Shishna

Chapter Three

The expressionless man watches the two guards walk out of the room. The door closes behind them, and the man walks over to the still body of the young girl. Out of the darkness appears a tall, pale, black haired man in black suit.

"How did she do?" Asks the man in the suit.

"She fought more than I expected her to." Replies the expressionless man.

"How long will she be unconscious?"

"A few more hours, we do not have much time. Let's get started."

The expressionless man begins pushing the hospital bed toward the darkness from which the man in the suit materialized. The man in stands in the way of the expressionless man.

"Are you certain you want to do this doctor?" Asks the man in the suit.

"I have been dreaming about this for years. I finally have the perfect test subject. I will stop at nothing to make this happen."

"Okay." Says the man in the suit and moves out of the way.

The doctor pushes the bed with the young girl through double doors at the back of the room.

"Dr. Em?" Says the man in the suit.

"Yes, Daniel?" Replies Dr. Em.

"Good luck."

Dr. Em looks at Daniel, searching his face for any sign of deception.

"Thank you Daniel." He pauses for a moment. "I need you to do me a favor. Find Jason, he was one of the guards. Do not let him leave. I could use him."

BREAK

Oh! Pothole! I rub my head. Another dream.

Dr. Em? Who is Dr. Em?

I look out of the car window and realize that I am a few streets away from my counselor's office. I sit up. Justin is sitting to my left, texting. He is wearing a dark blue jacket and has the hood over his head. His jacket sleeves have slid up his arms and I can see the scars.

I saw the scars for the first time a few months ago. I didn't ask him about it then. Actually, we have yet to talk about it. I'm not sure if he knows that I have noticed them, but he has been making an effort to hide them. 

We drive by a sign  New Beginnings : Dr. Michael and pull into the parking lot. A new beginning is exactly what I am looking for. 

We park and get out of the car. Justin and I follow Mom into the office. She makes her way to the receptionist and signs us in. Justin and I walk over to some chairs by the wall and sit down. I turn to Justin. He is looking down at his phone, I assume he is texting someone.

You okay?

He doesn't look up or reply.

Justin? I tap him on the shoulder. He looks up, and pulls a head phone out of his ear.

Huh? He asks surprised

I asked if you are okay.

Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. He quickly replies avoiding my eyes. He puts the head phone back into his ear and looks back down. 

I continue to look at him. He has changed so much. We used to be close, but now we might as well be strangers. I turn to my mother opposite where we are sitting, still speaking to the receptionist. She is giggling as though the receptionist said something amusing. She waves her hand signaling that she is going to sit down and turns around. She looks over at us, smiles softly and takes a seat near us, but not close enough to make us uncomfortable.