Running From Time

Chapter 17

When I came back into consciousness, I was almost blinded by flashing blue lights. All around me, people were hurrying this way and that, and it felt like I was in some kind of hospital. But this sure didn't look like a hospital. Slowly, I raised my head and blinked a couple of times, looking around in confusion. Where was I?

"Oh, sweetheart. You're probably very confused." A voice whispered in my ear and I jumped, sitting bolt upright. I turned my head to see a woman roughly in her mid forties smiling at me sympathetically.

"Uh, yeah. Where am I?"

"You're in PMHQ. One of our best employees, Thalia, brought you in. I'm Vanessa, by the way." I nodded slowly, still confused.

"What's PMHQ?" She chuckled and looked at me as if I'd told a good joke. I frowned and laughed nervously along with her.

"You're funny, boy. We need to get you to the testing room." I blinked a couple of times before getting up. I had been laying on a bed, although it looked more like an operating table. Shuddering, I watched as Vanessa looked into a camera and the door unlocked, opening out into a long corridor. The walls were a dark blue and there were lights on the floor to guide the way. It was very futuristic. A set of automatic doors opened at the far end and Vanessa looked back to check that I was still following her.

"Now, Christopher, all I want you to do is look into that scanner right there." She said informatively and I nodded. We were in a small square room with nothing in it except the scanner on the wall opposite me. I walked up to it and a blue light almost blinded me for a split second. A voice issued from the scanner.

"Christopher Brown." It said in an electronic tone. I smiled in surprise.

"It knows me."

"We all know you, Chris. You're very famous here." I chuckled nervously. A bead of sweat snaked its way down my forehead and I gulped. Why was I feeling so nervous?

"Is the testing over?" I asked hopefully and Vanessa cackled. I jumped.

"Oh, honey. It hasn't even started yet." I slumped in defeat and headed through the now open door. This room was also empty and I was about to turn to ask Vanessa what was going on when I felt a needle poking into my arm. I narrowed my eyes at her and she smirked at me, pulling it out. Her eyes widened as she saw the contents of the needle and she looked at me warily. The liquid she had taken from me was green. I gave her a sheepish smile and started to back away.

"What are you?" She whispered in fear and I shrugged.

"I don't know. I have these strange powers but other than that I'm just a human being." She shook her head quickly.

"Oh no, you're definitely not a human being. I'm going to send this off to the Lab so we can find out what you really are." I frowned and my hands started to become clammy. What was I, then? At that moment, I was more terrified than I'd ever been before and I felt power surge through me.

"You wait here. I'll be back in a few minutes." I nodded shakily and she exited the room. My head started to pound and I clutched it in pain. I slid down the wall so that I was sitting on the floor. My entire body started to become numb and everything became blurry. My hands were shaking uncontrollably and the power within me was almost becoming too much to bear. What was happening to me?

Thalia

I sat in the main meeting room of the PMHQ facility. I had brought Chris here to protect him after I had found him unconscious at the top of the cliff. He had seemed more fragile as I dragged him away. Of course, I was still mad at him for not telling me about Sam, but it could wait. Once Chris was stable again, I would give him answers. He deserved to know about this place and about...Serpius.

"So, the topic of today's meeting is -" Suddenly, one of my colleagues burst through the door. A balding man by the name of Dave.

"Code Blue!" He exclaimed and my eyes widened. That could only mean one thing. An imposter.

Everyone rushed up to a huge room, right at the top of the building, known as the Control Panel. Only the Leader and his assistants lived up there. They were the managers of this facility. I reached the huge oak double doors first and burst through, looking around frantically. The room was circular, with one huge window curving round to cover half of the wall. But it was empty. Everyone gasped as they all focused on one point in the room.

The window.

It had been completely smashed, and there had obviously been a struggle. Bloodstains streaked their way across the chairs and tables, and one of the computers was on the floor, completely destroyed. I simply gaped at the scene in front of me and was shoved out of the way roughly as a man ran past me and started to check all of the drawers and closets. He opened up a door on the far side of the room and everyone screamed. A body flopped out.

The body of the Leader.

Wild theories started to come to me. What if, this entire time, we'd been under the control of Serpius? What if he had actually been slowly guiding me to kill Chris?

Chris

My eyes were slowly shutting and I felt my heart pounding, trying to keep me awake. My body was completely drained, and I felt as if this was it. The final moments of my life. I slumped further to the floor and the lights started to flicker above me. A siren blared out and the room was bathed in red. I frowned and tried to stay conscious. I hadn't caused this, had I?

Vanessa suddenly came rushing into the room, eyes wide. She saw my almost lifeless body and picked me up, throwing me over her shoulder. Then she ran. I watched blearily as corridors zoomed past us and people ran this way and that, fear radiating from every one of them. They all wore black skintight jumpsuits, with a spiral pattern on it. I watched a couple of them but before my eyes could focus properly, they became a blur as they shot in the other direction, easily passing seventy miles per hour. Come to think of it, Vanessa was running pretty fast, way faster than was humanly possible. I shook my head, trying to get rid of my drowsiness but it wasn't working. Everything about me ached. The pain in my head was getting stronger.

Vanessa threw me down onto what felt like an operating table and people ran back and forth. Some took blood samples, others prodded my muscles and a few just stared at me with worry. I closed my eyes and just let them do whatever it was that they were doing. A gas mask was clamped over my mouth and I breathed in the oxygen little by little.

"His body systems are shutting down! We need to do something!" I heard Vanessa shout hurriedly and I frowned. What?!

"Hmm...maybe this will work. It worked for Serpius, after all." Someone murmured to the left of me and I closed my eyes. The noises slowly became less and less and I thought about my life up until this moment. In some ways, I was happy that I'd met Lydia, because if it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have met Thalia. My lips curved up slightly in a smile. Thalia. She truly was the love of my life, and I knew that if I somehow made it out of this, she would be the first person I would go to. I'd probably hug her and never let go.

"Where is it? This is our only hope!" Someone shouted from above me but it felt like I was a thousand miles away, leaving this world. I relaxed and pictured Thalia's face in my mind. That was the only thing I wanted to see right now. Her smiling face with the dimples on both cheeks. Slowly, all noise faded away and I could no longer move. Everything was peaceful.

Is this the end for Chris? And what do you think he is? Please vote if you liked it and leave comments :)