Page 56 of Lolli-Gag
“You will,” he states, like it's the final nail in my coffin.
“No. I won’t!” I argue, and he looks at the screens, then back to me.
“You want them alive, right?” he says, but I don’t respond. My silence is the answer. He nods, taking another step, which makes Jagger shift. “Then you go home.” He smiles as Jethro stirs violently in the back of my skull.
“No!” he roars.
“I don’t have a home,” I whisper as Master D’s smile deepens.
“Yes… you do,” he says softly. The room folds for a second. Peeling walls, rotten air, and an oven light glowing like it’s alive. My hands shake.
“She’s dead,” I whisper.
“Is she?” he asks, and I freeze.
“No,” I say, and he takes a deep breath.
“You were told she was gone. You were told you survived, but you never confirmed it,” he says, and I gasp.No! No! No!
“He’s lying!”Jethro’s voice cuts sharp, but it doesn’t sound certain.
“That’s not—”
“Phase one. You go back and you finish it,” he tells me, and the room goes silent. Jagger's hand tightens around my wrist.
“Absolutely not,” he states as I look at the screen. Lucifer lifts his head, like he can hear us—like he knows. Killian’s body goes rigid, but Axel… he still doesn’t move.
“You want me to kill her?” I ask, my voice coming out hollow.
“I want you to correct what was left unfinished,” he says, and Jethro laughs, dark and thrilled.
“Finally.”But I shake my head.
“No.”
Master D steps closer. “Then phase two begins without your cooperation,” he says, then the screens flicker. Lucifer screams, and my heart drops.
“STOP!”
“Phase two,” Master D continues, ignoring me. “Involves progressive escalation,” he says as Killian’s body jerks, but what really catches my eye is Axel. A small broken scream.
“Stop!” I choke, and Master D tilts his head.
“Phase three,” he says softly, “is where they stop being useful.”
Jagger snaps and lunges, but Vinny holds him back again.
“Don’t you touch him again!” Jagger snarls, but I can’t look away from the screens.
“Make it stop. Make it STOP!” I scream.
“Then agree,” he says as my hands shake harder. “But that’s not all,” he says.Of course it’s not.“You will not only complete phase one, but you will return,” he says, and I close my eyes. “You will come back here.” And my eyes snap open.
“What?” I ask.
“You will continue the test and you will be monitored.”
“No!”
