Lab Rats

Chapter 8

I can't decide if I'm okay with how this turned out or if I hate it, but I'm leaning towards the latter... But I hope y'all enjoy!

Also, I feel like at this point the characters go through so much shit that I don't know what deserves a trigger warning and what doesn't, so from now on, just be aware that there are a lot of mentions of difficult topics that could be triggering. 

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Amir and Conner were relieved when Joon and I were back the next morning for breakfast. It took another two days, but Parker was finally released from the infirmary. His eye was still red and a little puffy, but the swelling on the side of his face had disappeared and he didn't have to wipe his eye anymore. He told us the doctor had warned Leighton that if he didn't want to ruin or delay the research, he was going to have to be more careful not to cause long term damage to any of the subjects. No matter what we said to Joon, he still continued to barely eat, but at least Leighton didn't push him to the point of passing out again.

About a month after Leighton showed up, I was awoken to loud banging on my door. I had enough time to read the number 0325 on my clock before the door burst open and two guards came in. I propped myself up on an elbow and tried to rub the sleep from my eyes, but one of them grabbed the back of my pajama shirt and literally dragged me out of bed, depositing me on the floor.

"Ow," I muttered under my breath, annoyed.

"Get up!" the guard who had grabbed me barked.

You're the one who put me here, I mentally retorted. The fringe of my hair just barely concealed my eye roll as I rose to my feet.

One guard stepped in front of me with his back to me and the second one took his place behind me. The one in front led our little train into the hall, but we didn't go to any of the usual rooms. We started out going towards the courtyard, but right before we got to it, we turned to the left down another hall. The walls changed from the metal paneling that made up most of the facility and turned into a thick gray concrete. I examined the porous walls, taking in the dank atmosphere that now shrouded us. Behind me, I heard the sound of a baton being unsheathed and felt a rough poke to my back. Rolling my eyes, I trained my gaze on the middle of the back of the guard in front of me. My bad. How dare I look at a wall?

We made another right turn and I absently wondered if we were in the part of the facility that ran along the right side of the courtyard. As far as I knew, none of us had ever been that way before.

One more left turn and we came to a dead end with a door. Strangely, the door looked like it was made out of wood. The guard in front knocked on it and after the sound of metal unlocking, the door opened and Mr. Leighton appeared, grinning like a creep.

"Ah good, you made it!' He said cheerfully.

As if I had a choice.

The guards stepped to the side and Leighton waved for me to follow him through the door.

The room had a control panel with little switches, screens, and buttons. Five scientists were sitting at it and facing a dark window. It looked similar to the room they used for the glass box experiment and I immediately got nervous.

The door behind me opened again and Dr. Fabel came through with a black briefcase in hand.

"Nice to see you, D-12," He said.

Yeah right.

"What's in the bag?" I asked, ignoring his greeting.

"Right down to business," Said Leighton as Fabel joined him and they both faced me. "I like that."