The Run

The Run Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I hated the lab, Kelsor and most importantly at that moment, I really hated that van. It was hot, small, and uncomfortable. Even with the blankets I was sitting on, laying there tied up was the most uncomfortable thing in the world. It must not have been too bad though, because none of Kelsor's goons seemed to be complaining. I'd been laying in the same awkward position, with my legs bound at the ankles and my hands tied in front of me, for over two hours. My heart was still pounding, and I still hadn't eaten breakfast. I was starting to get sick to my stomach, but I was determined to be strong and hold it in.

The van was dead silent too. There was no music playing on the radio, which would have kept my mind off things. There was no conversation between the goons in the back. There were no words spoken between Kelsor and the driver. The only thing I heard was the motor of the van.

The longer I rode in that van, the more determined I was to never get in a van again. If by some miracle I actually made it back out of the lab alive, I vowed to never ride in a van ever again. Never, under any circumstances. The ride made me so miserable that I couldn't even think of a time that I might actually be ok with riding in a van. Actually, I might be ok with it if that's what was taking me away from the lab. But of course, that would probably never happen.

To pass the time, I started thinking about Jaxon, and what he was doing. I knew that I'd already been thinking about it a lot already, but I couldn't help it. I just had the worst feeling that he hadn't done what I asked, and that he was trying to find me. Even though it was nice to think I might get out of this mess, I didn't want Jaxon to be any more involved than he already was. I knew that, with him, that hope was a long shot. Jaxon was more inclined to put himself into danger trying to help me than actually doing what he was told and staying out of it. I knew that there was a huge chance of him already looking for me, but I hoped that it would be too hard for him to get very far.

Since I had never known enough to figure out where the lab was, with all of my extended intelligence, so surely he wouldn't be able to. I mean, I was hacking into government websites and everything! If I wasn't able to at least get a basic location, there's no way Jaxon will be able to. I mean I love him and all, and he has above average intelligence, but I have superhuman intelligence and I couldn't do it. That fact alone both made me feel better about the situation, and much worse. Jaxon wouldn't be able to find me, but neither would anyone else.

That thought made me want to curl up in a ball and sleep the rest of the trip away, but I couldn't for two reasons. The first was the most obvious: it wouldn't be easy to curl up in a ball with your hands and legs bound. Even if I could, it more than likely wouldn't be very comfortable. Other than that though, is the fact that curling up would make me look scared and weak. I was of course, but I didn't want them to know that. I wanted them to think I was strong, stubborn, and hard to break. Of course, the stomach pains from not eating at all since the night before would also make it a little bit more unpleasant. So instead of doing what I really wanted to, I sat up straighter and held my face completely expressionless.

The ride took what seemed to be forever; I lost track of the time. It seemed to me that we were literally going in circles, but I had no way of knowing for sure. I think they were doing that to confuse me, not that they needed to. I wouldn't be able to reverse navigate my way back after being driven. I would have no way of knowing the distances in between turns, so no way of knowing which way was right. Apparently they were over-compensating for my abilities, so that I had less of a chance of escaping again. I highly doubted that would happen again.

Finally, the van pulled to a stop, and the men in the back with me stood up. They didn't move any more, they just stood up. Right then, I knew that we were at the lab. They were waiting on their orders from Kelsor, I just knew it. My theory was proven correct when the rear doors were opened, the light flooding my eyes. Kelsor stepped into the van and smirked at me.

"You're back now." He said, as if it wasn't already obvious enough. I nodded slowly.

"I know." I said, watching as his face turned red.

"You're lucky I wasn't allowed to use force." He snarled at me through closed teeth. I frowned, thinking back to the few times I had been tossed around like a sack of potatoes. I didn't say anything though, knowing that his definition of force and mine were two completely different things. "Despite your rudeness, I'm going to be nice and tell you what's about to happen next." He said with another smirk. I really wanted to say something back, but I knew it was in my better interest at that point not to.

"These men," he said, pointing to the two men on either side of me. "are going to take you into the lab on a stretcher. You will not struggle, or be difficult in any way."

"Ok." I said, struggling to maintain my look of nonchalance.

"They will take you into one of the testing rooms, where you will be transferred onto a hospital bed. Again, you will not make any kind of struggle." He went on. I nodded to show my understanding. "After that, you will be put into your cell."

"Alright." I said, nodding my head again. Even though I would obviously be miserable here once again, I didn't want to make it any worse for myself by disagreeing. Of course, I also had Jaxon to think about.

"Go ahead." He said, nodding to the men. As one, they reached to grab me. The man on my left soon held my lower body, and the man on the right held my upper. Like that, I was carried out of the van and placed on a stretcher. Tied up as I was, once I was laid flat I wouldn't have been able to sit back up if I tried. That is, unless I harnessed the power of wind, which I didn't dare do.

I was pushed into a dark, brick building by Kelsor with a man on either side of me. They must have still thought I might get up and start running. I wondered why they had so many unrealistic expectations of what I could do. Then, it hit me. They didn't have any idea what I could do, because they didn't know how I could have changed since before.

We went down a long hallway, and I was pushed through a set of double doors. Not long after that, I was pushed into one of the testing rooms. I repressed a shudder at the familiarity of my surroundings. I'd never forgotten what went on in one of these rooms, and I didn't think I ever would. Even if I was out of the lab in a week, and I never came back, I would never get rid of these images.

This particular lab room had no windows, instead it had cabinets and various instruments lining the wall. In the middle of the room, there was a hospital bed with four pairs of handcuffs connected to it, one at each corner. Around that bed were a series of lights, as well as one very bright light directly above it. That bed is where the two goons picked me up and lay me. As soon as I was laying on the bed, they released my legs from their rope and held them down. As they held me, Kelsor put one handcuff around each of my ankles. Thankfully, he didn't make it tight enough to hurt my skin, but he made it tight enough it would cut me if I tried to move around too much. They used the same process on my wrists. Then, a leather strap was fastened across my forehead to keep me from turning my head.

Once I was fully bound with no way of moving lest I cut open my wrists and ankles, the men stepped back from the bed. The three of them left me like that without a word.

Strapped to the bed like that, I could see nothing except the ridiculously bright light above my head. I couldn't move my head whatsoever, so I couldn't even look around the room anymore. Because of the blinding light, I ended up closing my eyes. The room was dead silent, and that was the only reason I knew that someone else had come inside. I heard the door open, and I heard heavy footsteps coming toward me. I had no idea who it was, or why they were there. The safest bet for me to make was that it was a scientist about to do some tests.

The footsteps stopped at my bedside, and I couldn't turn my head to look at whoever it was. The person stood there for a few minutes, apparently staring down at me, and then walked away. I heard movement in one of the cabinets on my right, then the footsteps made their way back to me. I heard the sound of liquid moving in a bottle, and I suddenly knew what was going to happen next. I had a sharp intake of breath, even though I had tried to hold it in.

The person stepped just a little closer to me, so much that I could feel the weight on my bed. I felt a cold hand touch my arm, and push the edge of my t-shirt sleeve up just a little bit higher. Then, I felt a sharp prick of my skin and the drugs were injected into my body. I knew that I was going to be out soon anyway, so I didn't fight the feeling washing over me. I embraced the blackness and fell asleep.