The Center

Prolouge

                     "wake up"

            Her eyes shot open, panic spreading throughout her. Darkness surrounded her, pure black darkness. Her heart began to race when she realized she wasn't on her warm bed, but instead a hard, cold ground. She stood, holding her hands out to grab the wall. Her hand flinched away from the coolness of the bricks, but automatically went back to it for balance. The room was spinning and the drowsiness still had not faded, but she was determined to find out what had happened.

             She slowly limped her way to the metal door, fiddling with the lock. It took her a few minutes to get it open, but she did. The door opened to a long hallway, with a few dim ceiling lights.

             "creepy" she muttered under her breath, her voice bouncing off the bricks. She took a deep breath and began walking, almost silently, down the hall. She placed a hand on the door, her heart pounding. She turned the handle halfway, when she felt it quickly turn on the other side. The door was forcefully pushed back, causing her to fall.

           "Oh... you aren't supposed to be awake yet? We must not have given you enough. Hello dear." said a middle-aged woman, with a kind, confused tone. The young girl stared at her, tilting her head in confusion. The woman reached her hand out to her, and she took it, standing up.

             "Who are you? Where am I?" The girl said, in a panicked voice. The woman chuckled, giving off a motherly feel.

         "Don't worry, dear. I'm Mrs. Adaline. Come with me, I'll show you where you are." She said, reaching her hand out once more. The girl hesitantly took it, hoping to find some type of escape. The woman lead her through the door, into a futuristic looking room, with advanced technology and probably 100 people walking around, socializing.

            "Um... Mrs. Adaline? What is this place?"

              "This is The Center. You have been selected. You are special. We've been monitoring you since you were a kid. There is something different with you. We wanted you to be a part of this community. We needed you." She explained.

             "Needed me?" She gulped, confusion still present.

             "That is all I can explain right now, dear. I'm afraid we'll have to do something more before I can say more. I'm sorry, dear." Mrs. Adaline said, sorrow and regret obvious in her tone.

             "What? What do you have to do?" The girl said, fearfully. Two men, each dressed in a suit, grabbed onto her arms. "No, no what are you doing?" She said, struggling against them. They dragged her into another room, pushing her roughly onto a chair next to a high-tech looking machine. Straps went over her arms and ankles.

             "What the hell?" She yelled, as the men put patches connected to wires on her forehead. They went over to the machine, and began pressing buttons. An intense pain went through her skull, so intense that the pain caused her to black out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

             She awoke on a warm, soft bed. She slowly sat up, stretching her arms. There was a knock at her door.

            "Come in!" She yelled, wincing at the loud noise of her own voice. Her head was pounding with pain. A middle-aged looking woman came in, carrying a pill bottle and glass of water.

             "Hello! I'm Mrs. Adaline." The woman said, setting the water on the small table next to the bed. She opened the pill bottle and gave her 2 pills, which she hesitantly took, praying for the pain to stop. The pain went away almost instantly, adding to her confusion.

           "Hi Mrs. Adaline, my name is..." her voice trailed off. She sat in thought for a minute, as Mrs. Adaline looked at her with sadness. She couldn't remember. "I don't know my name?" the young girl said, her voice cracking in fear. "Where am I? What am I doing here? Why can't I remember anything?"

            Mrs. Adaline sighed and shook her head. "You'll find out as time passes, my dear. I'll show you around here, if you'd like?" She reached out her hand.

              The girl flinched away, but reluctantly took it. She just wanted to find out where she was and why she was there. 

            Mrs. Adaline guided her through the door, and into a huge, futuristic room with technology you wouldn't even think possible. The girl gasped, looking at the amazing room in pure awe. Holograms, teleportation, things floating, robots, everything looked like it was straight out of a si-fi movie. The older woman chuckled at the fascinated girl. 

          "Ma'am?" The girl said, "While this is completely amazing, what is it?" 

        "The Center, my dear. It's a very secret society with only a few hundred people of great talent and skill. You are a very lucky girl. We'll go over the rules another time, but for now, you can ask me any questions, and I'll do my best to answer." She said.

           "Oh, okay well, first I want to know why I am here." The girl said, snapping out of her trance. 

              "You have a gift, my dear. You'll find out more when the time is right." 

          "Why can't I remember anything?" 

             "Well," The woman started nervously. "We had to wipe your memory for reasons I'm not supposed to tell. "

         "How old am I?" 

              "15"

          "What's my name?"

                "That's complicated as well. You aren't allowed your old name, because The Center thinks it might trigger old memories. You'll need a new one."

             Tears rolled down the girls face. "I want to go home. Please don't make me stay. Please." She begged.

                  "I'm sorry, dear." The woman said, pulling her into a tight hug. "I would if I could."

               Quiet sobs escaped her lips, as she held onto Mrs. Adaline tightly. 

                Mrs. Adaline began to speak again. "I think we should call you Jess." 

                     The girl shrugged and nodded slightly, being too distraught to even speak.

                                          Jess.