Teaser
Legs aching and still feeling slightly disoriented, all she wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep, but the nice lady had asked her not to move, so she stayed standing where she was. Looking around to distract herself, she had to squint as the bright lights were reflecting off the walls and all the whiteness was hurting her over-sensitive eyes. Closing her eyes instead, she began concentrating on the sounds around her, rather than the brightness. Ears twitching to identify sounds, she immediately recognized the sounds of movement behind her, but the people approaching had yet to reach the corridor she was waiting in. As the noises got louder – and obviously closer – she noticed that the people were talking in urgent voices but she couldn't discern what they were saying. The smell of fear that was radiating off them in almost crushing waves was strong enough to force her to cover her face in order to staunch it, but she couldn't sense any danger, so why were they afraid? She was in the process of trying to figure that out when they rounded the corner into the corridor she was waiting in. When she realized that she wasn't alone anymore, the child shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked up to see who the people were. And immediately froze.
A paralyzing bout of fear rooted her to the spot – her little feet wouldn't move with her body's command. She didn't know who these men were (hell, she could barely remember her own name) but, for some reason knew that these men were dangerous – extremely dangerous. Just as the child was trying to figure out how to get away, the three men noticed her and with shocked expressions, the small group engaged in a short, awkward staring match. Suddenly, the first man – obviously the leader – stepped forward and upon seeing this, the other two followed suit. The child, remembering that there was a door behind her attempted to step back, turn and bolt at the same time – only succeeding in tripping over her own feet. Landing smartly on her butt, she continued to stare, petrified at the advancing men. Realizing that there was nothing that she could do to protect herself, the girl began to panic. The men were trying to talk to her, she could see their mouths moving, but everything was being drowned out by the ear-splitting ringing that had started when she fell and felt like it was going to make her head explode. And suddenly, they were right in front of her. Coming back to her senses with an unpleasant jolt, she did the first thing that came to mind – screamed, as loudly as her rough, unused voice would allow.
The scientists in the above ground levels brushed off the building shaking as a minor earthquake, though, dutifully evacuated as the fire alarm sounded.