I always thought I had a wild appearance. Such thoughts were enhanced particularly when I was younger, stood next to my sister, Isabelle, who was always so well-kept and pretty. My eyes, a pale grey, as though all colour had been drained from them paired with my sharp nose always made me look cold, calculating, and untamed. Which I suppose I am, always have been. Contrast to Isabelle, whose curls were often contained within one or more neat braids, my hair has always had a mind of its own. Red. Unruly curls that always seem to have knots to be yanked out.
Sighing, I give up on my tangles, my eyes moving to the parts of me that now make my wildness even more distinct. My scars. I am riddled with them. There is the one at the back of my neck, the marred Red Leaf symbol burned into my skin by Hatchman. Whip wounds, also caused by Hatchman, one from my front licks higher than the rest, peeking out of my shirt, over my collarbone and almost around the side of my neck. The rest, the ones on my back and front are hidden beneath my clothing. I am going to acquire more scars yet. The wound across my throat, the one that should have killed me, will eventually become a disturbing scar. Then, there is the tracker. It is a small black ball embedded in my flesh, painful to touch, and with eight small spindles stretching out in all directions, clinging on to me. Like a spider.
At long last, I tear my eyes from my reflection in the mirror of the bathroom and trudge back into the bedroom. I have been assigned a new room since I escaped my previous one. I sink into the thin mattress and my hands want nothing more than to hold the handles of my sword or my dagger. But they were both taken from me when I was sedated the other day. At least I have been given new clothes. I peel off the scratchy grey short-sleeve and pull on the softer long-sleeved top before slipping into the bed.
I close my eyes and suddenly all I can see are Ruben's green eyes. Where is he now? Are they plotting another way to get me out of the Red Movement? For his sake, I hope he doesn't come for me. I will only bring him more pain. Although the other part of me, the selfish part of me aches for him. But he is gold. He is the sun, warm, inviting and all-encompassing. And I am a wildfire, raging, unpredictable, chaotic. I do not want to burn him. The only thing that keeps me determined to find him is the thought of never being able to see his green eyes again. What if I forget the sound of his voice? Or the way his lips pressed against mine?
---
The water ripples at my feet. My reflection refracts off the surface, bouncing with the current. My hair is too red for the cool colours of the river. From the other side of the River, he calls my name.
"Elle." He beckons me to join him, smiling.
Without hesitation, I yank the boots from my feet and dive into the river. My chest seizes as the icy temperature at once bores into my skin. I want to gasp. I want to rise to the surface. But I don't. The current is too strong and it effortlessly begins to drag me downstream. The water roars in my ears. My body tumbles with the violent speed of the current. I do not know where I am, who I am, only that I am at the mercy of the River. I am a part of it. Then all at once, the current slows and I seem to become suspended in the water.
That's when Ruben plunges into the River with me. Bubbles cascade up to the surface, but he remains under. His eyes open, piercing green.
Perhaps I am drowning. Perhaps I am dying. But it's okay. His eyes are the colour of the sea and his soul is as vast, deep, and wild as the ocean itself. And I know have been drowning for a lot longer than this.
Then all at once, the water surges beneath me, pushing me towards the surface with such force that I burst out of the River and am jerked to consciousness.
"Good morning, Elizabeth," Edward says.
Groaning loudly, I ease my eyes open and push myself up. "God, Edward, would it kill you to leave me alone in the mornings for once?"
"Time to get up, Elizabeth. Breakfast is ready." He ignores my comment, waving his hand in a flourish.
"Could you at least get the hell out of my room so I can change in privacy?" I snap, tossing the blankets off my body and jumping to my feet.
His jaw clenches but he nods, silently stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him. "I will be waiting for you out here. Be quick."
Not bothering to respond, I change into the short-sleeved shirt and trudge into the bathroom. I splash cold water on my face and then purposefully take my time in braiding my hair down my back. I pull my boots on and open the door. Edward is red-faced, hands balled at his side. He glances at his watch and shoots me a glare before turning and marching down the hallway. Biting back a smirk, I follow.
"Elle, it's so good to finally see you again," Arden says as I sink into the seat opposite her, placing my tray down at the table in the cafeteria.
I smile. "It's good to see you again too, Arden." Although I wish it didn't have to be here.
"Where have you been?" she asks, pushing her curls out of her face, peering at me curiously.
I press my lips together. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, I wouldn't want to get you in trouble."
She nods, seeming to understand. "They are beginning a new round of tests today."
"What do you mean?" I stab a mushroom on my plate and place it in my mouth.
"They are determined to find a cure for the Drown, you know, so they are trying new tests every so often. Today, they are starting one."
I stop chewing. "Do you know what the test involves?"
Arden shakes her head. "They have not disclosed any sort of information about it yet. I suppose we will just have to wait."
"I suppose," I say. The prospect of having to wait in suspense for who knows how long until I find out what the test involves sends my heart rate soaring.
The rest of the day passes at an agonising pace. After breakfast, I am sent back to my room where all I can do is lay on the thin bed and dwell on the possibilities that await me. The sunlight strains into the room and my only way of telling the time is watching the light wane across the walls. When there is all but a sliver left on the opposite wall, the door clicks open. Edward's scar stretches as he smiles.
"Surely you have servants who could collect me, Edward," I say, cutting in before he has the chance to speak himself. "Surely you do not need to get me yourself every time."
His brows furrow together and his scar stretches in a different way. "I would do that. However, unfortunately, Elizabeth, you have proven to be untrustworthy. Therefore, I must see to you myself."
My lips pull into a smirk. He cannot trust any of his workers to fetch me because he feels that I would easily escape them. He is not wrong.
"What do you want from me now?" I don't bother to hide my exasperated whine.
"It is time to begin testing. Follow me." With a swish of his hand, Edward spins around and marches down the hallway. Reluctantly, I hop off the bed and follow him, anxious to see what awaits me. Edward leads me down C Hall and through the candidate halls corridor. We turn and pass through the busy main alleyway of the entire building, heading in the direction of Edward's headquarters. Just before we approach Hatchman's headquarters, we turn to a door to the right.
'Candidate Testing' it reads.
Without pause, Edward pushes the door open and marches across the threshold. I hesitate, drawing in a deep breath and gathering my wits before stepping after him. There is only one other person in the large white washed room. Doctor Hatchman looks up from the desk to the right of the room.
"Elizabeth, my favourite candidate, welcome." He flashes me his trademark grin as he stands.
Not bothering to offer him a response, I simply glance around the room, taking in my surroundings. On the opposite side of the room, jutting out from the wall is a long bench. The head of the bench is topped with a large round machine with an opening in the centre. The sight only increases my unease.
Hatchman strides to a tall narrow cupboard in the wall behind the desk and pulls out a blue gown. He gestures to a changing room that is only curtains. Taking the gown from his hands, I slip behind the curtains. Despite the curtains, I feel very exposed as I peel off my grey short-sleeve and track pants and pull the gown over my head, letting it fall over my figure. Yanking the curtains away, I march back into the room and look at both Edward and Hatchman expectantly.
"Right." Hatchman claps his hands together. "Let's get started. Elizabeth, please sit on the bench."
Swallowing away the lump in my throat, I do as he says.
For several moments, Hatchman busies himself back at his desk, punching something into his computer.
"What are you doing?" I speak at last.
Hatchman looks up. "I'm just entering your details into our data. Your name, origin, your status as an immune. We will finish this by taking a blood sample and then doing the first head scan."
"What do you need those for?" I ask, absentmindedly gripping the edge of the bench.
"We need to see what your blood and brain is like before we expose you to the Drown virus," Hatchman explains.
"But aren't I immune?" I give him a strange look. "Won't the virus not affect me?"
"We will still be able to see how your body reacts when exposed to the virus. Thus, compared to other kinds of people will help us to better understand a Red Leaf and what it means to be one of you."
"Wait, what do you mean compared to other kinds of people?"
"We will compare how you, as a Red Leaf, react with how those who have had the vaccine and those who have not."
"Holy shit," I gasp. "You purposefully expose those whose bodies cannot defend themselves against the virus?" My voice rises in anger until it is fairly echoing off the walls.
"Now, Elizabeth," Edward steps forward. "No need to be cantankerous."
"Excuse me?"
"Let's just get on with it, Elizabeth," Hatchman snaps. He strides over to my side and pulls over a portable table which is topped with a variety of specialised equipment. "Edward, will you take her blood please?"
Edward nods and steps over. He plucks a few pieces from the table and pulls a wheeled chair over, sitting on it. He glances up at me and I feel the wind escape my lungs. His green eyes remind me of Ruben. The first time I met him was when he was Hatchman's assistant and he was coming to take my blood. I bite the inside of my cheek hard, willing away tears as the agony of Ruben's absence overwhelms me.
Remarkably, Edward's brows pull together in concerned confusion. "Are you okay, Elizabeth?"
Blowing out my cheeks, I glare at him. "As if you would care, Mallory."
He rolls his eyes and raises the top half of the bench. "Lay back please."
I obediently allow Edward to take a sample of my blood from my forearm. He takes the vial of blood and begins placing it into a small machine. Meanwhile, Hatchman rises from his seat at the desk and comes back over. He lowers the top half of the bench so that I am lying parallel to the floor. He presses a button on the wall and the round machine at my head whirs, gradually moving out from the wall, the circle opening starts engulfing my head. At once, panic tears up my throat and I make to leap up from the bench. But Hatchman must have foreseen this as he grabs my arms and presses me down.
"We only want to get a brain scan, Elizabeth. All you must do is lay very, very still."
My blood pumps loudly past my ears as I lay back down and clench my fists at my side. I focus on steadying my breathing as the machine continues to engulf my head, stopping when it reaches my collarbones. The whirring sound intensifies. There are multiple flashes as the machine scans my brain. It is a wonder I stay still with the rage at what this organisation are doing. At last, the machine recedes back into the wall and Hatchman raises the bench. He walks back to the cupboard behind his desk and pulls out another outfit.
"While those images process, put this on in preparation for the second part of the test."
Snatching the outfit from his grasp, I silently pad over to the changing room and yank the curtains closed behind me. In the changing room, I realise that the outfit Hatchman gave me is a full-body swimsuit. Confused, I change anyway.
When I step out of the changing room, the skin-tight swimsuit makes me feel even more exposed as it hugs my curves. I cross my arms over my chest and stare at the pair of them expectantly again.
"Right, Elizabeth, follow me," Hatchman says. He leads me to a door on the left side of the room and we cross the threshold. In this room is a small, round pool. On the other side are a ladder and a platform that juts out into the middle of the pool.
"As you know, the virus transmits from person to person through a liquid. In the Floodgates, the River was contaminated which was why it was forbidden for anyone to swim in it. Of course, you were the first to challenge that, Elizabeth." Hatchman gives me a pointed look. "We are going to expose your body to the virus and monitor the way that you respond to it and fight it off."
"So, you're going to make me swim in that pool there?" I ask, arms still crossed over my chest.
"Yes," he says. "The water in this pool is also contaminated with the Drown virus and we will have you submerged beneath the surface for ten seconds. This gives enough time for the virus to enter your body by orifices so it can enter your bloodstream."
"I suppose you want me to climb that ladder there and jump in the water," I say, more of a statement than a question.
"Yes."
"What's with the little diving board anyway? Why couldn't I just jump off the side?" I ask.
"It's for dramatics," Hatchman replies.
Had he been anyone else, I would have laughed. Instead, rolling my eyes, I march up to the ladder of the platform and hoist myself up.
"Now, just walk to the edge and step off," Hatchman says from the other side of the pool. "You don't have to remain submerged for long."
Drawing in a breath, hands clenched, I inch forward. I place my toes on the edge of the platform and peer down at the rippling water below, swallowing hard. I glance up at Hatchman who watches me expectantly.
"Come on, Elizabeth," he snaps, blowing out his cheeks in frustration. "I don't have all night."
Biting my lip to prevent the burning rage from exploding out of me, I give him my middle finger. Then I close my eyes. I know that Hatchman's face will be reddening and I fight back a smirk. Drawing in a deep breath, I step off the platform and plunge into the water.
****
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you are enjoying Beyond the Walls so far :) Feel free to let me know what you think.
~ Emma