Who Needs Superheroes?

Chapter 13: Surprise, Surprise

I apologize that it took so long to update! I am on summer break now, so updates should be faster. This chapter is a big turning point and I might go back through sometime and label it as Part 2. Enjoy!

When I came to, it took me a second to realize what had happened. My whole body twitched in response to a crisp bell sound. To put it mildly, it scared the hell out of me. My eyes snapped open, which was painful considering that my dried tears had sealed them shut. The sound startled me, causing me to gasp for air as though I had been drowning. Madly, I scanned my surroundings. I sat hunched in a white wooden chair in the middle of a completely white room. I could not make out an entrance; the walls were impeccably colorless and smooth. Although I could not see any light fixtures, the room was completely illuminated. For this reason, I saw that I was not alone.

Holding a bronze bell and looking down at me with a bored expression, a woman dressed in a gray pantsuit stood directly in front of me. She was immaculately groomed, blonde hair parted in a perfect line at the complete center of her head, skin glowing with what I assumed to be a lotion, suit devoid of any form of hair, and black lacquered heels without a single scuff mark. She looked like middle-aged barbie.

"Miss Renick," she addressed me in a clear, authoritative voice, "I am sure you are very confused and unfamiliar to how you are feeling but-"

"Actually, I am very familiar with this feeling. This wouldn't be the first time he's drugged me," I snapped back with a snort.

The sensation of ants crawling all over my skin created an irritating itch and I frantically scratched at my arms in hope of relieving the feeling, but it only seemed to get worse.

"What the-"

"I was referring to this, Miss Renick." She gave me a tight-obviously annoyed-smile.

"Make it stop!" Though I was completely sore and exhausted, I found the energy to claw at my body as the sensation intensified.

Middle-aged Barbie sighed in annoyance and held out her hand, palm facing the ceiling to reveal a single pink pill. Huh, Fear would probably have an aneurysm if he saw this. I snatched the pill as though I had been in the desert for countless days and had finally found an oasis of water. I threw it into my mouth and swallowed it without a single thought of water. As soon as it had gone down my throat, the itch disappeared. My body unclenched from the tension that I did not know was there and I let out a heavy breath that I had been holding in.

"What was that?!"

Her look of annoyance once again mixed with an expression of boredom.

"Your body isn't used to this atmosphere. It'll take a few days for you to adjust to the different environment. I'll leave a bottle with enough of the medication in your dormitory and you are to take one each night before you go to bed. Are we clear?"

I was about to remark at how I was not going to take whatever drugs she was pumping into me, but the memory of the horrifying itch caused my mouth to seal shut and my head to nod in compliance.

"Good. Now if you are able to stand, we need to be on our way," she said impatiently.

I grumbled but strained my muscles to stand. Slowly, yet surely, I straightened myself up to my usual height. With amazing grace, she spun herself around and headed towards one of the white walls. I heard a beep and a panel in the wall slid to the right to reveal a hallway just outside.

With supreme confidence, Middle-aged Barbie stepped through and took a left into the passageway. Weighing my options, to sit there and die of possible boredom and who knows what else or to follow, I decided on the latter and exited the mysteriously blank room. The blond had been waiting just outside, studying me as soon as I came back into her line of vision. She almost seemed surprised that I had followed her, but nonetheless, she turned away from me with her ever present elegance and continued to walk down the hall.