by Erin Rickman
His body worked quicker than his brain as he shoved the heat gun down the front of his trousers, untucking his shirt to hide it. Then he took me by total surprise; he pushed me with strength up against the wall. I stared up at him startled, his hot breath lingering on my face for a split second. He kissed me with force, and it was unrestrained. I didn’t think, just acted. I wrapped one arm around his shoulder to support my body on its tiptoes due to our considerable height difference. The other hand rushed to his hair, adding further mess to his style. Atlas grabbed my leg, pulling it up to his waistline where he held it to support the posture. I gasped, but that only riled him up further, in the moment I forgot where we were.
A cough sounded. “Sorry to interrupt—”
Atlas quickly pulled away, dropping my leg and stepping back, he promptly wiped his mouth. I cleared my throat, ironing out my skirt. The heat rushed to my cheeks, and my breath heaved. The person standing in front of us was a young, blond man. His cheeks were also red, I would assume due to catching two people almost ripping one and other’s clothes off.
“I haven’t seen you up here before,” the young man continued.
Atlas let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, we don’t usually work on this floor, but truth be told, with her grandma needing around the clock care we don’t get a lot of alone time. This floor seemed quiet so we thought we’d hedge our bets. We assumed we were alone, sorry.” He wasn’t sorry.
The man smiled weakly. “No worries, we can just pretend this never happened. It would probably save us all some embarrassment.” Atlas had successfully managed to manipulate the situation to make the other worker feel so awkward, he would no longer question our appearance on the floor.
We watched as the young guy walked past us. He slowly faded down the corridor, and then he turned out of sight. I looked to Atlas, he wore an amused smile, and I imagined my face was one of shock. Although the kiss was a means to an end, it felt like there was a large amount of undeniable sexual tension between us. If this was a snapshot of a night with Atlas, then I was in for a rollercoaster. As he still gawked down at me, the passion turned to a feeling of uneasiness.
“Is that a heat gun or are you happy to see me?” I pointed to his jeans.
He bit back a laugh. “Would it be crude if I said both?” He winked, removing the gun from his waistband.
I sighed, not sure how to take his comment, but I was still smiling. “Not how I imagined our first kiss,” I concluded.
“Oh, so you imagine us kissing often?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Stop complaining.”
I slapped him on the chest, playfully. “Shut up,” I drawled. I then paused and clarified, “I was never complaining.”
At this, we continued our hunt. The rest of the level was both uneventful and unsuccessful. Though, I was silently thankful. I don't think I would be able to stop myself if Atlas threw himself at me again. When we reached the elevator, we descended to the lower levels as they were the only two remaining. My hope was slowly fading, but I tried not to let it affect me, we still had two storeys left. Two floors to find our friends, two floors worth of chances to get caught, two floors to realise that Atlas was potentially just plain crazy. As we entered level minus two, it felt different, and I was on edge. I assumed it was due to our current situation of being so close but still so far away.
I was both sad and relieved when we rounded back to the elevator. We got in, the doors closing and suddenly a hand stopped the closure. My eyes went wide, my heart was almost beating out of my chest, and in slow motion, the doors opened to show Van Wick. He got in the elevator; not a word spoken as he used what I assumed to be a spare fob. He tapped it next to the button for floor minus one. Atlas slowly glanced at me, fear across his face. I knew we had been caught, how were we going to explain this?
Van Wick sighed dramatically. “I wondered where my fob went. I’ve been watching you two on CCTV gallivant around the floors with the stupid heat gun for the last few hours.” He turned, his grin menacing, hands near his pockets. “Did you really think I wouldn’t figure out what you were doing?”
“Well, Blaire and I have been seeing each other for a while, and her grandma has taken ill, and we just wanted some alone time. It’s hard to find a good spot here.” Atlas said, trying to give the same story as he had earlier. I gulped loud; I could hear my own breathing. Van Wick had to accept Atlas' lie. Though, from the smirked look on Van Wick’s face, he didn’t seem to believe him.
The next scene happened so fast that if I had blinked, I would have missed it. Van Wick pulled his hand from his pocket, and I caught a glimpse of something shiny. Atlas went to walk in front of me to act as a shield. Van Wick’s shiny object hit Atlas’ exposed arm where he still had his shirt sleeves rolled up; he let out a sharp breath while attempting to draw it back. When I could finally focus on the situation, I noticed Van Wick held a needle, and he had injected Atlas with something.
“What the hell?” Atlas snapped, enraged.
Seconds later, I watched as Atlas’ eyes slowly became dull, and he stepped back, losing his balance. He slid down the wall of the elevator; I moved quickly to grab his body and soften his fall. I fell to the floor with him, my strength not being enough to support his growing dead weight. As we hit the floor, I tucked my legs under my body and held him.
“Wha—” he attempted to speak, but he didn’t get to finish his sentence. His eyes rolled back into his skull, his lids drooping shut.
Utter panic and fear shot through my body. “What have you done to him?” I shrieked.
Van Wick slowly crouched, lowering to our level. “It’s a sedative,” he clarified, wiggling the empty needle. “I always knew you two were smart, but I underestimated exactly how smart.”
My mind raced to process the event unfolding. I was still panicked, but relieved that Atlas would at some point come too. I was distracted, so much so I hadn’t noticed he had a second needle until I felt the prick in the side of my leg, just below my skirt line. I let out a gasp of pain as I felt the cold liquid work it’s way into my muscle. Just like Atlas’ must have done, I felt a wave of dizziness followed by relaxation come over me. My grip loosened on the boy in my arms, my forelimbs became nothing but dead weight. I thumped sideways, falling against the wall to my left.
“You should have walked away,” Van Wick whispered as my eyes fluttered shut and I was engulfed with darkness.
Chapter Thirteen
October 8th 2024
I heard a distant sound of buzzing and several glasses clinking. Slowly, my eyes peeled open; my vision blurred. After a few blinks, I could focus again. I looked around and concluded I was in a lab. I pushed through the fuzziness of my head to concentrate. I realised this lab was not too dissimilar to the one I worked in; however, there was a lot of equipment that I didn’t recognise. There was also another room separated by glass. I looked ahead, there was a clock and the time read four thirty-eight am.
A loud bang sounded to the right, and my head snapped towards the noise. Van Wick stood, swirling some sort of blue chemical in a beaker. In a panic, I tried to get up. I felt pressure over my body. I glanced down and saw two substantial restraints across my chest and hips, as well as four smaller ones around each wrist and ankle. I tugged with force trying to weaken them, but to no avail, they remained firmly in place
“No point trying, Blaire. They’ve held much stronger people than you,” his voice was low, menacing.
“What are you doing to me, you psycho?” I yelped in terror. I was now starting to see the fate both Hector and Maze had succumbed to. “You won’t get away with this.”
He let out a low, deep, bellied laugh. He sauntered over, pulling a small metallic table and an I-V stand. He walked away again, collecting his concoction in the beaker. I watched as he placed it on the small table that was situated next to me. He reached for the I-V line, the sharp needle twinkling in the low light. In a panic I searched the room for Atlas. He wasn’t here, but he couldn’t have been far, where was
he?
“Get away from me,” I snapped, wriggling. “Where is Atlas?”
“Blaire, if you don’t sit still and I get this wrong, you will simply bleed out, and I will let you. Now I’d rather not make a mess, so be a doll.”
At this, he pinned my arm down harder, using his left forearm. I was defenceless in the restraints that trapped me to a table. With his right hand, he inserted the line into the crook of my arm; I let out a slight hiss as he did so. Next, he secured it down with tape. I watched as he played with the I-V bag, clear fluid now trickling down the inlet. For a split second, as it entered my body, it felt cold. At that, he took a syringe and dipped it into his beaker of blue, drawing it up. He then attached it to the bag, squirting it in. I watched as the blue liquid swirled with the clear. He repeated this a few times, shaking the bag to mix it. The fluid trickling down the outlet slowly turned blue as it dripped, I let out a gasp as it neared my veins.
“What the hell is that?” I was horrified. “Is that going to burn me from the inside out?” I was referring to when Atlas told me not to touch the blue liquid.
“You’re so brilliant,” he mused, ignoring my question. “This will only make you better. So no, it will not. Atlas got too curious, so that is what I told him.” I was confused, totally uncertain of what he was putting in my body, then he continued, “If you survive, of course.” If it wouldn't burn me from the inside out, then what would it do to me? At that, I screamed loud and clear for help, for Atlas’ help. Van Wick laughed again. “He’s fine… at the moment.”
At that my screams got louder; I continued attempting to thrash my way out of the restraints. Suddenly, I felt a jab in my upper thigh. I glared at Van Wick, my body tingling, feeling similar to how it had in the lift. I freaked, looking around the room again, hoping Atlas would save the day but I knew he wouldn’t.
“I think this will be easier,” Van Wick mumbled, wiggling a needle, identical to the one from the elevator.
My body became limp, and before I could curse him out, my eyes fluttered shut.
✽✽✽
The next time I woke, I felt sick, finding it much harder to gain focus. After a few moments, I realised I was laying on something soft, no longer restrained. As my vision cleared and I could focus I took in my surroundings, I was no longer in the lab. I slowly sat, my head pounding. I rose to my feet. There were three white walls, and the fourth wall was glass. The perimeter was small, and I walked it with ease. I noted that I was encased in some sort of cell. There was a door by the bed on the back wall, and I quickly ran to it. I stood, shaking the door, kicking it and yelling. I noticed there was a square outlined on the top half of the door, so I smacked that in the hopes it would open.
I was on my own, but Atlas must have been close. Where was he? Were Maze and Hector here too? Surely they all had to be close. I continued banging, desperate to get out and find my friends. My efforts went unnoticed, and I sighed, stressed. The realisation that I would be here for a while sunk in.
I turned and noticed a chair and sink. Everything in the cell was stark white. I saw a pile of white clothes at the end of the bed.
I looked down, and a gasp left my lips. The arm that once held the I-V drip drew my attention, in particular, it was the colour of my veins on such arm. They were blue, bright and pulsing.
“What the hell?” I mumbled, sitting on the bed while turning my arm to examine it closer.
When I looked up and past the glass, I noticed a significant walkway, probably around ten feet wide. On the left, up a set of stairs was a door. I wasn’t sure how I hadn’t noticed before but opposite me, on the other side of the walkway was three different cells. I realised when looking at them that they resembled a sizable pod-like structure. The pods one and three on the opposite side were empty, but in the one directly in front of me, held Atlas, he was pounding on the glass. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I could make out my name on his lips. At that, I got up, taking four enormous strides towards the glass. I banged back, yelling his name. Does that mean Maze and Hector were close by too?
He stood staring, talking—I couldn’t work out exactly what he was saying, but the word ‘sorry’ was in there a few times. I shook my head, exaggerating the pronunciation of ‘it’s okay.’ He looked at me, his eyes full of sadness. At that, I pointed to myself, shook my head and pointed to my ear, indicating I couldn’t hear him. We couldn’t communicate effectively, and he hit the glass again to show his frustration. I watched him as he put his arms up, hands on the back of his head and threw his head back; his lips parted as he let out what I imagine to have been a groan.
I watched him intensely, my heart aching. Then I clocked his forearms, his left arm looked the same as mine. When he had finished his tantrum, I held up my forearm. He leant closer, hitting his head on the glass and I cracked a small smile. He ignored my amusement and then glanced down at his arm. I stared down at my own again, gazing, tracing the prominent veins with my fingertips.
Moments later, I glanced up, now bored of my body modification. I watched as Atlas jabbed harshly to my left, and he mouthed ‘Maze.’ He then swiftly jabbed again, but to my right, while mouthing ‘Hector.’
I stood shocked and I realised that we had found our missing friends. I concluded that I was sandwiched between them in my own pod. I was in the middle, Maze was to my left and Hector to my right. Atlas was right all along. The crazy son of a bitch was not so mad after all. I stood in shock as the accomplishment hit me like a wave, drowning me. I sat myself down on the floor of my pod, feeling dizzy.
Hector and Maze were here; in fact, poor Maze had been here since before I started. I wished they weren’t here, for their sake, but at least they were alive right? There was no doubt they had both endured the same experimental procedure as us, whatever that was. They must have figured out the facility was dodgy too, so to keep them quiet Van Wick abducted them. I wondered why Maze's husband had never looked for her. I could only assume that, somehow, they hoodwinked him into believing that Maze had left him.
Alina also lied; she had lied about Hector losing his job. Did she know we were here? She must have known—she's head of internal affairs after all. Jai and her were closely related, so did Jai know too? A wave of sickness washed over me. Jai had set me up for the job, had they planned this? I scoffed, surely not. Jai would never do such a thing. Regardless, I was questioning everything, what was even real anymore?
I had been drugged, experimented on and told that I might not survive. I was locked in a soundproof cell where no one could listen to me, and I couldn’t hear them. I wasn’t sure when I would get out, or even if I would get out. I wasn’t going to be able to speak to my brother or Jai and right my wrongs. I wasn’t going to be able to touch Atlas or hear his voice that I had grown to adore, or smell his cologne that was now a comfort and made me feel secure.
Anger hit me like a sledge hammer. How are the police not picking up on missing people? Surely Van Wick cannot get away with this. Unless this was much bigger than our company, how else could you hide a whole department going missing? I knew then that our assumptions about the police were right, someone must be receiving a hush-hush paycheck.
What was the cover-up they had used for me? Did my parents know? Were my parents even looking? They must have realised I never came home last night, though, a single night wasn’t a cause for concern. I knew my parents would look for me, but I had to pray they would find us. After all, the police were not someone we could rely on, so my parents were my only hope.
I felt my future was bleak, and there was no way out, at that a gut-wrenching sob left my lips. When the tears started, I couldn’t get them to stop—I didn't want them too. I wasn’t sure how long I had sobbed for, but it exhausted me. When I had eventually calmed after what seemed like hours, I laid my head on the glass, feeling the touch of the cold material soothe my warm skin. I looked over to Atlas, who sat cross-legged, staring down with his head hanging. I noticed that in the time of my sobbing fit he h
ad changed out of his work clothes from, what now would have been, the day before. He was in a white baggy t-shirt and white trousers, which resembled jogging bottoms.
Eventually, I mustered up enough energy to pull myself to my feet. I dragged myself over to the bed, my body feeling heavy. I picked up the clothes, noticing they were identical to the ones Atlas wore. I grabbed the bottoms, pulling them over my legs but under my skirt, careful not to expose myself. At that I reached around the back, unbuttoning the skirt and pulling it down. I proceeded to unbutton my blouse, back turned to the man across from me. I quickly swapped the top for the one I was given and threw the dirty clothes into a corner in the room.
I turned, far too quick and another wave of dizziness hit me. I wasn’t sure if it was from the copious amount of sedative I had, or the unknown liquid. I concluded it was probably a mixture of the two. I decided based on my body’s current reactions it was best to rest. I laid myself down, pulled my feet up and rolled to face the wall, drifting into an uneasy sleep.
✽✽✽
I woke, feeling cold. A massive shiver rattled my body, but I felt my forehead, and I found it was cloaked in a layer of sweat. Slowly I rolled, I wasn’t sure how long I had slept for, there was no indication of neither the time nor the date anywhere. I stared opposite me; Atlas was sitting on the edge of his bed. Suddenly he shot up, rushing to the sink. His body heaved up and down; he was vomiting. Clearly, the liquid was causing some sort of issue for him and affecting us in slightly different ways. I felt a wave of nausea come over me; I wasn’t sure if it was watching him vomit or the blue concoction in my body’s network. I glanced down at my arm—it was still blue.