Memory

Chapter Twenty-Seven- Trystan

I hate Dr. Grigory.

If he hadn’t come up to me with that stupid paralysis liquid, I probably could have made a run for it. I tried a few minutes ago; but it was in vain.

I let my body relax as the poison runs its course through my veins, feeling each limb lose feeling by the minute. The only things I feel like I can move are my eyes, mouth, and head.

Letting my gaze travel across the room, I see the towering General walking towards me, but looking in front of me. I look there as well, and a holographic-looking image of someone comes into view. The holograph is just like the one on some show I remember seeing. Probably the old Star Wars.

But it is not the counter that catches my attention. It’s the blue holographic 3D form of Forrester. His arms drops to his sides in shock as he meets my eyes. Another figure walks up to his left side, and his features slowly load onto the holographic interface.

My eyes travel over his handsome face, taking in the golden-brown unkempt hair, the strong square jawline. The soft green irises, the bold, blonde eyebrows. I call out the name I hadn’t spoken in a while; it feels like years.

“Dimitri!”

His Adams apple bobs up and down as he swallows back something, blinking rapidly. He takes a step forward, then stops, as if he believed as if he can step through the holograph and physically. “You’re alive…” he manages to say after a moment of taking in the sight of me.

The General suddenly interrupts our quietly shared moment. He points to Dr. Grigory. “Put the mouth guard on her.”

The doctor takes something off from the table to my right, and he opens my mouth, putting something plastic and flexible into it. Once fitting it correctly, he closes my mouth. I find that the guard in my mouth corresponds to the form of my teeth, mainly supporting my back molars.

“What are you doing?” Forrester presses, his words echoed due to the large expanse of the stone-walled chamber. It sounds as if he was actually in the room. I wish he was. Funny how I don’t feel as if he’s actually family. It might be better if it stays like that.

“Going to get information out from you.” With a nod to a red-headed woman in a lab coat, he steps aside so Forrester and Dimitri have more view of me. My eyes flick back and front from the lady and the counter she stands in front of. Her head moves forward a few times, as if counting down. Then, she pulls down a red colored switch.

My skin suddenly feels numb. I jerk violently as a thousand volts penetrate my body, as if I had been struck by lightning full-on. My nerves are set on fire, tiny electric forces traveling through my chest and head. After a couple of seconds, my vision is uncomfortably sharp and too focused, my heart racing abnormally in my chest. I take breaths merely separated by milliseconds, my limbs occasionally jerking still with some electricity. Now I see the purpose of the plastic mouth guard. I would have bitten my tongue straight through.

My sight blurs as Dr. Grigory comes up to me. He opens my mouth to retrieve the mouth guard, his fingers sending sharp shivers through my skin, like a million stinging nettles prickling me from the inside out. I struggle to even form the words, “I...hate...you. All of...you.”

From the blurry vision of my sight, I can see Dimitri’s horrified expression, accompanied with Forrester’s quick rage.

“You dare touch her again, you’ll all die!”

The General Enforcer chuckles, shaking his head. “Not until you give me some information. Until that happens…” he trails off, nodding to the woman again. I feel my head loll back as it feels incredibly light and hollow. But I am not allowed time to relax.

Because another set of electrifying volts are sent through my body, this time much stronger. Stronger to the point that I almost lose some of my sense. My sight doubles in front of me, my heart barely having a beat; it is just a painful thrashing in my ribcage. I barely feel anything now, only that my body jerks and twists with sporadic convulsions. My chest heaves with the effort to cough, and when I attempt to, my lungs begin to grow a burning sensation; I feel something warm trickle from the corner of my mouth, and it takes me a few minutes to realize that it is my own blood.

“Please, stop!” comes Dimitri’s plea. His suddenly pitiful voice brings me to some of reality, and my head slowly snaps back into place. I try to set my unfocused gaze on him, but just the effort to keep my head up is pounding my head like sledgehammers. I set my head back on the top of the chair.

But I hear the plea in his voice loud and clear.

“Fine!” Forrester is saying now. “I’ll tell you something. Only if you promise to let her go!”

The General is silent for a second, then turns to the red-head, nodding sharply, as if the gesture is final. My eyes begin to close, but I can smell Dr. Grigory’s sharp cologne as he inserts a fresh mouth guard into my mouth. Feeling him backing away, I attempt to open my eyes just as the red-head turns to the table with buttons. She pulls down one, and my body thrashes once more with convulsions, my head stretching upwards as I try to scream out the pain. But something clogs in my throat, and the sound is caught in my mouth.

After my body calms down, I literally feel the electricity still coursing through me, rendering me extremely to any movement I attempt to make. My entire body is limp and numb. I can’t feel nothing else except the volts in my body, my quickened breaths expanding my lungs, and the racing pulse of my heart. All noise dims down to murmurs.

The room is suddenly a blur of movement. I hear muffled furious shouts in the background, probably by the holographic images behind Dimitri and Forrester. A blurry figure walks in front of me and unbinds my straps. They hook their hands underneath my arms and heave me up to a standing position. Since my body still is not cooperating, this unknown person has to wrap an arm under my thighs and lift me up to carry me, my shoulders supported by their other arm.

I hear Dimitri’s voice above them all, and it takes me almost all of my strength to tilt my head to the side to catch a quick look of the hologram.

I am able to see a glimpse of Dimitri’s face just before it fades away, and I hear the last words he speaks before silence follows.

“I’m coming for you!”

The world goes black before me again, but I’m quite used to this.

Oh, Dimitri. Please hurry. I don’t think I can keep this up any longer.