Bloodline

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

I woke up to cold air.

I tried to blink my eyes open, but fuck, my eyelids were heavy and even when they did open, my vision was strangely blurry. I blinked slowly a few times, feeling a low moan come up my throat and get trapped behind my lips, which felt sealed somehow. I ran my tongue across them and managed to part them so I could suck in a shuddering breath of air.

I turned my head slowly, and it was like trying to roll a bowling ball. I blinked some more and my vision cleared slowly, but surely, revealing... hospital equipment. Machines of all kinds were connected to me, my chest, my head, my arms, my abdomen. I blinked more rapidly, clearing my vision and snapping my head to look around, realizing I was in some kind of cold white room.

Nothing sat in the room aside from the machines, the bed I was on, and an obvious two-way mirror looking out over where I was laying. I tried to lift my hand to scratch my head, only to find that my wrists were secured to the sides of the bed, and a tug at my feet made me realize my feet were also pinned down. I stared at the restraints, stared at the machines, then at the two-way mirror.

And I felt my panic rise.

What the fuck.

What the fuck.

What the actual fuck!

Where the hell was I? What had happened? I squeezed my eyes shut and struggled to remember how I got here in the first place, but I could only vaguely remember... the bed, laying there with Keros. Having sex for the first time. I remembered that. I remembered Keros getting up to shower, and then... What happened after that?

I jerked at the restraints, my eyes flying open so I could stare at the two-way mirror. I didn't hear or see anything, no matter how hard I tried, and I frankly didn't feel anyone there either, so I was alone.

Fueled by panic, I started to jerk at the restraints. They were snug and padded, but they weren't tight enough to stop me. A few more hard jerks and the buckles slipped off and dangled lifelessly by the bed railing. Once I'd managed to rip my hands free, I got to work unbuckling my legs before I threw my legs over the side of the bed. In the process, I tore some of the sticky pads from the machines off my body, making me wince. I reached up and tore the rest of them off, including the IV that was in my arm. I threw them aside and got to my feet, wobbling for a moment before I made my way to the door on the other side of the room.

I threw it open and found myself walking into a sterile white hallway, which only caused my panic to increase.

Oh god, no.

No.

No, no, no, no.

I couldn't be back. That was impossible. How had she done it? What had she done to bring me back? And why alive? Why was I back here alive? Wasn't death the end game?

No, no, this just didn't make any sense.

I'd defected. Thirteen and I both. Six had come to me and told me... Wait, Six. I remembered something about Six. Had he come for me? What had he done to wipe my memory? I couldn't remember no matter how hard I tried.

My blood was pumping as my panic began to rise further as I wandered out into the hallway and looked up and down the sterile white corridor. I saw a few other doors, as white as the walls, the floors, the ceiling. Everything was white, including the hospital gown I was wearing. I looked down at it, giving the paper gown a tug before I looked up, my heart pounding.

Footsteps.

I could hear footsteps coming closer.

They were far, but they were growing nearer and nearer. Soon, they'd be on me and there was nowhere in the hallway to hide. I looked around frantically, took a few steps to the left and unsure why I bothered.