Hatchetfield Stories

Terms and Conditions

*** *** ***

When Emma opened her eyes, her first thought was that she'd forgotten to close the curtains, before realizing this wasn't her bedroom. The big led lights that lit the lab seemed brighter than they usually were, but that could just be because she just woke up. At least, that's what she told herself.

"Paul?" she asked, nudging him awake.

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Can you dim the lights?"

"Of course." He rubbed his eyes and walked to the other side of the room, turning the dimmer so it was just bright enough to be able to see.

"Thanks..."

"Is it working?" he asked, sitting back down.

Emma nodded, tears stinging in her eyes. "That fridge is so loud. Why does he even have a fridge down here?"

She walked towards the buzzing machine, squinting as the light hit her face when she opened the door. "Paul? Do I want to know why there are at least a dozen bags of blood in here?"

"Probably not," Paul said, taking her hand from the handle and closing the door. "Let's not look around too much. If we're stuck here, I'd rather not know what our captor is planning."

"Yeah..." She lay down on the bed again, attempting to sleep, but she was still awake when the professor came back.

"Stay there," he instructed as he turned the lights back on. "Paul, sit down." He gestured at the bed, grabbing a box from a cabinet.

Paul shot Emma a nervous look, but walked to the stretcher anyway.

"Alright. I'm just going to perform a few tests and ask a few questions." He looked at his notebook. "Do you have any allergies?"

"N-Not that I know of?"

Hidgens nodded, taking the cap off a pen with his lips, writing as he talked. "Blood type?"

"What?"

"What is your blood type?"

"I- I don't know? I never asked?"

The professor tsked. "Youngman, that is important to know. Not just for this experiment, but what if you get in an accident and need a transfusion?"

"I never thought of that..."

He rolled his chair to a nearby cabinet. Emma winced at the squeaking of the wheels. "I need to take some blood anyway. I'll tell you." He searched through the cabinet until he held up a syringe.

"Thank you, I guess?"

Hidgens put on a pair of blue gloves, and moved back towards Paul. "Give me your arm."

Paul looked away as the professor cleaned his elbow, his eyes landing on Emma. He shot her an awkward smile, giving a small nod in an attempt to let her know he was okay. He tried to hide his reaction as the needle was poked into the vein, but it was hard not to notice the twitch of his eye.

"Alright, that's it. Did it hurt?"

"Not really."

The professor grabbed his notebook again. "On a scale from one to ten?"

"Three? Three and a half, maybe?"

Hidgens smiled. "Alright, thank you. Can you lie down, please?"

Paul did as he said, laying down on his back.

"Turn around."

As soon as Paul had rolled onto his stomach, Hidgens grabbed the restraints that they hadn't even seen dangling under the bed, and clicked them in place, moving to restrain his arms as well.

"What are you doing?" Paul asked, doing his best to stop his voice from shaking.

"Like I said, the goal of this experiment is looking for the downsides of this formula I created. Unfortunately, that does mean I have to hurt you."

Emma could see the fear in his eyes, and she assumed he'd seen it in hers too, because he nodded, closing his eyes in anticipation. Like he was trying to protect her, trying to not make things worse than they already were.

Professor Hidgens exposed his lower back, and Paul flinched as he pressed the scalpel into the skin, but other than that, he barely reacted when the professor drew the knife across his back, deep enough to draw a few drops of blood, but shallow enough to heal quickly.

He opened his eyes again at the click of the restraints being unlocked.

"Scale from one to ten?"

"Four point eight?"

"Very well," the professor said, scribbling something down in his notebook. "Now, let's move on."

Emma's eyes widened when he turned to face her. "No..."

He gave her a warm smile, trying to provide a false sense of security.

Emma was strong, but apparently trying to fight with a man who is at least a foot taller than you ends with being held down onto an uncomfortable bed while he restrains you. Even if that man would probably be eligible for a senior discount.

Paul walked towards them, crouching down in front of her. "Emma, we're stuck here anyway. It'll be easier if you don't fight."

The professor chuckled. "See? That's the spirit!"

He untied her left arm, and Emma cried out as she felt the sharp pinch of a needle.

Paul cupped her cheek, wiping some of her tears away. "Shhh, Emma..."

"Scale from one to ten?" Hidgens asked.

"Fuck you."

"Emma, dear. If you don't comply, I'll be taking more extreme measures. And I've told you how this experiment works. If you suffer, Paul does too. Now, on a scale from one to ten?"

"Six."

"Alright. Paul, hand me that scalpel, please."

Emma winced as she felt his gloved hands on her skin, pulling up her shirt to expose her back. Paul reached for her unrestrained hand, squeezing softly.

The cold metal touching her back, the tip of the knife slowly pressing into her skin, the singular drop of blood trickling down her side. Those were feelings she'd hoped to never experience.

But here she was. And she could swear it was at least twice as deep as she'd seen him cut into Paul's back.

"Hey, Emma... Look at me," Paul said, smiling sadly when she let out a whimper. "It's okay..."

She wanted to say wasn't. It wasn't okay. They should be at home, watching a dumb horror movie, or babysitting Tim. They should be anywhere but here.

But she couldn't get a word out.

She held her breath as the knife cut through the skin, releasing it when Hidgens pulled her shirt down again.

As soon as the restraints were unlocked, Emma jumped up.

The professor looked at his notes. "Scale from one to-"

He was cut off when Emma's fist connected with his jaw. His hand went to his cheek, and he put his notebook down, grabbing a syringe from the table.

The few seconds he took to inspect the liquid were enough for Emma to realize her mistake. Her eyes went wide, and she backed away, mumbling apologies as he came closer.

He pulled her into what felt like a tight hug, and she winced when he prodded the needle into her neck. Her knees buckled, and she gripped his turtleneck tightly to prevent herself from falling. He lifted her into his arms. He smelled like laundry detergent, which was strange, because he wore the same outfit every single day. Did he just have a closet filled with turtlenecks? The thought didn't surprise her at all.

"What did you do?" Paul asked, rushing to move the supplies to the table so the professor could lay her down on the bed.

"Paralyser. It'll wear off in a few hours" he replied. "My lab, my rules. Punching is not one of those rules."

He left the lab, and the doors slid closed behind him, locking themselves in place. Paul dimmed the lights again, before pulling Emma onto his lap.

"Just do what he says, okay?"

She tried to speak, but only a quiet hum made it out.

Paul stroked her hair, gently rocking her back and forth. "We'll get out of here."

*** *** ***

"Eat."

Emma looked at the chili pepper on the plate in front of her, and to the fork that her professor held in front of her mouth. Her hands were tied behind her back, so she couldn't fight when he forced her jaw open, placing the small bite on her tongue.

His hand covered her mouth, and his rough skin scratched her cheeks. When he didn't even let her go when she tried the childish trick of licking his palm, she accepted defeat. Tears stung in her eyes as she bit down on the crunchy pepper.

She could feel her face go red as her mouth burned, and gasped for breath when the professor removed his hand, quickly spitting the chewed pepper out.

Her hands were untied, and she gulped down the glass of milk she was handed, before wiping the tears from her cheeks.

When Hidgens moved over to Paul to feed him the same meal, he took a bite without a fuss, swallowing it even as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

*** *** ***

When professor Hidgens came into the lab two weeks later, he instructed Emma to lie down. Paul gave her a nod.

"I'm preparing to let you guys go," he told her as she lay down. "I just have to give you the antidote. That will, unfortunately, be a little complicated. Your body has gotten used to having improved senses, so, to put it simply, it has to 'reset'. Just try to relax."

He put on his gloves, and placed an oxygen mask over her face. This time, she barely flinched at the prick of a needle, too busy thinking about going home. She closed her eyes as he worked, eventually being pulled into a dreamless sleep when he sedated her.

*** *** ***

When she woke up, she blinked a few times to clear her vision.

"Alright," the professor said, barely audible over the ringing in her eyes. "You'll be tired for a few days, but after that, everything should be back to normal. Give me a call if you need anything, alright?"

Emma nodded, sitting up while he left to grab their bags. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, but her knees buckled when she tried to stand.

"Woah, Em, careful!" Paul rushed to her side, steadying her before she could fall. "Come on."

He put her arm around his neck, and scooped her into his arms with ease. He carried her to his car, Hidgens following them with their bags.

Once they were home, Paul instructed her to stay in bed while he got takeout. Emma agreed, taking out her phone to read all of the messages she had missed in the past weeks, most of which were from the Beanies group chat. When she had replied to all the important texts and emails, she opened the app store, installing some dumb game to entertain her while she recovered.

And this time, she did read the terms and conditions.