The next time I came to, the aching had subsided substantially. My head no longer hurt- just my muscles. I clenched a fist, just to make sure I could still move and feel, and was relieved that I could. In fact, I also felt like I was on something soft and cushiony. I guess now that the doctor had what he wanted, he could spare a sofa to let me recover on. Or it may have even been a bed- I wasn't sure. My hands and feet were no longer bound. I was no longer a threat to him. Just an ordinary student. A helpless girl.
"I can't get hold of Ronan." I heard a woman's voice say. I recognised it, but for some reason my thoughts were all jumbled and I couldn't quite place who it was.
"He might just be busy." Another voice said- male, this time.
"Who's Ronan?" Another woman's voice. I recognised all of the voices. I was certain that the male voice wasn't the doctor, and the fact that they were unable to get hold of Ronan confirmed that it couldn't have been. These people were talking as if they were trying to drop him a text.
"Millie's Dreamwalker." The first female voice said. I noticed the slight Russian accent, and that was when it bugged me. I knew that voice.
"I've messed up so bad, haven't I?" The other girl said.
"You did the right thing." The man said. "Probably saved her, in fact."
I wanted to open my eyes, but it seemed as though they were glued shut, and too heavy. I still felt exhausted, and so once more I let sleep take me.
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My eyes finally flickered open.
"Still nothing?" The male voice said- it was David. But what was David doing here?
I blinked a few times, and then realised I wasn't in the doctor's lab. I was in a familiar room, laying on a familiar sofa. I turned my head to see Irina and David sat opposite each other, at David's desk. They looked pale, like they hadn't slept in a while.
"Nothing." Irina said, shaking her head.
"We'll just have to wait for Millie to wake-" David looked over at me then, and noticed that I was awake. Immediately he stood up, and came over. Irina looked, and did likewise.
"Oh my god, Millie, are you okay?" Irina asked.
I frowned, still aching a bit, and made an effort to sit up. "How did I get here?" I asked. "Where's Ronan?"
Irina and David both exchanged a glance. "We were hoping you would know." David said.
"You mean... he's still there?" My heart started pounding in my chest.
"Where?" Irina asked. "Millie, where were you? What happened?"
"I was at the lab." I said, still feeling panicked. "But not the lab. Not the one from before. Ronan and I, we went to a party of Doctor Geralds. It was all my idea. Shit, he said we shouldn't have, and now he's trapped-"
"Millie." Irina said firmly.
I looked at her, trying not to cry. Crying wouldn't solve this.
"Slowly, please." She said.
I took a few deep breaths. I then noticed the absence of my powers when I felt a drought pass over my arms, causing me to shiver. Goosebumps began to decorate the surface of my arms, and I rubbed them, feeling cold.
"Are you cold?" Irina asked, slightly concerned.
I nodded, trying to access the fire. Nothing. I felt another breeze wash over my skin then, but this time it was warm.
"Thanks." I said to Irina, knowing it was her doing.
"Now." David said. "You were saying?"
And so I told them everything, starting from Ellie, to the party, to Ronan investigating and then to the doctor managing to extract my powers.
"So... they're gone?" Irina asked, clearly not quite certain that such a thing was possible.
I nodded slowly. "I can't feel them anymore."
"Not even the ice?" David asked.
I shook my head.
Irina held up her hand, and it started glowing a pale white-blue. She then took hold of my hand with it. It felt soft and warm, and I was pretty sure I could feel the air in some strange, supernatural way, but I wasn't sure if that was just because I remembered how the air felt within myself when I had it. I felt no connection now, though. Nothing that would indicate it still being present in my body.
"You don't feel that at all?" Irina asked.
"Not in the sense that you mean." I said solemnly. A tear fell down my face then.
"Hey, it's okay." Irina rubbed my arm. "We'll get through this. There might be a way to get your powers back."
I looked up at her through tear-blurred eyes. "I really don't think there is. But even if there was, how are we going to find it in time? Ronan is locked up as we speak. Possibly being tortured. And the doctor is doing god knows what with my powers. What use am I in all this?"
"Can you still summon your Black Prometheum?" David said, with perhaps a spark of hope in his eyes.
I wiped my face. "I'm not sure. I haven't tried." I took a couple of deep breaths and pried my hands apart as if summoning the Black Prometheum. I had to say, I wasn't expecting it to work, so when nothing happened, I wasn't surprised- I was a little disappointed, though. My thoughts kept drifting to Ronan, though. "We have to go and help Ronan." I said, and went to stand up, but as soon as I did, my head started swimming and the room tilted.
"Woah." Irina said, as I practically fell onto her. She caught me, and helped me back down to the sofa. "You're in no fit state to go anywhere, even if you still had your powers."
I sighed, then looked at her. "How did you say I got here again?" I asked. I couldn't remember anything past that machine.
Irina exchanged another look with David.
"What?" I asked.
"Kate told us about you." She began. At the mention of Kate, my blood started to boil, but then I remembered the conversation I'd overheard when I'd been half asleep. There was another girl's voice I'd heard, and I realised then that it was Kate's. "She came to David's office yesterday and was looking for you, but she wouldn't tell us why. Next thing, she's emailing David saying that the doctor was holding this party and he knew that you were going to turn up. By that time, it seemed you and Ronan had already gone."
"But that doesn't explain how I'm here." I said.
"Again, it was Kate." David said. "The doctor didn't see any further use for you once he got what he wanted. He left you in an alley, unconscious."
Well, shit. I thought perhaps the doctor would want me dead, seeing as I knew a lot about him and what he was doing. But then again, what was I gonna do? Maybe he wanted to punish me further by having me live without my powers. It was laughable, really. When I first discovered what being an Argent meant, I would have given him my powers voluntarily, no questions asked. But now, I felt empty. Like I'd lost a part of myself that couldn't be replaced. Not to mention the fact that Ronan was missing and there wasn't much I could do about it. Instead, I'd have to watch everyone else do everything.
Then there was Kate. She'd done some pretty awful shit, but now it seemed that she'd saved my life. But then again, it might not have needed saving had she not put me in that position. Would it have happened anyway, even without Kate? Would the doctor have found me eventually?
"You need to rest." David said. "You look like death."
I wanted to protest. I wanted to get up and go running after the doctor, to help Ronan, but the fact that I didn't even have the energy to stay on my feet unaided only confirmed that David was right.
"I'll take you home." Irina said.
"You don't have to do that." I said, waving a hand and getting up. I did manage to stay on my feet this time, although did begin to wonder whether I'd even make it home.
"I insist." Irina said. "You definitely won't make it on foot."
I just nodded. As it turned out, Irina had a car- a red Astra, in fact. I hopped in the front, and struggled to keep my eyes open as we drove, but I had to direct her to my house.
"You will get your powers back." Irina said, sounding way more confident than I felt.
I looked at her. "How do you know that?"
She shrugged. "You can't just lose your powers. You can't reverse being an Argent." She paused. "It just doesn't make any sense."
"Well, I seemed to have been reversed." I said, and just to prove my point, I held my palm out and envisioned the flames making their way through the veins of my wrist, to my hand. "See." I said. "No fire."
"They might come back." She said, hopeful. "Maybe your body just needs time to recover."
I admired her optimism, but sadly it wasn't rubbing off on me. "Somehow I don't think so." I sighed, as we pulled up outside my house.
"Are you okay? Do you need a hand?" Irina asked.
I stepped out of the car. "I think I'm okay." I said. "Thank you."
I could tell she didn't really know what to say to me- nothing would make me feel particularly happy right now. "Well, okay." She said. "Rest up. We can decide what to do tomorrow."
"Keep me updated." I said. I may not have powers, and may not be very useful, but I still wanted to know everything that was going on.
"Of course." Irina said. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." I said, and shut the car door. I then walked into my house, crept up the stairs, and went to bed.
Sleep didn't hesitate to take me.
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