“Don’t you get it? You belong to me. The sooner you learn that, the better off you’ll be. And if you’re a slow learner, I’ll have to take some drastic measures to get you listening. Do you understand that?”
[Hero] was angry as well as extremely confused. How had a broken leg, something so miniscule on the scale of injuries she had suffered before, led her to being caught? Why was this worse than any other time that she had gotten hurt? She had even fractured her spine one time! Given, it was a small fracture, but still! Wouldn't that have been worse? Or even a broken arm, or ribs...Why did her leg make such a large difference?
"Do you understand?" [Villain's] voice was malicious and filled with spite. [Hero] had expected him to be more excited and giddy about the capture; she had never been caught before. Instead, [Villain] was already positioning himself in power. Smart, [Hero] knew, but devastating. What chance would she have now? She was only here to begin with because the rest of her friends had been taken. They were used as a lure to drag [Hero] in. And it worked. Her friends meant everything to her. Now she was in the same position as them, maybe even worse.
[Hero] wondered; How did [Villain] even find out about her friends? Her identity was secret. Her friends were the only people to ever know who she was. They knew who was behind the mask, no one else.
[Hero's] face stung from a smack and she flinched, scrunching her nose. She attempted to touch her cheek, where the pain radiated from, but forgot her hands were bound behind her. She took a deep breath. She needed to remain calm. Panic would never get her home. So she looked down at the ground, to her legs that were knelt on the floor. One leg was tucked beneath her, the other lying straight out. She couldn't tuck her broken leg beneath all of her weight. It would make matters worse.
[Villain] spoke again, "I am growing impatient with you already, [Hero]." He walked closer to her, kneeling down on one knee and grabbing her shoulder gently, turning it to face him. Still, [Hero] looked away, so he grabbed her chin. "I only need two words for now, dear. 'I understand.' That's all."
[Hero] jerked her head out of his grip. She wouldn't comply. No matter how badly he injured her, nothing would conjure a peep from her lips. "Well," he muttered, beginning to stand again. "I would threaten to rip that pretty mask off, but I already know what pretty face lies behind it. But-" [Hero] was shocked. What did he mean he already knew? There was no way that he could possibly know! She had never taken her mask off before. Not outside of her own bedroom. And she always checked to make sure her doors were locked, and the windows. Even the attic window had been nailed shut with heavy boards.
"You don't know me. It's impossible. You're lying," she declared. She jutted her chin out in her confidence. He couldn't outsmart her. She was better than that. It still had an affect on her, but she tried to think of Villain's voice as a background noise. It was easy enough since his voice was muffled from his mask.
Villain had still been talking as she said that, but he stopped, and he laughed. He laughed so hard that even with his mask still on, [Hero] could see a small part of his face was red. Her confidence was torn into shreds. She wasn't being funny, and the fact that he was taking it that way meant that [Hero] was in more danger than she initially thought.
[Villain's] laughter ceased and he slipped his hands beneath his mask in order to wipe his tears. He was careful not to reveal himself. "Right. Of course. I couldn't ever figure out who the girl beneath the mask is. I could never figure out that it has been Amelia Green this entire time! That's just blasphemous, right?"
[Hero] drew in a quick breath hearing her name. She regretted it almost immediately. If she didn't respond, she could have played it off. After all, she has pretended that her friends meant nothing to her. She claimed she only came to save innocent civilians. Why couldn't she do the same thing about her identity. Now that [Villain] knew her name, he could ruin her entire life. He could find every tie that she shared with anyone and he could easily snuff out their light.
It was too late to pretend that she didn't know her own name, so she asked, "How?"
"I could throw out your middle name, too. You load your friends with plenty of information about yourself. Very trusting. Very stupid." He yelled a word that [Hero] wasn't familiar with and two of her friends filed in, cloth in mouth, hands bound in front of them. Their arms and legs were colored with bruises and scratches.
[Hero] was relieved in some way. She had three close friends and only two were here. Either Sam had escaped, or [Villain] just didn't know about him at all. As for the other two, she couldn't believe that they had ratted her out! Did they know what that meant for [Hero]? Did they know how badly they put her at risk?
"How could you," she scoffed at her 'friends'. They both held the same expression, panic. They wouldn't look [Hero] in the eye. They only stared at [Villain]. And they pointed at him. And they pointed and they pointed. Villain only smiled. Were they trying to tell [Hero] something? And if so, then what? What did pointing at him mean?
One of [Hero's] friends began to pull at the cloth in their mouths, but it was tied so tightly that they couldn't pull it from the corners of their mouth. [Hero] could see how irritated the skin was where the cloth cut due to being so drawn. "For the gods' sakes! Was it necesarry to do that!" [Hero] tried to stand, to help her friends, no matter their betrayal, but her leg prevented her. She screeched before collapsing, falling onto her side, her face hitting hard on the cement floor. If her arms were in front of her, she could've caught herself, but [Villain] had already thought of that.
"I see no problem with it. They were annoying. You told me once you wanted to shove a sock in [Friend 1's] mouth one time. Well, I just did you one better."
[Hero] flopped her head over to look at [Villain]. She had only ever told one person that. She had regretted saying it; it made her feel badly. But still, it was said and only one other person aside from herself heard it. But no, it couldn't be. Sam would never- he couldn't be...
[Villain] put his hands on either side of his intricate mask and he began to lift it. And beneath it was the face that [Hero] had known so well. Every scar on his brow and cheek. Every freckle on the bridge of his nose. [Hero] couldn't see his eyes in the moment, but she could recall every color that spiraled in them before. But it couldn't be Sam. It couldn't be. [Villain] was- He was tricking her! It had to have been some kind of illusion!
"And so I ask again, Amelia; Do you understand?"