Synthetic Beauty (re-posted)

Chapter Eight: Familiar Face

 Chapter Eight:Familiar Face

Phoebe’s head spun. They had taken her to an isolated testing room. After a multitude of shots and medicine, the people decided it wasn’t enough. Phoebe had no idea what may be wrong with her. She felt fine.

“Doctor, she can’t be cured. Let’s face it. As much Nanobites as you put in her, the memory won’t fade,” a woman in a white coat with glasses inspects a clipboard.

“Carlotta, be quiet. She may hear us,” a man in a turquoise coat carries a tray of shots. Phoebe shivers at the sight.

“S-so many shots… Wuh-why?” Phoebe asks faintly.

“Don’t worry, child. We will cure you,” a voice purrs in her ear.

A sharp tip edges in her skin, piercing through the tissue. Phoebe’s head spins again. Everything doubled. Two doctors. Eight nurses. Six shots. Suddenly, nothing. The only sense in her body working was her ears.

“Sir! You killed her!” a frantic voice says.

“Don’t worry. It’s only temporary, Carlotta,” a soothing voice replies.

“Sir, how are we going to cure her and what is with the necklace that won’t come off her neck? Her file is getting stranger and stranger. Why will the necklace not come off?” another anonymous voice says.

The Doctor seems to hesitate, “I don’t know. All I know is what we’re being hired to do. All we need to do is wipe her memory of the penthouse rogues.”

Tyler sat there, an aching in his chest. He wanted to be with Phoebe, but he couldn’t. They had let him go before her. She was kept behind because they thought something was wrong with her. She looked fine, but Tyler guessed the doctors knew better.

“Travis Tyler?” a man in a fancy looking military suit with buzz-cut borwn hair asks.

“Yeah?”

“My name is General Bount,” the General says.

“To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?” Tyler says sarcastically.

“You would do anything for me, right?” the General says it as more of a fact than a question.

“Of course, Sir,” the words slip out of Tyler’s mouth.

“Well, then. You know Pphoebe Gliniwinkle, correct?”

“Yes, Sir,” he says with absolute surety of trust for the General. He could tell him anything.

“Okay, well let us talk about your futures. It has come to my attention that Phoebe is still in the hospital while everyone else had gotten out. Why do you think that happened?” the General asks.

“Phoebe still had something wrong with her after we all had gotten drunk. I guess she drank too much pink Basccochi. It’s a killer,” Tyler says.

“Exactly. She just had too much to drink. If anyone asks, that’s what had happened,’ the General says, “Well then, I guess I need to leave. Have a good day, Sir,” the General nods his head in farewell.

Phoebe’s stomach churns as they give her more medicine. She screams as a migraine takes over her head. She falls off the metal platform and pulls her knees to her chest. Everything hurt. No matter how they tried to soothe her, she would never not feel the pain. The pain of the medicine and the pain of the thought they were screwing around with her head.

The only thing she could think about is the pain.

He said they were trying to erase a memory. That would be as hard as a neurosurgeon’s work. No not as hard, harder. More painful especially when the patient is awake.

Tears burned at her throat. Phoebe had never experienced such pain. Her head ached, her body ached, and her throat was burning with tears and pain. A woman ran to her side, another needle in her hand.

“No more… No… No more…” Phoebe barely gets out, her hands cupping her ears.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t let you go until you’re cured,” the woman says, “You do want to go, right? See Tyler? The faster we get this done, the faster you’ll go back to your normal life.” Little did the woman know, that is not true.

Phoebe looks away from the needle as it tears through her skin; scars marking previous needles’ entry. More pain sear through her like acid. Phoebe could only faintly hear breaking glass. A shard of glass missing her by an inch. Phoebe looks up with blurry vision. She saw an outline of a person…

The red-haired rogue from the party.