Twisted

~7~

     I follow him again, we take a left. Our guns still poised to shoot; eventually we ease up for we blend in.

    Coming our direction is three guards. All masked and dressed the same. They're pushing a boy, well young man down the hall. He seems to be seventeen years old. Not too older than me. His skin is tanned, and his eyes are a dark haze. He has jet black hair, made into a spikey sort of haircut.

     He's not locked up or anything. He's seems to be maybe a new person working here and given a tour. Something is certainly off about him. That haze behind his eyes, the way he moves and walks.

     Gavin sees me eyeing him, then pushes me in the lead. Leaving me on good look at this boy, I hear someone call him Calvin or Mr. Sanders. I guess his name would be Calvin Sanders with some logic but nothing at all has been logical.

     We're going onto an elevator when two people board after us.

     "So, when do you think boss will continue the search?" The shortest one says, from the voice and height I know she is a girl.

     "I'm not sure. And frankly I couldn't care less." The male says.

     "Why do you say that?" Says the woman pressing the button marked with "QUATERS"

     "Didn't you hear? That girl is dangerous."

     That girl? Could they be talking about me? I feel my hands start to shake, my eyes start to change and the markings rub all over my body. I've never been more happy for long sleeves and pants before. It's not visible, thankfully.

     Gavin nudges my arm to make sure I'm okay. I shake my head nervously and grab his hand. He releases the grip because with the harshness of this place, you're probably not allowed to show "affection," towards another person.

     The elevator shoots up unexpectedly, then just as fast as it started comes to a complete stop. Me and Gavin feel like we've been pounded by gravity. The doors open, they exit and so do we.

     We look down a hall, sets of female guards on the left of the wall, males on the right. I take my side on the left and Gavin takes his.

     Everyone is at a stance that has legs straight, facing forward, and saluting a weird symbol. The elevator dings then opens up.

     A man, maybe in his forties comes out. As he walks by people put their hands salutes down like he is secretly saying to. He's got black hair with gold stands scattered. "Hello. I am Anderson. I am vice President of this whole establishment."

     Vice President? He should know exactly what is going then. But this man could be dangerous, and smart too. Smart people are dangerous. I've heard otherwise only once.

     He walks by Gavin, but stops right in front of me. I suck in my chest, and breathe calmly. He clears his throat making me worry if I should say something.

     "Do you have a cough sir?" I ask being serious but everyone starts to grin and smirk.

     "Apparently you do not know the protocol here." He says giving the gutsy laughing ones a nasty stare. They hush instantly. I'm the only one wearing a helmet, Gavin was smart enough to take his off. But I can't do that. "Why don't you follow me, young lady?"

     He brings me into a room. Down an elevator, below the ground. We are in a lab one would guess. A fridge in the corner, filled with nothing but strange colored test tubes. Needles are neatly arranged by size or fluid. The thought of what could happen in this room scares me.

     "Why am I here Mr. Anderson?"

     "Because I said so. Take your helmet off."

     "Its locked though?" It is stuck. I guessed it was locked, hope my head isn't that big.

     "Oh, that is the problem with these models. Let me go get a key." He leaves the room.

     This is my chance! He's going to take off my helmet! And then what? And then you'll be dead, that's what.

     The elevator is the first place I go. Its locked, you need a card key to get in. That's the only way out! I start to panic but remember something important that could be handy.

     Not my gun of course, why would I want to kill him?

     I slide my sleeves up and hope for the best. No markings or anything. But my face is still - well my face. I run back over to the large fridge, it swings open by just tapping it. A shiny purple tube catches my attention. Wait, its just the liquid inside that's purple. I pull it out and look around once more.

     A shiny, large needle catches my attention with its glare from the lights. I run over to it, dip the tip into the sterilize mix and then into the purple liquid. It sucks the liquid in, to about the my doctor uses when injecting me.

     "I hope this works." I jab it into my arm. The pain is unbearable and I want to scream, but I keep the shouts inside. Right on the tip of my tongue.

     The feel a new throbbing sensation. Its right around the general area of the needle. Finally the very last drop makes it into my blood flow. I yank it out and breathe.

     Something in my body tingles. Starting from my arm and now all over. I look into the shiny stainless-steal cabinets they have. That's right, my helmet is on. My arm spasms, knocking off some of the things on this counter top. The shake and tremor uncontrollably.

     My arm becomes blackened, like its being set on fire. I check to see if it actually isn't on fire, I'm good. For now.

     The blackness spreads all over. I'm starting to panic. What is this stuff anyway? I check the now empty tube, "C197O" There's no possible way in Earth to tell what that means. My whole body is blackened now, it doesn't even look like a skin tone. It looks like I am decapitating. Dead already, long dead.

     I feel my heart slowing. I loose control of my whole body. My knees lock, my - my - my arms lock. My neck became stiff. I drop the needle and tube from my lifeless hands.

      "Here. Here is the key." The man walks back over, puts a key into the top of the helmet and it clicks. I gasp, hoping he doesn't recognize me.

    My hands are no longer black, the feeling has returned to me. He just stares into my eyes, it feels like he's trying to look into my soul or something. He steps back and bows his head, apologizing for himself.

     Huh?

     He didn't recognize me?

     I look in the glass reflection. I can see why he didn't know I was me, because I cannot recognize myself.