New Birds

Hidden Values Part 17

Samantha stretched, pushing the flat pillow away from her head and up against the wall. Her sleep had been so deep and sound, she was wondering why she was wanting to climb out it. She ran a hand slowly across the bare mattress, suddenly remembering. This was the mattress her creator likely died on. But even with that sad thought, Samantha's current comfort overshadowed it. She was pleasantly aware how easily it would be to drift again into sleep, making her current predicament quite tolerable. It was the walls. Whatever these walls contained, it gave her the relief she sought. She barely felt Kelly. Her headache had subsided into a simple pulsating dullness ever since they had shut the door behind her. She was still quite aware that she was locked in this steel drum of a room against her will, while waiting on prearranged nuptials, but at the moment she felt only relief. Was it Mr. Anson she had to thank for possibly saving her life? And it was such an easy fix, all things considered.

She stood and surveyed her boundaries. The length of the room was five medium strides from wall to wall, and four strides from the bed to the door. The only other item in the room was a commode. The ceiling's curve kept her conscious of head room, but if she kept near the middle there was ample space above her. It was so quiet in here; she could almost detect the hum of steel in her inner ears. It was unsettling. Samantha stepped to the door and put her ear to it. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And to think, Dr. Stojanovic spent months in this silence. Sitting alone. Anticipating when this door would open. Never knowing if it was to hand her a meal or to interrogate her. And without even a few seconds to collect herself. To be denied the sound of approaching footsteps, must have been very difficult.

Samantha tried Kelly's pass phrase. There was no audible click in response, but she pushed and pulled at the door anyway, to no avail. There were several other doors in the facility, which also didn't recognize Kelly's voice or pass phrase. Samantha now wondered what they held. Still, there was a certain relief that it hadn't opened. Her headache was out there. She decided to walk the length of the tiny room. Back and forth. Over and over. When she grew bored, she walked it on her hands. She was on her hands when the door suddenly swung outward. She screamed, toppled over onto the bed, and scurried to the other side of the mattress on her knees to press herself against the wall.

"Shut up." Dr. Stojanovic instructed. Her medical provider entered backwards, pulling an unconscious guard into the room with him. He dropped the guard once clearing the threshold. Blood trickled from a wound above the guard's ear.

Dr. Stojanovic straightened, almost hitting his head. He scrutinized the small room, as if hoping to find someone who clearly wasn't there.

"Come," he said, his sight finally resting on Samantha.

"I don't want to," she said.

"What the fuck do you mean you don't want to?"

"I think I'll be fine here for now."

"No, you won't be fine. I know this man they have you marrying. I was a medic when he first rose to power. It would encumber him to allow you to be fine."

She looked over his shoulder at the open door. Already she could feel traces of her headache returning.

"I don't have time for this. Stay if you want. But if you would like to leave this facility, follow me. Now." He contradicted his command by not moving. Instead, he studied the room again, taking in the tiny space, as if Samantha was the consolation prize and not the one he had come for.

She scrambled off the bed. "As in away?"

He nodded and pushed her out the door, closing it with a heavy clank behind them. She followed him down the corridor at a jog until pain again spread through her skull, slowing her up.

He trotted back to her. "I suggest you don't lag." With a firm grip around her upper arm, he guided her to a service elevator that took them up to the main floor, directly behind the cafeteria. Her head was fast becoming a mess of knife tips, but she stayed close to the doctor, who led her between two rows of waste containers, which blocked her view of everything. He pushed her through another door and then through a makeshift path along a high-sided cement pipe. It was the first time Samantha was ever outside the facility. The air was warmer. Slightly acetic smelling. In the distance, this same pipe spilled a thin stream of greyish liquid down the mountainside. Beyond that, the mountaintops went on and on. The world was as grand as the old library said it was.

"Sit for a minute," Dr. Stojanovic said, coming to a stop in front of her. His hands deep in his lab coat.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you look like you may fall over, and we need to wait for the signal to enter the main house. It could be a while."

"No, I can't go to the main house. She's in there." She sat, shutting her eyes, when a wave of pain erupted behind them.

"Listen," he said, from above her. "We only have a few minutes and I want to tell you what my daughter had confided in me about you."

He spoke quickly, returning his sight to the house often. Some of what he told her she already knew. Some of it surprised her. Some of it confused her. He stopped talking abruptly when a man in a powder blue suit gestured to them from the main house, while holding open the door of the servant entrance.

"Hurry," Dr. Stojanovic said as he started towards the house at a lumbering jog.

Samantha reluctantly followed. "Are you sure?"

"I saved his son. He had been adamant in his wish to repay me ever since."

Once through the service door, they were directed down a ramp to where a large black car was parked. The back trunk was open, and Dr. Stojanovic all but pushed Samantha into it. "Remain as quiet as possible for as long as possible. You got that?" he instructed.

She nodded.

Dr. Stojanovic started to close the trunk's hood.

"Wait. I thought you didn't even like me. Why are you doing this?" Samantha asked. She was almost nauseated with pain now and feared she would find herself unable to breathe if he shut her in.

"Because I love my daughter and I will not see her greatest achievement end up in the hands of Mr. Davies." With that, he slammed the roof down with a bang, engulfing her in darkness.