Chapter 1
It was dark. It was dark and it was cold and it was quiet. It was so quiet save for the sound of chains hitting concrete....somewhere, somewhere close. Her body was sore. It felt like she had attended one of the Bellweather unit’s famous parties and-
The Bellweather unit...
Raelle…
RAELLE
Scylla jolted awake, her eyes squinting against the sudden brightness of the room she was in. She reached up to shield them but found she couldn’t. Her arms were restricted. The chains, they were hers. Scylla was no stranger to chains. In fact, it seemed they were becoming something of an old friend to her, a constant in the ever-changing landscape of her life as sad as it sounds . The issue was, however, that she usually knew how and more importantly why she was in them, but she had no recollection of any of it. Not of being caught, or shackled, or of-
Cold panic settled in as she looked around the cell, hoping to find arguably the most important piece of this very confusing puzzle, hoping to find-
“Welcome back”
Scylla’s head snapped to the side, her eyes finally adjusting to the light and spotting the figure curled into the corner adjacent her own. A warm wave of relief rushed through her as blonde locks and a pair of the bluest eyes she’d ever seen stared back at her.
Raelle.
“Bout time you woke up, starin’ at these walls was startin’ to get kinda borin’”
Scylla struggled to find her voice. It was a painful process as her throat was dry and irritated from disuse but she had questions, a lot of them.
“H-how-”
“Dunno, woke up about thirty minutes before you did. Haven’t heard a peep since. Figured it may have been your Spree pals so I elected to wait till you woke up to see what it was all about,” Scylla winced, the jab landing, “but,” Raelle continued, “considerin’ the look on your face right now I’m guessin’ you’re not actually in on this one...then again...maybe you’re just playin’ me again, we both know you’re good at that.”
Scylla couldn’t see the expression on Raelle’s face beyond the lights but she imagined it was the same she had been getting from the fixer ever since her return to Fort Salem. The army and the spree had elected to set aside their differences and come together for the sake of fighting their ancient enemy, The Camarilla, and, as a show of good faith and rainbow kisses all around Alder had so graciously opened her doors to the Spree, allowing a number of them on base to live, eat, and train among their future comrades.
Not to say Scylla had really expected the warmest of welcomes, she knew she didn’t deserve one, but there was this traitorous part of her heart that thought, well... hoped really, that Raelle would be as relieved to see her as she was the fixer. To be fair, at first, she was. Scylla remembers the first time their eyes met across one of Alder’s war rooms, Raelle looked like the air had been sucked out of the room. Like everyone else had disappeared and there was only them. Like she was feeling that same deep emotion that captivated Scylla’s mind and heart on her best days and on her worst.
The moment lasted all of three seconds before whatever relief or affection that had sprung forth in Raelle was quickly snuffed out and hidden behind hardened eyes and cold exterior. Scylla knew that was all she would get, that it was more than she deserved, yet, she could help but feel a pang in her chest everytime she crossed paths with Raelle and would look into her eyes, the eyes that had promised to be there for Scylla no matter what, eyes that promised love, and hope, and home, that now held nothing but pure ice.
“Rae-Raelle,” she corrected, unsure if she was allowed the nickname anymore, “I had nothing to do with this. The Spree didn’t either this has to be someone else I-”
Before she could finish, or be interrupted by what was no doubt a disbelieving remark from Raelle the sound of footsteps approached. Boots by the sound of them and they were heading straight for their cell.
Hige metal doors Scylla hadn’t even noticed were there before slid open to reveal 2 men, easily twice her size followed by a smaller, slender woman. The guys were obviously muscle Scylla reasoned. Barring a command or any direct action from them they were no threat yet so she elected to focus her attention on the woman.
“Ah you’re awake,” she drawled, “I do hope your accommodations are to your liking”
“Oh well the decor leaves a little to be desired but I do quite enjoy the chains, very...” she paused, shifting her arms for emphasis, “medieval chic?” she smirked. Her features immediately contorting as an electric shock ran up her spine and through her body. She clenched her teeth together as hard as she could, the pain in her jaw nothing compared to the one in her body as she willed herself to not make a sound. She couldn’t give them the satisfaction.
Soon enough the pain stopped and she sagged forward, her breaths coming in pants as her body recovered from the ordeal.
“Well,” the lady in the lab coat, “now that we have that out of our system let’s get to the matter at hand shall we?” she looked pointedly at Scylla as she said so. Still recovering from her first dose of electricity the brunette opted for a heated glare but kept her mouth shut.
“You ladies have a unique opportunity here,” she began, “you get to help us save the world.”
“Oh yeah?” Raelle spoke up, “and how exactly would we do that?” she asked, ignoring deep blue eyes that were peering up at her with concern in their depths.
The lab coat lady’s face lit up like a kid on Christmas at the question. It was getting kind of creepy the longer Raelle stared. Scylla would agree if she weren’t still gasping for air.
How much electricity did they use on her? Raelle wondered, never taking her eyes off the trio before her.
“You ladies get to help us finally rid this world of witches, forever.”