Infectious

The castle

I blink away my fuzzy eyesight and the dawn-filtered light comes into focus, igniting the strange room. The crumbling stone walls perfectly match the aged cobblestone floor and raspberry coloured drapes hang from tall windows that drink in the light. Ancient, unused merchandise is scattered across the room and there's an eerie quiet hanging in the air. I rise from my seat and stretch my aching back that has been resting in a ridged, wooden chair which creaks beneath my weight. My feet lightly patter against the floor as I advance, eyes darting around the room. A door, in the corner. I speed up my pace and sprint towards the door. I smack into something and go flying backwards, almost as though I've set off a bomb. Streams of electricity soar from the area my body came in contact with. Octagonal pieces of glass glow and fade. There's suddenly nothing and the room goes back to normal. What the hell was that? I attempt getting up and a searing pain spreads through my ribcage like wildfire. I grit my teeth and salty tears roll down my cheeks. The sensation of beady eyes boarding into my back is present and I fight the urge to scream in frustration. Dragging my body, I make my way over to a heavy looking crate. Grunting, I get onto my feet and pick up the crate, launching it at the invisible wall. It goes through and the eight sided pieces of glass shower down. I limp towards the opening and emerge through to a large glass paned room, but wasn't I just in the other... . A dozen or so scientists mill about the room, taking notes and tapping computer keys. One man, tall and a little bit buff, travels up to me.

"You have the fastest escape time," he mutters to himself.

"Excuse me?" I ask. He looks up at me with popping brown and green eyes. They put me at ease until he begins to speak.

"You'll be a great asset for our army," he marks that down on the paper.

"Pardon me, I'm leaving this nuthouse as quickly as I can," I inform him.

"Really?" he asks with a strange glint in his eye. Um, don't freaking tell me what I'm gonna do, Chico! A hand is placed on my shoulder, I grasp it and twist the persons arm until they're in a compromising position. I whip out the boys gun and aim it at his head. Everyone turns to look at me. Some panic, others are attentive to how the scene will unfold. I spy the muscular scientist reaching for a hidden button that can only be discovered if looked at precisely.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you", I warn him. His eyes go wide.

"Brains, beauty, and agility, very nice," he compliments me.

"Are you seriously flirting with me?" I ask in a baffled tone. He shrugs a little.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to mention, I only flirt with attractive people," I tell him arrogantly. His smile only grows.

"Leave us," he orders and everyone exits the room, eyes on the ground.

"Except for you," he points at a girl no older than fourteen with a blank expression.

"Draw up the files," he orders. My hostage quivers in my grasp.

"Don't move," I mutter into his ear. He's paralyzed. A large three dimensional hologram of the building pops up and you can see each and every life form on the 60 floors of this gigantic castle. I peek out the window and see hills of blinding white snow and tall, dark green pines as far as the eye can see.

"We're more numerous than you," he threatens.

"That's what you think," I expertly lie, "we have millions of people back at our base, what do you think will happen if we don't show up in a few days or if we don't contact them. They'll come for us," I inform him.

"But we have army's of thirty-" he begins to protest.

"And for every thirty we'll have forty," I cut him off. I shoot him a challenging glare and he buys my fib.