a Seattle police officer forced to shoot both of his kneecaps; a young woman forced to rip her own eyelashes out. And on and on it had gone, the countless people I'd witnessed him control and torture and torment and kill. So many more I'd never known.
No. He had put himself in there.
I blinked hard and turned my attention to the two women watching me silently.
"He's good at lip reading," I abruptly told them. "Just so you know. Better to talk where he can't see what you're saying." I turned to Trish, my back still to the glass cage. "How's Simpson?"
"Freakishly healed," she told me, sounding shocked herself. "He was blown up by Kilgrave last night and this morning he was already walking around the hospital room on his own."
My eyes narrowed at the information. Was he going to be an issue now?
"How the hell is that possible?" I asked her.
"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "He was adamant about seeing a Doctor Koslov, though."
"That doesn't sound sketchy at all," I said sarcastically.
"For what it's worth," Trish continued, "I'm sorry about what he tried to do to you. I had no idea he was that far gone. If I had known, I'd have done something. Said something."
"It's fine, it's not your fault," I assured her. "But I don't want him anywhere near here. I don't trust him."
At the sound of more footsteps, my eyes darted to the darkened hallway. Malcolm was heading towards us with an older gentleman beside him. The man looked uncomfortable.
"This is Detective Oscar Clemens," Malcolm called towards us as an introduction. "Jessica spoke with him last night. Convinced him to come here to witness what Kilgrave can do firsthand."
"I feel like I should be arresting the lot of you," he said nervously as he eyed Kilgrave behind me. "You've got a man held prisoner."
"You'll feel differently soon enough," Trish assured him.
Malcolm caught my eye and gestured for me to follow. I headed over, following him just a bit down the hallway before he stopped.
"She found his parents," he told me quietly. "They're outside."
My eyes widened in disbelief. "They're here?"
Malcolm nodded before continuing. "Jess said you might want to talk to them first? Before they come down here?"
"Yes, shit," I said excitedly. "I need to know what they did."
"They're just outside the main door from here," he said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "Hope they can help."
"Me too," I agreed.
I made my way back down the hall, taking a right and pushing open one of the metal doors. Jessica was standing there with an older couple. The man was white haired and on edge, and the woman with clearly dyed dark blonde hair, pulled forward in an attempt to hide the large burn on the left side of her face.
"Albert and Louise Thompson?" I asked them curiously, my eyes scanning between the two.
"Yes," the woman hesitantly answered.
"You're his parents? Kilgrave–I mean, Kevin's parents?" I clarified.
The older woman nodded, brushing some hair behind her ear nervously. I noticed the way her husband protectively wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her slightly behind him.
"So you made him what he is? With whatever experiments you were doing on him?" I asked next.
Louise shook her head forcefully at my words. "We didn't experiment on our Kevin. We loved him, very much. But he was sick."
"He had a neurodegenerative disease," Albert cut in defensively. "We were trying to find a cure for him. To save him. What happened to him was pure accident."
I shook my head quickly, uninterested in the particulars at this moment. "He told me you'd been injecting him with a virus? Is that true?"
Albert nodded. "Yes. Hydroimidazolone. It's an adeno-associated viral compound used for genetic brain disorders," he explained. "We gave him low doses over a period of time, hoping it would help target the disease he had, help his body to repair the damage. But instead it…it festered in there, increasing in his spinal cord. We did spinal taps to test, but…the virus was multiplying and mutating. It eventually didn't run its course."
I held up a hand, halting him. "Are you telling me," I asked carefully, "that Kilgrave's power is actually a virus ?"
"Yes," Albert answered simply.
" What ?" Jessica balked. "Are you serious?"
"So in theory, how does it work?" I questioned Albert. "His…voice infects people?"
"No, nothing like that," Albert answered quickly. "He emits the virus from his body, invisible to the eye. There's a distance, a particular range that it will spread, and out of that range one is not infected."
I rubbed a hand over my face, trying to let the new information sink in. "Okay, so hypothetically if he shouted down the street at me, or…someone else, because I'm immune," I began, noting the curious look on Albert's face at my admission, "he couldn't control them? Because it's not about hearing his voice exactly, it's about becoming infected with the virus?"
He nodded rapidly in response. "Yes, exactly. Once infected, you're susceptible to his commands from his voice for…twelve hours, I believe is what it was."
"Yeah, twelve hours," Jessica agreed flatly.
"So in theory, if you've been subjected to the virus, and it's within the twelve hour infection period, he could call you up and make you do things, couldn't he?" I asked him curiously.
"I–I suppose so, yes," Albert stuttered out.
I exchanged a look with Jessica.
"Well that's good to know but also fucking terrifying," she snapped.
My attention returned to Kilgrave's parents as I began to ask my final questions.
"So could one potentially grow an immunity of sorts to the virus? Maybe through prolonged exposure?" I pushed.
"I don't know," Albert confessed. "I would've had to study the virus further. Whatever is inside of him now is a mutated version."
"Wait," Jessica said, grabbing onto my shoulder. "You said you think I'm immune to him. You think it's because he kept me with him for months? I'd been subjected to his virus for an extended period of time?"
I shrugged. "Maybe. You're also super strong–maybe you have a super strong immune system. Who knows. Either way? My bet is on yes, you're immune. But the fact that he derives his ability from the spread of a virus is actually fucking great news."
Jessica's eyes narrowed suspiciously at me. "Why?" she asked.
"Because the other night, when he admitted what he'd been injected with was a virus, and not whatever I was injected with as a kid," I told her, ignoring the startled noises from Louise and Albert at my words, "I started to think…maybe his powers were linked to this virus? And I know that some viruses can remain, generally inactive, in a body for several years." A slow, triumphant smile spread across my face. "Jess, I told you when you met me I can heal, right? Minor injuries, colds, things like that."
It was a moment before realization dawned on Jessica's face. " Holy motherfuck ," she breathed out, her eyes widening. "You can heal the viral infection out of him? Make him powerless ?"
"In theory, yes," I told her, grinning. "I'd have to try, but I don't see why not. It shouldn't be a large infection on his body, I should be able to–figuratively–pluck it out of his body. And then boom–he's just a normal man."
Louise rushed over towards me, grabbing my hands tightly as she stared up at me. Her eyes were wide and hopeful.
"You can do that?" she asked. "You can give me my Kevin back?"
I shrugged. "I mean I can probably rid him of his powers, but I can't unmake the man he's become." Her face fell and a dark expression crossed over her as she nodded slowly. My focus drifted to Jessica who was grinning wickedly behind Louise. "But we need to prove his powers first. Somehow. I can't try to 'cure' him yet, otherwise Hope won't ever walk free."
"Alright," Jessica said, making her way towards the double doors. "Let's go prove this asshole can mind-control people."
I followed after her, Louise and Albert holding tightly to each other as we made our way down the hall. I saw Kilgrave dart from the cot in his enclosure, standing rigid and wide-eyed as his parents walked into the room just behind me.
"Are they the mad scientists?" Hogarth asked skeptically.
"All the tests they did on him were to save his life," Jessica told her. "He tortured them before they got away from him. Everything Kilgrave said was a lie."
I stood a few feet away from the desk, arms crossed over my chest as I watched Louise walk up to the glass, placing a hand on it. She let out a choked sob as she stared up at her son. I noticed Albert stiffened, keeping his distance as Kilgrave raised a hand on the opposite side of the glass, pressing it to Louise's.
"If things go bad, I flip this switch," Jessica told the couple, gesturing to the red button on the table. "Everyone goes down and we pull you out. You won't feel a thing."
"What if you're not fast enough?" Albert questioned, terror in his eyes.
"Don't worry, I'm fast enough," Jessica assured him.
"It's not worth the risk, we need to find another way," Hogarth cut in.
"I'm going in, Albert," Louise said, turning away from the glass to look at him. "He's our responsibility," she said. She turned back to where her hand was connected with Kilgrave's through the glass. "He's our son."
"Okay no, this is going too far," Clemens spoke up, reaching for his gun and drawing it at Jessica. "Hands above your head."
Jessica rolled her eyes and glanced behind him at Trish. "Little help?"
Trish pulled a gun from her purse, a revolver, and pointed it at Clemens. The man's eyes went wide and I saw Hogarth pinch the bridge of her nose.
"Are you insane?" Hogarth snapped.
"Drop the gun," Trish told the detective. "We don't want to hurt anyone."
Slowly, Clemens lowered his gun to the ground. Jessica stepped forward and kicked it aside before pulling out the handcuffs from inside Clemens' jacket pocket. She quickly cuffed the man to an exposed pipe.
"Why don't you just cuff me too?" Hogarth quipped. "Because I'm about to call 911."
"Then I'll make sure to tell them you're an accomplice to kidnapping," Jessica snapped back at her over her shoulder. She turned back to Clemens and ordered, "Keep your eyes on the man in that cell. Your testimony is going to put him away."
She turned towards Louise and Albert and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. This didn't feel right, it didn't feel safe. The way Kilgrave was staring at his parents had me on edge. I knew how much he hated them.
"Let's give him something to witness," she told them before leading them towards the first door of the enclosure.
"Maybe we shouldn't let them in there," I spoke up.
Jessica paused, eyeing me curiously. "I thought you wanted to help me prove his powers?"
"I do, but…I don't trust him. Not with them," I said, gesturing to his parents. "He hates them. This seems dangerous."
Louise met my gaze with her own resigned stare. "I'm going in there with my son."
I turned my gaze to my feet, shaking my head. I couldn't help the sick feeling roiling in my stomach, but I also couldn't force her to not go inside if she chose to. Hopefully Jessica would be fast enough with that button.
It was a few minutes before she had gotten the pair into his cell, securely closing the two doors behind herself on her way out of the room. She rushed back over to the table and took a seat, flipping a switch for the intercom before her hand hovered over the large red button. Trish had turned on the camera on a tripod, pointing it so it was focused inside the cell. I could feel the thick tension in the air as I stood beside Malcolm, arms hugging myself tightly.
Louise and Albert waded their way through the water towards Kilgrave who stood at the far end of the cell. He stared at them silent and unblinking.
"Hello, Kevin," Louise said after a moment, a soft smile on her face.
It was a moment where Kilgrave's eyes shifted between the two before he spoke.
"Mom? Dad?" he asked, voice filled with sudden emotion.
My eyes narrowed into slits and I took a step closer towards the glass. That emotion was fake, I could feel it. Kilgrave loathed his parents; I could tell from the way he had spoken about them just yesterday. I'd heard it in his voice for the nearly two years I'd spent with him. He was faking it, biding his time and lowering their guard, but the question was for what?
Louise stood there nervously, eyeing her son before her. I could see the fear just under the surface on her face. She swallowed hard before she spoke again.
"Have they been giving you enough to eat?" she asked tentatively.
The moment the question left her mouth, I saw the faintest twitch in his eyes. I stepped forward and clamped a rough hand on Jessica's shoulder. She stiffened under my touch.
"Have they…" Kilgrave began, trailing off. He burst into a harsh laugh, the sound raising the hair on the back of my neck. "You might as well have asked who fed me while I was ten. Or fourteen. Or twenty-five. You never cared then."
"Kevin, sweetie–" Louise tried.
"I used to wonder if you thought about me growing up," he continued, cutting her off. "Begging for scraps like a dog . Or if you worried when I got sick. Or when I was scared. I was all alone, mum."
"Jessica, this doesn't feel right," I whispered quickly. "Get them out."
"I can't," she hissed back. "He hasn't done anything we can use yet."
"You know how I survived?" Kilgrave continued, glaring at his parents. "I had to make people feed me. And shelter me. And care for me. That's how I learned to survive."
"Bollocks, Kevin!" Albert snapped. "You always knew how to give orders!"
Kilgrave's dark eyes rose, landing on Albert who was standing just behind Louise. My hand gripped Jessica's shoulder tighter.
"You told us when to eat, when to sleep, when to piss!" Albert shot at him.
"No!" Louise shouted, rounding on her husband. "Albert, stop."
"Oh dad, I've changed," Kilgrave said, his voice dangerously low. His eyes darted out behind the glass at me and I cringed. "Olivia taught me to help people. I saved children," he told him, turning back to them. "I wondered if that would make you proud of me."
"Of course we're proud of you Kevin," Louise told him. "We love you."
Rage contorted his face, turning it red as he unleashed his words in a scream that caused everyone to jump.
"THEN WHY DID YOU LEAVE?"
I swallowed hard; this wasn't going in a good direction, but Jessica's hand remained hovering an inch above the red button, ready and waiting.
"Your mother almost died after what you did to her!" Albert snapped back.
"I was ten!" Kilgrave shouted. "I had a tantrum like a normal child! I didn't know what I was doing! You didn't explain it to me, you just left!"
Louise slowly walked closer to her son, her hands nervously fidgeting in front of her.
"We made a mistake," she admitted. "I promise, I will never leave you again."
"Louise!" Albert called sharply from behind her. "Remember what he did to you!"
"He's our son, Albert," she answered back, her eyes still glued to Kilgrave.
She raised her hands to try to pull him into a hug, but he shied away from her at the gesture. Louise tried again, holding her hands out towards him until his own hands finally lowered. He allowed her to hold his face between her hands, gently stroking him affectionately. I watched as his hand raised, brushing the burn across the left side of her face.
"I'm sorry I hurt you, mum," he whispered.
Louise cried out and pulled him into a hug. I heard Clemens sigh behind us.
"Release me now and I'll overlook what happened," he told us. "I'll call it resisting arrest."
"It's not over yet," Jessica whispered.
I could tell she was feeling what I was feeling, too. Something wasn't right.
"I am so sorry," Louise said.
Something about her tone caught my attention; I saw her arm moving and then suddenly Kilgrave was screaming. Louise had pulled scissors from her pocket and stabbed him in the shoulder, red liquid spraying everywhere. He ripped the scissors from his shoulder with a snarl and tossed them to the floor at his feet.
"Get them out, now!" Malcolm shouted.
Jessica shook her head. "Not yet, we need him to do something."
"Jessica," I hissed her name. "This isn't safe."
"Mum, pick up the scissors," Kilgrave ordered.
" No ," Albert growled.
"Stay there, dad," Kilgrave snapped, his gaze still focused on Louise. "Take note."
Louise slowly bent down into the bloodied water, her hand momentarily dipping under it. She rose, pulling the scissors that Kilgrave had dropped up with her, her hand visibly shaking.
"She did it," Jessica pointed out quickly. "She picked up the scissors. The camera got it."
"She did what?" Clemens asked.
Trish was shaking her head rapidly. "Clemens didn't see, it's not enough."
My jaw clenched tight; this was dangerous. He was going to kill them.
" Jess ," I hissed.
"Pull them out now!" Hogarth roared.
Inside the cell, oblivious to our conversation, Kilgrave continued. His eyes were deadlocked on his mother as he spoke.
"For every year that you left me alone," he ordered, "stab yourself."
"Got him," Jessica said, slamming her hand on the switch as Louise pointed the scissors at herself.
Nothing happened. She slammed the switch three times more but nothing happened. A spark sizzled out from the wires and my eyes went wide as I heard the first stab. And then another.
"Everybody out!" Jessica shrieked.
Chaos erupted as Trish began to usher everyone out to safety. I bolted to the enclosure door, spinning the wheel to unlock the first one before bolting inside to open the next. Jessica was right beside me as I moved, working as fast as we could. Bile rose in the back of my throat, threatening to spill forth. I forced myself to focus on the task, ignoring everything else.
Louise had already dropped into the water lifeless before I'd finished turning the wheel to unlock the second door. I could hear Albert pleading as he picked the scissors up out of his dead wife's hands. Bullets were flying at the glass now; a moment later it shattered just as Jessica and I got the door open. I watched as one of the bullets from Trish's gun landed in Kilgrave's shoulder and he shrieked in pain.
"Cut your heart out, dad!" Kilgrave growled before rounding on Trish, stepping out through the broken window. "Put a bullet in your head, Patsy," he ordered Trish before bolting past. "Follow me detective," he ordered Clemens as he continued on his way out.
Jessica latched onto Albert, fighting with him for the scissors, but I turned to follow after Kilgrave. Trish thankfully had already emptied the chamber of her revolver as I stepped out of the room after Kilgrave, but she kept trying in vain to pull the trigger to shoot herself in the head with the empty gun. Clemens was struggling to get his hand out of the handcuffs, breaking his thumb in the process.
"Shit," I grumbled, my eyes pausing on the detective.
Kilgrave will have to wait. I need to help them.
I closed my eyes, feeling the familiar buzz of energy vibrating in my skull. When I opened them again, I turned towards Clemens.
"Stop trying to follow him," I ordered, my voice a metallic, strange sound as it left me. Clemens stopped his struggling and stared up at me wide-eyed.
I turned my attention to Trish next as she kept pulling the trigger over and over, crying. "Put the gun down and stop trying to shoot yourself," I ordered her.
She immediately dropped the gun, staring up at me, panting heavily. My gaze turned to Albert who was twisting and fighting Jessica to get the scissors still, water splashing as they struggled.
"Stop trying to cut your heart out, Albert," I ordered.
His struggling immediately stopped and he crawled over to Louise, letting out a choked sob. I turned, bolting down the hallway and sprinting after Kilgrave. I pushed past the few doors to the alleyway and stopped, spinning in circles. The alley was empty.
Jessica pushed through the door a moment later, frantically searching around.
"He's gone," I breathed out. "How the fuck did he leave?"
Jessica exchanged a look with me. "Fucking Hogarth, that's how."
"God fucking dammit," I growled, rubbing at my temples.
"You good?" she asked after a moment, breathing hard. She gestured up at my nose. "You're bleeding."
My hand darted down, swiping at the liquid above my lip. I pulled it away and saw the red.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled back. "It's not a big deal. We just need to find him and end this."