“What is going on? Is anyone here?” I fire off questions, the plain walls and sterile atmosphere causing me to feel trapped. I run to the door, yanking and pulling on the handle, with no luck. Resting my head on the door, the cool temperature slowing my racing heart, keeping the panic at bay I close my eyes and take some deep breaths.
Straightening up, I open my eyes, the woosh of the door coming a second later. Whirling around I notice the open doorway, with the door panel sitting off to the side. Movement out of the corner of my eye comes a second later, before a sharp stings follows.
I am losing the feeling in my limbs, I don’t know what I was stuck with, but I know it can’t be good. The panic I was fighting away earlier comes back in full force. My chest feels tight, my palms are tingling, and I know what I start feeling. Dread. I am falling to the floor, having no control over my body, when rough hands grab me. Blackness is rushing towards me, I can feel it sucking me into the black oblivion, the whisper of, “I can’t wait to see what you can do,” following me.
The clank of metal on metal rings in my ears, the light of the room slowly entering my heavy eyes. A cold weight resting against my wrists and a heavy pressure against my abdomen are the first thing I notice. “Can I please stop waking up in places I do not know?” I mumble to no one in particular.
“I am glad you are awake. I am surprised you slept through some of that, but I must have used more sedative than needed. I expected you to be stronger.” An aged man with white hair, and piercing green eyes peer at me, his eyebrow raised in question.
“What on earth are you talking about?” I know I look as confused as I feel.
“Interesting.” A smirk takes over his face, his eyes lighting up in glee. “Your test results came out average, nothing unique or special. Let’s see if you pass the final test.”
A surprised yelp leaves me when he moves closer, his weird green eyes appearing brighter. A searing pain radiates down my arm, causing heat to trail behind. “Ahh!” I scream, tears falling down my face.
Keep it in, I tell myself, don’t let it out. Another cut across my thigh brings me out of my thoughts. “What do you want?”
“Stop!”
Another cut. Another tear. “Why are you doing this?” I cry out, heaving, with tears strolling down my cheeks.
Minutes pass, maybe hours, I can’t keep track. The number of cuts and devices I have endured have all blurred together.
The door flies open, crashing to the wall. “What are you doing?” my torturer asks.
The enforcer with the rough grip from earlier barely looks my way before replying in a bored voice, “Sent this way, Sir. Administration said they have seen enough. She isn’t who they are looking for. They said she is barely a blip on their radar.”
The enforcer on the left, the one who wasn’t as scary, his eyes were blazing, like a thundering sea. Even though he was looking directly at me, I don’t think he was actually seeing me. Though my body was hurting, one thing I realized was I wasn’t actually scared of this enforcer. I could feel his anger, it was radiating off him, but again, it wasn’t directed at me.
“Fine. Get her out of here. It wasn’t even fun,” my torturer, sounding bored, replied.
The enforcer with the thunderous eyes cut a quick glare his way. “Will do, Gregory.” His voice was like ice, lacking any emotion.
“Young man, you would do well to learn your place. Sir or Mr. Snow. You will not call me Gregory again. Do you understand me?” My torturer, Gregory, is fuming, his face beet red, his fists clenching and unclenching rapidly as he steps face-to-face with the enforcer with the dark eyes.
The other enforcer steps away from the two and comes towards me, his steps hard and measured. He roughly unties my ankles and wrists, shooting pain through my limbs, causing me to call out in pain, tremors shooting through my body.
I can hear Gregory and the other enforcer talking, but the words don’t reach my ears. My body is lifted up, with an enforcer on each side, my arms across their shoulders. I can feel my feet dragging along the ground, but I can’t get them to start moving properly. My eyes barely want to stay open.
When I finally pry them open, I see we are back in my hallway, with other students looking my way. Some with looks of sadness, others with blank looks, and a few don’t even look my way.
I could just imagine what I look like. With the way I feel I imagine I look like I have been hit by a truck. We get to my door, and they push it open. Catherine gets up and rushes over, catching me just in time as the enforcers lets go of me.
How she manages to lift me on her own, I have no clue. But she manages to get me into my bed. I feel her leave me, a moment later a weight settles on the bed beside me, a cool cloth cleaning my skin. The gentle touches and the caring from this total stranger causes my chest to hurt. Tears roll down my face, well into the night, and Catherine continues to care for me. “It will be okay, Viv, we will figure this out. I don’t have as much power as some others here, but I know you are something special. I will be here
