by Andrew Peed
The three of us cleaned up the meal while the old lady got comfortable in front of the TV. I always hated the crap that she wanted to watch, so I went to get ready for bed right after our chores were finished.
I took a hot shower. Before I left the bathroom I stopped in front of the mirror. I looked at my face and thought about what Ronnie had said. He thought that I am not worthless.
I had no idea. I had no idea at all about anything. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know why I turned away from Ronnie, I knew that he was going to kiss me, but I felt like we shouldn’t. We didn't fit right together at all. He was nice, loving, but more like a brother.
I looked over at the hand towel that was still soaked in his blood. I couldn’t understand why someone could have feelings for me. I closed my eyes and decided that thinking about it wasn't going to solve anything.
My room was always cold; the hot air never seemed to make it all the way down. I climbed into my bed and pulled the covers up to my arms. I turned my computer on and started some music that helped me sleep. The food was heavy in my stomach making me sleepy, but making it hard for me to get comfortable. I tossed and turned for a while.
I heard a soft knock on my door. I turned over to look at my clock. It was two in the morning, “What?”
“Can I come in?” The door was cracked and I could see Ronnie’s eye in the doorway.
“I guess." I pushed myself up into a sitting position, "its kind of late isn’t it?”
“I know but I wanted to talk to you.” He seemed kind of weird.
"Can't this wait till morning?"
"Come on."
“I’m all ears.” I rubbed my eyes and gave him all of the attention that I could muster in my half sleeping state.
“I’m sorry that I came on so strong. I just want you to remember that you are a wonderful person and you don’t need to let anyone take advantage of you.” He sat on the end of my bed.
“Ronnie, I am thankful for what you did for me. It was stupid, but I understand why you did it. Don't think twice about what happened earlier. You surprised me, and I’m just not ready for that kind of relationship yet. I've seen all these kids at our school rushing through love, and I want to take things slowly.” I took his hand, “I want to get out of this place, and out on my own. Want to meet my parents? Sorry, I don’t have any…”
Ronnie smiled and stood up.
“What? What are you smiling for?”
“Oh, nothing.” He turned to walk out of the room, and as he reached for the door knob, the door flew open knocking him to the floor with enough force to send him sliding across the floor.
“Ronnie!” I yelled, as a man in a long, black coat, helmet, and night vision goggles shot at Ronnie with a gun. It wasn’t a real gun, it was far too quiet, but he turned it on me next, and shot me in the stomach.
“We have units one and two.” The man said.
I looked down at the dart and everything started to go black. My head hit the ground, and shortly thereafter everything was dark.
Chapter 3: Dr. Cid
When I opened my eyes I couldn’t see anything. The room was not lit very well but when I moved my arm, two lights above me flickered on. My eyes burned a little when the light hit them so I covered my face with my arm.
I was half lying on a steel bench and half lying on a concrete floor. I had whole body chills from my head to my toes from the damp cold in the room. The room itself was divided down the center by a wall of thick metal bars. The only way in or out of the room was on the other side of those bars.
Kenny was lying on the bench next to me. He was beginning to stir.
Ronnie was lying on the ground next to the bars and Sandy crumpled in a heap on the other side of Kenny.
“How long have you been awake?” Kenny sat up squinting around the room.
“Not long.” I pulled my legs up onto the bench with me and wrapped my arms around my knees. I rubbed my arms trying to warm up.
“What the hell is going on?” He felt his way around the edge of the room while his eyes finished adjusting. He took hold of the bars in the center of the room with both of his hands and tried to shake them.
“This isn’t like the cell in the police station back home.” He smirked. He had been locked up one time overnight because he had stolen a car to go for a quick joyride. That is what he told the police anyway; he was really trying to run away.
“What’s different?”
“These bars are about three times thicker and I’m not sure, but I think these might be made of carbon fiber.”
“Fascinating.” I let my head fall onto my arm. I didn’t care if this cell was identical to the cell in the police station back home.
“On top of that, these people are a lot more interested in what’s going on in here.” He pointed around the room to four different cameras that cover every square inch of the room.
“Ugh, why are we here? What have we done?” I threw my head back against the wall just a little too hard. I closed my eyes as my head was flooded with a head ache.
“Do you remember anything from the ride here?” Kenny paced around the room.
“No, not really. I woke up once or twice. Once I know we were in a truck piled up in the middle of the floor. The road was rough. The other time I opened my eyes, it didn’t feel like we were moving, and I couldn’t see anything. Everything was blurry.” I couldn’t get warm no matter what I tried.
“I think we were on an aircraft.”
“Where are we?” Ronnie spoke through clenched teeth. He shifted his body to lean against the bars, coughing with each movement.
“Your guess is as good as ours.” I said.
Kenny walked over to where Sandy lay and sat down beside her head. He gently lifted it and placed it in his lap. Then he began to stroke her hair.
“I think under the circumstances all we can do is wait.” He said.
“How do you feel?” I asked Ronnie.
He held onto his gut and clenched tighter with each movement.
“Horrible, and I’m not sure what did the most damage, the door, or Josh’s beat down.”
“Before you came down to my room did you notice anything out of the ordinary?” I asked.
“Nothing, and I was outside before I came down to your room.” He rubbed his eyes, “I waited for the old woman to go to bed before sneaking into the house.”
“The old lady…” I paused, “I wonder what she is going to do about all of this?”
“I don’t think that we can count on her doing anything.” Sandy remained still and kept her eyes closed.
“Why is that?” Ronnie asked.
“I was still awake as they tossed me into the truck. They torched the house and I didn’t see the old woman anywhere.” She explained.
We all took a few moments of silence for the old woman. None of us really liked her, but she did take care of us for the most part. We had lived in that house for several years.
Ronnie broke that silence, “We’ll say a prayer when we get out of here, but for now we need to find out what is going on.” He pulled himself up with the bars. “LET’S GET THIS OVER WITH!” he yelled into one of the cameras.
As if on cue, the door leading out of the room clicked loudly.
Ronnie took a few steps back. Kenny stood and helped Sandy to her feet.
“I think someone heard you.” I joined the others.
We waited for the door to open. Three men entered the room. Two burly men wearing armor and combat head gear came in first.
The third man was normal sized, much smaller than the first two. He wore a lab coat, had slicked back shiny black hair, and glasses that were almost invisible to the naked eye. He looked older and he had an almost trustable face.
We didn’t trust him.
He walked to the bars and looked us up and down like zoo animals. I felt over whelming disgust with the way that he looked at me.
“Who are you?” I asked as his eyes returned to me for a sec
ond time.
The man in the lab coat sighed and scratched his forehead, “My name is Doctor Cid. I am your mentor.”
“What do you mean mentor?”
“It means that while you’re here you are my responsibility.”
“What are you talking about?” Ronnie took a step towards the dividing wall.
“Ah, thank you Mr. Ayers for volunteering to be the first one to find out.” He pointed to Ronnie, “Take him.”
Dr. Cid took one last look at all of us, turned, and left the room.
The two guards presented their thumbs for a scan at the door that crossed into our side of the room. The lock clicked.
The first guard dropped his rifle and pulled out a pistol. He aimed it at me.
The second guard entered the cell. He grabbed Ronnie, who didn’t fight.
“Whatever happens…” but he stopped.
The guard directed Ronnie out of the room.
I yelled in frustration.
“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”
“Grace calm down!” Kenny said through his teeth.
“Calm down?” I shook my head and paced around the cell, “They just took Ronnie and you want me to calm down!”
“I want you to be rational. What are you going to accomplish by throwing a temper tantrum?” He embraced Sandy.
I dropped to one of the benches and hugged my knees.
We sat in silence, and waited for what was going to happen next. I laid down on the bench and covered my face with my arm. I tried to clear my head. I tried not to think about all of the horror movies that I had watched, and what they could possibly be doing to Ronnie at that moment.
I could hear whispers between Kenny and Sandy. Mostly he was trying to calm her down. She was freaked out about what was going on and my outburst didn’t help things.
The silence was broken suddenly by the pain filled yells of Ronnie. The worst most gut wrenching screaming that I had ever heard in my life issued from the walls themselves. I had never heard him yell let alone scream like he was being gutted.
The screaming went on and on for what seemed like forever.
Sandy sobbed into Kenny’s shoulder and he looked horrified. They both looked up to Ronnie as a big brother, a protector.
Just as I did.
Chapter 4: Injection
Ronnie’s screams eventually stopped. I began to pace the room; I knew that they would be in shortly to get their next victim.
“Whenever they comeback, don’t say anything. The both of you just sit there and shut up.” I knelt down in front of Kenny and Sandy.
The door clicked.
I stood and watched as Dr. Cid and the two guards came through the door.
“Take the girl next, the red head.”
Both guards drew their pistols and shot darts into Kenny and Sandy. They both fell to the floor.
“Why are you doing this?”
The cell door swung open and one of the guards came after me. I decided that I wasn’t going to go without a fight. I threw my left fist at the guards face. When my fingers made contact, I immediately felt my bones shatter.
I screamed.
He barely even moved.
He grabbed my shoulder and pushed me out of the cell. The other guard locked the cell door. They pushed me out into the hallway.
I cradled my hand.
“What are you going to do with me?” I was directed down the overly white hallways. Bright florescent lights lined both sides of the hallway; burning my eyes.
No one said anything. One of the guards pushed me in the back with his rifle. I stumbled and hit the wall. I pushed myself back up and kept walking.
We stopped at a large round door. Dr. Cid slid a keycard, presented his thumb for a scan, and presented his retina for a second scan. The door split down the center, and slid into the walls on either side.
They pushed me into the room.
Several machines lined the walls around the room and in the dead center was an operating table. A half dozen other doctors rushed around the room taking readings from all of the equipment.
“Lay down.” Dr. Cid pointed to the table.
“No.” I kept as calm as I could, holding my ground.
He snapped his fingers. One of the guards wrapped his fingers around my throat, and picked me up off the ground. He dropped me on the table.
The doctors strapped me down to the table. I didn’t fight, I could hardly breathe.
“Things are going to be so much easier if you don’t fight.” Dr. Cid typed on a tablet.
“Piss off.” I hissed through gritted teeth.
“Why do you insist on fighting?”
“Oh I don’t know, maybe it has something to do with the screaming from Ronnie.” I coughed and fought at the bindings.
A nurse pulled up my sleeve, and rubbed my skin with an alcohol pad. She filled a syringe with a red liquid and made sure the needle worked. She pushed the needle into my skin and injected the liquid into my vein.
“What is that? What are you doing to me?” I demanded.
She pulled the needle out and turned away ignoring my questions. She picked up another vial, a new needle, and injected a blue liquid into my neck. She pulled the needle out and set it on the table.
The pain in my hand began to subside.
“Alright, let’s move her into stage one.”
Two doctors rolled a machine to the top of the table and locked it into place. They took two needles and pressed them into my arms. Another doctor moved in and pulled tubing from the machine and snapped them onto the freshly inserted the needles.
“Ready for fusion.” The doctor said.
The machine began to hum loudly; blue light shown from behind my head. Dark red liquid flowed through the right tube, and a dark green liquid moved through the left. They both entered my skin at the same moment.
I didn’t feel anything at first but that didn’t last. My blood began to boil. I shrieked in pain as more and more of the foreign chemical was pumped into my body. I thrashed against my bindings and screamed as my skin burned.
“What are you doing to me?” I yelled in between screams.
“Grace dear, we are making you better.” Dr. Cid smiled.
I yelled, I screamed, I cried.
I wanted to tear the flesh from my bones.
Darkness began to push in around the edge of my mind and I was happy to let it come. I laid my head back and closed my eyes.
“Sorry, but we can’t let you go to sleep just yet.” Dr. Cid pressed a button on his tablet. A jolt of electricity came through the table and in to my body.
My eyes burst open and I screamed again.
“Please! When is it going to stop?”
Blood ran from my wrists and ankles as I thrashed at the bindings. I prayed for my mind to shut down. I wished that everything would be done with; over.
I wanted to be dead.
~//~
When I woke I didn’t open my eyes. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know what was going to happen next. The room was cold. I was lying on a thin mat, that didn’t form any kind of barrier between me and the cold metal below me.
I looked at my hand. The bones were in pieces, but as I felt it there was no pain. It was as if the incident had never happened.
I turned my head to the side and blinked. There was a pair of feet.
“Sandy?” I turned my head slowly to look at her face.
“Sorry, my name is not Sandy. It’s Rachel.” The girl said kneeling down to bring her face to the same level as mine. She pushed her dirty blond hair out of her face. She was at least my age, but she looked like she hadn’t had a decent meal in months.
I looked around the room; it was only me and Rachel. I was sure that they had already gotten to Sandy and Kenny. The room was small; there was the bed, which is what I was sitting on, a toilet with a small sink on top of the bowl, and a door. Enough room for me to stand. If I had stuck out both of my arms they would both found a wall.
�
��Who are you?” I leaned against the wall and rubbed my neck.
“I am like you, part of this project.” She sat on the ground, and leaned on the opposite wall.
“What was that stuff that they pumped into my body?” I hoped that she had some answers.
“Sorry again. I don’t have anything for you. I just wanted to warn you.” She stood and moved into the center of the room.
“Warn me about what?” I looked up at her face, the light from above her burning my eyes.
“They are about to do something to you, I don’t have time to explain what. You need to let your emotions take over, let whatever bubbles up around the edge take over.” She looked scared.
“What in heaven’s name are you talking about?”
“Just remember to let your emotions take over and things will get better for all of us.” She said, “Oh, and the others that you came here with, they are all fine. They have all been through the injection and are in separate cells on this level.”
I let my head fall down into my hands, and rubbed my eyes. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to take much more.
When I looked up she had vanished.
I jumped up and looked around. I ran my hands over the door, but I was sure that if it had opened I would have heard it, the metal was thick.
I sat back down, ghosts, what next?
Chapter 5: Heat
My head was killing me and the quiet in the room was not helping. I spent most of my time switching from sitting on the bench, pacing around the room, and laying down. I counted the lines in the ceiling hundreds of times. Each thud of my heart was like a boulder crashing onto my skull.
I thought of the girl who had vanished into thin air. She had said that her name was Rachel and she knew that the others were alright. I wondered if she had been a figment of my imagination that I had created to ease my mind.
It hadn’t helped.
Several times sporadically a small slide halfway up the wall would open. Someone would place a protein bar in an unmarked wrapper and a bottle of water on the small shelf below the slide.
I ignored it the first half a dozen times. When it became clear that they would take the food if I didn’t eat it coupled with the fact that I didn’t know how long I was going to be there, I decided that I should at least drink the water. Then I gave in when my stomach was louder than my heart beat and began to eat the bars.