Shae POV
I'm breathing heavily. I can't figure out where I am. I peek out of my very slightly opened eyes to see if anyone is around me. I see no one near me, and breathe a tiny sigh of relief. I do not want to end up like that other boy that was in the room I had just been laying in a while ago. I close my eyes and try to force the graphic images out of my mind, but none go away. If only I had saved him, maybe I would not even be in this weird place. That young brave boy only lived nine years. I could not even get up to distract them. Maybe if I was not so afraid, I would still be able to look at his face and see his bright, glowing, optimistic smile.
I see the crimson red blood splatter against the yellow walls, and hear the boy's high pitched shrieks. The guards were smiling in the corner as the little boy was beat to pulp. His blond hair turned blood stained. The man in the middle, beating up the child, wore a red band around his ankle. I guessed he was the man in charge. He had begun slashing the boy with a Swiss army knife and barking orders at the men against the wall. The boy was left in a broken heap to die. I remember saying good-bye to him in my head and that he had been a tough little champion. The next thing I knew, there was a large, bulky man walking toward me, pointing the tip of his sleeping dart gun at me. My world had turned completely dark a couple seconds after that, and I was out.
"Get up." My body jumps as a loud voice echoes throughout the room. It sounds as if it was screaming right next to me. A couple of the walls vibrate. Good, finally something to get that memory out of my head. I hold up my head and look around. No one is here. Who is talking to me? What is going on? Where am I?
"I SAID GET UP!" Now, the voice sounds a million miles away. I can't tell if the voice is a male, female, or if the voice sounds younger or older. Sighing, I jump off the metal examination table I was laying on, and stretch. My bones and muscles ache like I haven't moved at all in days. I wonder how long I had been asleep. Now that my eyes are adjusted to the lighting, which is very bright, I can see the room is a rather large room, not much smaller than your average middle school cafeteria. The room is actually not light gray, like I thought it was before, it is a very bright eye-popping white.
"Well, you are one strange experiment that I have never seen, nor heard of before." The voice who had talked to me before interrupts my thoughts again. This voice does not know when to be quiet. I do not feel like talking, especially when I have no clue where I am. Though I somehow do muster up the courage to speak but, I'm not going to give anything important away.
"I'm only human," I yawn midway through my sentence. "And," I stop there; I do not trust this robotic voice and the person speaking behind it. They do not need to know who-no, what I am. In fact, I don't fully even know what I am.
"And what else? What? What else do you need to say little girl?" It- the voice- sounds louder now, and I think I hear a hint of a masculine voice now, but that just may be my imagination. Somehow, this voice manages to get me mad, and that my friend, is not an easy thing to do. I am no little girl. I am 17, two months away from 18. I am supposedly the girl that will save the world. Or so, I've been told. Now before I go into more detail; I don't need to break my promise. You readers will just have to wait to find out who I am and what I am capable of doing.
I clear my throat then respond with the most threatening voice I can manage. "Excuse you, but I am not a little girl. I am older than you robot type thing probably think I am. NOW LET ME OUT OF HERE OR I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU AND EVERY ONE YOU CARE ABOUT!" I was hungry, and I need to get home. First though, before I escape, I will make sure I kill all of these rotten-headed people, make no mistake about that.
"What are you even going to do to me?" My voice came out hoarse that time instead of the snarling voice I had used before.
"Listen, I know more than you think I know. I already knew you are 17, and that you love the color red. In fact you want your room to be painted red when you turn 18, and you also want blue high lights in your long luscious blonde hair. I know you were born in Nevada, but you ran away to Tennessee when you were 12. I know you try to skip school because you honestly can't stand this senior named Hunter, but when you do go to school you love every single other guy. I know your Name is Chelsey Nicole Jameston, but you prefer the name Shae. I can go on, like your favorite season is winter, and your favorite food is your best friend's homemade strawberry short cake. You love running, but here's something interesting, you absolutely love flying. You lived with your brother until he moved in with your aunt. You live without parents because your parents mysteriously left you or died. You want your best friend to come live with you, ha-ha don't we all," the voice pauses, and then begins again.
"Also honey, I do not think you will get out of here until you prove you can complete the mission we will assign to you. Everyone is sent here for a reason, especially you Shae. You are the most important person in this building, and everyone here knows it. I have to go now but it was fun talking to you." The voice finishes, but I could tell it knew a ton more about me... and had a lot planned for me.
I was freaking out. I haven't even told anyone about any of this, so how did these people know? I wanted out. I wanted to know first of all how I even got here. Who put me here? Why am I here? Will I die, or will I get out? The biggest question, will I be able to prove that I can complete my mission? Suddenly, right in the middle of my thought process the bright luminescent lights above me flicker then turn completely off. The only thing I see now is a tiny place to look outside. I walk over to the window with curiosity and look out into a big open forest. The screen blurs my vision just a little bit but I get a glimpse of a blue and yellow bird of some species fly by, and I smile. At least the birds are free. I then notice a little white object outside. A realize it's a clock. I did not even care that the clock was outside and that I was locked inside. I was happy, and at that moment being happy was all that mattered.
The time reads 1300; I had not realized it was already September 21, 2017. Gosh, it is already one o'clock in the afternoon and I still have not had anything to eat yet. My stomach growls just as there is a knock coming from the other wall opposite from this wall with the window. I am still recovering from the startling knock when a little opening appears just big enough to fit a tray with some items through it. I run over and grab the tray seeing that it is food, nodding a nod of thanks to the person who had just handed me the tray. He turns his head and smiles back at me. I gasp when I see him. Believe me when I say he is gasp worthy, because boy did he have me breathing harder, and I'm not even sure he is 100 percent human. He would have made the average, normal teenage girl cry, and faint shortly afterward. Luckily, I'm not an average girl, so I just gasped.
He has got to be the most handsome guy I have ever seen, and that is saying quite a lot. I mean not to brag but, where I used to attend school most of the guys were either very talented football players and had amazing good looks, or male models that were in tons of fitness top model magazines. Even the young freshman boys were male models; they each took three hour classes every day on being the best looking guy in the state. I was lucky if even one of them did so much as even look at me. This guy standing right in front of me totally blew all those boys out of the water; by a long shot.
His eyes are piercing, a deep dark brown, almost black, but still very gorgeous. His teeth are the straightest, whitest teeth I have ever seen. He must brush his teeth at least seven times a day. I think to myself just as I notice his perfect smile. His smile is kind of a crooked smile that seems to have sadness in it. What has he been through? He is quite hot in a handsome, cute kind of way. He makes me forget where I am, just for a minute. His hair is so black that it looks jet black, which makes him look dark, dangerous, and mysterious. Those traits are exactly the character traits that would describe me. His black hair is medium length but blow dried so that it stands tall on his head. His eyes are so interesting; it's like looking into his soul. His skin tone is a little darker than mine but it just made him more attractive. We look at each other, taking in each other's facial features for what seems like hours. I could have done it all day; I wouldn't have minded it at all.
Finally, he looks away and continues pushing the tray cart past my slot. The slot in the wall disappears when I turn around, that alone makes my heart stop. Was I not the only one here? Of course I wasn't the only one here, after all, the announcement person said everyone gets sent here for a reason. How many other people are here? How long has this place existed? Where even is this place? I shake my head to erase all this out of my mind; I am not even hungry any more. I go back to the window and just stand at the windowsill, watching the clock, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second. The boy's face is still in my mind every second I watch go by.
When the clock strikes 18:00, the voice comes back on the loud speaker in my room. The loud noise shakes me from my trance and I'm lost in time for a minute. It only seemed like 30 minutes that had gone by, not 5 hours; it was already 6:00 p.m.
"I'm excited to see you found your little looking glass, and you seem to be less irritated at this time. It looks to me that your first official day awake was a good one. If you would like to find out anything, you can look in the "Manual for newcomers" manual that will appear in a little night stand next to your bed that will appear at 20:00 tonight which is eight o'clock if you don't already know military time. I have already set up everything you will need. I just need to send you the military time chart, which will be there in the morning. One or two new items will appear every day made custom just for your needs. I hope you enjoyed yourself today; you will be spending quite a long time here. Well I must get going but, your dinner should be here in about five minutes. I do recommend that you eat the food the people give you, no matter how confused you are. This food is specially made for each individual here. If you need anything or have a question, or you just want to talk to someone, shout out the word "Teacher"." With that, the voice hangs up and leaves me once again, questioning why I am here.
When dinner comes around, I get steak cooked rare, with extra sauce which is cooked literally to perfection, steaming mashed potatoes, juicy, red watermelon, and fresh garlic bread baked right out of the oven with a light layer of butter. I wonder what the people do to make the food taste so good. A shiver travels down my spine when I remember that the food is made special for each person. I shove the forkful in my mouth and swallow, realizing that I may just die here so what the heck, I'm going to eat the darn food.
This time when the boy comes back around to hand me my tray of food, I ask what his name is. He responds with the name Kyle. His eyes glisten from the bright luminescent lights outside in the hallway, making them appear a dark hazel color now. He reaches through the little slot and grabs my empty tray from my hand and replaces it with a nice-sized piece of strawberry shortcake. I even choke a little when I see the cake.
"That is a nice name. Thanks for the food and um talking." I say calmly. "Well, I don't mean to waste your time talking to you when you should be passing out dinner, so maybe we can talk tomorrow." I take my tray of dessert, and walk to the examination table. A sigh escapes when I hear the little slit in the door close. So much for making friends, I think to myself and roll my eyes.
Kyle POV
That girl must be new. She seems lost. My day had been going terribly until just now. My boss fired my best friend, and then hired a new intern who will not leave me alone. Like last time I checked, a person only needs to drink eight glasses of water a day. This new girl is handing me water about every thirty minutes. I think I can go two hours without water; I'm not going to pass out of hydration.
What's even worse is my boss assigned me to the girl I had just passed out food to, and I have heard rumors that she is completely crazy. I don't blame her though; I heard that her dad left her family when she was little and her mom was like a hippie that loved the earth. I also think her mom disappeared and was later found dead in a stream. I remember reading that she has a younger sibling named Sam, I wonder how that child is coping, and all I can think to myself is that Sam must be depressed as crap. Dang, if anything that younger sibling would be the one I would be frightened of if I was her.
Once I return to my cubicle, I change into my black joggers and a black shirt. That is one thing that I had in common with my old girlfriend. We both like the color black with a passion. Two days after I broke up with her, a letter came in the mail addressed to me. The next thing I knew, I woke up strapped to a metal slab in the basement of this place. I had been knocked out for 32 hours.
Shae POV
The examination table would actually be a good table but there are no chairs in this room, so I find myself eating on the floor near the so called "looking glass". I glance out the window again, and notice the sun is setting. The wonderful pink and orange colors mending together make me stare outside for twenty minutes. I just couldn't get enough of the beauty. Everything seems to be pulling me into a trance. I need to find some way out of here, before something worse than just being pulled into a trance happens.
Around 7:00, the sky becomes pitch black. The temperature also plummets in the room. Everything is nerve-racking now. Every now and then I hear voices coming from behind the wall where I get my food and that alone makes my blood run cold. Seconds seem to pass by like hours. My anxiety is growing at a rapid speed. Take a deep breath Shae, hold it in for five seconds, then let it out and repeat this nine more times. I do this just like the voice inside my head told me to do. I finally am calm and decide to count to 100 by twos, and then back down by fives. I find my way back to the table and sit down on the edge, thinking about today's events.
I jump off the freezing examination table after thirty minutes of shivering in my white paper-thin cloth dress. Whenever my friends were bored they probably paced, or taped their fingers, or drew, maybe even talked to themselves, something a normal person would do, well I tend to punch things. Yes, I know that may sound strange but I am strange, so punching things is fun to me. In this case, the cold cement wall is the unfortunate victim. After a few hard, bloody punches to the wall I realize how unbearably freezing it is in my room. My fragile body is shivering, my teeth are chattering, I cannot see anything, and my fists are bruised and bleeding.
"Teacher, teacher, teacher!" I scream so loud my ears ring. If I ever get out of here maybe I can make these kidnappers deaf. That will teach them to mess with me.
"Yes? What can I get you Shae? Are you okay?" The voice actually replied. That's a first. What a nice surprise. Maybe these people are trying to help me. Then again, maybe these people are trying to kill me. These days you just never know.
My breathing is faltering now, I can't think straight, and I just want my hands to stop pounding. "I need bandages for my hands. Do not ask why, just don't. Please." I look out the window and focus on the clock. The bright green lights light up the dark, unmoving night. It is 7:45 when I hear a faint knock on the wall where I got my food. Then a second later a door is magically created! A whoosh of air escapes my mouth, and I feel like fainting. Someone small walks in, and shuts the door behind them after rolling up his sleeves. Then he turns the lock. I become very alert now, very fast. All my senses start tingling, a warning kind of tingling.
"Wow, I guess you're new. Your electricity has not been equipped yet." The Indian accent catches me off guard.
"Uh, no freakin duh," The words come out so cold I barely recognize them as my own. The man takes out a flashlight and shines it at my face. I close my eyes and a low warning growl rumbles in my throat. Once the flashlight is not shinning on my face, I open my eyes and glare at him. Then I see the bandages in his hands and look down at my fists. I guess I punched the walls harder than I thought I did. Some of the bones are visible and blood is dripping on the floor, creating a red puddle and a stain that probably won't go away.
The short man walks over to me with the flashlight still on my hands and I can see fear in his eyes. Without thinking, I rush him and knee him in his stomach. I drop kick him and he is on the ground in less than a minute. He gives a painful groan while he tries to sit up. I jab him in his ribs with my elbow, but using less force now. "Stop, I came here to help you! Oh gosh owe."
I get off him, grab the flashlight and hurry to the examination table. My hands feel as if they are on fire. The man gets up shakily and takes some unsteady steps. He finally reaches me and smiles. I take that as an apology for shinning the flashlight in my face earlier.
The man patches up my hands with stiches and gauze in silence. I give him back his bloody flashlight and in return he gives me some pain medication. After about five minutes he comes back to install emergency lights so I can see. How thoughtful of him. I don't know why, but something about that man really made me nervous. A little while before 8pm some cleaning people come in and scrape away the flesh and rub away the blood puddles on the floor. As I was standing in the corner, I realized those people made me shiver too. I'm going to cut straight to the facts, pretty much everything here makes me nervous. This really was a thrilling day; I wonder what night will bring.
When the clock ticks to 8:00, my bed appears. Looks like they've really outdone themselves, I think as I stare at the king size, memory foam mattress with two woolen blankets folded at end. I make my bed with a great amount of effort. My hands are still pounding and all the movements I'm doing aren't helping. I finally finish making my bed and changing into my nightgown. I climb into the large, warm bed and snuggle the pillow just like I did at home every night. I remember what the voice said about the "Manual for newcomers" and take it out of the drawer it was in right next to my bed. The manual is huge, about 600 pages long. As much as I wanted to find out more about this place I just was way too tired to read and comprehend what I was reading. I give up after the "I hope your first day was filled with excitement." introduction. It's time I wake up from this nightmare.
Running. Running through a meadow; trying to get away from all these mad people. Ha, and they said I would never get away. Nothing can stop me not even the tall, dry, itchy grass will. I am the invincible Shae. At my school I'm known as the fierce guardian in hand-to-hand combat, the highest rank. I'm expendable. I'm past the first fence, only two more to go. About 500 yards to go then I can be gone and free. I will be able to return to my "normal" routine. I hear growls and look behind me to see rabid dogs are chasing after me. Great, let your all gone wrong dogs come after me, they can try to keep up. 200 yards to go then I can show my great finale. I hear something whiz past my right ear, panic starts to overcome me. There is no time to wait, I need to get out of here now, and now meant the grand finale would come a bit early, but hey, who doesn't like grand finales?
With a second of thinking, I make up my mind. They wanted a show, just wait until you crazy people see this. It is time to really awe them. They are never going to forget this; I can't wait to see the looks on their faces. They are going to regret everything they have done, especially what they did to the little boy in that room.
I take three more giant leaps, then jump into the air, and unfurl my wings. They are the most amazing things in my life. My wings are pretty magnificent, psh they're only fifteen feet long. I especially love the coloring on them. There is black spotting on the down feathers and then it turns into a light gray above with white zig-zag stripes.
I look down to see the scientists below, and my heart burns. I spit and say, "Ha-ha, you suckers can't get me now! Come and try to catch up with me! Oh that's right, you can't because you're a lame human, and I'm an experiment! An experiment is all I will ever be to you creeps!" Their faces look astonished and full of curiosity. Their faces make me smile and I pick up my speed. Just as I get a good 100 feet off the ground, a searing pain shoots through my left wing. I scream, and the pain spreads fast along the wing reaching to my chest in no time. Before I know it, I'm falling to the dead ground below me. All my dreams of freedom; gone. I hit the ground hard and-.
I jump out of bed, there is sweat dripping down my forehead, and my hands are trembling. It's just a dream Shae, calm down. Do the counting thing you did before, or repeat any word in your head fifty times. There was nothing you could have done to stop them from killing that boy, please try to calm down. Come on, you are tougher than this. My voice was correct, I need to calm down, and talk to someone. That would not be that hard, right?
Wrong. First of all, it turns out no one will answer at 1:00 in the morning, or any time in the morning, until you say good morning first. What would I do without my manual? So after thirty minutes of yelling "teacher" and one minute of "good morning teacher," the voice finally answered. The voice seemed very happy to talk to me though; it even told me I was going on a tour with another person, which almost never happens.
"So teacher, I was wondering would it be possible if you could send someone to talk to me about... how this works. The institution and fitting in, you know what I mean?" I tried to sound very persistent; I was known to be the number one girl to win every argument at my old school too. It was 1:53 now and I was growing impatient.
"Well, I'm sure I can get someone to talk with you my dear. Expect someone in five minutes," the voice said. In that time I gulped down four more pain killers for my hands. God, my bandages look terrible. It turns out my paper dress is easy to tear and use as a bandage. The two new items in my room are a full-length mirror and electricity.
I found this out by waking up to a nice warm room and my blankets on the floor. I see a full-length mirror on the wall that has the window in it. Sighing, I jump out of bed and walk toward the mirror.
When I look in the mirror, I see a girl that looks 18. Her hair is in layers, and down to her waist. I notice the bottom layer of her hair is dyed black. She looks like she has been through hell. Her hands look like she just went into a boxing match-without gloves. Her eyes are the only thing I can seem to remember. Who could forget eyes the color of crystal blue? She appears threatening; I would not want to mess with her. I flex my arm muscles, and the 5'4 girl in the mirror does the same.
I step away from the mirror, that can't be me. I head to the wall where I get my tray and just as a put my head on the wall, a door is created and opened. I fly forward and land on the floor.
"Shoot! Freaking owe! What the he-" I glance up at Kyle. My new bandages are now a crimson red. I realize my paper dress is torn clean in half. Great, now I look like a screwed up, crazy, drunken old lady. I try to stand up but collapse right into Kyle's arms.
"Sorry, I look like a mess, well I am a mess. I'm so sor-," I gasp again, noticing how much my torn paper dress was exposing.
"Dude its fine. The first days are usually crazy, but don't worry it gets better." He says as his face reddens. He then adds, "Plus, I'm here." I jump back into the cement wall, and shiver. I must have just imagined that, but if I had imagined that, then why is he smirking?
"Excuse me," I run back into my room, and find my old clothes from when I was in the other room folded and put in the far left corner of my room. Good ole' black jeans, a black leather jacket that says "Good girl gone bad", A leather glove with studs, and gray vans is what I manage to put together. I can barely get the glove on my left hand. I take a glance at the mirror and man, can I say if you were to look up the word menacing in the dictionary, there would be a picture of me.
When I walk back out of the room, Kyle straightens up from slouching on the wall and frowns. Whatever his issue is, I didn't have time, and it was going to be 2:15 am soon. "Um, what are you doing? What you're wearing is breaking dress code. You need to be wearing a dress. Listen, please change your clothes. You will get in serious trouble if anyone else sees you." kyle complains.
I turn around and shove him against the wall. While holding the collar of his black shirt, and pinning him against the wall, I spit up at his almost twenty year old 6' high face and laugh. "No, you listen. You and your friends are keeping a very, very threatening girl in this building. I could punch you and break your ribs in the blink of an eye. I could dislocate your very neck right now. Shoot, I could stab through your chest with my glove and make you suffer if I really wanted to. So how about you stick with passing out food, and I will stick with trying to get out of this dungeon." My voice was so intimidating that even I shivered.
Suddenly, Kyle pushed me forward and pinned me to the ground. I punched his stomach and found his abs to be rock hard. My right hand throbbed and my head started to spin. I am awfully aware how close he is to me and blush. I then kick him on his side and stand up, shaking out all the pain. My anger boiled over the tipping point, and boy did it spill. I grunted, shook off my leather jacket totally revealing my black crop top; and unfurl my pitch black wings. Yea, they were fully black now because of how mad I was.
"I'm going on this tour with or without you. Neither you nor any of those scientists can kill me, much less hurt me. Haven't you noticed that? You can knock me unconscious ten times in a row, and I will wake up even stronger than when I woke up before." I say, and hold back tears. Those guys had knocked that little boy out three times, but he kept getting up. He did not give up until that one guy started slashing him. I drop to the ground, and smile at Kyle. A nice warm smile, meaning I won't cause any trouble with him anymore. He nods and turns his head. I see him smile the smallest of smiles, but even that slows my breathing down.
When we turn a corner one place catches my eye. One place I know very well. 23186 Norbrooke Ln, Crookstown, VA- my address. I shake inside and I collapse onto the ground into a mess of tears. Kyle's eyes soften up and change hazel for a millisecond, and then they return to that gorgeous, deep dark coffee brown. Kyle isn't normal; I knew something was strange about him. What was wrong with the people at this place?
Kyle kneels down and strokes my hair. "Do you want to go back to your room? I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt you. Please answer me Shae." He picks me up and carries me to a chair in the lobby. I cry and manage to say I would like to continue in five minutes.
"Would you like to continue on with the tour?" Kyle says, brusing his hands through his black hair. I nod, and anger comes rushing into my system. He does not deserve to be here. This place seems like it is for screw ups. He is too kind to be here. Sure he may be not normal, but heck I have wings!
The rest of the tour is silent. Only one scientist looked at my clothes and shook his head, he won't be moving his neck any time soon. I'm so psychotic that even I scare myself sometimes. It's a really good thing I was not raised up to be evil; I would be the craziest person on earth. I would destroy the world. I would be the strongest person on earth; no one would be able to stop me.
Now I realize why these crazy scientists say I will be the girl who saves the world. Ha-Ha I see how cliché that is. Saving the world seems to be every super human's job, but I will literally be the one saving the world. The reason why? My mother, who birthed me, was Mother Nature herself, and what child would not protect their parents?
Kyle POV
I walk back to the cafeteria in a daze. As I enter the room, a new intern girl offers me water. "You look really flushed, here you go. Some nice refreshing water." she says then turns to offer a new kid some water. I pour some water flavoring in my water and gulp it down. This day had been so long, I was ready to go to sleep. It was 3:07 now and I knew I was going to have to get up at 7am to hand out breakfast.
This place really isn't a bad place to work. My boss might have fired my friend but he had needed to go a long time ago. He first came here at age eleven, and had been here for seven years. Now he's out in the world, lost, and alone.
When I get back to my room, I turn on my TV and relax in bed. I don't know what it is about scary movies, but watching them makes me relaxed. My last thought before going to sleep is of Shae, and how afraid she looked when I held her in my arms. As I drifted off into a dreaming paradise, she whispered three words to me. Don't let go.
My dreams were not any better. I stood in the middle of a plaster white room, behind a glass wall, then I saw Shae and I pounded on the glass. She looked at me, her long black-blonde hair swishing as she walked toward me. Her blue eyes watching every movement I made. All of a sudden, she stopped dead in her tracks, and started walking left. A guy, tall with brown-blonde hair around the age of eighteen stood with a smile on his face and his arms extended toward her.
I screamed and pounded the glass. No matter what I did, Shae didn't hear me. I saw her look at me one more time and then run into the tall guy's arms. A tear slid down her face and I heard her say "I love you." to him. He proceeded to pick her up and kiss her, exclaiming how sorry he was and how much he missed her. I then realized they weren't in a glass box, I was. With that, I shook my head and started crying.
My alarm woke me up at 0600. I pulled back the covers of my bed and wiped my forehead. My arm was glistening with my sweat. I felt my bones rattle, and I knew something was going to happen today.
The best thing about this job is if you are late, all that happens are the people here just stave until lunch time. I have only gotten punished once, but that's a different story. Anyways, as I was getting ready, I noticed a blonde haired guy. No, he was a brunette blonde; a mix in between. He turned his head and I saw half of his face. His calm blue eyes were gazing around the room, and then stopped at a window. I could now see his whole face, sparkly bright eyes, pink colored cheeks, a smirk that probably won every girls heart, and a strong lean body.
He was standing in front of the coffee colored desk in the lobby. Hands in his pockets and more weight shifted on the left side of his body. When I finished scanning him, I noticed his eyes were not locked on the window anymore. He was staring me dead on.
Shae POV
In my room as I woke up, I noticed a bird. It swished across the field, back and forth in front of my window rapidly. Jumping out of bed, I see that there is another bed in my room across to the other side of the room. There also is a dining table in the middle of my room. There's a fresh pair of fuzzy hospital socks and a new paper dress waiting by the door for me.
I just have enough time to lace the paper strings into a bow behind me and slip on my socks when a door appears. Kyle and another guy walk in, then a girl behind them. Instantly my face reddens and I glance away from Kyle. The other girl grabs my attention as I skim her up and down. Mid length blue hair with scene bangs, very thin boned and pale. Red contacts in, looks fifteen or sixteen, wearing faded black jeans, chains, 4 necklaces, around twenty bracelets, and a band t-shirt.
She was slumped against the wall with her hands in her pockets and staring at me. I of course was not allowed in my daily intimidating attire, so anger boiled inside of me wondering why she was allowed to wear her clothes. I mean, after all she couldn't be a visitor. There was a strict no visitor allowed policy.
Kyle was wearing a loose black and white tank top and jeans with red shoes. I have to admit I had to keep myself from glancing at him. When I glanced up at him he was much closer, smirking at me.
"Hey Shae," He said quietly.
I swished my hair and twirled one piece around my finger, then blushed and put my hands behind my back. My brain finally picked up and I realized he was talking to me.
"Hey," I hesitated, "I like your eyes, and your hair."
The girl got off the wall and stood right in front of kyle, almost as if she was challenging him and said, "So like, are you going to show me where I'm sleeping or not?"
"I mean you could sleep outside all alone if you want to be rude, nobody would know except us, so shut up and wait." The girl went and sat down on the empty bed. Kyle and the other boy left after showing her the rule book and telling her about all the rules.
"Shae! How are you doing? Ahhh I see you have a nice roommate! Now If you need someone to talk to you can just chat with her! Sounds great, doesn't it?" The loud speaker cracked to life.
I groaned, rolled my eyes and walked to tidy up my side of the gigantic room. I cleared my throat, "Why yes teacher, such a lovely idea. Thank you so much for accomodating me with such an amazing person." Shae, stop being rude and go talk to her, she may be a way to help you get out. Remember to breathe and keep your calm, you've got this.
I stop folding my paper dresses and walk over to her side, cautious so that I didn't step past the line separating us. "Hey! New girl! What's your name anyways? How old are you? What do you like? Oh yeah, and just so you know, I am the boss here, and I will not put up with a brat who complains and tries to act tough, Got that clear?" My teeth were clenched and my fists were throbbing from clenching them so hard.
"We got off on the wrong hand, I'm sorry. My name is Marz, I'm 15, I like bands and contacts. Just so you know though, you don't have to try and be tough all the time, it doesn't suit you. Plus, I don't think that guy Kyle likes it all that much." She finished flattening her covers on her twin size bed and kicked off her converse to the corner. Her side of the room was darker than mine, but my light allowed some light into her dark space. "Also, I would lay off on the punching, your hands are dripping blood."
"Good. For. Them. Now here, change into this paper dress, take off your jewelry and take out your contacts unless you want someone to bother you about it for a week." Without a trace of anger and disobedience, she slipped off her clothes and put on the paper dress that looked eight sizes too big on her. Her arms looked bear with no bracelets and her neck looked even paler with no dark necklaces. Her nails were painted black and her eyeliner was winged about five centimeters out.
"By the time you leave this place, you'll gain around twenty pounds and forget makeup even exists. Ha, good luck." I mumbled under my breath as I turned around and got into my king sized, heated bed.
Marz's POV
She hadn't even mentioned her name, but I remembered Kyle called her Shae. Shae, not bad of a name for a girl who had her parents name her. The fact that I had parents back at home, worried sick about me didn't even make me feel a pinch of sadness. I mean c'mon, I'm fifteen. I don't need parents. They could live without their little 'princess' for a few years.
I look over at Shae in her huge bed and decorated room. Basically it's one huge, huge room. One side is hers, and the other is mine. Her side has lights, a mirror, a window, a nightstand and a bar across the window to hang clothes on hangers. I got jealous. She's obviously spoiled, Kyle's nice to her, yet she was so rude to me. She doesn't deserve this.
I got off my bed and put one foot into the light side, nothing goes off. I tip toe over to her mirror and my eyes widen. I have not seen myself with this much white on or bare skin in over a year. My eyeliner is smudged and my black paint is chipping off my nails. My leg hair is getting prickly again and it makes me uncomfortable. My dyed hair still looks good, but will need a touch up in a month. The thing I can't take my eyes off is the ugly huge paper dress and how small it makes me look. I'm 5'4 and one hundred pounds. I haven't eaten all day and it is starting to get to me.
Suddenly Shae wakes up and screams an ear peircing shriek. I thought she was about to start charging at me but I look up and see her still in bed. There's a large incision in her leg that's spilling blood, but I didn't see anything happen at all. No one was in here. She's screaming 'teacher' and gripping at her sheets just as a door is created and doctors rush her out of the room on a stretcher. I look outside the window and it's 1200.
A blue and yellow bird chirps and flies on the ground in front of me. At least the birds like it here, maybe because they're not stuck in a cold cement room. As I turn around I think I see the bird shape shift into a fox, and I swivel back around. The bird is in the same spot, pecking at the ground as if nothing had just happened. I was ready to get the heck out of here.
Shae POV
When I wake up in a strange room my heart starts to race. There's an aluminum mini fridge across the small room, and the lights on the ceiling are blue LED lights. They're dim so I can't see much, but I do manage to see the clock. Its 1400, time for lunch.
A nurse opens the door and says 'lights'; the ceiling comes to life as a bunch of different shades of blue come to create one shade of bright sky blue. She wheels in a tray of food and my mouth waters. I had skipped breakfast. I look down at my left thigh and a bandage covers almost the whole front side. She starts mumbling to herself and busies herself with my IV.
"Wh-wh-what happened," I ask as a shiver runs down my spine.
"Look dear, all I know is that you woke up screaming and we rushed in to get you, your new friend was looking at you from where she was standing at the mirror. We don't know what caused it unless you damaged yourself or your new friend wished it. Technically she isn't supposed to be on your side or else an alarm will sound, maybe you haven't switched that detail on yet. You can tell the commander who you do or do not want in your part of the room if you please, but most people don't bother because the only people that visit them is Kyle, for meals only. That is all I can say about that topic, now how badly would you rate the pain in your leg?" She sighs and has a worried expression on her face, as if she knew me. I hold up 5 fingers and close my eyes. Hospital staff here is just as bad as the staff at regular hospitals.
"You can escape Shae, with me you can escape. We can build a life together and on the days you remember this place, I'll be here to tell you that it is okay, that we are no longer here, that everything is alright. You becoming my love is my only goal in life. You are going to make it out of here stronger than ever, with me by your side." I feel his lips skim my right ear, and his hands take mine. One hand lets go and starts stroking my hair out of the way. "I'm right here," he whispers.
I can't open my eyes, but I know it's him. I know only one guy who makes my heart race for a good reason, my teeth chatter, my hands shake, only one person I've fallen head over heels for. I can feel his dark, mysterious eyes looking at me, watching over me, and I know I'm safe. I feel the tip of a marker tracing words onto the top of my right hand. Most likely the color red, because he knows that's my favorite color. He then kisses my hand and starts stroking my hair again.
I open my eyes, expecting a kiss from my lover sitting next to me, but no one is here. I raise my right arm, nothing is written on it. My heart sinks. My body aches and I start to get mad. Why hasn't anybody come to see me! It's 2000 and the lights are dim again. The nurses are shuffling around outside my room.
"She's in that room to your right." I hear a nurse say quietly. Suddenly Kyle walks in and sets a cup of ice near my bed. How does he know I love ice? I will never know the answer to that question. He sat down next to me. My heart starts racing. I smile and blurt out a giggle.
"Hey klutz," he says with one of those smirks that gives me butterflies.
I manage to smack him in the arm and yes, even apologize afterwards. A nurse comes in and without thinking; I grab his hand as she fixes up my IV. This feels so natural, holding his hand, his thumb rubbing mine. Is this even real? What if I could feel like this forever?
Turns out, I woke up in my own bed, in my own room. Except there was one problem,. Marz was on my side of the room looing in the mirror. I didn't trust her after yesterday. If anyone was going down, it would be her. I swing my covers off me, and swing my legs over the side. A muffled shriek escapes my mouth and Marz looks over at me with a startled expression.
She runs over to me, and grabs a wheelchair, or the one she probably saw me arrive in. "I'm glad you're okay. It looked so painful. I thought they would have to cut off your leg or something." she says.
"Listen Marz, thanks but no thanks. I wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for you in the first place. I've been here for two weeks, and I have broken hands that won't stop bleeding, bruised ribs, huge migraines, a dull pain in my back, and now I have a huge cut on my thigh because you couldn't control your young thinking. So, I would appreciate if you could stop freakin' messing with me and stay on your side of the dang room. How hard is that?" I say with a snap.
I hop over to the wheelchair and glare at her, daring her to speak. "Teacher" I scream. The cut is already starting to heal with the stitches, and I'm off the IV medication.
"Yes Shae? I heard you took a trip to the Hospital unit with a gash in your leg. Of course this puts us behind on track of your training, but I'm glad you're feeling better. Is there anything I can get you?" the voice finishes.
"Yes there is indeed. I would like you to allow only nurses, staff and Kyle to come into my side of the room. I would like that set up please, and thank you. Now, about the training, I would like to start that as soon as possible, because I'm ready to get out of here."
The voice clears its throat. "Why of course I can arrange that, and I agree with your statement about the training. Ha ha my dear, you've been out of your room for more time than even the people that have been here for up to a year. Don't you just want to relax before you have to go through training?" It sounds proud of the points it made.
"I suppose. Thank you, oh boy, because you totally know I like staying in one place for long periods of time. Bye teacher." I say with a snarl. On my nightstand, a music player appears, and paper. Geez, not even pencils come with the paper. I wheel over to the music player and press the reject button. A 'For King and Country' cd comes out, and I smile. My favorite Band is on that cd, right in front of me. This is all I need.
"Thank you," I whisper.
Marz POV
I hear a cd playing on Shae's side of the room. I hear the song that I've never heard in my life. It sounds too peaceful for my liking, but I listen anyways. Shae is singing along to it with such a huge grin, I almost feel happy for her. I walk over to the line where light hits dark and shout for her to turn it down. She responds by turning it louder. I only got one new thing today and that was a lion blanket.
I've had to deal with cold for two nights now, why would a blanket arrive all of a sudden? This isn't turning out how I thought it would be. I mean, no parents screaming down my back, no chores, free food, no exercising, no talking to anyone if you don't want to, and hey, a pretty roommate.
This is no picnic though. I'm cold at night, gaining weight, no makeup, no communication to boys or girls except Shae. I don't like the lack of being social. I feel alone, and trapped. My question is, why everyone keeps saying that Shae is the most important girl in this place, and so far, all the powers she has is being demanding and sarcastic. I mean she does seem pretty strong, but I haven't seen her take off her paper dress since I've been here. However, I do notice that she wears a new dress with that days date on it every day.
She is the same height as me, which is sad because she's almost eighteen and I am fifteen. She has broad shoulders, and nice strong arms. Her eyes stick out like blue crystals in a dust pan. I am nothing like her yet I feel like I've known her my whole life. Her tan shoulders changing lighter as you look down her arms. She's thick, but her legs are pure muscle. Her hair is tied up. Her face has a couple healing scars on her forehead, but her skin is fair. She has a nice voice for all the screaming she does. The last thing that gets me is that everyone here seems to love her, and everyone here seems to be afraid of me.
What scares me is what Shae said before. How could I have caused her to get a gash in her thigh? All I said was she didn't deserve what she has. All I knew I could do is shape shift, but why would anyone be afraid of that. Now if someone here could fly, that would scare me the most. If that's even possible, I hope I'm as far away from them as possible.
It's time to go to sleep, officially the end of my second day here. I'm ready for training.
"Marz, we need you to be ready for an escort within the next five minutes. You have a caller. Be ready and don't waste time," a person boomed above me. Maybe it could be my ex-boyfriend calling from prison wondering where I was. Maybe it's a long lost relative. Possibly even the FBI trying to find me to kill me. Who knows?
I tie up my hair and take my contacts out. I've become less pale and the tag on my wrist says I'm one hundred-one pounds. My diet is so much more than I ever got at home. At home, I would eat two bowls of frosted flakes, and be busy sleeping to eat lunch. Then for dinner I would cook snack on chips and go off to sleep and listen to music. I never really got three huge courses of fruit, protein, a dessert, and starch all in one serving. I have my mom to thank for that.
Shae managed to get me a foot by foot, square mirror after she listened to her music, which surprised me. I flat down my dress and adjust the pin that I had put on from my arrival clothes. I have no trace of makeup on me I see bags starting to form under my eyes from the lack of sleep. A door is created and I stare in awe. What if they did that while someone is sleeping and murder them? The hairs on my arms go up.
"Excuse me, I'm required to take you to a call," a female says. She's slim, with a delicate face, which compliments her rosy cheeks. She's wearing a creepy white lab coat, and red heels. Not exactly something I would wear, but it suits her. I automatically know I like her.
"Alright, sounds good to me. What's your name?" I ask as her small, pink lips form a mellow smile.
She laughs and says, "I'm Amber. I'm from Canada, but I have been here a good nine years. I arrived when I was sixteen, and I haven't seen Canada since. Anyways, it's always nice to see new faces and get to know about them because everyone in life has their own story and little things about them that I find fascinating. I am assigned to you as a guidance counselor because everyone needs a person they can talk to in a new and scary place, am I right?"
"I suppose Amber, I suppose. Nice name by the way. You're one of the few people that seem to actually want to listen to me." I don't usually pour out my feelings to random strangers like this, but she seems so inviting. After all, I better make some friends because it looks like I'll be here a while. We turn the corner of the long hallway and come to a room labeled 'private, called personnel only'
"I'll meet you out here when you're finished. It was nice meeting you Marz." She opens the door and I walk in. The room is like nothing I've seen before. There are cell phones upon cell phones in baskets everywhere. Some labeled 'deceased', some titled 'Missing In Action', some 'not awake yet', 'supposed to be destroyed'. Then I swivel and see my phone on the fake wooden table. I quickly run over to it and spot a note.
To whom it may concern,
Hello, I'm glad you made here safely. Just so you know, we have eighteen cameras in this room. We see, hear, and know everything you say and do while in here. We already have looked through your texts, and scanned everything in your phone. We have allowed only a few people on your contact list. Those people include your Mother, father, and doctor. Thank you. Have a good call.
The phone starts vibrating and I answer. My mother is weeping on the other end. "Baby, oh my goodness. I thought something happened to you. Where are you? Are you safe? Please tell me you're coming home soon. It's been two days! The police are searching for you." She sounds frantic.
"Mom, I'm fine and safe. I have a new friend. I'm doing well. I took out my contacts, and I have to say white isn't a bad color on me. I'm gaining weight, and I haven't worn makeup for over forty-eight hours. I'm not coming home, I just can't right now. Tell the police to stop looking. Leave me alone." With a sigh, I hear her mumble some words about thinking I was kidnapped.
"I can assure you, I'm not kidnapped. Plus if I was, I don't think they would let me use my phone. Anyways, I have to go now but it was just great talking to you. Bye." I hang up the phone and text a picture of me and my 'new' look to my mom. She responds with 'you look absolutely wonderful, but why are you wearing a paper dress?' my face reddens and I say that I'm wearing pajamas. I put her on do not disturb and power down my phone. I don't know when the next time I will be talking to the outside world is, and that makes me smile. I'm home now.
I walk back with Amber and we talk about her experiences in the institute, her constant visits to the hospital unit, how training was both the best and worst thing in the world, and how awesome the food was. Apparently, it was better five years ago than now, which astonishes me because the food here is the best food I've ever eaten.
When I get back to my room, Shae is nowhere to be seen. I notice a door left open a jar in the wall where the window is. In fact I notice that there are two doors, but leading to where is my question.