I read the entirety of The Catcher in the Rye twice.
I had to have been in this room for at least 10 hours straight at this point.
The man in the mask brought me food and walked me to the washroom when I needed it.
He would blindfold me when I left the room, which I found more than a little creepy.
"Listen, I have no idea how long I was out before I woke up in here, but I'm assuming it's not the weekend anymore. People are going to start wondering where I am, and how are you supposed to cover for me?" I said, standing up and talking to the security camera.
No answer.
"Please just give me my punishment, do something, anything! I'm going stir crazy in here, I need to see another human. Mr. Mask isn't exactly a great conservationist." I said dryly, sitting back down on the bed.
I yawned loudly. It felt like it was getting later in the night. If I had to guess what day it was I'd say Monday, but in reality I had no idea.
It was incredibly disorienting, not having a clock or even a window to try to judge the time based on the light outside.
With each minute that ticked by my fear grew.
What was taking them so long? Was my punishment really this intricate?
What were my Mom and Dad thinking? They must've come home to an empty house. Maybe my friends had stayed there, waiting for me to come back. What did they do when I never did?
And Kenny, I could only imagine what he was thinking. He probably thought I was dead or worse.
I clenched my fists and bit the inside of my cheek.
I didn't want Kenny to worry. Out of everyone, I was the most worried about him. He wouldn't be able to tell anyone else the extent of what he knew about the person who took me.
He's all alone in this, he has no one to confide in.
Okay, that's it. I need to get out of here, I needed to get back to Kenny.
I stood up with a new determination burning in my chest. Right as I was about to look into the security camera and make my demands, the door to my room opened.
"Let's go." The man in the mask said gruffly.
"Alright." I nodded, ready for whatever was coming.
He took a black cloth out of his jacket pocket and wrapped it around my eyes, tying it at the back of my head.
"You're not home free yet, Iza, but we have a start." He said evenly, grabbing my arms from behind and pushing me forwards into the hall.
His body was much too close for comfort and the texture of his cold, black leather gloves on my skin made me shudder in discomfort.
"What do you mean, 'a start'?" I questioned nervously.
He didn't respond and just kept pushing me along. It was difficult to continue walking at the pace he was pushing me at without being able to see anything, but I didn't dare stop. If I was getting onto these people's good sides I couldn't risk ruining it.
My shoes slapped against the hard concrete beneath me.
I had no idea what kind of building this was. What kind of creepy place has no windows, no flooring, no wallpaper, and barely any furniture?
Wherever I was I hoped they hadn't taken me too far from South Park.
We turned left, right, then went straight for 30 more steps.
He grabbed my arms hard, rooting me in place. I cried out in surprise, he had almost knocked me over.
I opened my mouth to complain, but closed it again. Just shut up, Iza. Stay quiet and do what they say.
I heard a door creak open in front of me.
The cold gloves were on me again, pushing me through the open door.
The air immediately changed, it smelled a lot fresher and felt a lot less damp. I welcomed the change, inhaling deeply.
Right, left, straight, right again.
He tugged on my arms again, a lot more gently this time which I was grateful for.
I stopped, waiting for him to open the door that I was in front of.
I heard him turn the knob and open it, pushing me inside.
Once the door closed behind me he took off the blindfold. I blinked uncomfortably, the room too bright for me to bear.
"Hey Iza, it's nice to officially meet you." A friendly voice said from in front of me.
I squinted my eyes, focusing on the figure.
My eyes widened when I saw who it was. I knew this girl, I had seen her in the halls of our school and even had some classes with her.
She had long brown hair, bangs pushed back with a black headband. Her face was friendly, littered with freckles.
I couldn't remember her name, but the vibe she was giving out got rid of all fear in me.
"Nice to meet you too, mind reader." I said, smiling at her. She giggled lightly.
"I figured you'd appreciate the book, I knew you hadn't even started reading it yet and we're supposed to finish it soon." She said.
I started noticing our surroundings. The room was almost completely empty except for a bookshelf pushed against the far right wall and a black leather couch that faced the bookshelf.
The room had blue carpeting and cream coloured walls. There seemed to be a large window hidden behind a blue curtain on the opposite wall.
There were 3 other people in the room with us. Mr. Mask, who stood beside me, and another boy and girl flanking either side of the mind reader.
Both of them had masks on, the girl had a cat mask on and the boy a dog.
Their clothes were casual much to my relief, it made them a lot less unsettling.
I could tell the girl had long blonde hair and the boy had short black hair, but that was about it. There was nothing remarkable about either of their bodies.
"I can't put a name to your face, can you jog my memory?" I asked.
"I'm Lola!" She exclaimed happily, walking forwards and out stretching her hand.
I shook it firmly, nodding at her.
She was being incredibly careful about my eyes. She would meet them, but then dart away from them a second later.
"Lola you know the rules, it's 10 seconds not 1." I joked.
"I know! It's not that, your eyes are just a lot to look at it." She said sheepishly, looking at the ground.
"So what's happening here? Who are you guys?" I asked curiously.
"We don't really have a name, all we do is take it upon ourselves to make sure nobody abuses their abilities. I'm the face of our group, we like to stay hidden as much as we can, but sometimes contact like this is unavoidable." Lola said, gesturing towards me.
"That's why everyone around you has on a mask, it's not to scare you." Lola explained with a gentle smile.
"I know you know what I think about what I've done. Isn't that enough to let you know I'll no longer misuse my power?" I asked hopefully, my voice strained.
"It's definitely promising, but we have rules here Iza. We can't let you off just yet, especially since we don't understand your abilities completely." Lola said, voice sounding less friendly and more stern.
"What about my friends and family? Aren't they worried about me?" I said, taking a step forward.
Mr. Mask grabbed my arm, holding on to me so tightly it was painful.
"What am I going to do to her? Let me go." I said angrily, shaking my arm out of his grip.
"It's alright, her anger is completely warranted." Lola said calmly. Now she was starting to intimidate me a little.
"As of right now, your friends and family don't remember your existence." The small smile on her lips made the statement extremely chilling.
"What?" I asked, my voice sounding horrified.
"Cat here can erase someone's existence with a single touch. If all goes well, she'll return it to you and you get go back to your normal life." Lola said easily.
"What the hell?! How is that not interfering with the universal balance of things?" I accused loudly.
"When Cat returns your existence to everyone's memories the time they were without you will be automatically filled in by their brains. The brain does a very good job at refilling that missed time with events that were likely to happen had you still been with them." Lola explained.
"And besides, any risk we are taking is worth it. If someone like you runs out of control the consequences will be much, much worse." Lola finished, looking at me with a serious expression.
"I won't! You know I won't, Lola." I exclaimed desperately.
"I don't know that for sure. That's why I want to figure you and your ability out a little more." Lola said calmly.
"Figure me out how? What do you want?" I gritted my teeth nervously.
"You and I are going to switch bodies!" Lola exclaimed, sounding excited.
"W-we are?" I asked slowly.
"Yup, the best way to understand something is to experience it yourself." Lola walked closer to me, hazel eyes looking at mine hungrily.
"What if I don't want to switch with you?" I asked cautiously, taking a step back.
Mr. Mask grabbed my arm, holding me in place.
"God, what is with you! Stop touching me." I hissed, staring into the black dots on his mask.
"You have no choice, I'm afraid. We've seen first hand what happens when someone like us goes out of control, we can no longer afford to cut any corners." Lola stood right in front of me, hazel eyes boring into my own.
Fear gripped me. I had no control in this situation, I was completely at the mercy of these people.
I squeezed my fists and kept her gaze. What other choice did I have?
The shocks started. For the first time I hated their feeling. I wanted them to go away, to stop.
"You see, Iza? It's hard being the one not in control. Imagine all of the people you've been inside, this is how they would feel if they could remember." Lola whispered quietly, putting her cold hand on my cheek.
Kenny, please help me.
The world went black, and I opened my eyes, seeing my black and blue eyes staring back at me.
Cat and Dog immediately grabbed my arms, pulling me back and restraining me.
I let them, watching in horror as my body moved around.
I didn't want this psycho bitch in my body, who knows what she'll do to me.
"Wow! This power is truly amazing!" Lola exclaimed, twirling around, looking at my arms and legs.
"I have access to everything about you, your voice, your body, but it seems like there's one thing the recipient of this ability cannot see." Lola walked up to me, making Cat and Dog tighten their grip on me.
They obviously knew a lot about what I could do. If I touched my body now Lola would be taken back into hers and I'd be able to see all of her memories.
"I'll never be able to see your memories. That's something reserved for only you." She said woefully.
"Out of curiosity, can you read anyone's thoughts here?" Lola asked, staring at me with wide eyes.
I gulped, closing my eyes and focusing on the people in the room.
Nothing. Radio silence.
I opened my eyes, shaking my head silently.
"I didn't think so. Now I know that abilities travel with the person who you switch with, I can still hear everything." Lola tapped the side of my skull, smiling happily.
"We're already learning so much!" She clapped, backing up and turning to Mr. Mask, her hand out like she wanted something.
He handed her a small pocket knife.
She flipped it open, walking back towards me.
"This is another thing I've been wondering. What happens if another person hurts themselves in your body, and vice versa?" Her voice was loud and eccentric.
Lola nodded her head to Dog, signalling him to let go of my arm and pull an identical knife out of his pocket.
"Are you insane?" I exclaimed fearfully.
"No, to me this is quite sane. We need to learn the ins and outs of your ability in every way imaginable. Once we know what you are capable of we can set you free with a lot more confidence." She put my arm out, palm up to the ceiling.
Dog forced the opposite arm out in the same position. His grip was like steel, I couldn't budge.
He held onto my wrist, unfurling my fingers on by one.
"Do we really have to do this?" I whispered quietly, throwing in one last ditch effort to stop this.
"We do." Lola slashed the knife across my palm in tandem with Dog who slashed it across hers.
"Fucking ouch." I swore, watching the red color seep into the cracks and folds of Lola's palm.
"It really does sting." She agreed.
Dog soaked up the blood with a towel, putting disinfectant and gauze on the cut and wrapping bandages around Lola's hand.
Mr. Mask mirrored this treatment for my body across the room.
"Look at your left hand, my right is fine, see?" Lola held up my hand, revealing there was no physical wound.
Cat let my arm go, letting me open my palm. There was nothing.
As soon as that was revealed she wrestled me back into submission.
"Jesus fucking christ." I said under my breath. These people were insane.
"So physical wounds don't transfer over, good!" Lola said, walking towards me with Mr. Mask following behind her.
"Listen closely Iza. I'm going to touch our hands together so I go back into my body with you. I need to see what it's like, but there's a rule. You are not to look at any of my memories, if you do there will be consequences." Lola said seriously.
"I understand." I said quietly, and I meant that.
Lola used my eyes to search mine for any dishonestly. She found none in my expression or in my thoughts.
"Perfect!" She said happily, reaching out and touching my hand with no hesitation. I watched my body fall and crumple, held up by Mr. Mask.
No memories flashed through my mind when Lola entered her body. I guess it only happened with Kenny since he was willing to open up to me.
I could feel them there, waiting for me to flip through them. I didn't dare touch them, not after the warning I recieved.
This is so surreal! I'm in my body, but I have no control whatsoever. Not over my memories or my limbs. All I can do is watch out of my own eyes as you do anything you want.
I said nothing in reply.
This aspect of your power is pretty terrifying, luckily this only happens with people like us and not the masses.
My eyes widened as sounds started flooding into my head.
"What the hell?" I muttered.
God Lola, why is she going this far, this is too risky.
That girl has complete control of her right now, doesn't she? I better hold on tight for now.
Come out already Lola, hurry it up!
"Lola, is this…?" I trailed off, leaving my question hanging in the air.
Yes, this is my ability. You can hear all of the other's thoughts. Please tell them out loud right now that you can.
Her voice sounded stern with a slight edge of panic. She had been prepared for this possibility, but she hadn't expected it to actually happen.
"Lola wants you all to know I can hear your thoughts right now." I said shortly. Their thoughts immediately erupted into complete randomness.
Your ability is extremely powerful, a lot more than I initially thought. Not only can you steal someone's body and thoughts, you can also steal abilities. Everything any one of us is, you can become.
Lola deduced, voice excited.
Touch our foreheads together, Iza. I've learned all I've wanted to for now.
"She wants to switch back now." I said evenly.
Cat and Dog loosened their grip and Mr. Mask brought my unconscious body closer to me.
I tapped our foreheads together, opening my eyes.
I backed up, feeling violated in the worst way possible. It's not like I could just use water and wash dirt off of my skin. Lola had been in my head, in my body.
How could I cleanse that feeling?
My hand still stung, but the feeling switched to the opposite side of my body.
"We have a lot to talk about." Lola said, opening her eyes and looking at me.
"Please escort Iza back to her room, I will gather everyone and we will meet in room 34B." Lola stated in a business-like manner.
Lola walked to the door while Mr. Mask took the black blindfold out of his pocket.
"I'll keep you posted on what's happening, Iza. I had a good time today." Lola smiled back at me right before the blindfold was put over my eyes.
I clenched my hands into fists, feeling intense pain in my right hand.
I was terrified, pure and simple. I had never felt so scared in my life.
Now I wasn't so convinced that killing me wasn't an option. With Cat's ability I was already erased, my death would affect a very little amount of people.
I hoped to God Kenny wouldn't pursue me. I couldn't bear it if he ended up in here with me.
Please, Kenny, please just stay away.