Epilog
When you live in the same household with other people, you are able to identify them later by their steps. Some people walk quickly and quietly, others stomp. Others walk slowly. The people Amanda spent the most time with, she could identify by their steps at any time. Tony walked confidently and often wore higher heels, so he made a lot of noise. Ruby, on the other hand, had the light step of a dancer.
But now neither Ruby's nor Tony's footsteps echoed through the room. Still, Amanda knew them. They were quiet, stealthy and, in their own way, creepy. She was sure the person they belonged to was creepy to look at too. At least, that's how she imagined him to be.
Amanda shivered. It wasn't fear, it wasn't coldness. She was just exhausted. The SHIELD scientists had done a really good job on her, pushing her to the point of exhaustion. She could barely sit up straight. She was in her cell, hands clasped in her lap, breathing deeply. When the footsteps sounded, she straightened up.
She was like a dart frog. She'd been telling herself that ever since she'd found out what a monster she'd become. It was easier. She remembered pictures of dart frogs, they were beautiful and colorful. When she told herself she was a dart frog, it was easier to bear. Unfortunately, she also had the qualities of them, so the scientists used the same method on her as the rainforest natives.
The natives smear the poison on the tips of darts, which they then use to hunt or fight. The little frog is always covered in a thin layer of poison, but it can produce more. They just need to be stressed. So they impale it on an arrow so it slowly dies in agony. The SHIELD scientists used a similar method, only much cleaner and, as they liked to call it, more humane. It wasn't humane in the slightest. They were simply experimenting on her. And they discovered something about Amanda that she'd never been able to find out about herself. Even her body had a limit where she was unable to create more poison. She was empty and 100% safe to touch. An ordinary, defenseless, weak and blind woman. They let her rest, knowing that when she regained her strength, they would try again. She hated them for it.
Footsteps approached and she lifted her head. She was not afraid. The time when a man had her life in the palm of his hand and caused her to fear was long gone. She was never again going to let someone control her the way Brian had. Never again. She wasn't afraid.
"You had one job, my dear," he spoke. His words made her bones vibrate and she suddenly understood why Ruby was so terrified of him. She understood all too well now, yet she wasn't afraid. He couldn't do anything worse to her than what had happened so far.
"One job and you failed. You're completely useless now. Get up."
She obeyed immediately. She couldn't resist, she couldn't. His words dug into her ears and brain like blades, and disobeying hurt.
"Now take the sheet off the bed and make a noose. Good girl."
Her body wasn't listening to her. It listened to the words as if she were a remote-controlled robot. With his commands, she secured the sheet behind the top rung of the bunk and the other end around her neck.
"Now hang yourself."
She tried to resist. She didn't want to die, she didn't. But the words vibrated through her bones and dug into her ears and brain, and her body wouldn't listen. Her knees buckled, the sheet cut into her throat, cutting off her air supply. The creeping slimy footsteps were the last thing she heard before she joined her sister and the children.