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( 45 一 CAPTIVITY. )
Clara felt groggy when she woke, a fog coating her thoughts. It took a few seconds for her to recall the past events but when she did, the pain set in. Her arm was aching something awful and she had to assume the bullet more than grazed her arm. Her head was also throbbing with the after effects of the White Noise.
Clara tried to block the blinding lights from her eyes but found her arms were strapped down to the bed, her legs too. She could also feel the firm leather of a muzzle attached to her head. That was all it took for the panic to set in. She had no idea where she was or how long she'd been unconscious. She could be back in Thurmond for all she knew. Back with Leda.
The thought brought tears to her eyes despite her best efforts. She despised herself for being weak in that moment.
The door to Clara's left beeped artificially before opening, three men dressed in black armour entering. They had plastic face shields and rubber covering every available surface of skin. They clearly knew who she was and exactly what she could do. That was confirmed by the way they all seemed to know who she was just by her last name back in St Helena. Clara felt a trill of pride ignite within her.
Without a word two of the men stepped toward Clara and started undoing her binds. The seconds she was free Clara shot forwards, grappling with one of the men to find any available skin. She just needed to slip into their head. Then she would get free. She just needed to find—
Clara suddenly crumbled to the ground with a pained cry. Electricity crackled as the smell of burnt flesh filled the room. The third guard had shocked Clara with the cattle prod he held in his hand.
Seemingly remorseless, the two guards pulled the weeping girl up by her arms, cuffing her hands behind her back, and began dragging her out of the room. Somehow Clara had actually managed to underestimate their cruelty. Cattle prods. She wasn't even human in their eyes.
Despite the pain radiating through her body Clara managed to pull her head up, finding herself in a dim hallway filled with doors. The guards dragged Clara to the end of the hallway where an elevator waited. She noticed that beside the elevator was a door labelled emergency stairs.
The elevator was rickety, in fact, Clara wouldn't be surprised if it dropped them at any second. When it finally stopped Clara couldn't help but feel grateful to be out of the machine.
The guards brought her to a plain white door that unlocked when one of the guards swiped a card in front of it, beeping the same way Clara's did.
The room was blindingly white. White tiles, white walls, white lights. It hurt Clara's eyes. It was too much like the lab. Too similar.
It was the chair in the middle of the room that unsettled Clara the most. Straps on the arms and legs, almost like a dentist's chair. She could see a drain next to the chair and a shiver went down her spine at the thought of what they were about to do to her.
