The Center of Inquisition: Vivian's Tale
The entire world had gone so horribly wrong.
Ever since the car ride, whenever she was awake, she was crying, even if just a little. That sob was always in the back of Vivian's throat now, seeming to have resurfaced from last year back in High School. Reality was shattered and there was nothing that she could do to fix it. That's what was driving her off the walls, and Vivian Constantine realized that she was barely holding herself together.
The police car was bad enough. Vivian had never seen anyone arrested, let alone what the inside of one of the things looked like. Texas was not a place that took crime lightly, and was reknowned in the US as the state with the most death sentences carried out than any other. After they'd pulled away from the house, she had re-awakened to find herself handcuffed. The Constantine sister had no idea where they'd gone, somewhere into deeper Houston most likely, but that did not keep her from trying. She pleaded with the officers that she'd done nothing wrong, that she didn't even know anything. For the second time that day, she cried unto faces of stone. They didn't care. They were doing thier job, and she was a package, it was blatantly clear. She hadn't even been read her rights. After about fifteen minutes of pleading, she fell back against the hard seat, exhausted, watching the faces of her captors through the bars of the squad car.
Evening fell, and the car pulled to a stop outside a police barracks. Both HPD officers got out and pulled the eighteen year old from the cruiser like she was a criminal. She caught her own reflection in the windows as she was being pushed in the front door of the barracks. Her eyeliner had begun to run from all the crying she'd been doing.
It would only get worse, she would find out.
The officers led her through the semi-crowded police station. The walk was not a plesant one. Questioning eyes fell on her, causing her own to dart away. Older men, scary ones eyed, her for much longer than she would have liked. Her only saving grace was that the officers kept her moving at a brisk pace that didn't give many chances to do anything more than whistle at her. She got a few of those. They sent very negative chills down her spine.
Vivian's path came to a small, nondescript room, looking like an office of some type from the outside. Eeirly wordlessly, the two HPD cops opened the door for her, lightly pushed her inside, and closed it behind her. The Life Elemental gave a look around, still handcuffed. It was empty of people, with a small desk with four chairs being the only furnature of the small enclosure. She realized it was just that, too. An enclosure. The office had no windows of any type, and Vivian had recognized the small sealing noise the door had made when it closed from her exploits on a soundstage. Soundproof. Quickly, scared green eyes checked the corners of the ceiling for cameras and found none. That still didn't mean that there weren't any there, she reminded herself.
Who cared, anyways?
In the space of one day, her whole world had completely broken, and Vivian couldn't hold on anymore. She moved over to the desk and let herself fall into a chair. She was crying before her cheek hit the table. It was uncomfortable, due to her hands being stuck behind her back, and that little realization caused the tears to come on more. Right there, the Constantine sister let it all go, sobbing where she sat. Everything was gone. Her school, her friends, her parents, her brother... both of them. Now, Vivian was in the place that she most did not want to be in, alone. Throughout her whole life, she'd worked to surround herself with friends and people who she could confide in, to go to for help, should she ever really need it. Even if all of those failed, Aiden would be there for her, she knew. But where was he now?
Her sobbing ceased. Aiden. Where was he? The last thing that she'd seen was him struggling with the police and that black aura around him again. Green eyes stared dully across the room, her own anguish temporarily extinguished with worry over her sibling. She did not have much time to focus on the subject, however.
A warm cheek pulled off of the cold table as Vivian heard the noise of men approaching her little room. She could barely make out anything they were saying, but they were talking in low, proffessional tones.
When they opened the door, they met Vivian's infamous rebellious stare, tangled red-brown strands falling a bit over her eyes, seeming to be a family trait.
The trademark look didn't seem to have much of an effect. In fact, the three men that walked into the room did not seem to possess emotions at all. Suits, all of them, and ironicly they all wore the same one. All of them nondescript males of about the same age and height. Completely unremarkable to look at... and Vivian guessed that was probably the point. Her look faltered very quickly, and two of the men moved to opposite corners in the room while one, apparently the leader, moved to sit across the table from her.
He did so silently, which was unnerving for Vivian. There were so many questions she needed answered, but she had access to none of them. The eighteen year old sat back in her chair as best she could with hands cuffed behind her back, and she waited. Finally, after what seemed to be like forever, he spoke. His voice was monotone, yet very soft.
"Where would he go?"
The Constantine sister stared blankly for a moment, thin eyebrows furrowing with confusion, "Where would who go?"
"Your brother. He's killed two HPD officers and is currently evading capture." Blunt. Painful.
Her mind reeled, "What?! He.. He wouldn't! It's not his fault! He can't stop himself fro-" Quickly, Vivian cut off her own words. The pretty face slowly turned from one of panic to suspicion, "Why did the police raid our house...? And what am I doing here? Am I being charged?"
The expressionless face displayed nothing, "Animals can't be charged."
This set Vivian back on her heels, almost literally. Subconsiously, she pushed herself back in the chair, as far as she could to distance herself from the man on the other side of the table, "...What?"
"Just tell us where he is, or where he would have gone, and this will go much easier on you."
Defiant eyes glared back at the suit across from her. Constantine said nothing.
"Friends that he would have gone to. Relatives. Any place he felt connected to. Should you decide to not assist us in the capture of a dangerous mutant, you as one yourself, will be brought unto the full force of the law, Miss Constantine, and I assure you that it will not be a pleasant experience..."
His voice had broke with the slightest hints of rage and irritation, and that scared Vivian more than a little. What did so worse, however, was the fact that they knew. How?!
The question must have shown blatantly apparent on her face. The suit across from her gave the smallest of smiles and glanced down at the table between them.
In the wood of the table, a patch of moss and a few shootlings had sprouted from the very place her tears had fallen.
Vivian's face began to mold into one of resolve, "Go to hell, you-"
The resolve broke as the man suddenly lunged over the table at her, something black in his hand. Her sentence ended in more of a squeek than the proud statement she'd intended, but again, her world went upside down as a black bag was drawn over her head and tightened.
Over the next day, Vivian Constantine found herself decending into her hell.
She remembered a plane ride. It was long and uncomfortable, the handcuffs from Texas never having been removed. The climate had gotten colder, and her cell was not temperature treated, so she felt it acutely. Her choice of a black tank top and ripped up jeans was not the best for the chilly weather, but then again she had hardly planned on being abducted.
When she exited the plane, she recognized the sights and sounds of New York City well enough to make the connection. Another car ride brought her to a place she realized she dearly did not want to go, even if she did not understand the title.
The Center of Inquisition.
The undertones brought her back to the Spanish Inquisition. Christian men tortured others of different faiths into confessing their sins and eventually melding into Christianity, while countless died for no reason. As the men pushed her through the doors, Vivian realized that she was shaking like a leaf.
Hours passed. Needles were thrust into her bare, and previously smooth arms, taking blood samples for who knows what. A metal collar was slapped around her neck painfully and then tightened, her quickly realizing what it was for. Power suppression. Already she felt a little less energetic, less spirited... less hopeful. Vivian was led down a series of halls, different examinations from every conceivable type, from a forceful and frightening eye scan to things much more private which left the eighteen year old girl sobbing, being dragged from testing room to testing room by two armed guards. She was a piece of meat to them, and it was made blatantly clear.
The rest of the day became a blurr. In the windows, she imagined that the look of running eyeliner would stay a look for her for a very long time, but abruptly, it all ended when she thought it would just continue forever.
She heard a click and then felt the handcuffs unlock, freeing her sore wrists from the confinement they'd dealt with for at least a day straight. Viv didn't have the chance to savor it, however, as she was shoved into yet another room. Frightened green eyes glancing about, she guessed that she would get to know this place well.
A cell. It was obvious. Four ratty mattress beds, and a toilet accompanied by a single lightbulb in the ceiling that flashed occasionally. Huddled in one of the beds was a red-headed girl that seemed to be unconscious, probably sleeping off the trauma the men here had put her through.
It suddenly occurred to Vivian that wouldn't be such a terrible idea.
Nearly crawling, her limbs so tired from the muscle-reaction tests that had sent shocks of lightning through her, the Constantine sister fell onto one of the beds, finally able to wipe the makeup from her cheeks. Thin arms, now lined with needle tracks, hugged a pillow for all the strength she had left. The world was over and she was in Hell. Again, the girl broke down, only having one thought in her mind, repeating it like a mantra.
For an intangible mutant one would think that wraith like ability was more then enough to keep anyone safe. It wasn’t, not when the enemy knew how to deal with mutants and their pesky powers. And it was Claire’s powers along that had forced her to become a target of the ones whom now held not only her, but any number of other captives, including the new arrival. Something big was happening, something that the residents in the hidden away sublevel town of Sleepy Hollow were part of, and due to their restricted lifestyles and the very secrecy of their existence, all the mutants had to be collared before being released on their mission. While everyone was under the impression there was a war going on and that their skills were needed to subdue rebellious mutants trying to over power the government, the truth was that Agamemnon was letting loose a group of genetically altered or created mutants that they didn’t want to lose or lose control of. Being intangible, as Claire was, meant that she could easily phase free from her collar, and if that was done, and the corporation lost control of the wilful young woman, than their bases in Mount Pleasant, so ironically placed, would be at serious risk.
The medical facilities of Mount Pleasant that were run by Agamemnon were needed to remain as highly valued as they were now, no one could start getting doubts because that’d mean that all the plans being set into motion over the last few decades would all come crashing down. Professor Mantra Hymn wouldn’t tolerate any of her precious subjects getting harmed, and being such a prominent doctor in A.Corp’s facilities up in Mount Pleasant meant that even the higher ranks of Workers, such as Cole Turner himself, tried to keep to Professor Hymn’s wishes. As long as Claire was kept away from the city streets, and locked in the cell instead of getting dragged around too much by the other less respectable workers, it meant that she was safer from harm. If escape was attempted however there was little tolerance towards such behaviour and if it meant Cole would get a head ache from Professor Hymn’s prattling of mistreatment, he’d tolerate it… He’d rather a headache then the project they’ve poured billions of dollars into suddenly flopping due to exposure or a spread of suspicious minds.
Two young woman, both now trapped within the walls, both in a world of which neither had any grasp of control, both missing and wanting their cherished loved ones to come and find them, to hope against hope that such a miracle was possible. Though Claire didn’t realize how alike in some ways they were, as the shuffling feet tugged the red head from her light slumber, though regardless of how alike they were in this moment, their lives were anything but similar. Slender fingers brushed against Claire’s face, gently moving a strand of her fiery locks aside to allow amber eyes to cast their gaze over to the other girl, who drew Claire’s attention easily as the others body was wrecked with sobs. Dry lips pressed weakly together, hunger having sapped a lot of energy from Claire, thirst managing to take the rest of what was left after her ordeal with the earlier lab checkups.
Thick lashes closed slightly, eyes so dark now that there was little light to give them their mischievous shine, yet the impish nature wasn’t so hard to hide, even in her state there was something playful about her, something about the way her lips managed to find the strength to curve enough to form a impish smile.
"Hey," The voice was smooth, silken like the skin of which graced her body, long legs bare from the thighs does tried to shift their position, though the gentle rattle of restraints could be heard clunking as the cuffs about her ankles gave very little room for movement. Hands remained free, but legs were cuffed together to allow Claire to be hauled about with ease, the young woman knew how to defend herself and while she may not be an expert she knew enough to warrant the added touch. At least she could be glade that they only clasped between her ankles and didn’t chain her to any wall. "Don’t give them the satisfaction." The words were soft, the smile keeping them warm even as the hidden anger drove the words from her often tempting lips. No one deserved to be treated like this, and no girl deserved to be sobbing on the cold hard flood in a dank place without any comfort. While part of Claire found herself clinging to the fact she was no longer alone, another part mourned the fact that this girl had to share whatever it was that they were getting put through. It was too hard to sit up, too useless an act to bother anyway, for now laying down was nice… her body hurt and the pain itself was strange, the chemicals in her system forcing the mutant gene she grew up with to be shut off, tearing Claire from the world she knew, where anything and everything was tangible to her will. Now it was all hard and unforgiving, all solid and merciless, and everything was colder then the damn stone the old mattresses laid upon.
"What’s your name…?" there were a lot of people Claire hadn’t seen before, but there were also a few she had, and when it came to security it was common for the workers to change over and shift and for new faces to appear here and there, even in their reclusive community. However children were the only new faces that ever came to the Hollow, usually recently born infants, and rarely older then five or six. Was the girl from another town nearby? Not that Claire knew where they were… she just assumed that they were around Mount Pleasant still, she wasn’t sure what else existed outside the area, she never realized how little she knew about places further away from her home, she never really cared before.
Re: The Center of Inquisition: Vivian's Tale
She had nearly forgotten that there was someone else in the room.
Vivian Constantine was temporarily lost in her own little world, in which every sense of life had been snuffed out completely. Everyone she cared about was gone from her, torn from her quivering arms. Her life was ended. The social life of an eighteen year old was ended in a blink, all her friends and family erased from the world like it was a meticulously written computer document that someone had decided to casually highlight and press [delete].
The complete disregard for everything that she was made the girl's hands come over her eyes, trying to keep her makeup from running any more. Her whole body fell into the sobs, her back rising between breaths, looking like she was convulsing in pain. She might as well have been.
As the sense of loss turned to anger, as it always did with human emotions, the fingers covering her eyes clawed through her already tangled hair. White teeth revealed themselves from behind pouty lips as the girl roared silently, all her muscles stiffening as she curled herself into the fetal position. Aiden! David! Her parents! Why did life have to be SO cruel?! What did she do to deserve any of this?! It wasn't like she had asked to be born this way!!
With that thought, white fingernails came down to the metal collar about her neck. It was thick and heavy, applied too tightly and uncomfortable. Furthermore, it felt like everything that Vivian hated. Not only was the technology inhibiting her mutant powers, causing her to feel less energetic and keeping her aura at bay, it had a profound psychological effect. Collars went on animals, as before, the agent at the police station had referenced. She wasn't a person now, with this thing on. She was a beast that could be prodded with needles and swabs, something that could cry and beg, and those performing the test would not see pain... they would see the chemical reaction behind the tears. She wasn't real anymore. Nothing was. Vivian tried to slip her slender fingers beneath the metal, but it constricted her neck entirely too much, keeping her from breathing. She lay there a long time, however, fighting against the tides of sorrow and spite with her cheek on the ratty mattress.
"Hey,"
A girl's voice... Oh! The redhead must have woken up. Made perfect sense... She had to be making a ruckus...
"Don’t give them the satisfaction."
Vivian half turned. A watery eye gazed out from between flowing locks of the mop of brown-red that had covered the whole of her head. What she saw was a woman who she thought was quite pretty. Her red hair was matted from lack of care, but that hardly held back her appearance. The most striking thing Vivian did notice, however, was her cuffed ankles. A fearful eye looked her over quickly, wondering what she'd done to achieve that level of containment. The more Vivian thought on it, though, the more she approved. This lady had probably rebelled, and gained the restraints from that. The Constantine girl only approved. The woman's words only reinforced this idea, and Vivian found herself sitting up on the bed. She curled her knees to her chin, the rips in the knees of her jeans opening wider, revealing pale white skin beneath.
"What’s your name…?"
The momentary fear of interaction was taken away from Constantine, and she sympathized with the woman across from her instantly. The rest of the world had been taken away from her...
"....Vivian... Her voice was still cracked with sobs, almost a squeak.
Re: The Center of Inquisition: Vivian's Tale"....Vivian..." The girl was young, younger then Claire though age held no boundries inside these walls. Pain was pain and the only difference here was that this was the first form of physical pain Claire had ever suffered. Though she was stubborn, stubborn and wild, a free spirit who did as she pleased without stepping over others in the process. Happiness was important, so was one's ability to identify with themselves and have other people know them for who they were, and with the world such a judgemental place it was always hard proving to everyone that you weren't all that bad a person.
Suddenly the world had become so much bigger and so very strange and cold to Claire. The small cell was just a part of the alien city she had seen outside, none of this was familiar and none of it made any sense. It seemed however, that this was not only a plight she must suffer alone, and growing up in a household who's occupants caused a lot of contraversy and disapprovement, Claire knew how to hold her own and she knew how to keep her pain hidden inside herself.
"That's a pretty name." It wasn't said because Vivian was younger, but just because Claire liked names, she always dreamed of names for children she was never sure she'd have. The kind of woman who was more likely to adopt then anything else, though there was still that drive for motherhood creeping up on the partygirl, a drive she still managed to ignore well enough.
"I'm Claire, Claire Voyant, a Mantra of the Hollow." To her, this made perfect sense, and was what everone else who has ever drawn a single breath would know. Like the name of the city you live with and the dominant race of people who lived within it. The way she said it so casually would indicate this thought of an obvious statement just made. Her dry voice tried not to sound so harsh, or break off during mid talk, her words softer then before. Bruised wrists were seen as Claire moved to brush aside some fridge that fell across her eyes as she speak. "Do you know why they brought you here?" Usually Mantra, Mechanite and Merchanite weren't really permitted to mingle so Claire just assumed likely the girl was to be a Mantra as well, unaware of how different their live styles had been.
Re: The Center of Inquisition: Vivian's Tale "I'm Claire, Claire Voyant, a Mantra of the Hollow."
The pale eyed girl rose from her flat mattress to a sitting position, pushing the mess of hair away from her face, revealing it for the first time to her new cellmate. The mascara had still run down her cheeks, but it was beginning to dry and fade, leaving exposed a girl that had gone through entirely too much in the last forty eight hours. Sadness was born on her face like it had always been there. The Constantine sister did not resemble at all what she had been on the outside. Before she had been confidant and proud, blazing her own trail in a world that was terribly different than she, in more ways than one. The Mutant X gene hadn’t changed her, despite the fact it had entirely changed her species. She had become one of the frightening Mutants, those that were looked down upon, feared, and mistrusted, and that still had not changed her.
Mankind had.
Cruel humanity had grabbed her and her brother and thrown them in different directions, her falling into an experimental vat of pain and anguish. She had been humiliated, and her entire life had been taken away from her. There felt like there was nothing left of who she was or what she wanted to be in life… She didn’t even know if she would get out of this cell alive.
“Do you know why they brought you here?”
The woman was talking to her to try to calm her down. At least she was being nice to her. It was more than she could say for anyone else in this facility. Vivian ran her hands through her hair, trying to de-tangle it as best she could. It was a hopeless process without a brush, but she at least kept herself happy with the marginal results.
“I’m a mutant… So’s my brother…” This was spoken with a nonchalant tone, a hint of sarcasm from the old Vivian returning. Maybe she wasn’t completely gone, just buried by confusion and sadness. She would like to think as much.
“..I make things grow… and… I think he makes things die. They wanted to know where he is… I didn’t know… and they brought me here… to New York…”
By the end of this, a whimper had entered her tone, her voice choking. Her eyes lowered again, staring at the end of her shoddy bed. She couldn’t talk anymore, Constantine’s fists clenching at her sides as she tried as hard as she could to keep herself from crying again.
Re: The Center of Inquisition: Vivian's Tale“I’m a mutant… So’s my brother…” As far as Claire was concerned stating your a mutant wasn't really needed.. unless you weren't one, then stating you were human was something that would take her by surprise. She'd never seen a human up close before, though it was rumored some of the guards weren't mutants, but most didn't believe that, and none ever tried to find out for themselves, not even Claire.
“..I make things grow… and… I think he makes things die. They wanted to know where he is… I didn’t know… and they brought me here… to New York…” New York? Thick lashes widened slightly, while Claire wasn't ages from her home in Mount Pleasant, she wasn't right next to it either. New York city was like a place she heard in a story once, but never really put much thought into it. However concerns of where she was were swept aside as Vivian's strength seemed to crack once again. Make things grow... Claire thought for a moment, it didn't sound at all like something a Mechanite would be capable of, which left her as either a Mantra or Merchanite. There was a definite use for growing abilities is places like plant nurseries or such, so it was hard to guess... but Claire took comfort in considering the girl more related to Claire's class of Mantra then any of the others.
"They took me from my sisters." Claire confided openly to the girl, a sense of strength forced into her voice because Claire wouldn't let these people see her scared. "I think it had something to do with the collars they had everyone wear... I'm usually able to phase through everything, when they gave me the collar I accidently phased out of it." When you grew up not needing to worry about walking through a door to get from one room to another it was easy to slip and keep to the habit even after being told to be careful.
"They did some real funky stuff, which ended with me not being able to use my powers, one of the needles they give everyone here seems to stop them from using their abilities." Informed the slightly older woman, who drew her legs towards her front as best as possible, though the red heads body felt stiff and the solid state was something she was seriously not used to being in for so long. "I've never been outside of the Hollow before... gotta say, the accomidations they offer out here plain old suck." There was a pause as Claire tried to get herself slightly more comfortable. "And don't even get me started on the gruel they serve us."
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