Chapter 22: Test of Fear
Vanessa heard a loud thud, but she didn't hear anyone grunt in pain or moving for that matter. Speaking about moving, she wasn't sure if she should move forward or not…She could barely see as it was. Her indecision kept her quiet and still for a long time. After a moment of silence, it was clear that the proctors of the power screening, wherever they were watching her from were not going to let her come out of the room anytime soon…
It may have been a stupid decision, but Vanessa decided to talk out loud since it was eerily quiet. "W-Who's there?"
She hated how weak her voice sounded in that moment. Her irritation with her circumstances made her screech "Who's there?!"
This time, she cringed at the sound of her screaming voice. She spoke out loud "R-Remember military school Vanessa? Use your command voice."
Granted, whoever was watching might've thought she was starting to lose it, but the sound of her voice gave her some comfort although its tone also gave her embarrassment. She had never really mastered command voice, but she had heard plenty of it to know what it should sound like. She had to try, just to make her sound intimidating for once.
Vanessa took a deep breath, straightened her back, and her body was now in the position of attention "Who's there?!" She yelled as she turned her head.
"Hey, that actually sounded good for once." Vanessa commented with a more upbeat attitude before screaming "Ahhhh!"
Something touched her cheek the moment she let her guard down and it gave her a buzzing feeling. The feeling someone gets when a bug is crawling on their face but intensified. She swatted her cheek to get that creepy thing off her!
She heard a loud thud hit the wall again. "A…Rope?"
However, it seemed that the object wasn't done with her yet as she heard thud…Thud…Thud…The unknown object was moving like a big snake moving concertina style but not restricted to the ground as it moved upwards. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Vanessa yelled angrily as her power sent it flying against the wall.
Vanessa frantically moved her head constantly, trying to detect the object's next movement, and when she didn't notice, the object tied itself around her, restraining her arms! It didn't feel like a rope, it felt like pins and needles were tingling throughout her upper body and moved down to her legs.
She couldn't move her arms and her feet. She was paralyzed…
Vanessa heard a little boy laughing with a malicious tone. "D…Damn you…" she hissed.
The little boy was responsible for all this, she was certain.
Then she finally saw the little boy! He was blonde, pale, and he was still laughing… "Da-Damn you…"
The boy continued to laugh in a mocking tone and something inside Vanessa snapped as she teared up while saying "Damn you…"
While she was crying, she was repeatedly praying for Buddha to save her. The more she prayed, she stopped crying… After realizing that her tears stopped, she yelled "DAMN YOU! GO AWAY! GET THIS THING OFFA' ME!"
The object restraining her was dragged off her and hit the wall. The boy disappeared. Even though it was dark, Vanessa knew what she had to do now. She had to run. The Asian boy was right. This was a survival test. Simulation or not, it felt too real…
Vanessa was running blindly in the dark, but she didn't get far before the illuminated figure of the blonde boy stopped her in her tracks. "Ahhhh!"
Who was this child anyway? He gave another smile and did his creepy laugh. As he laughed, a bunch of objects surrounded her and restrained her upper body, then more objects began to tug her back and forth. "Ahhhh!"
Vanessa's emotional episode set her power at maximum, throwing all the objects off her. The lights finally turned on in the room and she shielded her eyes from the sudden brightness. She fell to her knees from exhaustion.
She wasn't sure what was happening now. She hoped that this wasn't a trick from the little boy. When she finally heard clapping and people stating that her power screening was over, she realized that it was a simulation like Queenie said.
She felt mortified and ran away. The moment she left the room, she lost her energy and her legs began to shake. There were voices asking her if she was alright, but they were mumbled. One person tapped her on the shoulder, asking her if she was alright.
Vanessa was spooked, and her eyes widened in horror as she said "S-Stay away from me..."
The volunteer put his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't touch me!"
The volunteer held his hands up and said "Alright. Calm down, I won't touch you. But you don't look so good so you gotta go to the nurse alright?"
"No, no, no, no, no. I'm not going anywhere with you."
It took some more tries on the volunteer's part before he could convince her to go to the nurse.
Vanessa hugged herself and followed right behind the volunteer. The volunteer kept looking back to see if she was alright. She was walking unsteadily but she wasn't losing her balance.
Fortunately, she had made it to the nurse's office without any incidents. The volunteer pulled a chair for her to sit on. Once she sat down, she continued to shake as she held her arms. Her face looked pale. She was so scared that she had tears in her eyes, but she wiped her eyes and restrained herself from crying around strangers.
She didn't cry but the tears kept pouring from her eyes, so she hung her glasses on her clothes, so she could keep wiping her eyes. Hopefully no one was looking at her.
The nurse stood in front of her and handed her a carton of chocolate milk. Vanessa softly thanked her and began to drink it. It was cold and refreshing!
Her cousin entered the room and said, "There you are."
