Midnight

The Test

*Erin's POV*

I stood where I was, frozen with fear.

Then, just like that, it clicked and my answer was as clear as day.

My knees buckled, and I sank to the ground, majorly overwhelmed.

The FBI had discovered Justin, and now they have full custody of him.

Based off of every action movie I've ever watched, the FBI will run multiple experiments on Justin.

Countless needles, machines, and DNA samples will be part of tests that the agency will conduct.

Some of those tests could even be dangerous enough to kill him.

Meaning that if I don't do something to stop this from happening right now, Justin will be taken away from me forever.

Or worse, he could be killed.

But what is a teenage girl like me going to do to stop a powerful agency?

The wind rustling the tree branches snapped me out of my trance.

I tried formulating a plan in my mind about what I could do.

However, all of my ideas had some sort of weakness or fault.

I gritted my teeth and grunted in agitation.

I'm trying to ambush an agency that has advanced weaponry, extreme surveillance, and high security.

This is literally mission impossible.

But I can't just give up on Justin, I have to try for his sake.

So, as unprepared as I'd started out, I crept toward the trucks, still staying hidden.

I'd be glad to have at least attempted to help, even if I didn't make it in the end.

*Justin's POV*

I pulled against my restraints again, trying even harder than before to free myself from the chair I was in.

"Give it up, those are made of titanium. You're not going to break them," Director X chuckled.

His back was facing me, and he was occupying himself with something on the counter by the far wall.

"What do you want from me?" I seethed.

"Why, I've already explained that to you," he answered.

"I want research, discoveries, new concepts and ideas! I've been managing and working with this facility for ten years. The first few years were successful and plentiful with odd creatures and mysteries. I got my spotlight, prizes, and fame. It was perfect. It never lasted long though. Things got better, and there were no more oddities or unordinary happenings. My team and I, we spent years looking for something, but we didn't find anything paranormal. All that pointless effort. All those years of tireless searching, just to end up getting nothing. And then, you. You're my chance for a breakthrough. The one shot I have at recognition."

"By hurting me?" I retorted.

"You're going to harm me just because you want your old lifestyle back?"

The director's shoulders went stiff.

He turned around sharply and paced over to me.

"What I want is more than reasonable," he practically hissed at me.

"I won't allow my hard work to go to waste anymore. I want validation for what I do. And besides, research doesn't hurt."

He pulled out a sharp tool from behind his back and flicked it.

It was similar to the one the man in the white coat had used earlier.

Except this one was much larger.

"Well actually, maybe it does," he chuckled.

He plunged the tool into my arm, and my eyelids drooped.

A few seconds later, they were altogether too heavy to lift and I fell asleep.
-
BEEEEEEP!

An extremely loud blaring noise snapped me out of unconsciousness.

What happened while I wasn't awake?

I glanced down to see if my bonds had been lifted.

They weren't, but I was no longer in a chair.

I was lying on a metal table-like structure.

My limbs were secured to it.

Straight ahead of me, there was something that I assumed to be a doorway.

It was pitch black, and reminded me of an abyss.

I could see in the dark of course, but this felt oddly different than keeping my house dark on purpose.

The room around me was small and dark.

A single red light shone from behind me.

It blinked on and off in an unsettling manner.

On, off.

On, off.

Whenever it would flash on, it cast an eerie glow on the glass walls that I could see around me, and the floor appeared to be solid metal.

What type of room is this?

Thick black and yellow tape lined the lower part of the glass walls, closest to the floor.

Outside of the glass was completely dark, which offsetted me just as much as the red light in the room.

Not necessarily because it was dark, but because it seemed like I was alone.

I stared at the glass, trying to spot any people behind it.

Nobody was there.

The red light blinked on again and Director X stood there watching me, as if he had been there the whole time.

My heartbeat sped up at the shock of his appearance.

He pressed something that I couldn't see from where I was, and his voice began to surround me.

"This is the first test," he explained.

"You are currently in the gas chamber. I will press buttons on my monitor, and controlled amounts of different gases are going to fill the chamber. This test is to study and understand how many gases you can breathe."

I struggled against the restrains keeping me on the table-like structure, but did not manage to break them.

The table began to move into a vertical position.

I watched the director press something on his monitor.

Then slowly but surely, a different presence filled the chamber.

It wasn't air.

The foreign gas caused my eyes to sting.

It filled my lungs, and suddenly, I could no longer breathe.

I began to choke, gasping for a chance at breath.

All while the director watched me, a wicked smirk settling comfortably onto his face.

That's the end of Part 22 :)
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