Project Infinity

20/21

Chapter Twenty

At the moment where I finally gain consciousness,light demands to seep into my closed eyelids.I don't want to open them as I don't know what I'll see.

"Stop pretending and open your eyes,Beth."I recognise Evangeline's voice immediately and open them to see her sitting with her legs folded across me,like everything's normal and she never was a traitor.

"Were you ever on the Skylark's side?"I ask,forcing my voice to sound calm.My arms are bound tightly behind the chair I'm sitting on,and I know it's useless to attack with my feet.There's where my weakness is.

"Let's just put it this way.I was always on the Ascendancy's side.You Skylarks were...too blind to see that."she flicks away a speck of lint from her jacket."And you should be thankful,you know."

"For what?Betraying Project Infinity?"I hiss.I've lost all patience towards her."No.For saving your life in during the lie detector test.You would've been nothing but ash in the incinerator now if I hadn't stopped them."

Her voice sounds spiteful.She leans towards me,her eyes narrowed.I know looking away is cowardly,so I hold her gaze.

Finally she gets up from her chair with a sigh."I have to go now.Your questioning will be held this Thursday.Prepare to spill some secrets."

"Like you don't have any?"I yell at her as she closes the door on me.I let out a cry of frustration and kick the air,imagining it to be Evangeline.I stare at the unnerving white of the room which will now be my home for the next few days.After that,I don't know what will become of my fate.

~*~

I don't realise I've fallen asleep until I'm woken up for dinner.As the guard undoes my rope and allows me to eat,I form a plan to escape.I can't tell the Ascendancy the Skylark's secrets.Several times I try to converse with my guard as I eat,but the only thing I've learnt is that insults are incapable of penetrating his thick skull.

I decide to annoy him with questions until he finally gives up and tells me to "shut the hell up".Dinner comes and goes.He doesn't see me take the fork.

Once the guard leaves,I set to work.I can only move my hands.I throw the fork into the air with my mouth and time how long it takes before it lands in my hands.The fork is blunt but it takes through the rope and undoes the rope fibre.It loosens bit by bit.I know i'll make it soon,but I don't have a plan.I just have to rely on my instincts.

My hands wriggle free and I stand up briskly.I must have underestimated the Ascendancy's security systems because alarms start to wail and the guard charges in,gun loaded and pointed towards me.A moment later,Evangeline walks in,wearing a black dress and stilettos.

"It seems that we've underestimated you,Beth."She says my name like it's something bitter in her mouth and she's looking at me with that familiar condescending look.My mind goes blank with anger.

I rush up to her and because I have the element of surprise,I manage to swing a fist over her nose and there is a loud crack.The blow isn't strong enough to satisfy my hate towards her,but she's hurt.The guard fires at my arm and I fall and grit my teeth as the bullet digs into my skin and my blood spews out.

Evangeline glares at me,holding a hand to her nose.I know that it's only a temporary injury,but it makes me feel a little more satisfied.Not good.Nothing is ever 'good' here,only 'more'.

"Take her to the infirmary.We'll keep her under sedatives until Thursday."She chokes out.Her nose is bent at an awkward angle,her face red with heat and I know that she's in pain.But she deserves so,so much more.

Chapter Twenty-One

I'm shoved down the brightly-lit corridor outside my prison.Small glass windows line the wall and reveals the world outside.It's a dark and starless night.Even with this,I wish I was out there instead of here in this hell-hole.

The gun barrel is pressed into my back.Another guard grips my left arm,where I've been shot.It takes all my effort to not pass out from the pain.

I'm made to walk down hallway after hallway,only stopping once we've reached the end.There's a door marked with the word Infirmary on it.

A guard enters the password and the door clicks open.It's the same kind of mechanic as the ones of the the dormitories of Project Infinity.It makes me wonder how much of Project Infinity is this place like,and whether Evangeline had anything to do with it.Of course she did.

The strong scent of anaesthesia and antiseptic spray almost makes me gag.Knowing that I'm spending my time on one of the beds here until Thursday almost sends me emptying my stomach onto one of the guards' shoes.

A guard(there're literally so many of them)on my right grabs hold of my arms and pulls me towards a bed.I don't even try to fight as I know it will only result in worse consequences.

It's hard and hurts my back as the fabric presses into my body.The lights above me hurt my eyes and make them tear up.

"See you in a couple of days."He tells me,and I feel a needle pressed into my arm.

You know when in movies it always seems so easy to fight anaesthesia?Well,let me tell you that it isn't.It shuts you down and forces darkness over your eyes.I have this last thought in my head before there is nothing.

~*~

"Beth."

I hear a voice call out.It's dark everywhere but I can just make out my mother's silhouette in the distance.Her movements are quick and agitated,and I run over to her.At last something familiar after so long.

As she's only a meter away from me,I notice something.I'm back home again.And she looks...different.Her eyes are wide but she pulls me into a hug which I barely feel.It's like touching air.

"Mom.What are we doing here?What are you doing here?I thought you left."I ask and search her expression.She smiles at me,but it looks forced."I came back.We need to run.Now."

"Why?We're safe here,aren't we?Away from the Ascendancy,Project Infinity,everything and everyone that's messed with us for fifteen years."I say.

She opens her mouth to answer,but they don't come out.A gunshot releases and all of a sudden her shirt is stained with blood.

"No.No!"I scream and catch her as she falls.She gives me a small smile."Run,Beth.And be free."