I strained my neck to see her but it was of no use.
“What’s happening?” I said. Curiosity made me crazy.
“Don’t speak,” he said. “You won’t tell us, so, we don’t need to hear anything more from you. Nothing. You had your chance…now we will just take what we need to know.”
“What do you mean?” I pulled on the restraints. My heart drummed faster.
He ignored me.
“Wait. What do you mean you will just take what you need to know? I don’t know anything. I haven’t been lying. I have amnesia.” My head hurt from where the hardware had struck me head. My clothes were dry but my hair dripped.
“Right. That’s what we are trying to figure out. We will dig deeper, see the crime you committed and we won’t need you to confess. Amnesia or not, we will see what happened,” Dr. Cook said.
Mr. Parr walked towards me and leaned in to be at eye level with me. He wore no mask. His eyes were a strange shade of green. “I think we will need Jaxson in here. At least he intimidates her into submission.” He studied my eyes. Unnerved by the situation, I didn’t need anyone else to cause me fear; the monitors and the unknowing was enough.
“Stress heightens her anxiety which makes it easier to capture the moments,” Dr. Cook agreed.
There was a tight tugging on the top of my head as Dr. Cook placed a metal hat over my head and onto my shoulders. She pushed a button that made a whizzing sound and then the metal spikes tightened into my head. It hurt but it was not as painful as I would have thought. Perhaps they had already given me pain killers for my head. A tube ran from my wrist to a bag of clear liquid on a cart next to me.
“Doesn’t she need to be under?” Mr. Bradley asked her.
“Not yet. We need to escalate her heart rate and get her blood pumping so that the machine can do its job. She needs to be scared. Then we knock her out.”
I wrenched at the cuffs, yanking and pulling. It was hurting my muscles. The strain was unbearable. I stopped. “What are you doing?” I said, as a man walked towards me with a needle.
Everett left his monitor, pushed a button which made a quiet beeping sound from my right and then he rolled a cart towards the chair I sat strapped in.
He didn’t look into my eyes and worked on me as if I were just a sack of potatoes. I blurted out, “My name is Saige.”
He ignored me.
“Saige. You see?” I offered. “I am a person. I am not a subject that you can just treat this way. Do something…” I didn’t want to remember this way. I didn’t want my mind to be traumatized even more! I had already forgotten things, and this machine wouldn’t help me. It could leave my mind more weakened and distressed.
“Hush up, over there! Don’t say another word.” Mr. Bradley glared at me.
Officer Chase walked into the room, slipping a mask on and his eyes didn’t land on mine but skittered from one monitor to another. His eye was swollen. Once he glanced at those in smocks and masks, he, finally, met my eyes. He didn’t make any indication that he was surprised that I sat there. This was likely part of the agenda.
My eyes pleaded with him to do something as the cart was positioned just in front of me. The strange man in the smock wiped at his beard as he pushed the cart until it was touching my stomach.
Officer Chase watched the monitors and then looked around the room at the machines. “Will it work better this time with Miss Anderson? I’ve read some of the notes.”
“So, they say,” Mr. Parr said. “So, they promise.” He chuckled, his smile sly and his eyes narrow.
“Yes, it will. It’s been extracting thoughts for months. It’s brilliant…”
Dr. Cook came into view and then said, “Jaxson, what has happened to your eye?”
“I’m fine. Just a disagreement between Pake and me earlier.”
“What does his face look like?”
Officer Chase shrugged. He repeated, “Will we be able to extract the truth without having to use violent measures?”
“Jaxson, are you worried you will be out of a job?” Dr. Cook said, in a flirtatious tone. I watched his eyes meet hers and I watched as they softened.
“Maybe, it’ll be nice to work as a regular guard. Change of pace didn’t hurt anyone.” He winked at her. It made me uncomfortable.
“A boring regular guard? Oh, come on, Jaxson. You and I have had lots of fun fooling around with all of those tools.” She had made her way to him and stepped in between me and the monitors where he stood.
He watched her, and his eyes were cold. “That was a long time ago.” He cracked his knuckles. “I’ve been busy, Bailey.”
When she approached him, he backed away from her. “Yes. I know. Every time I look for you, you are with her.” She pulled her mask down under her chin so that he could see her lips.
“It’s my job.”
“Oh, I know. My compliments. I’ve heard you’ve really come a long way with this one.”
“Not really.”
I noticed that Mr. Parr had left the room.
She tried to slide her finger up his arm and he took her wrist. “Stop. You are just playing games.”
“You and I? That’s not a game. But it was fun.”
“You and Parr? What was that?”
“Are you jealous, Jaxson?”
“No. You can fool around with whomever you want.” He turned to feign interest in a screen.
“Can I?” she teased. She put her hand on his shoulder. She tried to remove his mask but he pulled away.
“Look, let’s get this done. I was told that you needed me here…to help with her. Not to come on to me. Enough.”
“Why are you acting so hostile?”
“I heard what you told Pake. I don’t want to talk to you right now. I’m working.”
Her eyes narrowed. “It’s always just been you and me.”
“Not now.” He glanced at me, his jaw clenched and then he stared at the monitors, despite them not having any new information. Most of the screens were dark.
“So, you have been working with this girl…and yet have found nothing new about her.” She crossed her arms.
“I haven’t been looking for anything new about her. My job is to get her to tell Parr what she has done.”
“Mr. Parr has been very interested in your work. He’s been asking a lot of questions.”
I scanned the room for the other three men. Everyone else was very busy at the monitors, pressing buttons and moving dials.
I watched as his eyes left hers and then made eye contact with me. His eyes hardened, and narrowed. Officer Pake walked through the door.
“Whoa, what just happened? Her heart rate rose without my having done anything with the machine,” Everett called out.
“Jaxson has a way with women,” Cook flirted. It was hard to watch.
He blushed but then returned his icy eyes to me. He hadn’t noticed Officer Pake’s approach.
My breathing became heavier. I could tell he had the fire in his eyes. They had asked him to come to help scare me…and just his eyes made me fearful. He didn’t have to do much to frighten me.
I wanted to call out his name, plead with him to turn around. But the unnerving look in his eyes kept me quiet.
“What do you need me to do?” Officer Chase said to Dr. Cook, who had put her mask back on and had disappeared behind me. He cracked his neck.
“Scare the crap out of her…not literally.” She laughed at this.
“I have those tools waiting on that cart. You could use those,” Everett called out.
“Nope, won’t be necessary,” Chase said.
“Ah, come on, Jaxson. Let him use the tools,” Dr. Cook complained and made a whining moan.
“Nope. Like I said. I have my ways.”
Pake stood next to Chase. “No, you don’t. I have my ways. I can get her to talk in a second. Maybe even scream.” He nudged Chase’s arm and added, “Maybe I could get her to scream out my name.”
“Stop,” Chase warned.
“Well, I don’t know which one of you she is more afraid of, but Officer Pake, her heart did escalate upon your coming inside the room. Officer Chase, why don’t we give him a go first.”
Chase’s eyes widened. “No.”
“There’s no reason for you to be so jealous of his ability to make her afraid.”
“Yeah, Jaxson, there’s no reason for you to be jealous about how strong I am, and how weak you are.”
“Stop,” Chase warned again.
“Yes, let’s give Pake a chance to prepare her for the test.”
“No,” Chase said, pleading with her. “Let me take care of her.”
“You need to go put ice on that eye, Jaxson. Run along.”
“That’s precisely what I thought, Officer Pake. His eye is swollen. Why don’t I just…” Cook typed a message into her phone. “There, I have just asked Dr. McFadden to see you, Jaxson. She’s waiting in her office.”
“I’m fine.”
“Nope, off you go. She’s waiting.”
“I will need the room,” Officer Pake said to Cook.
“No way. You can’t leave him alone with her,” Jaxson said to Dr. Cook.
“What are you afraid I am going to do?” Pake asked Chase.
Chase didn’t even give him the satisfaction of making eye contact. Chase stared at Cook and waited.
“I need to be here, Pake, because I must inject her as soon as her heart rate hits the optimal level. Immediately.”
“Okay. Then everyone else out,” Pake said, and glared at Chase.
Pake dragged a chair towards mine, going as slowly as he could. The sound against the carpet wasn’t as scary as he wanted it to be. But the fact that he approached was enough to make the hairs on my arm rise.
Everett and Bradley escorted Chase out of the room, and Chase tried to fight against them, but, eventually, succumbed to what his job entailed. He stared at me through the window until they showed him the way.
Cook wiped the inside of my arm with a wet cotton ball. She inserted a needle into my arm, and at the pinch, I winced. Officer Pake grabbed my chin, squeezing my cheeks between his thumb and forefinger and brought my face towards his. I noticed the other men leave the room.
“Did you know that even if you can’t remember anything you did, we can still learn all about your sins with this machine?” He tapped the metal helmet attached to my head. “Did you also know,” he said, leaning in, whispering now into my ear, “that when they figure out the things you’ve done, they will punish you. You will never…be…free.” My mind couldn’t handle it. What if this machine put me in a state that made my mind worse?
He yanked at the bottom length of my hair which made the helmet pegs bite me in the head, digging deeper. He pressed his mouth against my ear. “Wait until you are knocked out…I will, finally, have the alone time I have been looking for.”
This angered me. I whispered, in a shaky voice, “Don’t touch me.”
My heart beat like a drum in my chest. What if they learn that I had done something horrifying? What if the truth comes out and all along, I had suffered a concussion or had amnesia? Then what?
“Stop,” I whispered, in exasperation. “You can’t…”
“She’s not scared enough, Pake.” Dr. Cook folded her arms.
He held my chin with his fingers and squeezed, and then let go. He sat back against the chair and crossed his arms. I felt his legs touch mine as he stretched out.
“What’s even more interesting is that the community has done a survey for us…outlining the most fearsome techniques of torture that they can imagine. This machine here,” he said, snapping his fingers to demand a man, who sat silently at the monitor behind me, to wheel it over, “was made based on what one community member thought would be the scariest.”
He brought the machine to my feet and then slid it above my body until my chin rested on the device. I tried to move away, but he held my head fast to the mechanism. Stop. Don’t do it. I won’t be able to handle this. My mind will shut down. When a needle sprang, I let out of a scream as he moved it closer to my eye. Just as it must have been millimeters from my eye, darkness fell.
I woke up on the floor of my cell and reached up to my eye. I had no wound. I ran my hands over my body. No new wounds. I drew in a deep breath of relief, but then I let out a cry. Panicked voices echoed through the halls. A P.A. system called Mr. Parr to the telephone. What had they done to me? What had they learned? Suddenly, I had to pee and I ran to the pail to relieve myself. A chill ran down my spine. Tiny scabs were evenly dispersed on my head where the strapped metal helmet clawed.
Chapter Thirteen
I pushed myself off the ground and pressed myself against the stone wall just as Officer Chase opened my cell door. Standing in the doorway, he adjusted his mask.
He had a look of concern as he monitored the hall for guards before entering. Even after they had run those machines on me, I still couldn’t remember what I had done. I still had strange memories. What was happening? I was going crazy.
He grabbed onto my chains and took me out of the room. They were cold against my skin. “Come,” he whispered.
He guided me down the hall, obviously watching for others. Once inside the room where the whips usually snapped, he closed the door behind him, and finally, let out a held breath. He quickly drew in another. His hands shook.
“Whatever you did last night didn’t change my memories. I still can’t remember,” I said in a whisper, crossing my arms. He ignored me. He brought his finger to his mouth to shush me. He looked out the small barred window.
When he was certain that no one lurked in the hall, he turned and said, “You’ve been unconscious for three days…”
“What?! Three days!”
He shushed me again. “Apparently, it’s a work in progress.” His eyes narrowed. The right side of his lip curled up into a smirk. His eye was less swollen. I didn’t know his facial expressions because most of time they showed anger and contempt, but this one…this one was…different.
The softness of his eyes only angered me. I retaliated and threw my fists at him and screamed at the top of my lungs. “They can’t do this to people!”
He put his hand over my mouth. “Stop, Saige. Stop! Shh!”
I talked with his rough hand over my mouth. “Even those who have murdered people should not be subjected to experimental science! Who the hell do you think you are?!”
“Wait, why would you say those who murder people? Why did you choose those words? Do you…?”
“I am just saying, that even murderers deserve better treatment than this!”
“Quiet. They’ll hear you. Shh!”
He picked up the whip and snapped it against the wall. “Don’t talk to me that way! You will pay for every word you speak! A couple of dozen whips would shut you the hell up!” He bit his lower lip.
I studied his eyes. They didn’t mimic his words. The tone was pretend. His eyes were soft, and no fire lapped within them. So, he only liked me when he could keep me in line? Was it for the purpose of anyone who listened from the corridor? After a few more snaps against the wall, and my uttered cries to encourage the fake torture, he let out a sigh.
“Saige, Darling. You have to keep it down.” Darling? He pressed his finger to his lips. “They will hear you.” He hurried to the door at the sound of a scrape of metal against stone which echoed in the hall. He monitored the corridor. We waited in silence. Darling? When no one stirred, he said, “The pills...”
I remained still, not a nod nor a shake of my head. What did he want me to say? The mood swings were unpredictable, not to mention, frightening.
“I haven’t taken any in a few days,” he claimed. “And I feel different.”
I nodded. I didn’t tell him that I hadn’t either, just in case.
“The rages…” He bit his lip and shifted his eyes back to mine.
I narrowed my eyes and retreated.
“The pills have side effects. The raging
makes me do very horrible things. I can recall the terrible things I am doing to people…to you as snippets of a nightmare.”
I crossed my arms.
“I had no idea…that I’ve been crazy…I couldn’t stop the rage. And when it was over, I couldn’t remember the things I had done. Like my mind was wiped. It freaks me out when those memories inevitably flash in my mind. It’s like I was a different person.” He sighed. “Or as if I have a split personality.” He paced from one side of the small room to the other, mimicking the panicked walk of a wolf, swift and unnerving, but as he moved, he never released the chains, so I stumbled.
“It looked that way, too,” I said with narrowed eyes. A chill in the air swept over me. I rubbed at my arms to try to warm them.
“Ever since Dr. Cook and Mr. Parr prescribed me the red pills, I have been acting crazy.” He stopped pacing and stared for a moment, deep in thought. From the other side of the room, his body sideways to me, he said, “I am…”
He paused.
He approached and reached out but I stepped away until my back was against the wall where he had snapped the whip. The wall felt as cold as an iceberg. It burned against my hand and I winced.
He noticed my unwillingness to be approached. He put his hands in his pockets. “Saige, I am so sorry.” His eyes glistened. “I tried to help you in the shower.”
“Tried?”
“I stopped Pake…I thought I would kill that guy for what he was attempting to do to you. I had to pick you up and take you straight to the doctor…you had a head wound, but it had everything to do with getting you away from Pake. It just didn’t look like he was going to stop. There was this strange growling he kept making. His eyes were changing by the second while I stood there. He kept punching at my face, and I kept dodging. I, honestly, don’t know what he was thinking!” Red pills?
My stomach was in knots. I remained silent. I didn’t know what to say.
“It’s not safe with him around. I will have to guard you better.”
“You aren’t supposed to guard me from other guards. What’s wrong with him?”
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