Experiment 009

4. Second sight

I was in a dark place, I tried to walk around, my body felt so light, I looked around to find nothing.

I took a step forward, but I wasn't sure if that forward or backward, I couldn't tell where I was looking, up, down, left, right, front, back?

Just then I remembered what happened.

Am I dead?

Is this the end?

What even is this?

Suddenly the darkness around me changed, and now it felt more clear, I was in that place I was before I fainted but this time I was standing beside the bed and I had no problem moving, my body felt light.

Soon I realised there were people in the room, it was Clara and Atlas, and wait a minute... is that me on the bed?

I was lying on the bed, with lots of machines connected to me and a band aid around my head with wires passing through, my eyes were closed and I looked somehow... peaceful?

Is this what dying is like? So this really is the end.

I looked around, so what's next? I thought looking around, I tried to touch the iron door but instead my hand passed the other side, am I ghost?

I continued walking through the long hallway, the place looked like a normal house, there was a normal living room exept the laboratory connected to the house.

There was a door upstairs, it led to a hallway with two doors each leading to a bedroom, one with two beds and another with one, there was a voice coming from the kitchen downstairs, I followed it.

It was Zoe talking on the phone "yes sir... we'll go with the normal protocol... yes sir I'll tell them... thank you sir" she said before she hung up the phone.

She covered her face letting out a big sight then made her way downstairs as I followed her, she opened the metallic door and headed in.

"So what did they say?" Atas asked "they say we'll follow the protocol-" "they can shove that protocol up their asses, I can't keep doing this" Clara cut Zoe off clearly angry.

"We have no other choice, you can't do anything about it even if you don't like it, you've done this many times before, this is not difference" Atlas replied.

"I'm not gonna killing an innocent child Atlas, even if it will costs my own life, the others were criminals who brutally took the life of others, this is totally different" Clara said breaking in tears.

"Clara, I know you don't like this but Atlas is right, it's not like she came here willingly but neither did we, even if we do everything we can they will get what they want one way or another, even if it meant killing more innocent people" Zoe said trying to calm Clara down.

"She still got till 12pm, let's hope it's just a coma and she'll wake up or even show any signs, otherwise we'll have to disconnect her off the devices and the ventilator, just like the other failures" Atlas said leaving the room.

Disconnect? Device? Are they talking about me? Aren't I dead? I don't understand anything...

I looked at the clock, 7pm, I'm not dead yet, does that mean I can still go back?

"Go wash your face dear, I'll keep an eye on her" Zoe said as Clara thanked her and headed out, I tried waving infront of Zoe but she didn't notice, instead she held a picture of a girl, a bit older than me then looked over my body with sadness in her eyes.

I went over to my body I was about to try and wake up but I stopped, what's the point of all of this, what's the point of going back?

I've got nothing to lose, nobody to be sad that I left.

I remember one of the last words my mother told me before she die is to keep living but for what.

To get beaten up by random people every single day and being called a theif, a brat and a stray dog, or to starve and watch my friends and everyone I loved die one by one and I can do nothing about it.

"Charlie?" I heard a familiar voice say, I turned around and there she was.

Mom, lying in her white bed, she looked as thin as a skeleton, white as the sheets, exept her grey soft hair covering the pillows, she could barely get out of bed, and during her last days she lost her sight, she was almost disconnected from the world but her pain kept her always awake.

"Charlie, y- you can't be here, your father would be back any moment, go hide!" She said, I walked closer to her.

"Dad can't hurt me again mom, he can't hurt you either, we're both dead, neither of us will be in pain ever again, we can always be together and this time nobody can hurt or separate us" I said smiling weekly as I went over to the bed and hugged her.

Suddenly I felt her hug me back "don't say that, my little bug, I am dead but you aren't, you still have lots of things to change out there, I am glad you made it this far but please there is still alot Charlie" she said as I looked up.

She was now awake, her pale face looked brighter, she looked healthier and she wasn't lying down anymore instead she was warping me tightly with her arms.

"Living hurts, I don't want to do it anymore, I'm scared, and I'm all alone, then what's the point?" I asked.

"You were never alone Charlie, we're always by your side, you should go find more people, make friends, make allies, so you'll never be alone, my little bug, go make your mother proud more than you already have" She said pushing me away from her.

"Mom! No!" I shouted desperately as tears ran down my face, slowly the feeling of sadness and tears running down my face turned into pain.

It hurted everywhere, every inch of my body hurted so badly, my lungs, my heart, my head, my limbs and my chest, it felt like a mixture of pure cold and pure hot bond together making electricity.

I could hear voice from far, it got closer and closer.

"Hey look, is she crying?" ... "looks like it" ... "hey Clara do you see that?" ... "yes, Charlie, can you hear me? If you do can you move your eyes for me? Can you move your fingers?".

I tried to open my eyes but it hurted I had to close them again and I groaned in pain "Atlas! Dim the the light, it's gonna hurt her".

I tried to open my eyes again slowly, it hurted to focus on anything and everything was blurry, probably because of the tears running down my face.

I could see things moving but couldn't make out anything, slowly I started concentrating.

"Charlie, can you hear me?" it was Clara, her, Zoes and Atlas, the three were looking at me.

"Thank god" Zoe said in relif as Clara warped her arms around me "you made it!" She said "well, thank god you're still alive" Atlas said hiding his face and looking away.

So I'm alive after all.