Thank you to everyone for the reviews and the faves and the follows :) It makes me very happy! So, here you go! Chapter 3! I have 4 mostly written, just having some issues with one piece. In the mean time, please enjoy! :D
Autumn struggled not to show her fear as she was let into a room filled with machinery and other test subjects. About her she could see other people hooked up to various systems monitoring their heart rates and pumping different coloured liquids into their bodies.
"What the fuck is wrong with this place?" She snapped at Trulson. "It looks like a bad movie in here. Am I supposed to be scared?" Trulson just snorted.
"Wonderful attempt at bravado, but your voice is shaking." Autumn made a face at Trulson's back. She needed to seem more confident, shake him off. But she was so terrified. Dominic's grey eyes came to her mind as she was pushed down onto a chair at the far end of the room.
"I didn't know you were going to give me such a sweet setup, Dr. T." The chair she had been pushed onto was plush and soft, but she could see the straps that would pin her down. "What is this fabric? Spindle Worm silk? I love it!" Trulson just rolled his eyes and nodded to the two guards. She cursed.
"Don't even think about touching me!" She sat up to grab at one, and two more jumped on her, pinning her down.
"You are just looking more pathetic." Sighed Trulson. Autumn gave a sharp exhale and furious eyes as the guards pulled off of her. She was strapped down almost everywhere but the one that was by her head.
"What's pathetic is you hiding behind these morons." She spat, trying to keep her voice fierce. Trulson sighed and shook his head.
"You are such a foolish creature." Trulson pulled on a pair of surgical gloves and motioned a couple others over. "Now, don't you move. This may sting a little." Autumn shook her head and tried to bite at the men adjusting her head on the headrest.
"You sonofabitch!" She screamed. "Keep your creepy hands off of me!" Autumn started hyperventilating again. She was pinned, and the six doctors, including Trulson, started to find veins in her arms. Her head and shoulders were held still, and a large, thick needle was inserted in the back of her neck. She whimpered at the sudden pricks of pain, choking when the large needle went through her neck. Autumn captured her breath, and glared at Trulson, the one who had inserted the needle in the back of her neck. He stood above her, his face obscured from the large light above his head. All she could see was the gleam of his goggles, the gloves on his hands.
"I can't wait to see what kind of monster I can make out of you." The fear that ran rampant through her chest reared to a stop, and anger took form. She spat at the devilish shadow and mustered up all her will into a defiant glare.
"Frack you." She hissed as one of the other doctors wiped Trulson's goggles. The man sighed tapped her nose with a condescending look in his eyes.
"I do get tired when you petty little things put on a brave face. It never lasts, you're like a B-rated film at the cinema." Trulson and his group chuckled over his so-called sharp wit. Autumn just grimaced. She was going to die from bad jokes, she was sure of it.
"The machine is fully powered up and ready to go, Doctor." The soft feminine voice cut through Autumn; Doctor Grace had come to join her father. She must have come back after having phoned her husband.
"Good, thank you Alanna." Trulson cooed at his daughter. "Now, this may pinch a bit..." The rest of his words were lost on her as the machine whirred loudly, and a hot fire shot through the back on her neck. Autumn screamed, struggling with her restraints. The hot fire swam through her body, down to her very core; surely it would drive her mad.
"Start up an Green Eco. Just one, Grace." Trulson's voice was dulled over the rapid beating of her heart, and her screams. There was an icy sensation in her left arm, it spread through her body, numbing the pain a little.
"Good, now up the Dark Eco feed." The higher dosage sent Autumn's body into over-drive; she was convulsing and her brain felt like it was being scrambled. "More." Came Trulson's voice again. She screamed, her body ripping apart. Then, darkness took her.
Autumn woke up to someone prodding her arms and neck. There was a slight murmuring above her, two of the voices she recognized. Trulson and Grace. They were removing the tubes from her body and bandaging up the wounds.
"She's pathetic, father. Didn't even last an hour before her body gave out." Grace hissed.
"Picking a fight with me wont get you into the DWP any faster." Trulson growled at his daughter. "We have enough doctors on the Warrior program. I need you here, with the Medics." He tied a bandage around her arm and winced when he pulled the knot too hard.
"Oh look, she's awake." Said Grace drily. "She's all bandaged up and a KG can handle her just fine." Trulson made an angry noise and sighed.
"Fine. Go, maybe Errol needs an update or something." Grace made an awful squee, prompting Autumn to open up her eyes. Above her, she could see the blurry shapes of Grace giving her father a happy hug.
"Thank-you father." She said, and sprinted off. Autumn groaned, that was not something she wanted to wake up to. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, trying to clear away the blur.
"They grow up so quickly." Sighed Trulson as he turned back to his work table. "First they are learning to crawl and the next they are helping make history in the science of Eco." Autumn didn't even motion to make a snarky remark; she felt like she was in pieces. She felt like her insides had been fried and her bones melted. He watched Trulson warily as he turned back around with a needle.
"You are so quiet, it's strange." There was a smile in his voice and eyes. "I could get used to you been quiet." He brushed back her hair off of her sweaty forehead, as if he was trying to soothe her. She weakly jerked her head away and growled at him. It just made him laugh.
"Sleep tight." He said and plunged the needle into her neck.
Autumn woke up to something cool and wet on her forehead; her body feeling stiff and useless. There was sobbing in the background, and quiet murmurs.
"Meriam has been gone for hours. We need to face that they may have overdosed her." Came Red's voice.
"Stop it, you are upsetting Cece." Hissed Dominic. "Red, we aren't going to believe she is dead until she has been gone long enough. It has only been three hours. They may be doing something to fix her feet. You can't have a Medic if they can't walk."
"Or they could be shooting her right now, Trulson could think that she is too broken to fix." Red snapped back. Cece wailed, making Autumn wince. The woman wasn't too far from her head.
"Now you've done it." Dominic groaned. Autumn rolled onto her side and put a shaky hand on the woman's shoulder. Cece latched onto her hand and bawled, her cries echoing throughout the prison.
Two Months in Prison
Autumn rolled over, her body feeling battered and bruised. She didn't want to get up, but she was so incredibly thirsty. She wriggled out from under Dom's arm and crawled over Cece carefully so as not to wake her up. The Baron had cut off the heat for the cells in the prison to conserve Eco, so they all slept in a heap with the blankets that had been provided with them. At first they hadn't wanted to touch Leliana and Meriam's beds, but the icy cold of the metal prison eventually drove them to use them when Cece had gotten ill.
Autumn crept quietly over to the water bucket, careful not to wake up the others. Every needed to sleep as much as possible. She sipped the cool water, wetting her dry mouth.
"You're up early, Leaf." Came Dom's soft voice. Autumn shuffled around to see Dominic sitting up and rubbing his scruffy cheek. A blush crept across her face as she dipped the ladle back into the water.
"I was thirsty. It's like there is no water left in me." She slugged back the ladle of water and ignored Dom as he crept over a snoring Red. He sat down on the other side of the water bucket so he could face her.
"I'm sorry if I was too loud." She said as she passed him the ladle.
"I missed your warmth." He said and dipped the ladle into the bucket. Autumn blushed again blew her hair out of her face.
"Are you flirting with me? In a prison cell?" She asked. Dominic shrugged and let go of the ladle.
"This is the best our life is going to get, Leaf." Autumn smiled.
"I'm liking that nickname, 'Leaf'. That's a wild one." Dom snorted and shuffled over to her side of the bucket. She leaned up against him, used to his frame enveloping hers the past few months.
"You really think this will be the end?" Autumn asked quietly. Dominic was silent for a few moments as he contemplated her question.
"Can you really ever see us getting out of here?" He asked, the smile from his face had faded.
"No, I don't think so." Her throat tightened and she rubbed her face to stop any unwanted tears. "I just wish I could have said good bye to my mother and sister." Dominic put his arm around her shoulders and leaned his forehead against hers.
"I know how you feel. I have an older brother out in the city. He is an errand boy for a soothe sayer in the Bazaar, among other things." Dom cleared his throat. "I hadn't spoken to him for a while when I got caught. He at least had no Channelling powers, and I wont see him in the program." Autumn gripped his hand, trying to show him support.
"He'll be safe. The Baron won't need him."
"That's true. He has us for lab rats." Dom said drily. Autumn sighed.
"You know, if it puts you back in the good mood you were in before, you could go back to flirting with me." Dominic grinned.
"I'd like that, Leaf." He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek. A red heat spread over her face as his thumb rubbed over her cheek bone. His face leaned in close to hers, goose bumps rose up over her skin as his breath caressed her cheek and shoulder. She licked her lips and made eye contact. His grey eyes met hers, and then his lips softly brushed against her own. Their eyes closed, and for too brief of time, Autumn had happiness in her grasp.
Four Months in Prison
Then the cell door opened and four guards trudged their way in, Trulson in behind them. Autumn and Dom snapped up from where they were sitting on the floor and scrambled to help up Cece and Red who were groggy with sleep. It was getting harder to wake Red up, and Dominic had to hold the elderly man on his feet.
"We will be splitting you lot up, today." Trulson said. "It's about time I put you four through some fitness testing." He rubbed his chin, and pointed at Cece. "Take the dark one and the young man for endurance testing with Dr. Grace. I will take the old man and the the new girl for combat evaluation."
Autumn stumbled backwards as Red's hook caught her off guard. Her nose was bleeding, and Red was nearly out of breath. She was trying her damnedest to not hurt him herself, but he was flailing all over the place. He knew his time was just about up; he was suffering the most in the DMP; the wounds on his face had not healed, and he was going blind. He looked decades older than he had when she first arrived, and so much more frail.
"Hit me back, girl, or we are both going to pay for it." He hissed.
"I don't want to hurt you." Autumn hissed back.
"Stupid girl!" He cursed. "What you could do to me is nothing compared to what he" Red pointed a gnarled finger at Trulson who was on the other side of the plexiglass window, "Can do to us both!" Autumn looked over at Trulson, his expression angry. His daughter stood beside, looking as though she'd suddenly been struck by inspiration.
"Now you've done it." Red snapped. Dr. Grace was jabbering on to her father, and what was worse, he looked like he was interested in what she had to say.
"We don't know if we have anything to worry about yet!" But her hopes were dashed as Grace came into the room, accompanied by a group of guards.
"I have a special surprise for you both!" She chirped. Autumn blanched. An overly happy Grace was not a good omen.
"I doubt we are going to be quite as enthusiastic about whatever you have planned." Autumn grumbled.
Grace sighed dramatically. "Any more lip and my men will take out on your elderly friend, there." With the guns trained on them, Autumn and Red complied with the guards as they prodded them none to lightly through the doors and down the hall-way. They were taken through a part of the prison she had never seen before and were pushed into a large expanse that had cells stacked upon cells, and in the middle of the room was a metal chair. On it was an unconscious young boy with blond hair and green roots, and growling over him was none other than Baron Praxis.
"My dear Baron, I have a request." Grace chirped. Praxis sighed and waved at his guards to take the unconscious boy away.
"What is it Dr. Grace?" He groaned.
"We don't have time for you to... prattle one." Errol sneered as he walked up. "We have more important things to do than indulge you and your fathers... pets." Grace turned her head away from Errol, and Autumn could have sworn that she actually looked heart broken. Grace whipped her head back to Praxis, giving him a dazzling smile.
"I have two subjects here that I want to try something with. They are part of my Father's Dark Medic Program, but they are just not responding to treatments. There has been no change in them for months. I was hoping that some raw, powerful Dark Eco would give them a little boost." Praxis looked thoughtful, and then turned to Errol.
"Commander, are your DWP subjects done for the day?" He asked. Errol nodded.
"Yes Baron Praxis, the boy was the last one. We are down to three subjects." Praxis growled and rubbed his forehead.
"I want to hear about any progress, or heads will roll, do I make myself clear?" He snarled at Grace.
"Yes, my Baron." She answered without a beat. Praxis turned to leave but stopped. "Commander, supervise Dr. Grace, we need to keep this equipment intact." Errol nodded.
"Yes, Baron Praxis." He turned to Grace, his face looking disgruntled.
"Oh Errol, isn't it great that we get to work together today?" She yipped. Autumn almost felt bad for him. Almost.
"Let's just get this over with, if you please Dr. Grace." He said drily and went to the controls. He punched in a code and used a key to start up a machine. Autumn paled, beside her she could hear Red rapidly whispering prayers to the Precursors. From above the chair came down this wicked looking needle that spat and crackled Dark Eco in electrical currents.
Grace's laugh kicked her back to reality.
"Oh look, the tough little KG is starting to realize how much trouble she really is in!" Errol snorted at the woman's remark and then looked Autumn over.
"You must be the girl from Commander Steele's squad." He said thoughtfully. "He had such high hopes for you and your two little friends; too bad they're dead." Autumn snarled and lunged forward at Errol, catching him off guard. Her attack was erratic, but she managed to get a few hits in before she was grabbed from behind. In a last ditch effort as she was dragged away, she snapped her teeth and they met with the flesh of his ear. She tasted blood as she tore through the lobe and hit her in the face with his fist.
Autumn was held up by two guards as Errol wiped the blood from his ear lobe.
"You will suffer for that, freak." He hissed.
"May I suggest we put the old man in first?" Grace walked forward, her lips in a soft pout. Red, who had been silent thus far, gave a yell of frustration.
"You stupid girl!" He screamed. They strapped Red in, all Autumn could do was watch him struggle feebly, strangled cries tearing across his lips. Then, after he was properly strapped in, they turned on the machine.
She had never been so afraid in her life. Pure, raw, Dark Eco shot down from the machine above him and cut through his body. She could smell burnt hair and heard his skin crackle under the intensity. She could hear herself screaming for them to stop, that he was dieing. Errol just stood there, a grim look on his face; beside him Grace stood with a twisted smirk on her face. When the machine was finally turned off, she thought for sure that Red was dead. A guard picked up the man from the chair on Errol's orders.
"Put him back in his cell." Grace told him. "Then come back for the girl."
It had taken three guards to get Autumn into the chair, and two more to strap her in. He heart was pounding so hard she thought it would burst through her chest.
"Please stop." She whimpered. The fight in her vanished in the face of the pain and horror that she was about to feel. She prayed to the Precursors to kill her, that this would be the first and last time in this chair. She wished that it was all just a nightmare.
But her brain just seemed to stop when the machine whirred back to life and Dark Eco cut through her body. It was just like the attack at the Silo, her body burning down to the very core. She screamed, and her mouth tasted metallic; she had bitten her tongue. Autumn's body convulsed in the chair, hindered by the straps on her wrists and ankles. The world became nothing but a purple blur, and then, darkness.