Chapter Thirty-Five
"I'm just a product of the system, a catastrophe
And yet a masterpiece, and yet I'm half-diseased" –Imagine Dragons
Three students had disappeared from the school in the last few days. The vaccination event had been a disaster. The following day classes continued normally but teachers were distraught. Students were confused and everyone seemed to be in a very irritable mood lately. It was as if people were ticking bombs waiting to explode on anyone. Not everyone had noticed the disappearance of the three students. After all, it was hard to notice something like that in the middle of all the chaos. There were so many students at O.W that it was difficult to know everyone at the school. The only people who would really notice them missing were the ones who had been close to them. That was why Parry, Scar, Enrique, Nathan, Mimi and Jessica had been wondering where Tristan, Ana and Sienna had gone.
They had commented amongst themselves, they'd asked around and Enrique had even paid Ana's dorm a visit only to find it empty. Something was up.
When any of them had asked the teachers about the three students, they had claimed not to know anything. It was very strange. Enrique had even gone to the office to ask the secretary and she had said something stupid about how maybe they had caught the flu that was going around.
Parry hadn't told anyone about the incident he'd had with Tristan at the control room the day of the vaccination. He knew it could be a clue that might help them uncover the mystery that was their disappearance but he couldn't risk all the questions he'd have to answer after revealing what had happened.
In a weird way, Parry had accomplished what he'd desired. He'd gotten rid of Tristan. The only problem was that Sienna was gone too. How Ana had gotten tangled into all of this was a true mystery.
Jessica was happy about things going back to the way they had been before the new kids had showed up. Now she had Parry all to herself without having to worry about competition. Mimi couldn't have cared less about the issue and Nathan was too focused on himself as always. Scar knew something was wrong but she was afraid to pry since she had a feeling Parry had something to do with the situation. Enrique was the only one who was doing some serious investigating. He missed Ana. He hadn't spoken to or seen her in days. She'd missed all her classes, she was absent during every meal and she was never at her dorm.
It was as if Ana had disappeared from the school. How could one go missing in a boarding school? It wasn't like anyone could leave. He'd considered the possibility that maybe she was avoiding him but then again she couldn't just miss all her classes for that reason. Was she okay?
On top of that, he couldn't ask Sienna about it because she was gone too! Apart from him, he knew Ana had been very close to her. If anyone would know, it'd be her. Tristan had gone M.I.A as well and he had a feeling it was all tied together. It couldn't be a coincidence that they'd all gone missing on the same day. He doubted it. He'd also considered the possibility of her going to visit her parents. But if that was the case then why hadn't she waited for the holidays? Or why hadn't she told him? If only he could find a way to contact her and know she was fine, things would be better.
He cared about her a lot. The most frustrating thing was that he seemed to be the only one concerned with the missing students. No one else seemed to notice or care much.
"What do you think they're going to do with us?" Ana asked for the hundredth time. Her head was leaned against the gray wall in a dejected manner. She picked absently mindedly at the lose string from the hole in her ripped jeans.
Tristan ignored her and stared straight ahead with an angry expression. He was tired of hearing her complain and moan about their situation. He believed in more action and fewer words. They couldn't unlock the door with words so what was the use in speaking about it? He was feeling anxious enough without her questions. Not knowing what they were doing to Sienna was killing him. The words of the doctor played on repeat in his head. Patient E 62. That was how he'd referred to Sienna and Mrs. Hale had been ecstatic at the news.
"Take this one to the lab," she'd said. Why did they want her? What was different about Sienna?
As soon as they'd been separated, the guards had brought Tristan and Ana to a locked room where everything was gray and plain. They'd screamed and banged against the door and the guards hadn't even blinked at them, as if they were accustomed to this sort of behavior. After several attempts they'd realized the walls were soundproof and had given up on yelling.
They had to save their energy to plan their escape. Tristan knew they wouldn't leave them there forever. At some point someone would either come to set them free or get rid of them. He couldn't wait that long though. Who knows what they'd do to Sienna in that time. They needed to get out of the jail cell and find Sienna.
He didn't know where the lab was but he knew that's where they had brought her. He imagined they were doing tests on her. He just hoped he reached her before they hurt her.
Tristan had cursed himself a thousand times over the past hour. 'I should have forced her to stay at the hotel', he'd said to himself over and over. If only he'd dragged her out of the car and locked her in the room none of this would be happening right now. She wouldn't be in danger. It was all his fault. If he'd known things would turn out this way he would have gone alone. And if it came down to saving Sienna or the students, he would've ignored Mrs. Hale's threat, he realized with guilt. Sienna's life was more valuable to him than that of hundreds of students. It was a selfish thought but it was the truth.
He would've given up his own life for her.
Now she was trapped in a lab probably scared and putting up with God knew what all because he couldn't say no to her. He promised himself he'd never put her life in danger again if they got out of this alive.
He also promised himself that he'd get her and Ana out of here even if he didn't make it out himself.
"How are we going to get out of here?" Ana's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Do you have a plan?"
"No," Tristan grunted out still not bothering to face her.
"What about your dad? If we find a way to contact him do you think he could get us out of here?" she insisted.
"I locked my father in a bathroom, went against him, took some of his cash and stole his car. I don't think he's very fond of me at the moment." Tristan replied truthfully.
"But surely he wants the medication back. That has to be some motivation to rescue us," she tried.
"He can make more of it if it comes to that. He has the formula and he was the brains behind the operation. It's expensive but it's safer than coming back here to recuperate it," he explained.
"Man, I don't know how Sienna puts up with you," she said out loud.
"Me neither," he muttered quietly.
"You're a real negative nelly and you're probably the worst company ever. You're the most boring jail mate on the planet," she admitted with an eye roll.
"So you've been in jail before?" Tristan asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Well no but I've seen movies. Have you?" Ana asked, her expression changing to a more serious one.
"To juvie," he replied without going into detail. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall, indicating that he was done talking to her. She got the message and left him alone.
It was hard to keep track of time inside the gray room. There were no windows and therefore they couldn't see the sun or moon. The room only had two chairs and no form of entertainment. It was completely bare. Ana prayed they wouldn't be kept here for much longer or she'd start going crazy. She calculated that they'd been in there at least three hours before the small glass slot in the door slide open.
A guard stared down at them and waited until he had their attention.
"Food's on the way. Do you want caviar or fillet mignon?" the guard said sarcastically. Tristan heard the faint sound of another guard's laughter drift in through the small open slot. Tristan ignored him and continued to stare straight at the wall as if he'd never spoken.
"Wow, Frank, they're not only crazy but deaf too," he chuckled to the other guard. That did it. Ana quickly removed her shoe and aimed it right at the slot. She successfully hit the target. Of course the opening was too small to impact the guard's face but it was amusing to watch him flinch back in surprise, before muttering a curse word and shutting the slot back up.
"Nice shot," Tristan approved.
"That's probably the nicest thing you've said to me yet." She observed.
"Listen. This is our chance. When they bring the food in, they'll have to open the door to push it through. That's when we'll make our escape. I have a plan," Tristan said before she scooted closer and listened to their next move.
Sienna was scared and tired. Before being forcefully brought to the lab, they'd taken her to a room where she'd had to strip naked and shower. The water had been scolding hot and the jets of the shower head been so strong it had almost been painful. Then they'd made her change into what resembled a hospital gown and escorted her to the laboratory. That was only the beginning.
They'd taken a sample of her blood and then injected her forearm with some kind of clear serum which made her feel a bit drowsy. She'd asked numerous questions and none had been answered. The nurse, doctors and guards in the room all ignored her. She'd demanded to know what was going on and where Tristan and Ana had been sent to until she was so exhausted she could barely open her mouth. She suspected it had something to do with whatever they'd injected into her.
Now she was hooked up to some kind of machine and computers with wires that led to her arms, chest and neck.
She'd never been so nervous in her life. She had no idea what they wanted with her, what they were doing and what the end result of all this would be. She was surround in a cloud of uncertainty. Luckily or not, she couldn't go completely crazy thinking about it because the serum they'd injected seemed to be having an even bigger effect on her and her brain felt like it was going mushy.
Finally she decided to stop mentally fighting it and closed her eyes as she leaned back into the metal chair they had her in. The constant hum of the machines had started to sound like a lullaby at this point.
A nurse tapped a pen frantically on the arm of the metal chair loudly and jolted her awake.
"Don't fall asleep!" she reprimanded without explanation.
Sienna rolled her eyes and tried her hardest to remain alert. It was ironic how they'd basically drugged her and now they wanted her to stay awake.
One of the doctors asked the nurse a question and she glanced at the computer screen that was above Sienna's head. She couldn't see what it projected. "The patient is steady, sir." The nurse replied. She heard the doctor type in something into his computer and then suddenly the doors to the cold lab swung open. In marched Mrs. Hale with her two guards.
The doctors and nurse greeted her respectfully, almost in fear.
"How is she doing?" Mrs. Hale questioned the man who appeared to be the main doctor, referring to Sienna.
"Very well indeed. The tests are ready. All positive as we presumed," the doctor reported with satisfaction.
"Excellent," Mrs. Hale said then to Sienna's surprise she waltzed over to her side. She placed a hand on the cold metal arm of the chair and Sienna instantly grew uncomfortable.
"You must be wondering what's going and why you're here," she said wearing a superior looking smirk. Sienna remained quiet.
"I am pleased to inform you that you, my dear, are one of our first patients to test positive to the medication," she said.
"What are you talking about?" Sienna finally questioned.
"What I mean is that it worked, Sienna. The medication was effective and you've been successfully cured of Schizophrenia," she informed.
A/N: Hi everyone! This chapter would have been posted sooner but my laptop charger died on me and therefore I had no access to my computer until yesterday. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! More to come soon....
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Until next chapter!