Thirteen

3

Fear by Current Joys

Vlad continues to pull me out of the small room and into a long white hallway, still holding my wrist. I'm still out of breath and my thoughts are all over the place like spilled marbles. As I look around as we walk, I desperately take in my surroundings.
It genuinely looks like the hallways of a hospital, just more... Creepy.
I quickly notice that there are very few windows, and any windows I see are blacked out and I can't see out of them.
Every double door we pass through, there are guards in black uniform. They all held a threatening looking black guns and they were all twice the size of me.
I'm desperately trying to remember which corridors and turns we take just in case, but we've been walking for a good five minutes and I struggle to remember everything, especially with a million questions flying inside my head.
Eventually, we pass through a double door into an area that obviously looks like some kind of children's department. Across some of the white walls were cartoonish animals with eyes that I swear follow me around the room.
This is too overwhelming.
I can feel my heart racing from running too much earlier, and my breathing still hasn't calmed down.

After what feels like forever, he stops a a double door that has a small metal name plate screwed into it.
'421, Lab of Dr. Vlad Kerschiev'.
He digs into his pockets and pulls out a small plastic card and swipes it on a keypad. It buzzes green and he puts it back into his pocket.

I take note of which pocket he puts it in.

He pulls me along a little further and stops at a door that has no name plate, but a small slit window down the side of it. He lets go of my wrist and digs into his pocket once again and pulls out a key ring with lots of keys all shapes and sizes on it.
He now has his back turned to me, unlocking the door and I'm so tempted to run. My whole body itches with the instinct to try and escape. But I know I wouldnt get far without the keycard in his pocket. And I'm in no shape to run anymore. My airways feel right and my body so fucking aches.
"You know, I never really liked the Labyrinth test, I always found it too harsh." He explains. I want to say something snarky back, but I stay silent. He fumbles around with the keys a bit, before pushing the door open with his shoulder and holds it open for me to go inside.

The immediate smell of cough medicines and latex wafts through my nose. Most of the walls were lined with cabinets and counters with countless papers and beige files scattered across the sides.
He closes the door behind me and gestures towards an examination chair in the middle of the room, before sitting down at a desk in the corner with a computer. He quickly starts to tap away at his keyboard.
"Where am I?" I ask with fear in my voice. I can practically feel the dread clawing at my dry throat.
He stops at his keyboard and turns to face me, his eyes full of concern.
"Smith didn't tell you? Really? I thought for sure she would have told you."
I shake my head gently. The feeling of getting answers within arms reach. He glances at my feet.
"Sit down, and I'll tell you."
I look down at my feet. My once white socks are now red from blood. I don't think it's doing me good standing up for much longer. But I still hesitate.
"Your feet are bleeding. Sit down." His voice suddenly sounds firm and slightly threatening.
Reluctantly, I sit down, feeling the relief of not putting so much weight on my feet. I can still feel my heart stuttering and my breathing unsteady. I watch his every move, terrified of what might happen next. He grabs a water bottle off his desk and passes it over to me.
"I'm sure you're thirsty," he says and starts rummaging around in his many cabinets and draws on the opposite side of the room.
I open the bottle hastily and pour the ice cold water into my throat. I felt the icy liquid go down into my body, feeling myself calm down slightly. Before long, the bottle was empty and it wasn't a big bottle either. I begin to think more straight.
Vlad turns his attention to my raw ankles, now starting to drip with blood. I wince in pain as he takes off my socks, the cold air making it sting. He gasps when he sees my ankle.
"My God- how many times were you electrocuted?!" He exclaims, getting up to grab some gauze and rubbing alcohol.
I knew it was electrocution.
He sighs. "I'll have a word with Smith."
I hiss as he pours the liquid on the wound to clean it. It burns like hell. But so do questions that haven't been answered.
"Where am I?" I try to ask again, my voice laced with fear.
"Ah yes. You are in the head lab in the science and medical branch of Vox Populi."
My heart drops.
"Vox Populi...?" I whisper. I can hardly get out my words. My breathing stops.
"Yes, it's an organisation that has connections to mafias, drug cartels, medical centers, corporate giants and many others. In this lab we can work without restrictions, as long as it benefits Vox." He so causally explains. My eyes widen in fear. My chest tightens. My throat closes up. My eyes burn for the need for sleep.
This just got a shitton worse.
"No restrictions?!" I echo like a fucking parrot.
"Well, within reason, you can't just murder in the name of science! ... At least I don't." He adds with a chuckle.
My vision goes slightly blurry from the tears I'm trying to hold back. The air suddenly seems to turn from freezing cold, to too hot.
He seems to notice my panic, as he quickly finishes wrapping my ankle in a bandage, and stands up to walk over to his desk, grabbing some more water, but this time it is in a small plastic cup.
"Drink some more. You're still dehydrated, and it will calm you down more. You also need to rest. Come on." He walks towards the door, gesturing for me to follow, holding the door open.
My mind suddenly focuses on how fatigued I am. I've never ran so much in one day, and now I'm suffering the consequences.
I swing my legs around, placing them on the floor, bracing myself for the pain as I put weight on my bad ankle. Agony spikes through my leg as I stand up and start to limp fowards. As I pass through the door, Vlad pushed the plastic cup into my hand. I take a sip of it as he starts to talk.
"Well, I have some business to take care of, and you need to rest. Okay?" He walks down to the end of the corridor, pushing me along. He opens the door to reveal a small room with nothing but a singular bed.
"Sleep well!" And before I can protest, he leaves me to my own thoughts.
What the fuck.
Government experimentation does exist?
And out of all of the people on this earth... Why me?
My mind feels like it's swimming and I feel myself becoming light headed. Thoughts start to blur together.
I start to feel... Off.
Somethings not right.
I look at the cup of water in my hand and realise there are tiny white particles floating around.
He's put something in it.
My eyelids start to feel heavy and so do my limbs.
I shouldn't fall sleep. I can't.
But I start to lose my train of thought. My head feels heavy as a bowling ball. I can't help but fall on the bed, unable to keep awake, plunging into the darkness again.

A/N
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