Nessa was sitting sideways in the old brown recliner, feet bouncing in the air as she read her FaceBook messages on her phone. She twirled a strand of her bright red hair as she scrolled through her feed looking at this and that. She sighed as she glanced up at a brown haired scrawny teen sitting on the floor and smiled as she watched him play that stupid fallout game. She had bought it for his birthday months ago and he was still deeply engrossed in it. She wasn't a gamer, didn't have time to be one with all the hours she worked.
She never played, but she had a good idea of the story line since it did look kind of interesting at times. Some poor guy (or woman but her little brother never played as her) lost his wife and had his kid stolen while in a cryo chamber or something. Somehow he gets out and tries to find his son. Nessa was at work for most of the story but she was able to see the plot twist where he finds his son is an old man and a bad guy or something. Nessa shook her head and tried to understand the game. She watched her brother play for a moment trying to absorb something useful so she could keep at least one thing in common with him.
She tried to watch as memories of the day they herd a loud knock on the door swirled through her mind. It was the day she stopped being a sixteen year old sister and became a mother, father and caregiver. Her brother had been too young to fully comprehend what had happened and always asked when Mom and Dad would be home. She started working hard doing double classes in high school and graduated when the rest of her class started their senior year. Now she was working double shifts while taking online classes to get a better job.
Nessa took a deep breath as she shook her head slightly and felt her long hair fall off her shoulder. It was fun to watch him play. He had already beaten the game several times and he was now working on what he called the Brotherhood ending. She had tried to pay attention to this play through, but the Brotherhood only reminded her of her Mother and Father.
Nessa sighed and plopped her phone down as she glared at the big cup on the table next to the chair. She cursed silently as she shifted in the chair trying to ignore what her body was telling her. The cup had at one time been full of lemonade. Nessa silently cursed at herself for drinking it so fast.
Letting out an agitated sigh she got up and started walking to the bathroom. She paused and sighed again as she went back and grabbed her phone putting it in her pocket. She turned to see her brother was still transfixed with his game.
She grinned as she quietly snuck up on him. She took small quiet steeps so she wouldn't make a sound. Wasn't hard sneaking up on him since he was deeply entranced with his game. She pounced on him ruffling his hair as she laughed. "Don't mess up!"
The disgruntled teen tried to wave her away as his eyes stayed glued to the screen. "Nessa! Stop it! I'm gonna miss this!"
Nessa stopped ruffling his hair as she looked up at the screen to see a tall rugged man with a scruffy beard that hid part of a scar across his face. He was wearing a jacket that looked amazing. She had a hard time remembering his name, but she recognized him as the one that ran the Brotherhood soldier guys. She remembered him from a mission where he wanted you to kill Danse just because the guy ended up being a robot, cyborg or whatever they call it.
Nessa looked back at her brother as she ruffled his head again "Don't forget to finish your homework. You've worked to hard not to graduate."
She could almost hear his eyes roll. "Ill get it done before bed alright sis?"
Nessa smiled as she gently grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. "Tell me if anything good happens ok?"
Her brother pushed her hand off his shoulder and didn't look away from the T.V. "Stop it! I got something shooting at me!"
Nessa laughed and walked on to the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and did what she came to do. She washed her hands and reached for the door when a spark of electricity jumped from the door knob shocking her hand.
Startled, she jumped back and yanked her hand to her chest shocked at what she just felt and saw. Blinking, she slowly reached for the door knob again. As soon as her skin touched the metal blue sparks of electricity snaked all around her hand, up her arm and all over her body.
Terrified out of her mind she tried to pull her hand back but her hand was gripping the knob tight as her muscles reacted to the electric shock. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes tight and screamed when everything went dark and silent.
Nessa felt like she was being hurtled through black nothing, all sense of feeling lost. Disoriented and sick to her stomach she tried to make sense of what was going on. Her heart skipped a beat when it felt her feet touch ground then something slammed against her whole body. For a moment everything was quiet and still. She took a few calming breaths before opening her eyes and realized she was laying on her stomach in pitch black darkness. The air felt cool and she could hear crickets break the silence with a sudden chorus of chirping.
Nessa slowly felt the ground around her to figure out if the house had fallen on to her or if she fell through the floor and was confused when she felt cold metal under her.
"What the hell have you kids done!" a loud commanding voice shouted in the darkness. Nessa could hear sudden movement all around her then a bright flood light suddenly pierced the darkness blinding her eyes. Confused and scared she quickly stood up, the movement making her feel sick to her stomach. Nessa blinked as she looked around and saw she was standing on a metal platform. Beyond it some kids wearing what looked like uniforms. They were staring at her with wide terrified eyes.
Moaning with nausea she looked away from them and saw a shadow moving in the bright light. She couldn't see what it was, but could tell it was something huge and it was getting closer. The movement and the bright light behind it made her head spin and she threw up.
Nessa turned away from her mess and looked back up at the oncoming shadow. Her eyes went wide with fresh fear when she saw the outline of a giant monster. It's eyes suddenly lit up with a bright yellow glow and Nessa screamed when the evil eyes looked right at her and moved towards her. The monster looked massive and it sounded like it was made out of metal as each step it took sounded heavy and metallic.
Panic over ran every rational thought as she turned away from the monstrosity and tried to run. Her legs felt heavy and each step felt like it took every bit of energy she had. Looking quickly ahead Nessa realized the platform was raised above the ground a bit. She quickly jumped down and tried to run, but her legs were getting more shaky and every joint in her body was starting to hurt with a dull ache.
Nessa fled blindly into the darkness and felt her face explode in pain when she ran into something solid. She gasped in pain as she put a hand to her face. She backed up and started to run in another direction and gasped when a large gloved hand grabbed her roughly by her arm.
"LET ME GO!" she screamed in terror. Nessa struggled to get loose but the hand held her tight. She looked up screamed when she saw red hollow eyes looking down at her. She used her free hand to try and hit the hand gripping her arm. She felt a sudden painful sting in her back and heard a hiss. She shook with fear and felt her head spin as everything started to blur into one horrible nightmare.
The hand let her go and she felt her legs collaps under her. She felt pain in her back and she reached back to feel what was wrong. She felt something long and cold was sticking out of her back. She grabbed it and pulled on it gritting her teeth in pain. She looked at her hand to see what she pulled out of her back. Using the dull glow of the monsters eyes she saw it was a dart. It looked like the kind she saw scientists use on tv to take down animals for research.
Nessa felt a hand on her back as something was pushed under her legs. She looked up and saw the red eyes were inches from her face and felt her heart beat with fresh fear. She tried to fight the monster with the dart but its needle broke off on its first strike. She dropped the dart and felt her body weaken.
Nessa fought the sleep that was slowly overcoming her. She looked at the monsters eyes and was shocked to see human eyes were looking at her from inside. Nessa cried and tried to talk but threw up again. She started to shake with fear and cold as her vomit seeped into her clothes. She felt her body go limp as her head slumped forward. She felt her eyes close against her will and she let out a quiet whisper. "Please don't hurt me."
(((Prydwen)))
"What the hell happened down there?" A tall man with a scar across his face was pacing in front of some young initiates. They all had terrified looks on there faces and were trying to make themselves appear small. He stopped pacing and glared at the line of young people before him.
One boy with bright green eyes finally spoke up. He stepped forward and tried to stand at command as he shook with fear. "Sir, I was down there telling the younger recruits about the vault dweller that had left equipment here when one of them touched the panel and turned it on…Sir."
The man glared at the boy with cold blue eyes. His hair was a perfect military cut and his beard covered most of the scars on his face, one in particular was etched deep into his cheek. He wore a brown and tan captains coat and stood with a tall and proud stance. He growled with frustration then started pacing again. He paced for a moment before stopping to look at the green eyed boy. His skin was pale and he looked like he was about to pass out. The man took a deep breath and spoke with a calmer voice. "It has been reported that someone was teleported, is the report correct?" he asked as he looked away from the boy and glared at the other young adults.
Another boy stepped forward and was shaking. "It was my sister sir…she was standing on the platform. The machine flashed and the lights went out. Then…when the lights came back on she was gone and there was a different person standing where she was." The boy looked up at the man with tears in his eyes.
The man shook his head as he turned his back to the young adults to look out a huge panoramic window. It was a moonless night so he couldn't see much. He put his hands on the railing and let out a frustrated sigh. He should have had that damn equipment tore down after that vault dweller teleported to the institute in it. Nathen had successfully brought back info from the Synth hell hole.
The information was valuable and he owed that vault dweller much for risking his life to get it. Soon the scribes will compile the findings and give a full report on what was found.
The man took a deep breath before he stood back up and turned to face the initiates. He pointed at each one as he spoke with as much authority he could pour into his voice. "All of you will be on cleaning detail until further notice. You have been told before to not mess with that equipment down there." He looked down at the distraught boy and shook his head. He softened his voice and placed a hand on his shoulder. He could feel the boy shiver as he spoke. "I don't know if we will ever be able to get your sister back, but we will work on it."
The boy nodded. "Thank you sir."
He stepped back and gave each initiate a glare before speaking. "All of you, leave and get back to your quarters. You will be cleaning this ship from top to bottom first thing in the morning! You are all dismissed"
The Initiates saluted the man and spoke together as they saluted the man in front of them. "Yes Elder Maxson!" they all quickly left as fast as they could.
Elder Arthur Maxson watched them all leave. He turned to an older Paladin that had been one of the first one scene. He had a real name at one time but it was rarely spoken after an attacked by two Deathclaws nearly killed him. He took a claw to the throat silencing him when he was on his first mission.
Maxson looked at his scarred face. "I want a full report on everything that happened." The paladin nodded as he started to put his helmet on. Maxson placed a hand on his arm stopping him. "I don't like unapproved methods being used to subdue civilians. I want your reasons for using a tranquilizer dart included." The silent paladin took a deep breath and nodded. He waited for Maxson to removed his hand before he put his helmet back on. The eyes flickered to life and shone bright red.
The Paladin saluted his Elder before leaving through the same door the imitates fled through and left leaving Maxson alone.
(((Prydwen; Med bay)))
Nessa slowly became aware as her mind woke up. She tried to blink but her eyes felt thick and heavy. She slowly willed her eyes open and blinked before looking around. She squinted her eyes trying to focus her vision. Everything looked hazy and the lights had halos around them. She closed her eyes and looked around with her other senses. She felt she was laying in a bed and could hear a loud low hum that she could feel through the bed.
She opened her eyes again and saw the blurriness was gone but the light halos lingered. She looked around her as she tried to remember what had happened. She saw she was in a huge warehouse like place and was in what looked like a crude medical facility.
Nessa quickly sat up and held her head as it throbbed from the sudden movement. She saw movement in the corner of her eye and saw an older woman in a white lab coat was approaching her with a friendly smile.
She stopped at the foot of Nessa's bed and picked up a clipboard. "Hello, I'm Dr. Li, how are you feeling?" She asked as she put the clip board down and looked at a half empty bag hanging next to the bed. Nessa looked at the bag with cold dread and fallowed the plastic tube that stuck out from the bottom of it. She felt her skin crawl when she saw it ended with an I.V. in her arm. She started to panic and her breaths became short and fast as the sight of the needle buried in her skin made her panic.
Nessa scrambled to get out of the bed and let out a little gasp when she saw her clothes were gone and replaced with a thin gown. Panicked and terrified she struck at the woman in the lab coat when she reached out for her. Nessa screamed in pain when she felt the line tug on her arm, the needle twisted to the side tearing the vein it was in. Nessa grabbed the plastic tube taped to her arm and yanked the I.V. out leaving a trail of fluid and blood.
The Dr. tried again to reach out for Nessa and spoke in a calming voice. "Your going to be ok. We had to give you some rad away in an I.V. since your system was fighting to keep you stable. We are cleaning your clothes and running them through a rad scrubber to keep your radiation exposure down."
Nessa backed up when Dr. Li stepped closer. Glancing around she saw a glint of silver and saw a scalpel was on a tray next to her. She reached out and grabbed it. She felt her head spin as her blood dripped out of her arm. Nessa ignored the blood and held the scalpel like a knife pointing it at the gray haired woman. "I don't know what's going on, but I want to go home NOW! I was fine in my bathroom one moment and now I'm being poked with needles! I don't know how I got here or what you people want with me but I'm leaving!" Nessa turned and ran.
Nessa ran hard and fast down a long metal walk way and rushed down it running blindly. Her bare feet hitting the metal painfully as she ran past people in various uniforms. They all watched her run with surprised faces. She ran until she saw a large metal door and ran to it as fast as she could.
Nessa struggled to pulled the door open and ran through it when the opening was just big enough for her to squeeze through. She gasped as strong winds pushed her around a dark walkway and the low hum she heard from before was now a loud roar in her ears. She heard shouting behind her and ran to a guard rail and started to climb over it.
"Stop!"
Nessa stopped climbing as she breathed hard trying to catch her breath as her heart raced. She tried to look at the ground below the guard rail and saw only darkness. She looked back and saw a breathless Dr. Li was slowly approaching her.
"You need to stop!" She said again as she put up her hands and took another step closer.
Nessa shook her head and leaned more over the edge glancing down at the darkness under her. She felt her head spin as the winds whipped around her. She could feel her blood trickling down her arm and onto the rail under her hand. She looked back at the Dr. and saw the door behind her open with a loud bang when the wind caught it. A tall heavily built man walked through it and gently pushed Dr. Li aside.
Dr. Li looked at him with wide eyes as she steeped back to let him through. "Elder Maxson!"
Nessa looked at the man again then shook her head and laughed as everything became surreal. "Elder Maxson?" Nessa looked around and shook her head as she realized what must of happened. "Now I know what's going on, I'm dreaming. I must have fell asleep watching my brother play his stupid game again."
Maxson shook his head, the winds were tugging at his hair and coat. "Your not dreaming! I don't know what the hell Dr. Li gave you but I assure you, this is not a dream! Now get your ass over here or your going to fall!" he demanded as he took another step closer.
Nessa shook her head as she glared at the Elder. "No! I'm going to wake up! I must be on that ship thing…the Pryd-somthing." Nessa looked at the darkness below her. "If I jump I can scare my self into waking up. None of this is real…it just can't be!"
Maxson stepped closer to Nessa and held his hand out to her. By now more people had wandered through the door and was watching. Maxson shook his head as he inched closer. "Get down from the railing NOW! That is an order!" He yelled as he pointed at the ground in front of his feet.
Nessa shook her head. She looked at Maxson with tears running down her cheeks. "You like to order people around don't you? I watched a bit of the game when my brother was playing with that Nathan character and had Danse helping him. I guess if I'm dreaming I may as well say how I felt about what little I did see…You're nothing but an asshole, Danse was a good man, and you were wrong to want him dead just for being a robot!"
Maxson paused. His face was blank as Nessa's words sunk in. He started to talk but shook his head. Nessa saw a flash of sadness cross his face before he shook his head and turned a shade of red Nessa never knew anyone could turn, the people that had wondered out of the door were scrambling to get back inside. Dr. Li looked at Nessa with shock and disbelief as she stepped away from Maxson.
Maxson glared at Nessa. He spoke in a low threatening tone of voice. "What did you just SAY!" He growled as he balled his fists and started taking steps towards Nessa.
Nessa started breathing fast as panic gripped her heart. She leaned forward and started to lift a foot over the railing to get back on the walk way when her foot slipped on her blood. She tried to hold on to the rail with her hands but felt it slip from her fingers. It felt like time slowed as her adrenalin kicked in. She tried to grab for the railing but it was far from her reach as she fell into the nothing below her.
She didn't scream as the wind wipped her hair around her face. She felt her stomach in her throat as she fell further into the pitch black darkness. Nessa closed her eyes and yelled to herself. "Wake up!"
It felt like eternity had passed as she fell. She cried as her hair whipped around her face and stung her eye lids. Tears were streaming across her face as fear flooded her mind and she closed her eyes tighter.
Nessa prayed the end would be painless. She saw flashes of light as something slammed into her body and face. She felt the wind get knocked out of her lungs as pain exploded in her chest. She painfully tried to gasp for air as water filled her mouth. She felt herself sink below the surface as her body exploded into pain as she breathed in water. She felt her lungs burn as she tried to gasp for air out of reflex and took another breath of water.
Nessa tried to fight the water and swim but her body was nothing but pure pain and she couldn't move. She looked up as lights danced before her eyes and saw a bright light shine above her. The light started to dim as her oxygen starved mind slowed. She felt the water explode above her and something blocked the light. Nessa didn't like the dark and she ignored the pain as she reached above her for the light trying to grab hold of it.
Nessa felt a strong hand grab her and pull her towards the light. She felt like her head was floating as her vision became more and more dim. She felt cool air hit her face as an arm wrapped around her body and held her tight. She felt warmth against her back as she felt the water flow over her skin. She tried to breath but her body was ignoring her.
She felt a hand grab her arm dragged her through the mud. She felt the mud turn to dirt as it scraped her skin. She vaguely felt the pain her body was screaming at her as she was dragged onto dry ground.
The hand let her go and she felt her hand drop to the ground. She twitched her fingers trying to find the hand that left her. She wanted to scream when something slammed her hard on her back "BREATH!" a voice commanded.
Nessa tried to take a breath but she only felt water come out of her mouth. She dug her fingers into the dirt and struggled to take a breath. She felt hands on her and was pushed to her side. She felt another hard blow to her back. She started coughing out some water and tried to take a ragged breath. She felt someone push her to her back and felt warm lips touch hers. She felt a hand pinch her nose as air rushed into her mouth and she felt her lungs fill with air and burn.
She retched and felt water rush out of her mouth as she was rolled back to her side. She cried as every breath she took felt like fire and her chest hurt with every movement. "I wasn't dreaming." She whispered in a gravely tone of voice. She felt the hands on her move and she rolled onto her chest. She laid on her stomach gasping for air while her body ached and screamed all manners of pain at her brain. "It's real." She whispered.
"Of course its FUCKING REAL!" She heard a voice yell.
Nessa cried as she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the pain as she took another breath. "I don't want this to be real!" she whispered as loud as she could as she closed her eyes and took another painful breath.
She felt a hand grab her roughly by her shoulder and turned her so she was looking up. She looked into Maxson's face and saw it was a mix of raw emotions. "Don't fucking ever do something so damn stupid again!" He yelled at her as he looked at her. Nessa felt tears fall from her eyes as she nodded her head.
Maxson stood up and looked at the Prydwen above him. "I know you don't belong here, but we will try to find your home and get you back." He looked back down at Nessa then knelt down and shook his head as he looked at Nessa. She thought she saw tears in his eyes as he got closer to her face and pointed a finger at her. "Until then you WILL follow my commands do you understand?"
Nessa nodded her head. "Yes, I understand."
Maxson stood up and Nessa could hear the static of a Radio. "We need a med team on the ground now! The subject is secure and in need of medical attention."
Maxson looked down at Nessa and spoke in a calm soft voice. "What is your name?"
Nessa felt tired and closed her eyes. "Vanessa…" she murmured as she passed out.
Maxson heard a vertabird fly over as he looked at the woman at his feet. She was only a young woman, but what she said while on the Prydwen made him rethink the level of danger she possessed to not only him, but to the Brotherhood as a whole. He watched the vertabird land and a med team jumped out. He looked back down at Vanessa and shook his head.