Midnight

Emotional

*Justin's POV*

Sweat dripped uncomfortably down my neck to my back, making my shirt damp.

Heavy perspiration rested on my forehead and my chest.

My muscles ached, a new sort of pain that I had never experienced until now.

I had been running for another forty five minutes at a top speed of three hundred twenty miles per hour.

The speed itself was new to me, because I'm sure that I have never run that fast in my entire life.

I presently continued to sprint on the treadmill, though my body begged me to stop and rest.

No matter how much I want to stop, I can't, because I'm threatened with more pain from a shocker collar around my neck.

As I sprinted, I felt the speed gradually becoming slower.

Five minutes later, the treadmill was completely at rest.

And now I can be too.

My legs collapsed, worn completely out.

I couldn't properly lay down because my wrists were cuffed to the machine, so the best I could do was kneel.

The director's voice sounded throughout the room.

"You have completed your second test. Now we will move on to your third," hr stated.

Two scientists entered the chamber, and one hid their right hand behind their back.

They were hiding a needle, but I didn't figure that out until it was too late.

The other scientist held me down, while the one with the needle injected me with it.

I tried to fight them, but my wrists were cuffed to the treadmill, and my eyelids became abnormally heavy for the third time.

Whatever was in that needle was for the sole purpose of making me unconscious.

After making my final attempts at fighting, I lost consciousness fully.
-
I opened my eyes, and again, I was in a new location.

There were no fancy machines around me, no needles, or any scientists - it was just a dark room.

My wrists were cuffed down to the chair I sat in, and so were my legs.

Director X walked up from behind me, beginning to speak.

"Before I commence the third experiment, some pertinent information has been brought to my attention," he started to explain.

"I'm sure you would love to hear what it is that I know."

"What game are you playing, Director?" I shouted.

"Is it true that you have a friend who knows what you are?" he questioned, but the way he asked me informed me that he already knew the answer to his inquiry.

He began to circle my chair, which made me feel uneasy.

"Now, what would happen if she were to - I don't know - wonder, perhaps, onto governmental property, and we apprehended her?"

What he was really trying to say struck me.

He has Erin.

"Release her, you f*cking jerk!" I yelled.

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves now," he chuckled, stopping in front of me again.

"I have a deal to make with you, Justin."

"Forget it, any offer you make to me is a dangerous one, I refuse to help you," I stated firmly.

"Oh, I figured you say that," he answered.

"But you see, there's a slight problem. This isn't something that you can reject, not if you want to help your friend out."

After hearing that, I knew that this was no longer just a game for the director.

He was bent on keeping me imprisoned here, even if he had to capture and threaten to harm the one person I loved.

"Here's what you'll do if you want Erin to keep her life and regain freedom," the director imposed.

"I have an untested drug that was made by the scientists here years ago. I've wanted to test it on a subject for years, but the scientists who developed it told me that it was too dangerous. I trusted their word, and it has remained unused since. You, are going to test that drug for me."

"If I allow you to test that drug on me, you'll free Erin permanently?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied.

"But, there is a small catch. I can't release you after I drug you, because I don't know what the drug will do to you. So you'll have to stay here, in quarantine."

That detail didn't bother me as much, even though it meant that my own freedom was the cost for Erin's.

"Do you swear not to harm her, no matter what happens to me after I've been tested on?" I continued, just to make sure that he would be honest.

"Cross my heart, and hope to die," He answered.

Without further consideration, I accepted the offer, because if I could liberate Erin from this place, then there would be no reason for me not to do it.

"I'll do it," I confirmed.

"Wonderful," he smirked.

The fear I now felt in the pit of my stomach was greater than ever before at this very moment.
-
*Erin's POV*

The director himself came to where I was held captive.

He told me that he had Justin, and that I could go home without penalty if I listened to everything he said.

Of course I agreed, as long as I had the opportunity to see Justin.

But when he said that I would get to see him, I didn't expect him to be in a cage.

Or in a testing chamber.

"Why is he in a cage?" I asked.

The director didn't reply right away, and when he did, what he said wasn't an answer to my question.

"You may go over and speak to him," he said.

I ran to Justin, and he seemed excited to meet me but looked especially weak.

"What happened to you Justin?" I asked, worried for him.

He shook his head.

"That's not important, what matters is that you're here with me, and that you'll get home safely," he said softly.

He said 'you'll get home safely' as if he wouldn't be with me when I left this place.

"What do you mean? Won't you come with me?" I inquired.

Justin merely reached through the bars and grabbed my hands.

"If I could kiss you through this prison, I would," he smiled sadly.

Why was he being so vague?

"Justin, what-" I began to ask, but he passed out in front of me.

I gasped and tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't move.

Two scientists dragged me away from him, and Director X entered the chamber.

I was utterly confused, but no explanation was given to me, and I was shoved out of the chamber.

I didn't know what was going on, but I couldn't shake the dark and immense feeling that I had.

The one telling me that Justin was not going to be okay.

That's the end of Part 25 :)
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