Storm-Boi

Chapter 4 - Dates

Chapter 4

Dates

Bright lights, voices and shouts fill my head. I’m in a daze. I can’t help wondering if there’s anyone out there to help me. It seems like the whole world is against me. What a weight to bear. The desert stretches out before me, making my search seem fruitless...

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When I come to, I’m lying on my back. At first, the light is so bright it I close my eyes straight away. But after a few moments I open them again, to find that I’m lying on white bed that’s extremely uncomfortable. There are unseen people talking quietly somewhere to my left. I seem to be in the health centre. For some strange reason I start to wonder why a place like this has a health centre in the first place. It seems weird, when all they really do is try to break us everyday.

It’s then that I remember what happened. The cage, hanging in the darkness, the lightning, the fall, and most importantly, the plan. 

I try to sit up, but there’s something strapping me to the bed, and I’m thankful for it, because that small movement hurt like crazy. I groan, and the voices in the background stop suddenly.

A woman comes into focus above me. She looks familiar and has a kind smile on her face.

“Awake?” as if she needs to ask a question like that. I nod, then immediately wince from the effort. The woman looks sympathetically at me and undos the straps. Suddenly I remember who she is. The nurse from back when I was smaller, Carol, I think her name was. She was the only pleasant person in the whole laboratory, and I was sad when they told me she’d left. Apparently she’d come back.

The nurse leaves for a few minutes, the time it takes me to sit up. It’s painful, but I don’t like the feeling of lying down. I feel too vulnerable. When she comes back, she’s carrying a glass of water, which I drink in small sips, slowly regaining my strength.

It’s funny, I actually feel normal at the moment. Like a school girl who’s fainted or something, definitely not like an experiment. They’re being nice to me, which is weird.

That thought disappears from my mind, however, when an unwanted face appears beside me. Stein.

“You have caused quite a bother, Storm,” He says coldly. I squint at him, he’s talking in sentences, that’s new.

“Er... Sorry?” It was almost a question.

“No need to apologise, you are a success,” He smiles, it looks kind of creepy on him, “Your owner will be pleased with your progress.” I didn’t know if my mood could sink any lower. I hadn’t wanted them to know what I could do, and I had basically shown them. Not to mention the fact that whoever had bought me was going to be pleased.

“Ummm... that’s good. I guess.” Come on, Storm. That was a lame response, I thought. But it’s all I can come up with. I’ve only just recently taken in the fact that I had an owner.

Stein is looking at me weirdly, like he can tell what I’m thinking. I hope he can’t, at the moment all I’m thinking about is how to get out of this place. His eyes are cold and calculating, like he can see right into my soul. I just glare back at him, willing him to break first. And he does, glancing up as the nurse returns with a cup of tea, which she sets in front of me.

Suddenly, Stein does something I wouldn’t expect, even of him. Just as I’m reaching for the cup, his hand swoops in and grabs it. Taking a long sip, he sighs then thanks the nurse, who’s looking just as shocked as I feel. It was like he took candy from a baby.