Half Life

Chapter 1

            CHAPTER 1

             Flashes. Light—blinding light. Screams. A girl’s screams…..my screams. Crash. Impact. Metal folding inward, back on itself. Horrible screeching. Voices… calling my name. What is my name? I wonder. R….e….n….n….a….h. Rennah.  Flipping over, once, twice, three times. Crying. Screaming for help. No use. Down, down, down. We were falling, falling. Where were we? I can’t remember…. My mind is blank except for the snaps of images, terrible images. Was this a memory? Am I dreaming?  Try to open your eyes…

            Searing pain!!! Pain! Stop! I feel my left eye open, but my right refuses. It hurts….hurts. So does my right arm. Arm? I can’t feel my arm there…. There is no right arm. Where did it go? My working eye fills with tears. Where am I now? What do I do? How did I get here? I try to thrash. I’m throwing myself around. Throwing.

            She’s moving.

            A voice! Someone is here with me.

            Try to wake up, Rennah. Wake up.

            How do I wake up? Think… think very hard. Wake myself up. Work… I feel my left eye finally open. All I can see is white. White. I hate white rooms. They remind me of labs. I try and pry my useless right eye open. I can’t get it, all I feel is pain.

            You may feel a slight sting, but once you hear the click, your right eye will be activated. Okay? You can open it then. 3…2…1.

            Blip.

            My eye shot open, but not without the sting. It felt as if someone had slipped in a syringe. I blinked a few times, both eyes finally adjusting to the whiteness of the room. White….

            Flashes. Blinding light. Flashes.

            I shut my eyes again. I don’t want to see these images. I want them to stop.

            Rennah, I need you to open your eyes and keep them open. I know it’s hard, but the memories will go away. Ready? Try again.

            I slowly raise my eyelids. The flashes continue, the screaming, screeching. I want it to stop. Stop. Stop. I feel myself trembling. I don’t want it to continue. I scream. The flashes rotate in my mind, faster now.

            Driving. Headlights. Truck. Scream. Swerve. Cry. No. No.Downdowndown spinningspinning no no no.

            “No! No! Make them stop!” I thrash, for real this time. “Stop it NOW!” I pull myself into a sitting up position. I yank up my right arm, the one I was sure I no longer had. And I don’t have it, at least not how it used to be. I look at it, and almost vomit. My arm is no longer there, it is replaced by a sleek, silver, robotic appendage, glittering with newness. I can’t move, can’t speak. My mind is reeling. It’s hideous. I hate it. Why is it there?

            I look up to see a man walking towards where I am sitting. He must have been the one with me upon waking. When he speaks, my suspicions are confirmed.

            “Welcome back, Rennah. I am glad you are awake and alright. You must feel very honored.”

            I knit my eyebrows together. Honored? For what? Being placed in a hospital? Losing my arm? Going insane?

            “Honored for what?”

            The man smiles. I feel a cold shiver travel down my spine. It’s one of those smiles the bad guy gives his nemesis, right before attacking. What I think a crocodile must smile like.

            “For taking part in the Geniva Project.”