The lights flickered on and off in Emma's room as she slowly backed herself into the corner, away from the men approaching her. She pressed her palms flat against the wall and turned her face to avoid the pill aimed at her mouth. The doctor and a guard had her trapped her in the corner now. "It's just an anti-anxiety," the doctor assured her, trying to hide his annoyance at the lights. He would have to get a janitor in later to replace the bulbs. "Nothing else."
Emma shook her head rapidly, and her un-brushed blond curls flew every which way. She refused to take any medicines willingly. She slid down the rough wall, the bumps on the wall creating long scratches down her arms. As soon as her butt hit the floor, Emma shot out around the guard and bolted for the door. She flung it open and sprinted down the hallway, her blond hair streaming out behind her. Even though Emma was terrified, she was also exhilarated. It had been a while since she'd had to make a run for it. She's forgotten how exciting life as a criminal could be.
"We've got a runner!" the doctor shouted behind Emma, and she heard the hollow pounding of footsteps as someone chased her down the tiled hallway.
Emma smiled to herself. Even slightly worn down by her magic, she was still far faster than these idiots. They should at least give her a challenge.
Emma could see the stairway exit door. She began to run faster. It was twenty feet away. Ten. She reached over and knocked over a potted plant as she fled, movie-style, to block whoever's way that was chasing her. She listened to the crashing sound and faint curse as her pursuer tripped and went sprawling.
Five feet to the door.
Four.
Three.
Someone came crashing into Emma from the side, knocking her off her feet and sending her flying backwards. Whoever had knocked her over had also fallen from the collision, Emma noticed, so she scrambled to get back up before he or anyone else could get to her.
Unfortunately, the man who had fallen was up and on Emma like a lightning bolt. She found herself pinned to a wall, her chest heaving from the run. She struggled against the man's grip on her wrists; she was extremely strong, but the man was much stronger than her.
"You give up one hell of a fight," the man breathed at her.
At this point, other staff and personnel had begun to gather around her, blocking any chance of an exit. To Emma's surprise, not one of them looked angry at her attempt at escape. Most of them looked annoyed, like escape didn't happen often, but it did happen often enough to turn the feeling during the handling of it it from excited to frustrated.
Emma spat in his face. "That's what happens when you learn to live on your own."
The man looked back at his co-workers surrounding him. "She's feisty, too." The sentence was accompanied by a laugh. "Sedate and restrain her," he ordered.
A woman approached her with a liquid-filled syringe. Emma squirmed away from the needle, but the man held her stiffly in place.
The needle pierced her arm and released the clear fluid into her veins. Emma felt an overwhelming calmness quickly wash over her, and she suddenly couldn't remember what she had been trying to do. All she knew was that she was very tired.
"I could use a nap," Emma mumbled.
The man pinning her to the wall released her and chuckled genuinely. "I know."
He led her by the arm back to her room. Emma didn't, couldn't protest.