REWRITTEN 7/29/15
Breaking Out of a Government Facility
The voice that lived inside my head prodded at my smoky dreams, searching for a gentle way through my barriers so it could wake me up. I shut a door on its fingers and rolled over, snuggling down into the scratchy blankets. The voice knocked loudly, calling my name, but I pulled the shutters down, muffling the shouts.
A feeling of extreme exaggeration filtered under the crack in the door, and the voice began to shout. ENIA SILVERSON, YOU WAKE THE FUCK UP, OR SO HELP ME, I WILL COME OVER THERE AND HURT YOU!
My frontal lobe broke, shattering into a million pieces from the unnaturally loud internal yell. I'd never heard the voice that strongly before.
"I'm up! I'm up!" I shrieked, bolting up right in bed. The voice subsided smugly.
Man, that was the weirdest dream, I thought. I sat with my eyes closed, rubbing at my head. Fighting zombies. Getting kidnapped by the government. Maybe I needed to lay off the horror books for a little bit.
My hand fell from my head to the scratchy blanket covering my legs. Scratchy blanket. That wasn't right. My comforter was soft. Slowly, I opened my eyes, squinting against the sharp, unnatural light.
When my eyes finally adjusted, all I saw was white. The starchy blanket was white and loosely woven. I looked around, brow furrowed in confusion. Something wasn't right. This wasn't my room. Everything was a uniform, clinical white. The four drawer dresser was white and plastic, and the mirror sitting on top had a white frame. The table beside my twin bed was white. The door was white and windowless. The floor, table, and ceiling were all the same kind of white tile. It hurt my eyes.
I shoved the blanket off my legs and swung my bare feet off the bed, settling them carefully on the floor. Instantly, they turned blue and fell off, leaving me staring at two bloodless stumps on the ends of my legs. I reached down and screwed my feet back on, turning them around and around until I heard the bones click back together. My boots sat by the door, the black socks flopping out of their mouths. I still wore my jeans and shirt, but my jacket was lying on the floor along with my gloves and hat. My weapons were no were to be seen. Such rude thieves, these government goons.
I glanced in the mirror briefly, taking in the too pale face and the tousled bed head. The white of the tile behind me reflected in the mirror, blinding me. I squinted and glanced away, focusing on grabbing my jacket and throwing it on.
Look again, Enia, the voice commanded, and I finally realized who was speaking to me. It was Samik. He was an elf. I was an elf too, but I was stuck in human form. He and I were best friends, though he was stuck in the Elf Realm and I in the Human Realm. We could only communicate telepathically.
What? I asked him, and I crossed the room to the mirror. I leaned on the dresser as I stared into my own face, searching for whatever it was Samik wanted me to see. It was subtle, but finally, I saw it. I shrieked with delight and hammered on the table.
My previously round ears were now long and pointed, sticking through my hair. My cheekbones were slightly higher, a little sharper, and my eyes were an even brighter green than they had been before. A broad smile spread across my face as I reached up to gently touch my ears. They were real and firm.
I had my true form back. I almost couldn't believe it.
How long have I waited for this? I asked myself. Four years, at least. Four years ago, the truth came out. Onyx, Minka, and I weren't human. I was an awesome elf, Onyx was a gigantic horse, and we hadn't figured out what Minka was yet. Though we finally knew the truth, we were still stuck in our human forms. We could project our astral forms into the other realms, but physically, the Human Realm was cut off from the others, and so we were cut off too.
It was all the fault of a human king who lived in about 500 A.D. Creatures from all the realms traveled between the planes freely, but the Human King didn't like that the demons – a species, not creatures from Hell – were trying to take over the realm. He blamed the rest of the magical creatures for the war and invoked the Rite of Banishment, forcing everyone but the humans to leave the realm. The Rite took his life as payment.
No magic could last forever, though. Even the strongest seal would break down eventually. The end of the Aztec calendar, 2012, was thought to be the end of the known world. In reality, it was just the time when the seal broke down, releasing magic into the world. Releasing me back into my true form.
Grinning like an idiot, I lifted a hand to eye level and wiggled my fingers. Fire uncurled in my palm like a baby dragon furling out of its shell. It yawned, stretching towards my fingertips. It danced in the draft of my breath, exploring the curves of my hand. I let the fireball grow until it was the size of a softball. I glanced at the door out of the corner of my eye and a smile flitted onto my mouth.
I flung the fireball at the door.
It whistled through the air, gathering size and speed, gaining the shape of a large beach ball before it exploded against the door, fire flying out in all directions. I pounced forward into the smoke, ready to leap through the ragged hole and into the hallway.
My head collided with the super-heated metal, and I bounced off, skidding across the slick tile. I slammed into the far wall and sat there, dazed. When the unicorns finally dissipated, I squinted across the room. The dumb door wasn't even dented. The metal wasn't even the tiniest bit melted.
"Fuck you," I hissed at the door and gave it the middle finger with both hands.
The uniform white color was gone, and that was something, at least. Smoky, black fingerprints crawled across the door and walls, trailing their tips across the ceiling. I took a small amount of petty pleasure in the accomplishment.
Someone pounded heavily on the other side of the door. A warning to shut the hell up or suffer the consequences. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to shut up.
"Hey!" I leapt back to my feet and raced back to the door. "Let me out!" I banged on the still hot metal with my fists.
"Shut up!" The voice on the other side was muffled by all the metal.
My eyes narrowed. Fine. Be that way. I'd let myself out.
I pulled my books and gloves on, then jammed the black snow cap on over my newly pointy ears. I examined the door, hands clasped behind my back. It clunked hollowly when I rapped on it with my knuckles. The metal was cold beneath my skin, and it felt thick. The white color was just a layer of cheap paint.
The hinges are the weakest point, I thought as I fingered one. The screws were tight, but I thought I could get them to move with a fast swirl of fire. I twirled a finger in a circle, and the screw fell out, hitting the floor with a soft clatter. The second screw quickly joined its partner.
The door tried to squish me as if I were a bug. I cursed violently as I barely caught it in both hands before it broke my nose. I stumbled under the weight, letting the door roll off my hands to land on its side, inches from my foot. The crash shook the floor like a herd of Snorlax walking over a bridge.
That was a dumb analogy. Snorlax didn't walk voluntarily.
The crash shook the floor like a herd of Tauros rampaging over a wooden bridge.
Much better.
The guard yelled in surprise as I leapt through my homemade doorway, but I grabbed her by the throat and slammed her to the floor. Her eyes glazed over as she slumped into unconsciousness.
I picked her up under the arms and dragged her into my room, leaving her in a heap on the floor, then I picked up the door, grunting, and propped it back in its frame. I leaned back to look at my handiwork.
You could definitely tell someone had broken the door.
Shrugging, I left it the way it was and ran down the long hallway. It looked almost the same as my room, but the walls were made of gray tile instead of white. Their interior designer was not terribly creative.
The silence made my Spidey Sense tingle. Where were the scientists bustling about with clipboards and harried expressions? Where were the soldiers or guards with massive black guns? The only person I'd seen so far was the guard standing outside my cell. There were no doors lining the hallway. My broken one sat at the far end behind me, and before me, the hallway ended, seeming to branch off in both directions.
I didn't like it.
I slowed when I reached the end of the hall and slid into a crouch, poking my head carefully around the corner. My heart crashed out of my chest on a rampaging horse when a guard sauntered past, not three feet from me, clad in black with a large gun dangling casually from his hands. I caught it before it could grab the man's attention, pressing myself into the wall.
The guard wasn't very good at his job. He didn't bother to glance down my hallway, his eyes fixed unseeingly ahead of him. I watched him until he disappeared around a second corner.
I stood and jogged down the corridor he had come from. It seemed like it was a science wing. Clear cabinets lined the hall, and I could see bottles of pills and boxes of syringes inside. Framed posters of labeled anatomy and chemical structures hung from the walls, and a white lab coat sat limply on a hook. I wondered if I should take it to try and blend in. The disguise probably wouldn't work with my dirty jeans and combat boots. A poorly watered potted plant sat in one corner, looking sad. I snorted with laughter.
Nice try, probably corrupt government facility, but your plan to make the creepy, mad scientist hallway look more inviting has failed completely. But points for effort.
I took a careful step forward, suddenly certain that I was going to trigger a booby trap. A warm, dry hand clamped over my mouth and yanked me back, off balance. Something hard and round jammed itself into my lower back. "What the hell are you doing here?" a rough male voice hissed in my ear.
"Mrugm murph flmoh."
"What? Oh." My captor let go of my mouth.
"Um, looking for the bathroom?" I repeated.
"There aren't any bathrooms in this wing."
I frowned. "Well, that's dumb. What if your scientists have to pee really badly? What are they going to do? Run all the way to the other side of the facility? Their experiments are probably very delicate and could explode in that time."
My ramblings actually gave the guard pause. "Huh. Well, I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to bring it up to management."
"Good idea," I said, trying to decide if I should try and break out of his grip. I didn't really want my spine to get blown in two…
He poked me roughly with the muzzle of his gun. "Don't try and distract me! What are you doing here, really?"
"I'm seriously trying to find the bathroom," I promised him, lying through my teeth and clutching at the feeble excuse desperately. "I'm new here, and this place is freaking huge. I got lost trying to find the restroom and wound up here."
"There are very large signs leading to all the restrooms. They're down the corridor from here. You can't have missed them." He paused, a light bulb seeming to go off. "Wait a second, we don't get new recruits! You're one of the prisoners!"
"Well, give the man a prize," I said sarcastically, clapping slowly. "Took you long enough."
The soldier jammed his gun threateningly into my spine, and I flinched, snapping my mouth shut for once in my lifetime. "Move forward," he ordered, giving me a shove.
I purposefully dragged my feet. I was going to be as annoying as I possibly could. The soldier leaned against me, trying to force me forward, but I let him carry most of the weight of my upper body. I heard him curse under his breath and grinned.
Point for Enia!
He yanked me to a halt by a steel door, gray in color, almost blending into the walls. A small glass window sat in the steel. Reaching around me, he opened the door. It swung away from us with a creak, and he shoved me inside. I whirled around, but the door was already closing in my face. "Have fun, smartass," he laughed.
The door thudded shut, and a lock clicked.
The soldier – I grudgingly noticed that he was handsome – blew me a kiss, and I flipped him off. The smile fell off his face as he left.
That was when the moans started.
They floated from beneath me, lifted to my ears as if on wings of a Death's-Head Hawkmoth. I shuddered violently, the saliva in my mouth drying up in an instant. The weight of the darkness hurt my eyes, and I pressed myself against the wall. No nightmares clad in gray bodies came staggering out of the black to rip my face off, so I relaxed a little., stepping away from the wall.
Clicking my fingers, I tossed a ball of fire into the air, aiming for the center of the room. Its light lit all for corners. I stood on a balcony without a rail that was only a few feet wide by a few feet long. I stepped up to the edge, glad I wasn't afraid of heights, and leaned over the get a look at the bottom floor.
This time, my heart tried to escape out of the bottom of my foot. Luckily, my ankle was too small for it to fit through, and it slunk despondently back to its resting place.
The floor was packed with munchers. Wall to wall packed. Could only see a few patches of floor packed. Practically in unison, the heads swiveled to look at me, every pair of arms rose, and the entire horde shuffled forward until they were pressed against the wall beneath the balcony.
Yup, I was definitely staying on that balcony. I turned back to the door and rattled the knob, but it didn't budge. Before I could pull my hinge trick, though, the balcony rattled violently, throwing me to my knees, and began to descend.
Well, fuck.
I wasn't going to wait around to become a Happy Meal. I didn't have a fun, cheap toy to give away. Also, I didn't feel like being dead, though if it was my time to die, it was going to be on my own terms. And it certainly wouldn't be without a fight.
I took a running start and leapt from the balcony, fire curling from my hands. A giant, swirling vortex burned around me, turning the world red and orange. I landed on the far side of the room, in the only spot free of munchers, and when I thrust my arms out, a massive fireball collided with the wall. My entire body tingled with excitement and adrenaline. I was doing magic! How long had I dreamed of this?
The wall exploded, rock and twisted steel flying violently into the hall beyond, and the air was suddenly dust. Man, I loved explosions.
Suddenly, the munchers were coming at me from all sides, threatening to block my escape route. The stench hammered at my nostrils like an angry Machamp.
A very stupid plan took root in my brain.
I sprinted towards the hole in the wall, towards the straggling line of munchers in my way. The first gray finger was a foot away when I thrust my fist into the air. The earth beneath my feet lifted and flung me haphazardly into the air. Flailing and yelling with a mixture of fear and exhilaration, I landed on the hole's charred ledge, wobbling to hold my balance.
I glanced back at the munchers. They pressed against the wall, desperately clawing for my feet, but I stood about two feet too high.
For my plan to work, they needed a little help.
I clapped a hand and made them a ramp, so the munchers could follow me on a fun little romp through a government facility. I leapt into the hallway, and the corpses staggered after me, stomping over each other, shoving others out of the way. A surprised scientist stood in the corridor, eyes wide, hand frozen with a pen poised over a clipboard. I waved. She lunged through a door, slamming it behind her.
I jogged down the hallway with my entourage of zombies, skidding erratically on the heavily waxed floor. The janitors obviously had far too much time on their hands. I spotted a little box set into the wall with a little red lever inside. If only it were labeled 'Do Not Pull'. That would've made my day.
I shuddered to a halt and stared at it with my head cocked to the side, a second hare-brained scheme sneaking up my spine to my brain. Flipping the lid open, I pulled the level. An obnoxious and overly assertive alarm blared through the hallway, lights flashing red on the ceiling.
I clapped my hands over my ears as soldiers came pouring out of the rooms along the hallway as each door opened automatically, appearing like ants swarming from a hive. They stared at me, then at the undead horde meandering after me, and did the only reasonable thing.
They started firing at the mob.
I dove out of the way, landing in a conveniently placed hallway. I stuck my head back into the infested corridor. "Toodles!" I called to the soldiers, unable to resist one last word. They couldn't hear me over the roar of the gun and the throbbing, pulsing moans.
I slid around a corner, boots slipping in the thick layer of wax, and collided head on with a warm body. We rebounded off each other, and I hit the floor on my ass. "Oi!" I yelped, glaring at the obstacle.
It was Onyx, rubbing her hip and scowling at me.
"Oh, hey."
"What did you do?" she demanded.
Rude. Not even a hello. I shrugged, tucking a piece of hair back under my hat. "Let some zombies out and pulled a fire alarm. Have you seen Minka?"
She shook her head. "Not yet, but she's in here somewhere."
"Then let's go find her and bust the hell out of here," I said, grinning. We took off side by side, hoping we wouldn't have to search for long.
Enia: I have new toys! It's so exciting. I finally got my graduation laptop. Graduation was about three months ago. It's a MacBook Air, and it's beautiful. I love Mac keyboards. The university was having a Back-to-School-Promo, so I got a free pair of Beats headphones with it! They rock.
Summer's almost over. I leave for college in a month. I hope everyone's been having a good time with this story, and I also hope you decide to leave a review!