Subject R - ON HOLD

chapter 5

The first thing I remember when I began to wake up was feeling like I was being pulled in all sorts of different directions. It felt like something had a grip on each of my limbs and was tugging and jerking me around, and I didn't like it.

I tried to struggle against these opposing forces, but my muscles felt like over-stretched rubber bands, and I was useless. Hearing came first, and lots of jabbering voices reached my ears. Feeling came next, and I could distinguish hands gripping each of my limbs and someone holding my upper body. What? Something happened, but I couldn't remember.

I struggled feebly against the people holding and dragging me, still blind. What the hell's going on? Why're they dragging me? What happened to me? I forced myself to try and remember but I just came up with a whole lotta nothin'.

My vision came back with a fading effect, everything blurry as hell and looking shaky. I fluttered my eyelids to get my eyes working right again, and then squinted against all the bright whiteness that I could suddenly see. Where the fudge am I?

I squinted up to the people above me, who'd stopped moving now. They were looking down at me and chattering senselessly, talking about heart rates and pupil dilations and crap. What in the hell is going on?!

"What - " I started, but they suddenly all jerked me forward, and a wave of nausea attacked me, taking my stomach down memory lane and back to my first roller coaster ride.

Oh shit shit shit -

Everything in my vision started to spin and I could feel the fruit loops in my belly swirling around and planning on escaping. I clamped my teeth together and worked my gag reflex like hell, swallowing all of the spit in my mouth. No way was I throwing up! Even if I had no idea where I was, or what the fuck just happened, I am not gonna puke!

I started to look around, desperate to get my mind off the hurricane going on in my stomach. As I studied the white padded walls and the lights in the cielings, I was beginning to remember why I was here. A new assignment.

But for what?

My eyes traveled down from the ceiling and immediately stuck to the only dark spot in the room, maybe twenty feet from me.

A large, red headed man, wearing a black uniform-like thing, squatting on the padding with his elbows resting against his knees. My eyes met with his shockingly light blue--

Meeting Subject R's gaze was enough to make me remember everything that had happened.

I'd just gotten him to say my name, even gotten him to point at me and make the connection that Cecily was my name. He came at me, grabbed me and pressed his forehead to mine, something happened, I black out -

Oh my god.

I didn't realize I was hyperventilating until the people around me all backed up and only one woman was kneeling beside me. She rubbed my shoulders and was speaking consolingly. "You're ok, shh, shh, Cecily, relax. Just take some deep breaths. In and out. In...and out...in and out...nice and easy breaths. In and out. Just breath. There you go, in and out..."

After I calmed down, I asked the woman. "Wh-What happened?"

Her expression was surprised. "You don't remember?" I noted that all of the people around me snapped their attention to us. A blush colored my cheeks and I felt embarrassed. But shouldn't this be expected? I just blacked out because some guy from another dimension grabbed me and pulled some funky psykenic (or whatever the word is) crap on me. They expect me to remember?!

"Uh...um...sh-should I?"

All of the people around looked at me like I'd just belted out an opera note. The woman beside me touched my shoulder - I notice now that she's wearing latex gloves - and started to speak, "Well,"