Time: Unknown
Place: Unknown
My head buzzed with a severe headache just wishing to burst my skull open. I could feel a light burn at my closed eyelids, which didn't help my headache no less. My hearing felt a little clogged, like when you're on an airplane just taking off, your ear pops and it feels weird during the entire trip until its fixed on its own; but I could just barely hear the wailing of voices which sounded so close yet so far all at once.
Where was I? I had no idea. In fact, I couldn't really remember anything beforehand. What was I doing? Was it something bad? Was I chasing after another suspect of the conspiracy surrounding the prank, the school, and myself? I couldn't remember. And why do I feel a horrible draft, my whole body shivering under the breeze's touch.
Taking all the energy I could muster into one motion, my eyes opened, only to be greeted to a light fixture, dangling above me. Just turning my head slightly, I noticed that I was lying on a table and . . . I looked down . . .
. . . I was naked. If it hadn't been for the thunderous headache bruising the interior of my brain, I would've totally screamed in confusion but I withdrew, knowing the consequences. Why was I naked? And on a table, in a place I have no idea where? And on another note, why did I have sensory patches placed around my body, wires connecting to machines next to the table? My eyes scanned the perimeter of the area around me. There were other machines on the other side of the room, hissing and moaning around me, buttons beeping and scanning. What was going on? Why was I here? And more importantly, what was happening to me?
No one was in the room with me; I was alone. But once again, I heard the wails of voices close by, and despite my body's wishes, I moved my head the other way, instantly seeing a giant glass window, showing another room on the other side of the glass. My eyes were still adjusting a little to my new surroundings when I heard a fierce gasp on the other side of the window. I blinked, rubbing my eyelids together to try and clear the fuzziness. And when I opened my eyes again, I saw my crush since elementary school, Tina Kwee, her face nearly pressed against the window.
"T-Tina?" I said in a barely audible voice. I didn't know what was going on, but I felt a little smile creep its way on my face once seeing her. Despite what most of A. Nigma High says, her presence lit up my whole world. And what made my smile grow wider was when I found out she wasn't alone; as in, the whole gang was with her as well: Camilio, Holger, Biffy, Brandy, and even Greta. But why were they all here? Had they been captured for some reason? They didn't look like they were in any form of restraint, but I could have been wrong. After all, I had just woken up from who knows how long.
But something was definitely wrong; very wrong. Most of the them, especially the girls and Holger, looked like they had just got done with a long period of crying and continuing. Why were they crying? Had something bad happened? What had I missed that caused them this much despair? . . . Did I cause it?
"Lee!" Tina cried, smacking the window with her clenched fist, as if trying her best to get my attention. My eyes returned to her tear-streaked face, but she didn't cease her screaming and pounding on the window. "Lee! Get up! Please! Lee!" Tears were continuing to form and fall down her precious cheeks. It actually made me want to cry just watching her fill up with such anguish. But what could I do? I was too weak to stand up. I couldn't do what she was yelling desperately at me to do.
The banging against the glass grew louder and louder as I noticed that soon everyone, including Biffy, was punching the window with as much strength as they could muster. But the glass didn't budge. I could hear their faint pleas through the window. "Lee! Lee! Get up, Lee! Get outta there!" But I already knew that I couldn't, and I had no idea why.
Despite the sadness stricken on their faces, I felt my smile cease to fall. I didn't want their hearts to fall anymore than they already had. "You . . . you guys . . . " I faintly whispered, my voice hoarse and rough. There was no way that they would have been able to hear me, but I spoke. Even though my body spoke otherwise, I felt my arm, my left tattooed arm, rise from the cold table's surface and reach a frail hand of outstretched fingers toward them. "Guys . . . " I repeated, my eyes trying to focus on the little group surrounding the window, their slamming intensifying.
Suddenly, their eyes grew wide, their pupils shrinking as they instantly noticed something behind me. "Wh-what's wrong?" I asked in a quiet tone of voice. Then, I heard it. I heard a door open and I heard the noise of what sounded like giant vacuums. Instead, my eyes looked up without turning my head and saw a couple pairs of Cleaner freaks start to file into the room.
"No! Lee! Oh my god, Lee! Please! No!" My friends shouted, tears starting to return and easily slide down their innocent faces. I wanted to do something; anything to make them stop crying. But I couldn't do a thing and the Cleaner freaks knew all too well of my disability.
Feeling my heart beat quicken with each passing second, I noticed the closest Cleaner dude walk up to me with an oxygen mask and with no effort at all to stop it, was strapped onto my face. And before I could think, another Cleaner on the other side of the room, switched a button on a machine and as soon as it was turned on, I felt a sweet fresh of laughing gas rush up my nostrils and into my mouth.
My smile started to feel crooked, the laughing gas taking its effect throughout my body. Eyes looking back to my friends, I noticed Tina start to raise a hand to her lips, her finger tips covering the quivering of her bottom lip. Gazing at the others, I noticed others with the same expression: eyes wide with confusion and shock, and hands trying urgently to cover up the emotion on their face.
It wasn't until after a couple seconds did I realize that they weren't gaping at the Cleaner freaks around me or for the laughing gas that was starting to take control of me; it was because of left arm- my olive green tattoo was starting to glow. Despite the gas, I felt my eyes widen with concern. My arm was glowing. My arm was freakin' glowing! Well, technically, it was just my tattoo glowing, but how was that possible? It couldn't be, could it? I mean, there have been crazier things than this happen to me, right? What did I expect?
My eyes started getting fuzzy again and I felt my glowing tattooed arm, fall limply to the side of the table. Once seeing that, my friends looked like they had been snapped back to reality or at least, some of them; one being Tina. Her tiny fists slammed against the indestructible window as I felt myself slip from consciousness. I could barely hold on as if I were hanging onto the tip of a cliff leading down to a pit of darkness. I couldn't hold on anymore and the resistance was killer.
Noticing this, the same Cleaner dude pressed another button on the same machine, and once again, I felt another surge of laughing gas push up through my mouth and nose to the point where I was literally gasping. I couldn't. Not anymore. I was through. Or in Cam's words, "Finito." My fingers had let go, and now I was falling into that pit of darkness. And before being consumed entirely by the darkness, I heard Tina wail with another loud smack against the glass. "LEE!" My smile fading, my eyes closed.
