Beyond Control

13

I couldn't wake up. My body and mind were screaming, knowing that danger could be surrounding me. Yet, I couldn't move. I felt paralyzed. I felt hopeless. The stress building in my body felt like it was about to burst.

What's going on? What happened? Why am I acting like this?

Finally, my mind snapped me out of the trance. I shot up and frantically looked around to get a bearing on my surroundings. Panting, I realized that I was nowhere I recognized. I found myself in a confined bedroom that had no windows. The bed reached both sides of the walls and was no larger than queen-sized. There was no dresser, but a small space for a closet. There was a navy blue uniform of sorts hanging inside of it, but nothing else. The only other thing was a door directly in front of me with a clock hanging above it. It read five forty-seven in the evening.

Where was I? How did I get here? There was so much going on, yet everything was so still. Was I abducted?

Wait. What about Emily and Xavian?

My eyes widened. Memories of recent events flooded back to me. The loud noise, Xavian dropping to the ground, Emily screaming, the people that came out of nowhere...

I needed answers. I needed to find someone. Was Emily okay?

Is Xavian dead?

Scrambling out of the bed, I reached for the door. As soon as I made contact with the handle, an electric current shocked my body so hard that it sent me crashing into the foot of the bed. I felt dizzy and nauseous as I sat with my back against the footboard.

Static came from the ceiling. A man's voice came out of nowhere. "Well, look who's finally awake!"

So many emotions filled my body at once. Fear, confusion, despair, and others I couldn't make out. What the hell was going on?

"After two long days, my Alpha has risen from the dead."

I shook my head. Two days? Alpha? "W-Who are you? C-Can you hear me?"

My throat was dry which caused my voice to come out raspy. I noticed there was a white, circular speaker similar to the ones you'd find in a school. That made me question my location even more.

"Of course!" the voice called. "I can see and hear everything that goes on in that little room of yours. I hope it's not too small because I had to make space for the other rooms."

Other rooms? Is Emily here? Is she okay? Who else was here?

"A man with few words, I see," he spoke. "No worries. I'll break that habit soon. Now, you might be wondering about that door, am I correct?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"That door is charged with a powerful electric current in case you try to leave the room outside of the permitted times. No worries, though. A schedule will be given to you soon so you'll know when those permitted times are."

He was speaking as if I was permanently trapped here. I had to ask. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Why, you haven't gone far, Subject Alpha," he answered. "This will be your new home for the foreseeable future. More answers will be given shortly."

The foreseeable future?

"What about my friends?" I demanded.

The man laughed. "You're going to have to remind me who they are. I've been dealing with quite several people around your age."

"Emily and Xavian," I hastily responded. "Where are they?"

"Emily Jackson, correct? I can assure you that she's just fine," he reassured. "As for your other friend, I believe it was necessary to dispose of any unwanted trouble. You see, if we kept him alive, he'd report us to the authorities. Doing so wouldn't do much, but it would cause too much of a setback in my plans. We have to maintain our cover, no matter the limits."