After closing the door to my tiny bedroom, I sat on my bed and let the tears flow. There was nothing else I could do except sit and cry while taking in the immense weight of stress that was coursing through me.
How long was I going to be trapped here? Hayward mentioned that we were going to be trained to become soldiers, but was it necessary to unlawfully experiment on newborns? Did this man have no morals? That was obvious.
I never imagined myself joining the military. Focusing on my schoolwork and keeping my grades up were my top priorities for getting into the university I dreamed of since I was a child. So far, I've been doing an excellent job of that. Was this going to ruin my chances? No, I doubt that. Once people realized I'd gone missing, they're sure to make an exception for me, right? My teachers are all pretty understanding. They're not going to dock my grades for something like this.
I thought about my mother and how much I regretted not hugging her before Emily and I left. Surely she knows by now that her son could be in danger, so she had to have called the police station by now and filed a missing person report. Once they realize that multiple other people are missing, they should figure out there's a more significant situation.
Was it pointless to hope that we'd be found? The Supreme Leader is the person keeping us hostage, and I don't think they can search his home without his permission. I figured he was above the law if he managed to get away with what he'd already done.
As much as I wanted to hope, the more I thought about it, I was better off picking my chin up and focusing on surviving the inevitable. If I kept relying on something that might never happen, I'd be blindsided and end up dead. I don't think Hayward wanted to kill me, but he didn't show any restraint after the incident earlier with the girl with fire. If I didn't cooperate, it could mean my life.
I needed to look out for Emily as well. If something happened to me, she'd be left alone. I couldn't let that happen. We already lost Xavian...
The tears fell harder onto my bed sheets. Xavian...oh my God. I couldn't fathom what his precious mother was going through. Two long days had already passed, and I doubted the situation was any better. Did she or anyone else even know he was dead, or was his death covered up similar to our abduction? Do they think he was part of the abduction?
What did they do with his body? My eyes widened at the thought. My mind raced with the possibilities. How did they dispose of his body? Did they bag him up and bury him? Did they burn his corpse somewhere? If so, what did they do with the ashes?
The sadness rapidly turned into anger. I stood up and made a scooping motion with my hand in an attempt to break the door down with my ability, mostly out of anger rather than trying to escape, but a harsh voltage of electricity scorched my body, bringing me to my hands and knees, screaming in pain until it relented.
A few seconds passed, and the intercom buzzed to life. "There's no point in using your power, Alpha. The cell senses any abnormalities and automatically sends a shock through your body. We've been over this."
"I have a name," I responded, gritting my teeth. Sweat was dripping down my forehead, mixing with the tears streaming from my eyes. "I'm not your Alpha, you narcissistic son of a bitch! I am my own person!"
Hayward laughed through the intercom. "Don't worry. Tomorrow, all of the anger will be released through our physical and power training. Get some rest. You have a big day coming up."
The intercom clicked, signaling that he cut the microphone. I staggered to my feet and sat at the foot of the bed. Holding the sides of my head, it was difficult to fathom the situation I was rashly thrown into. How was I going to get through this? How could any of us survive without going insane? What would happen if we weren't good enough for the Supreme Leader and his crew?
Shaking my head, I furrowed my eyebrows. If there was a diminutive chance of us making it out of here alive, someone needed to step up and lead these people before it was too late. Was I capable of something like that? There was no way. I'd spent all my life intentionally not trying to make more friends, not playing sports, or joining clubs. Leading people wasn't something I could do.
I didn't want to give myself up to Hayward and whatever he planned to do with us, but what other choice did I have? I couldn't leave my room, and whenever I was out, eyes were going to be watching me at all times. Escape wasn't an option, at least not without Emily. There was no way I'd leave her behind.
The best thing to do was to survive a few days of Hayward's training and go from there. My mind wanted to continue freaking out, but a different part of me was telling me that I needed to calm down and figure out a solution. The future was the most uncertain it's ever been, so I needed to figure out how to deal with the present. That started with trying to get some decent rest. I needed to be at my peak performance if I were to get through tomorrow.
After changing into my given pajamas, which were only a tank top and shorts, I crawled into bed. Despite the circumstances, it was surprisingly comfortable. I closed my eyes and pulled the covers over my body, giving me some comfort and security.
I hated being forcefully separated from her while I thought about when Emily and I slept over the phone a few nights ago. It had been a long time since I slept so peacefully despite the nightmare. More than anything, I wanted to reach out to her to make sure she was doing okay.
I'm sure she felt like everything was her fault. It was her idea to come to Fera and break into a government building, but nobody could've predicted this outcome. Whenever we got a chance to talk, I needed to give her that reassurance. It's not like I could grab my phone and shoot her a text or call.
That made me wonder what Hayward did with everyone's personal belongings. The only important things I brought were my phone and my wallet, which had a little over a hundred in it. Did he destroy them?
A knock suddenly came at my door before something slid under it. Curious, I leaned forward to see a piece of paper. What was it?
I got out of bed and picked up the paper. It was a schedule of what we would be doing every day of the week. Roll call was at seven-thirty, breakfast was at eight, strength and physical training was at nine, ten forty-five was chores, and noon was lunch.
The next activity made my eyes widen. From one fifteen to five in the evening was power training. What did that mean? Was Hayward going to use that time to harness our abilities, or was it there to push us to our physical limits?
I guessed that he'd work with our powers. Physical training was in the mornings, so working with our abilities had to be what was planned. For almost four hours was insane to me, though. Would we get a break during that time, or would he push us that hard? Nervousness grew as I thought about the potential scenarios. What if I wasn't good enough for Hayward? What would happen if I failed to meet expectations?
Hayward told me he wasn't afraid to replace me with someone "more suitable," according to him. What would happen if I wasn't suitable? Would I be demoted from Alpha, or would something worse happen?
He wasn't afraid to pull the trigger with Xavian, so would he do the same with me? Xavian didn't have powers, so it was easier to...get rid of him, for lack of better words. Would that be the case with me if I'm incapable of this?
Sighing, I returned to the schedule. After power training at five was shower time from five-thirty to six. My room had no bathroom, so how would I go?
My eyes drifted to a small button beside my bed. It had the shape of a soldier on it with a tiny sign that read "Push for assistance." I wanted to press it, but the possible outcomes scared me. I decided to wait until I truly had to go.
At six-thirty to seven-thirty was dinner. It reassured me that we had three meals a day, but the food quality was still a question running through my mind. What would be served?
Afterward was an hour of free time from seven-thirty to eight-thirty. Would this mean that I'd be able to be with Emily? I desperately wanted to be with her. If this is the case, I'd make the most out of every minute given to us. What would we be able to do? I wasn't sure of our options, so I assumed that information would be given to us tomorrow.
Lights out was at nine. That was way earlier than my normal bedtime, so it'd take some adapting to get used to this schedule.
I sighed and set the schedule on a shelf in the small closet. Climbing back into bed, I didn't realize how tired I was when I rested my head on the pillow. I let my mind race, thinking about my mom, Xavian, Emily, and school. Would this tarnish my chances of getting into the university I wanted to study at?
There was no point in stressing over it when I had to deal with what was present. I couldn't let this overwhelm me, or I might not live to see my mother again. Survival was now a necessity if I wanted to get through this because I had a strong feeling that Hayward wasn't afraid to kill me like he wasn't afraid to kill Xavian.
Tears formed in my eyes again. I remembered leaving with Emily to drive to Fera. I wish I had hugged my mother before I left. Shit, I didn't even tell her that I loved her. How terrible of a son was I? I always told her that I loved her before leaving for school or any events I had.
She constantly told me, "You never know what might happen. You could get in a car accident. You never know."
Mom was right. I should've listened to her more. Now, she's probably losing sleep looking for me, worried about me, wondering what happened to me and Emily. She's the kind of mom who'd call the police station every five minutes demanding an update on their search for me.
I smiled, knowing someone was looking for me and everyone here. I'm sure they've connected the dots on those who have gone missing and initiated a hunt for us. It was only a matter of time before they pieced the clues together and tracked us down. I just needed to survive until then and keep Emily safe.
Similar thoughts plagued me until I felt my eyelids become heavy. Sleep was beginning to take over, and I knew I needed rest for an unpredictable day, despite receiving the schedule. I took a deep breath and slowly let sleep take over.
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A dream came to me that night. I was back in the same cell from my previous lucid dream a few nights ago. I sat up in the bed and looked around.
The void wasn't here this time, but the darkness continued to bear down on me. I carefully stood up and walked to the cell door. The silver object present last time wasn't to be seen, so I wondered how far the lucidity would take me. Reaching the door, I hesitantly touched the door, remembering the power of the shock I received from the door in my room. However, nothing happened. I pushed on the cell door and it opened without resistance.
The door creaked loudly as I stepped through it. Looking left and right, the darkness consumed anything in front of me. I wasn't sure which way to go, so I went with my gut and turned right. Wandering in the dark proved to be challenging. There was no telling what could be around the corner.
More prison-like cells were covering both sides of the hallway. I tried peeking inside the one to my right, but it was far too dark to see if anything was inside. I kept walking down the hallway before I came to a T-shaped intersection. Once again, I didn't know where to go. I turned left only to approach a small staircase that led to a metal door. Turning the knob, it opened to a large, pitch-black room.
The internal fear of something jumping out at me was strong. I kept wandering in the dark until my leg bumped into something solid, making me gasp and recoil in fear. A table about the same size as the two in the cafeteria was in front of me. Was I in some twisted form of the cafeteria in...wherever I was? If so, what were all the cells? Were they a version of the bedrooms?
A feeling of dread washed over me. Whispering could be heard in the background, and I was too scared to move forward. I could make out a few sentences.
"He's a coward."
"He's not strong enough."
"He doesn't deserve to be Alpha."
"He's going to fail."
Were they talking about me? If so, I never asked to be Alpha. I never asked for any of this. Why were they talking so negatively about me?
I frowned. "Who's there?"
Laughter echoed from the darkness, and it sounded like the voices were surrounding me. I looked around to see if anyone was around, but it was too dark to make anything out.
I walked forward until I found another hallway, and the laughter faded. What was going on? Why was I here?
Keeping my hands forward, I discovered another door. Opening it, I couldn't see anything, but the room felt massive. The sudden quietness made my ears ring. I slowly made my way forward until a voice stopped me in my tracks.
"Why did you leave, Elijah?"
It was my mother's voice. I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. Looking everywhere, I was desperate to figure out if it was true.
"Mom?" I called. "Is that you?"
"You left me. Why did you leave me?" she asked in a heartbroken tone.
It hurt my heart to hear her talk like that. I couldn't make out the words I wanted to say. "It wasn't my fault. I-I was taken away."
"You abandoned me."
I'd never heard my mom talk in that tone before. It broke my heart. "I-I'm sorry! Everything happened so fast, Mom! I couldn't do anything to stop it!"
She sobbed so loud that I had to cover my ears. What felt like a giant raindrop crashed in front of me, throwing me on my back. More raindrops fell around me, and I scrambled to my feet and ran to escape the tears.
When you try to run away from something in a dream, you suddenly feel like you're running at a snail's pace. I couldn't move fast enough as one of the huge teardrops crashed on top of me. Losing balance, I suddenly felt like I was falling very slowly.
No, I was drowning. I opened my eyes and quickly realized that I couldn't breathe. Everything looked like an endless body of water. Survival instincts kicked in as I looked up to find the surface, but it was too dark to see.
I swam upward as hard and fast as I could, desperately trying to find the surface. The air in my lungs was already beginning to run out. My eyes widened. Was I not going to make it? I knew this was just a strange nightmare, but was I going to die? What would happen if I die during a nightmare?
This was it. I ran out of air and was forced to inhale water into my lungs. My body tried to retaliate by coughing the water out of my lungs but only inhaled more. I felt my throat close before I began to feel lightheaded.
I lost consciousness, hopelessly reaching for someone to save me.
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