A numbness had consumed the entirety of Winona's being. She was sat on the floor, leaning against her cell's walls. She stared out into the open space in front of her, her knees curled into her chest. She slightly rocked herself back and forth as she silently cried. The events from only minutes before continuously replaying in her mind.

Sonya was dead. She was gone. Winona was having trouble wrapping her head around the thought. One minute she was alive and breathing and the next, she wasn't. Winona barely registered Clarice slamming her hand against the glass of her cell. Her arms tightened around her knees.

She tried focusing on breathing, which was becoming more and more difficult for her to do. She then focused on the ceiling. On her knees. The color of her jumpsuit. Anything but Sonya. But it was no use. No matter what she thought about, her mind continued to wander to her fallen friend.

This had been the third time that she had seen someone die. It was also the first time that it was someone she had known. Someone she had cared about. Everything began to take a toll on her. All at once, horrible memories flooded her brain and it was unbearable. She could vaguely hear Clarice crying but her mind wasn't properly grasping the action. Everything around her was fading away.

She could add Sonya's name to the list of people that she couldn't help. That she couldn't save. She hated it. She hated having these powers and not being able to use them to help people. She felt useless. Powerless. And she hated it. She didn't want these abilities. She didn't want to be a mutant. She just wanted her life to go back to how it used to be. She wanted her life to be normal. Unfortunately, that would never happen.

Winona brought her head forward before bringing it back, lightly hitting it against the glass wall. She repeated the action numerous times, each one becoming more forceful. She continued to hit her head against the wall even as Clarice yelled her name.

"Winnie! Winnie, stop! Winona!" The girl in question halted in her actions. The tears continued to fall from her eyes as she turned to her friend. Clarice's eyes held sadness, tears falling out of them as well. "Stop, okay? Don't do that," she murmured. "She's dead," Winona muttered. Clarice didn't respond.

"He just killed her. Without a second thought. He barely looked at her. As if she wasn't worth looking at. As if she wasn't even human. How could someone do that?" Winona continued. Clarice shook her head. "I don't know," she replied. "The humans look at us as if we're the bad guys. As if we're the monsters. But we're not. It's them. They're the monsters and they don't even realize it," Winona said.

A few more tears fell from Clarice's eyes. "We're gonna die here, aren't we?" Winona asked, turning to look at Clarice. The purple haired girl opened her mouth to lie. To reassure her friend that they would be fine and everything would be okay. But she didn't. She couldn't. Because she didn't know. She didn't know what would happen.

"I don't know," she whispered back. Winona leaned her head back and closed her eyes. More tears slipped down her cheeks. "I don't want to die here," she admitted. Clarice's head fell back against the wall. She was tired. They both were. Winona wouldn't mind falling asleep and never waking up. She was tired of it all. She couldn't take it anymore.

Her life was continuously falling apart. It was barely a life anymore. She didn't feel alive. She didn't really want to be alive.

Winona's mind wandered to the Underground. To Lorna and John. The thought of seeing Lorna's face when she found out that her best friend had died. Of John's face when he learned of Sonya's death. Of Marcos' and Harry's and Sage's and Shatter's. Of every single person in the Underground who knew her. Who loved her. It broke Winona's heart further.

If she and Clarice and Andy and Lauren were able to get out of this lab, she didn't want to be the one to tell them. She didn't think she could.

Her thoughts began to drift to Elaine. The memory of the possibility of her being in the building came back to her. If she were here, she might already be a hound. If not, who knows what she was going through in that moment? Winona wondered if she would ever see her again. At this point, she didn't think that she would.

"Winona?" Clarice croaked. Winona peeled her eyes opened and turned to look at her. "Thank you. For everything that you've done for me. For being there for me. For being my friend. I just needed to tell you that, in case I don't get the chance to," Clarice said. Winona scooted over to the bars that separated them. Clarice did the same.

"No, thank you. For your honesty and encouragement. For believing in me when I couldn't believe in myself. You're the best friend that I've ever had, after Elaine. I'm so glad and lucky to have met you," Winona said. Clarice tried to smile but was unable to do so. Winona's hand slipped between the bars and took ahold of Clarice's.

She gave her hand a squeeze. The two leaned against the bars and just sat there. Their lives were turning to shit and they knew it. Both of them tried not to think about it too much. Winona's eyes closed tiredly but she didn't sleep. She couldn't sleep and neither could Clarice. But none of them wanted to anyway. They were too afraid of the inevitable nightmares that sleep would bring.

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A little while later, many guards flooded into the cell area. Winona lazily looked up as one of them began unlocking her cell. He entered and looked down at her distastefully. "Stand up," he commanded. Winona's hands went up to move the collar around her neck. It was very uncomfortable.

"What's going on?" She asked. A guard was in Clarice's cell as well, forcing her to her feet. "It's your lucky day," the guard replied. Winona stood and the man grasped her arm, yanking her out of the cell. "You could be a little more gentle you asshole!" She snapped. He ignored her. "Where are you taking us? Where are we going?" Winona asked.

The man sighed. "Sentinel Services is here to take you to prison," he said. "Prison? Why?" She asked. He sighed exasperatedly. "Don't know, don't care. Now shut up and move," he said, pulling her forward. Her eyes landed on the back of Clarice's head as she was being dragged in front of her. All around, more mutants were being taken out of their cells.

Winona was confused. Why were they taking them to prison? Why hadn't they done this before? What was the point of bringing them here in the first place?

At this point in time, Winona didn't mind going to prison. She thought that going to prison was much better than staying at Trask Industries. Better than being tortured and experimented on. Better than being turned into a hound. Better than being killed here. The guard's grip on her arm loosened slightly as he led her down the hallway.

The other mutants remained silent. They were either too afraid to speak or they didn't care what was happening to them. She wondered how long the others had been trapped here. It must have been horrible for them. At the end of the hallway stood a group of Sentinel Services agents.

Winona's face scrunched up in disgust at the sight of them. Once she was stood in front of the agents, she was handed off to them. As were the rest of the mutants. She saw Agent Turner and stared at him blankly. An agent took ahold of her upper arm more gently than the guard had. Winona was grateful for that. She didn't spare any of the lab's guards a glance as she was taken down another set of hallways.

Winona was already tired of walking. She kept her eyes straight ahead, unwilling to look around the lab that destroyed lives. A woman with dark brown hair cut short was walking in front of her. A Sentinel Services agent held onto the woman's arm firmly. She walked carelessly down the hallway. Almost happily. She was probably just happy to be getting out of that lab.

The woman turned, almost as though she felt Winona's eyes on her. Both of their breaths hitched in their throats as they saw one another. "Elaine?" Winona gasped. Elaine stopped and pulled on her arm, causing the agent to pull it back. "Elaine?" She said more loudly. Winona yanked on her arm and the agent tightened his grip.

"No. That's my sister. Let go," Winona said through gritted teeth. She continued to fight against the agent. After a few moments, she broke out of his grip. Winona ran forward and threw herself into the shorter girl. The pair held onto one another as if their lives depended on it. "You're here. You're actually here," Winona whispered.

"What are you doing here? What happened to your hair?" Elaine asked. Winona wanted to respond with, "What happened to yours?" seeing as the girl's once long hair was now short. But before Winona could respond, she was pulled away from her sister by the agent who had previously held her. "That's enough. Keep moving," he said. Winona glared up at him and he pulled her forward. Another agent did the same to Elaine.

When they reached the exit doors, Winona felt a sense of relief. Elaine kept turning around to make sure that the younger girl was still there. Winona turned around to see if Clarice was there. She was.

It was dark outside. The cold wind bit at her cheeks. Winona took a breath of the crisp air. It felt good to be out of that lab. The mutants were led to a large transport vehicle. Up ahead, Winona could see a head of both blonde and light brown hair. She sighed in relief as she saw the Struckers. At least they were okay.

They were all ushered into the vehicle. Winona bounded up the steps and spotted Elaine immediately. She reached for her and pulled her into a seat. They both sat down and Winona didn't release her hand. Clarice was sat next to her with Lauren and Andy on her other side. No one said anything.

The vehicle began moving forward and drove along the road. Not even a minute later, it pulled to a stop. Winona looked around at the other mutants in the vehicle. Her eyes landed on two blondes with short hair. When they began to look around the van, Winona did a double take. They looked exactly like Esme.

Almost like they were clones. Triplets? This was Esme's family. Winona grew wary as she eyed them cautiously, a feeling of uneasiness washing over her. The man behind the wheel pulled out his gun suddenly. He pointed the weapon at one of the agents in the vehicle. Winona's widened. "Stop!" She exclaimed.

The man pulled the trigger. Two gunshots rung through the air as he shot the two agents. "Stop!" Lauren shouted. "Man, what are you doing?" Andy asked. Elaine pushed herself further back into her seat, trying to scoot away from the man, even though she was not near him. Clarice's hands were out as she wanted to get the man to stop. They were already too late. The man looked down at the gun in his hand.

It was almost as if he were in a trance. He then turned the gun onto himself. "Wait! Wait!" Lauren exclaimed. He pulled the trigger. Winona jumped in her seat and grabbed onto her collar in fear. Her eyes landed on the Esme look alikes who sat watching the scene emotionlessly. More gunshots could be heard outside. What the hell was happening?

Winona stood up and rushed over to the window. What she saw made her scream. The agents were killing each other. "We need to get these collars off. Someone help me find the key," Clarice said as she went to one of the agent's bodies. Winona watched her, unable to move. When the key was found, everyone's collars began being taken off.

The first people out of the van were Esme's sisters. Winona watched from the window in horror as the three worked together. Using their telepathy to manipulate the agent's minds. Manipulate them into killing each other and themselves. "We have to do something! We have to stop them!" Winona said, rushing forward.

Elaine pulled her back. "Elaine we have to," Winona said, struggling in her sister's grasp. "No. They might kill you too," Elaine replied. But Winona didn't care if she died. Her eyes looked to Clarice who looked as terrified as Winona felt. They then looked to Lauren and Andy who were equally as terrified.

When the shooting ceased, Winona felt like crying. The mutants slowly moved to the exit of the transport van. They all descended the stairs and stared at Esme and her sisters. The trio looked creepy as hell. Elaine's hand gripped Winona's tightly.

"Time to go, boys and girls. The fun's just starting," the three said in unison. Winona stared at them incredulously. Behind the three, something exploded but Winona didn't even flinch. She glared at the sisters as they smirked. After tonight, everything was going to change.

°°°°

This chapter was kinda hard to write for some reason. The reunion between Elaine and Winona was so bad! I'm sorry. I tried to make it realistic by making it short because if they were really in that situation the reunion wouldn't have been long. I just feel like it was so awful. With that being said, I really hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. Have a nice day.