Part of me didn’t know who to believe—Rafe or myself. What if Rafe was lying? What if Dom really was going to wipe my imagination? What if Julian would follow through with erasing my memories? I wouldn’t know who I was, or where I was from. I wouldn’t know Liz or Dee. I wouldn’t remember my mom, my house, my school. None of it would be familiar. Even the world would be entirely foreign.
“Kneel,” Dom ordered, unaffected by my outburst of emotions.
Steadying my breaths, I gradually descended to my knees. One of the agents shoved me the rest of the way, and my kneecaps slammed into the hard floor with a crack. I winced and bit my lip.
Dom shortened what little distance was between us. Standing in front of me, he placed his hands on either side of my head and closed his eyes. Was this it? The moment I needed to play along with whatever game Dom and Rafe had invented? I didn’t wait for a sign. I just opted for the best performance I could. Recalling what Victor had experienced when Dom removed his imagination, I mimicked the same reaction.
“No, no, no!” I shouted. “Make it stop!” Screaming as loudly as possible, my throat began to ache and swell. I was about to crumple to the floor, but a blunt object whacked the back of my head. White blotches danced across the backs of my eyelids, and then the darkness consumed me.
21