InsaneJournal

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Although she wanted to kick herself for doing it, Hannah was visibly startled by the sudden appearance of some costume-clad girl on the screen that had seemed to appear almost out of nowhere. Clenching her hands into fists, Hannah reached behind her and felt for one of the metal walls to offer a bit of support and to provide her with a feeling of being grounded in a place where her equilibrium was so easy to throw off given the darkness around her. Trying to school her expression into one of disdain, she couldn't quite hide the fear entirely as she stared up at the projection. Idly, she wondered if this was some sort of test that Jonathan had set up for her. Somehow, though, she doubted it. This seemed very real, which meant she would be wise to assume that it was.

When the riddle was offered, Hannah's mind went into overdrive. The only problem was, being as intelligent as she happened to be meant that things like riddles tended to get forgotten in lieu of absorbing scientific facts like a sponge. So while she knew she should know the answer, she also was drawing a complete blank. Her first thought was 'the Bible', considering the first part of it, but she doubted it would be that easy. After all, if she had gone to this much trouble to kidnap someone, she wouldn't offer them such an obvious solution to whatever puzzle they had to solve to escape.

"I..." Hating that she had hesitated, and hating even more that she really didn't have an answer, Hannah glared at the screen for a moment before finally biting out her response. "I don't know." A pause then she raised her voice, finally letting her frustration fully shine through.

"I DON'T KNOW, OKAY?" she shouted angrily. If nothing else, her outburst helped her forget about the stinging in her eyes that indicated the tears that desperately wanted to fall.

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Glaring at the face that appeared, Hannah only flinched slightly at the insult that was aimed her way. Her brain, she assured herself, was not primitive. She was smart. Much smarter than the foe she was currently facing. She just had to think. Unfortunately, that was much easier said than done. Especially when there were suddenly flames that were shooting out of everywhere in an attempt to burn her alive.

With a shriek she couldn't have stopped even if she'd had tried, Hannah immediately fled to the center most point in the room. The heat was unbearable, causing ever exposed part of flesh that she had to be instantly covered in a sheen of sweat. Trembling with terror, the girl tried to calm her racing thoughts while coming up with an answer that would suffice. After drawing a blank for several long, agonizing seconds, when she had reached the point that she was fairly certain she wasn't going to be anything more than roasted to a crisp, she finally managed to blurt out the only thing that she could think. She knew it probably wasn't right, given how obvious it was, but she also knew she would rather die trying to come up with an answer than simply screaming at the pain that was coursing through her body.

"Revenge!" she shrieked. Drawing in a shuddering breath, she tried again. "Vengeance!" Barely pausing for another breath, she continued on in a litany of synonyms of the word. "Avenging, counterblow, feud, getting even, repayment, retaliation, retribution, vendetta!" Another breath, this one sharp and only providing her with just enough air to manage one last scream that she hoped would spare her, she managed, "NOW TURN IT OFF!"

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Dashing through the open door to escape the heat, Hannah's relief was short lived when she suddenly found herself in a room very similar to the one she'd just managed to leave. Instantly, without even thinking about it, she moved toward the center of the room just to be safe. Then, shaking slightly, she clenched her hands into fists as her sides and stared at the riddle for several long seconds. Blinking slowly, she frowned as she read the words again, and again, and again, only to come to one ultimate conclusion.

Never before in her entire life had she felt this dumb.

On the verge of tears, she bit her lip until she tasted blood to try and stave off her emotional response. The slight spike of pain helped her focus and she tried in what she knew was in vain to pick apart the riddle before her. This time, however, nothing familiar jumped out at her. Not a single sentence made any sense at all. Refraining from biting her lip again lest she risk ripping open an obvious wound, she let loose a shuddering breath, squared her shoulders, and announced flatly, "This is stupid. I haven't done a thing to you. Let me go!"

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Hannah's attention was immediately drawn away from Enigma to the fire, eyes widening as the flames began moving closer. Taking steps backward as they drew ever closer, Hannah finally let her attention go back to the screen only once her back was mere inches from the already somewhat hotter than normal metal-clad wall.

Frowning in thought, her lips moved as she silently re-read the riddle and tried to figure it out. Unfortunately, her mind was in a virtual tailspin and she was at a complete loss as to what the answer might be. Something as bleak as a miscarriage fit the requirements but, instinctively, she knew it was wrong.

Swallowing hard, she tried for another angle as she focused back on Enigma.

"If you kill me, what makes you any better?" she challenged with a lilt of false bravado in her tone. Once again clenching her shaking hands into fists, she continued. "I haven't done anything to you. I haven't done anything to anyone. I'm just a girl that's trying to find a way to survive in this place. That's all. Killing me is pointless!"

Even as she said the words, Hannah knew they were wholly in vain. Already she was reaching behind her, once again pressing her palms against the wall and scratching at it with her fingertips in the hopes she might find something, anything, that would allow some door to open so she could pass through, unharmed.

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When the cane hit her in the head, Hannah wasn't quite quick enough to stop her grunt of pain. In fact, the only real solace she took in that moment was that she didn't burst into tears. And, when the fire stopped a few heartbeats later, she swallowed her pride and even dropped to the floor. Distantly she was aware of something she'd read, once, about assuming the fetal position when being beaten if only to protect her internal organs and head as best she could. Which was precisely what she did, with her hands going around her head and her knees tucked up as close to her chest as she could get them. Squeezing her eyes shut, she willed the woman attacking her to go away. However, when that didn't happen, she tried to think beyond the pain from the blows upon her body courtesy of the cane.

"He barely knows me!" she managed to cry out, hoping - even if she knew it was in vain - that her attacker might listen. "He won't have a broken heart! He won't!" In that one moment, with that one utterance, Hannah found herself extremely glad that the honesty that had inflicted the city lately was no longer in place. Because while she knew that Jonathan was more than capable of moving beyond her death, she also knew that the words she was speaking at the moment weren't necessarily true. Her demise would weigh heavily upon him, she was certain of it.

Idly, in the back of her mind as she struggled with whatever else she could think to say that might keep the attack from continuing, Hannah wondered if this was how Stacy Vollmer had felt before she'd died. Alone, terrified, without a friend in the world and with no real understanding of the situation that she was dealing with. Never before had Hannah felt empathy for the bitch that had ruined her life that Marlon had killed. However in that moment, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, allowing someone to face their death while alone and frightened wasn't a fate worse than just plain death itself.

Stifling a sob as best she could, Hannah called out from her prone position, in a clearly trembling voice, "Please. Just let me go. Please."

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This girl was absolutely insane. That was the only conclusion Hannah could reach as she lay on her side, curled up into as small of a ball as she could manage following the kick that she was certain cracked at least a few ribs. Trying to keep her breathing even and not move around too much in case she might puncture a lung, Hannah peered up through her matted blond hair at Enigma, her brow furrowing as she tried to make sense - any sense at all - of what was happening.

Knowing that begging wasn't working, and knowing she wasn't about to talk her way out of it through logic either, the girl finally decided to take action in a different way. Maybe, just maybe, if she caught the woman off guard, she could figure out how to escape. It was worth a shot and, in the few seconds she had, Hannah opted to take it.

With a vicious kick outward with one foot in the hopes of making contact with one of Enigma's knees, Hannah quickly scrambled into a crouched position and surged to her feet. Unfortunately she didn't make it a foot or so before gravity caught up with her and she stumbled. Fortunately she was able to stop herself before she hit the ground but, even still standing, she only found herself facing a wall. Turning on her heel to face her foe, her eyes widened as she took a few trembling steps backward to try and keep as much distance between them as possible.

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Hannah had braced herself for the next strike, arm coming up in the hopes of fending off the attack a bit. Her eyes slid closed as seconds turned into what felt like hours... only to have everything take a sudden, sharp twist when a gunshot sounded instead of the pain of the cane hitting her. Eyes flying open, it took Hannah a heartbeat before she realized what was going on. The relief she felt at the sight of Jonathan was almost enough to bring her to tears, if part of her wasn't terrified that she was just imagining him being there.

Needless to say, when he came toward her and offered his hand, she reached for it without a second of hesitation. Touching him, knowing he was real, made her legs all but shake with relief that the ordeal was finally over and, most importantly, she had survived. Yes, she was burnt and bruised and bloodied, and she was pretty sure she had at least a few broken ribs, but she was still alive. That was what mattered.

Drawing in a shuddering breath, she stepped closer to Jonathan if only to feel that much more secure as she gazed over at Enigma. In fact, any semblance of fear she'd felt had faded into a cold, calculating stare.

"I think it's pretty obvious who the fool is now, cutie," she finally spit out, her grip on Jonathan's hand unconsciously tightening as she addressed her attacker.

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