Getting Tzeitel Settled In - Pt. 2

Tzeitel stubbornly turned off the cold water. “With my powers I should have stopped it. I-I deserved what happened to me. C-C-He got me because I w-wasted my p-powers helping th-them h-hunt metas. I c- couldn't st-stop h-h-him.” Tzeitel stuck her hand in the tub, not thinking the water was hot enough even though it was steaming.

“Stop making the water so hot.” Klaire scolded gently as she got a cloth and some soap. “Still, don't blame yourself for what happened. You were defending yourself. What that monster did to you is simply proof that some people don't deserve to be alive. We've got records on him. Delilah is having special weapons built from a metal that can pierce his hardened skin, so we'll kill him…”

“It’s too cold.” Tzeitel said, still feeling guilty for what happened to Klaire. Her hand clenched tightly in the water, still not looking at Klaire. “How much do you know?” She asked in a whisper.

“About what, specifically?” Klaire asked as she moved Tzeitel’s hair aside and gently started washing her back. “I know a lot of things, sadly. Being one of Thrane’s favorite experiments lets a person hear a lot of things…” Like his plans to basically make the whole world burn.

Tzeitel hunched up her scarred shoulders. She was covered in scars from Canestone, even had a few abrasions from him that were only a few days old. “About what happened since you escaped… what happened to me.” Tzeitel said in a small voice.

“I know enough,” Klaire said, remembering those videos. “Thrane…he…I don’t really know if it was him or other guards or what, but videos were sent and left at the facilities we attacked. They wanted us to know you and Riley were being hurt…” She was very gentle with Tzeitel’s scars and the healing injuries. Her heart was hurting at seeing her friend in such a broken state.

There were videos?! Tzeitel felt like panicking again. It would never be over, it was immortalized. Klaire saw it, how many others had seen it? Her abusers could get to relive torturing her through them. Were there videos of her with Canestone? Her with Urbanus? The countless other MegaCorp guards that violated her? Tzeitel’s heart raced.

“We destroyed them,” Klaire informed her. “And when we get hold of Thrane, we’ll destroy them at the core. I promise.” Rinsing off Tzeitel’s back, she pulled her hair back around and started to wet it so she could shampoo and condition it.

“There’d be copies. Countess copies…” Tzeitel panicked as she began having a flashback. She was tied down in that dark lair, being blinded by the flashes on the soldiers phones as they took pictures of her.

“I’ll destroy the copies and those copies and every single one I find. You’re worth protecting, Tzeitel.” Klaire told her as she took her time washing the other woman’s hair. “We may need to cut your hair a little. Some of these knots are very bad. I can get Delilah’s help with it later if you want.” She was changing the subject to distract her friend. “I’ll do everything I can to make you feel comfortable, okay? I sent Cook to get you some food that is very easy on the stomach. He’s also talking to the medical team and explaining your situation to them.”

Tzeitel curled into a tight ball. She was shivering despite how warm the bathwater and bathroom were. In her mind she was very far away from here. Tears ran down her face.

Seeing the tears, Klaire went silent and gently hugged her, not caring that she was getting soaked.

Tzeitel blinked, coming back to herself. She hugged Klaire back, a sob tearing from her throat. “Once it’s on the internet there’s no getting rid of it.” Sick evil bastards that Tzeitel had never met could be getting off on these videos. It made her feel sick, though there was no shortage of things that made her feel sick. “Y-you know er-er-Urbanus-” Tzeitel really had to force out the name “-was one of them.”

Urbanus…

Klaire tightened the hug a little as rage boiled deep inside of her. “I will make him pay for what he did to you.” She whispered, ears folding back. “If he so much as looks at you the wrong way, I will rip his throat out…”

She’d have Ami shoot him in the dick with her shotgun, too.

Tzeitel was pretty sure Klaire would rip his throat out anyways if given half a chance. Tzeitel hugged her a little tighter too. She loved her best friend. “If-if I don’t k-kill him f-first.” Tzeitel stuttered fiercely.

“You can kill and rip apart Canestone as long as I get to kill Urbanus.” Klaire said as she got back to work on rinsing off Tzeitel. “For now, let's focus on healing.”

Tzeitel sighed, but that was fair. She held her breath to duck her head under the water to rinse off more quickly.