Angela woke with a groan. Her head pounded, her eyes couldn't focus, and she felt a little nauseous. It was like a hangover… or at least she imagined how it would be. She'd never been hungover in her life, and if this was anything like how it felt, then she was never going to drink.
Ever.
Rolling onto her side, Angela tried again to open her eyes. Once again, she was assaulted by a blinding white, but this time she realized that it wasn't her vision.
Sitting up, Angela looked around the room. White walls, white ceiling, and even her gown and the bedding she was laying on was white.
And not just white… it was as if everything was freshly painted and sterilized. As if nothing dirty had ever even some near anything here before.
She thought back to the night before. She'd gotten dressed, Elisa had done her hair into some dramatic Scottish Warrior style that she had loved, then her father had driven her to the dance. He had gone off to work, and she had joined the boys, who had already been there waiting for her.
True to their word, they hadn't left her side, making sure that at least one of them was with her at all times as they had promised her father. It had been alternately funny, adorable and irritating.
Finally, after the dance had ended at midnight, the boys and she had gone to a school-organized after prom party and then out to a quick breakfast. She had her phone with her, and kept an eye on the time, as well as any messages from her father.
Every time they had changed locations, she had sent him a message so that he would know where she was and not some searching for her.
It was around four in the morning when they had finally called it quits and the boys had taken her home. Broadway, big sweetie that he was, had insisted on walking her to the door and had given her a long kiss goodnight at her door.
She had gone inside, locking the door behind her. She had set down her clutch purse, and began walking through the apartment towards her room, gratefully removing the pins from her hair as she went.
There had been something… a whisper of a noise… but it had caught her attention. She continued toward her room as if she hadn't heard anything, but had scanned the room in front of her for anything she could use as a weapon. Passing the hall closet, she remembered the wooden bokken swords that she had been training with and had recently been used to brace Elisa's injured leg. Angela turned the knob quietly and withdrew one of the wooden swords.
Armed, she continued across the living room, fully intending to barricade herself in her room and call for help…
Then she remembered her phone was in her bag, and she silently swore. She had put her bag down on the small table beside the door.
Turning, she went to go back for it, but a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she reflexively struck out with the sword. Bringing it across her body, she caught her attacker in the ribs, and followed through with a blade hand strike in the vague direction of their face.
Cursing the fact that she hadn't turned on any lights, she could only go on instinct and what little light was coming from the outside. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and so she brought the bokken up and over her head, bringing it straight down and across the back of the person.
They had gone down with an outburst of breath, and Angela turned to sprint for the door. Something hit the wall just beside her head, and Angela ducked as she ran. There was a second person there, and they were throwing what sounded like plates or bowls which told her that they were in the kitchen.
Angela, stull ducked low, made a mad dash for the front door. All of her classes, all of the martial arts, had not prepared her for the rush of fear. She had taken one person down thanks to muscle memory, but trying to fight an unseen enemy had caused her flight instinct to kick in.
Her fingers barely brushed the door when a pair of strong arms had come around her waist, and suddenly she was being slammed into the wall. One arm pinned to her side, but one arm free, she had tried to break the hold with no success. She had heard two voices behind her, as another pair of arms came into view as they caught and held her remaining arm. She had watched helplessly as a hypodermic needle came into view and plunged into her arm.
She continued to fight as long as she could, but within moments, even her own head felt too heavy to hold upright. She remembered slumping in the arms that were holding her, and them moving laying her on the floor there, but the next memory she had was just a jumble of voices and sounds.
Conversations had gone on around her, though little of it made sense to her addled brain.
She thought she had head Elisa's voice, being picked up in strong arms, and a lot of snarling and crashing, but she wasn't sure if that had been real or a dream.
One thing was sure, however, and that was that she had a feeling that she knew where she was now. She had been brought to the laboratory.
For what reason, she wasn't sure, and if her mother knew that she was here…
Angela shook her head. She wasn't even sure if Dominique would care at this point.
Angela got up and began pacing the room. There were no windows, so she didn't even know what time it was, but she was stiff enough that she was sure she'd been unconscious most of the day.
She paced the room, glancing occasionally at the metal handle-less door. She needed a plan, and she needed to clear her head. She continued pacing, making laps around the room, until she couldn't take it anymore. There was one thing that this room didn't have that she needed desperately.
"Hey," She shouted, pounding a fist against the door. "Anyone out there?" She used both fists now, "Come on! I have to pee."
There was a metallic click, and Angela took a step backwards as the door slid open.
Two doctors and one black-clad figure entered the room, scowling at her.
"Seriously, guys," Angela said, holding her hands in the air. "I really need a restroom."
One of the doctors sighed, glanced at the other one and rolled her eyes. "Fine. Follow me."
Angela followed, head down, and tried to look harmless. Considering that she had no weapons, there was an armed guard right behind her and she had no idea how to get out of this place even if she could get away, it wasn't hard.
She was led to a small, closet sized bathroom where she was able to relieve herself, wash her hands and splash some cold water on her face to finish clearing out the cobwebs from her brain.
Nothing came to mind as to what to do.
Surely her father was looking for her, and he was good at his job. He would find her, she firmly believed. And the boys would be right behind him.
She would just have to stay here a bit, play along, and stay alive.
Angela took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. Both doctors and the guard waited in the hallway.
Instead of going back to her room, they turned her in the other direction. Angela followed behind them, silently and attempted to get her bearings and memorize where they were going and how to get back.
It wasn't possible. Everything was the same freshly painted white, the only color being the black and white checked tile on the floor and giving the whole place a very Alice in Wonderland sense of unreality. Every hallway looked the same, so in no time at all, she felt completely lost.
Eventually the doctors stopped in front of another door and all but shoved her unceremoniously inside. Angela managed to not fall on her face, but it was a near thing.
When the door closed behind her, she found herself in an empty room.
"What in the…," She trailed off as the wall to her left seemed to dissolve, and she could see into an identical room next to her.
Inside that room, was Elisa.