Cycles: The Enamel Decay

Chapter 9 Lancaster

I did not know my way around the physical chemistry department and neither did I expect Izle to however she never failed to surprise me. "Okay Lancaster, you need to do exactly as I say," she instructed. She went back to calling me Lancaster although I still felt like a Daniel- the lad who looked at a piano as more than just an instrument not the Lancaster who accepted reality as it was presented. "Are you listening?" I heard her like a thought from the micro ear piece.

"Doing as you say might be the death of me," I teased. I could feel her rolling her eyes however not literally.

"Ironically not listening to me will be the death of you," She replied. I chuckled.

"Yea...sure..."

Instantly she said "Don't talk. Stay against the wall. I think someone's coming." I froze and remained quieter than silence and glued myself to the wall like it was my magnet. I heard foot steps coming down the white hall way. Was there anywhere to even hide? "Okay, you need to walk casually down the hallway like you're supposed to be there. Don't panic. They're just normal students." I obeyed and did just that.

"And then she said 'Cu in H2O' and I was like, 'this chic's crazy, the ocean isn't blue," One of the students said to his buddy as he passed by and they both laughed hysterically. Izle laughed too. I bet it would not have been funny for me even if I understood what they were talking about. "Hey man," the 'funny' guy greeted. He actually turned to ensure that I responded so I couldn't not.

"Hi," I said spontaneously yet with an awkward wave as if I were welcoming them to my magic show- one I knew wouldn't be good. I should introduce myself as Mr. Magic Johnson. Seems fitting.

"Good job on fitting in. Now you're an awkward scientist who's bad at socializing. Great thinking," she offensively commended me with a fine mixture of sarcasm and seriousness. I did not know whether to be happy about that or not considering that I was not acting- I was actually awkward and bad at socializing at times. She probably knew it too.

"Where are you heading?" He asked. He was the suspicious type, wasn't he? They were both dressed in white scrubs and looked pale as ghosts. They looked like twin minions to me except the one with the narrow eyes and long black straight hair (the funny guy's friend) was taller. Meanwhile I had on a maroon plaid shirt and almost skinny dark blue pants. I looked like man who got kicked out of his boyband. I definitely did not fit into their scrubby world.

"Just continue walking," I heard Izle say but my response was already exiting my mouth.

"Nowhere specific. I just came from lab," I said implying that I was just casually loitering. I tried not to add to much detail to my lie. I didn't want it to sound like I was lying. Izle was quite obviously sitting at the edge of her seat hoping that I would not screw up. I hoped that they did not notice I looked nothing like a scientist.

"You're not permitted to be here unless you're in science," the other one said in the same bland tone.

"Darn," Izle's voice echoed through my cranium. "You need to get out now. Now."

"Really? Sorry. I'll be on my way then." I turned to walk away but one of the scientist placed his hand on my shoulder to stop me.

"Your chances are running thin," he informed. "And you're adding a catalyst to your situation every day," the other continued. "You should go home and rest," the first one suggested in a robotic voice. Go home and rest.... "You are being suspended in time," one of them told me but I was not sure which anymore.

Their voices became detached sounds that did not belong to a human body.

I am...

Physical 231 was what I saw next.

Life continued as usually but it all seemed very distant and very still. Nothing seemed to be happening but it was all happening and I knew I was part of it but at the same time I was out of it. "You're in a realm and you are not allowed to come back," a voice of no gender, no pitch, volume or tone said- A voice that was not a voice but a fact.

I am...

"Lancaster!" I heard Izle bawling in pleading agony but I ignored her. I just listened to the toneless voice instead and the rest was silence...

Was it dark? Was there light? There was a purple powder dispensed in a black liquid with white spots on it. Were they stars? I have never seen stars before so I reached out and touched it. It rippled as if it were water but dispersed as if it were a gas denser than anything in our atmosphere.

Our atmosphere? Where was that? Where was I? What was this?

My brain begun to hurt. What was this indescribable realm? How could I escape it?

"Come back," she pleaded. "Please," she continued weakly. "I'm so sorry...Come back." Why was she crying and being so dramatic?

I stretched my hands and it ambitiously stretched beyond its scope. It was going way ahead of me. Way way ahead of me. Where was it going? I tried to pull it back but it did not move. I felt as if it did move but not here. Elsewhere.

Where is elsewhere- the "elsewhere" where my hand could move but I could not?

If it did not want to move to me then I'd move to it. Maybe then I could free the both of us. And so I did. I was sucked into painless distortion with my hand and then there was a flash of light. The light disintegrated revealing a room.

I was in a white room in a glass case. All around me where other glass cases with people in it. They were standing motionlessly with life support tubes attracted to them. The only life support I had was oxygen. I removed the tubes from my nose and inspected the glass for an exit.

"Izle? Are you still there?" I whispered hoping that I could hear her through the micro ear piece but there was no one. I banged on the glasses obviously with no hope of it breaking.

I looked around at the people. Who were they? They looked regular and healthy as if they would pull out their tubes like I did and go on to playing rugby but at the same time they looked detached and unavailable. The only thing connecting them to this room were the tubes. My eyes fell upon a familiar face. Shawn?

It was Shawn. He looked at me as if wanting to share a secret. "The Enamel," I could still hear him saying. Next to him was Dave, my old roommate. His dark skin looked amphibian as if they glazed him to preserve him. Shawn's eyes, unlike Dave's were closed and his head faced downwards. Why were they here? More importantly why was I here and how did I get here?

I pressed my hands on the glass case and it had no feeling. "What's this?" I found myself asking aloud. This wasn't real. It seemed to be some form
of hypnosis convincing my brain that I was enclosed within a glass case. My hands went right through it and I was able to follow it out like I did the first time. Looking back at the glass case I saw the same image that I had seen a few seconds ago. The darkness with the purple powder.

"That's called nebulous," the scientist behind me said. I turned around slowly. I actually was expecting to hear a scientist. Escaping wouldn't be that easy. They no longer surprised me. "You are not allowed back here," he continued. "How did you get back?"

"I just didn't feel like floating around in glass filled with purple pixie dust anymore," I answered. The scientist raised a tiny speaker to his mouth.

"Sir, we have a..." He begun before I took a test tube from the table next to me and threw it at his hand. He dropped the device instantly and held his bleeding hand. His mouth opened in astonishment and before he could squeak semi-silent cries of pain I made a run for it.

Where was I going? I did not know. Maybe just through that door. He caught hold of me and punched me forcefully across my face but. With gentleman's curtesy, I returned the favour however with a at an angle to break his nose. The force pushed him slightly back but he kept his balance. I did not have time to cat fight with him neither was I going to pretend to be a skilful gorilla fighter.

I pulled his blonde hair aggressively and childishly took his glasses off his face and threw it on the ground. Like a toddler in a tantrum he tried to push me but I grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back, forcefully kicked the tendon at the back of his foot and for good measure pushed him. He stumbled over to the 'glass' case and held onto it for balance. That bought me enough time to run.

p?HI