The Experiment

The Beginning

It was a normal day in Rhinebeck, NY.  My life is ordinary I play  on a basketball team on Tuesdays Wednesdays and Fridays .  On my free days I watch Netflix or hang out with my best friend Sophia.  Sophia is... Something else. She has dark brown hair and light brown eyes that almost look  Golden in the sunlight.  She's only a bit taller than me,  maybe an inch or so.  My parents are Veronica and Jim Smith.  There like every other parent strict but so fun .  My life was great until one afternoon after a day at Sophia's.  We had gossip can watch Netflix the whole time as usual. I biked home that afternoon to find three black vans parked in front of my house.  I walked in and two broad shouldered men in black suits fiercely grab my arms.  My parents just stood there.  They did nothing, they didn't have a single emotion, no screams, no tears, no objections. " what's going on?"  I screamed " where you taking me? Mom! Dad!"  The next thing I knew I woke up on a cold metal table pressing against my back.

 The smell of bleach filled my nose.  I look to my sides if I newly clean surgical tools.  I felt a shiver go down my spine.  Something was wrong. Is this a dream? I tried to set up, but I felt a searing pain running up my side. I was there naked with a cloth covering me. A man walked in with what looked like clothes and his hand. He threw them on top of me, " put these on."  He said as he turned around in order to give me the littlest bit of privacy. As I stood up I'm grown from the pain which for some reason made him wince. ( I mean you would think you'd be used to it...  Why would he even care?)  

As I was changing I noticed multiple newly s as I was changing I noticed multiple newly sewed stitches.  There were two small ones on my stomach right beside my bellybutton, three on each of my thighs like something had scratch– no mauled me.  I had a couple tiny ones on my arm but none of them were anything compared to the one on my side it was a large gash starting from under my arm to my hip.  Once I was done we walked out into the hall. It look like we were in the old torn down mansion. 

The hallways  we're so silent, I could hear my own heartbeat. We continued walking through a clear glass door. All I could hear was the screens that echo the halls. The hallways change into a newly painted baby blue. This was weird. It was like I had crossed into an alternate universe. Then the man in front of me stopped. Another man had cut in front of us. He walks like a zombie, a motionless and dad. I was speechless.  I looked ahead and saw  that's some people booked on injured but their expressions sent chills down my spine. Others were so damage so wrapped in bandages  they looks like mommies. The man in front of me  stop at an all metal door with black letters painted onto it saying 'office'  he turned to me with an empathetic expression on his face as a saying 'sorry'.  Just as I was about to open the door and the man said, " my name's Fred by the way." 

" my name's Michelle."  I whispered as I open the door. 

 I walked into see a man with snow white hair. He turned around and smiled at me. His smile looked... Plastic.  "Hi  i'm Alexander Hoffman, but you can just call me Alex." He walked closer to me. He was only about an inch taller than me and had a  Business – like look to him.  " W – W – where am I? "  I stuttered.

" you are in the Hoffman institution, "  his smile grew bigger, " as you probably realized I'm its owner. "

"why am I here? Do my parents know where I am? What happened to the people here? What happened to me?"  I rambled on.

" well... "  he paused. What does he not want to tell me?  " I can assure you your parents know exactly where you are. The sepal you saw are the  experiments... I'm sure you met Fred? He's just like you except he helps me out for things in return he has – 

" what things? How long has he been here? "  I interrupted. 

"... Well... Let's see... I believe Fred has been here for what's now six years. "

"six years! Why am I – we here? How long will  I be here?"  My voice was getting higher. He lookEd stunned.  I guess he's not used to being yelled that. Then, he flipped a switch. He took a breath and said in a stern voice,  " your birth parents signed you up for this when you were four years of age. "

" M – M – my birthparents?"  I stuttered. What was he implying? 

" do you not interrupt me. The Smiths are not your real parents they are FBI agent to where to look after you and tell me – the government wanted you. " I was stunned. The  FBI knew about this? Who else knew about this and didn't do anything about it?

" now Michelle, you better get nice and cozy here because you will be here for a while. I can tell from performing your surgery myself, you'll be very useful to us. I believe you'll be here for a while. Fred will take you to your room. Get settled in, make some friends, I'll see you at dinner. "  before I could say anything else, Fred open the door,

"Should I take her to her room now?"  He asked Alex. 

" yes, and make sure she feels right at home. "  Fred looked at me, 

" come with me. "  I followed him out of the room and right as the door close behind us, I asked him, " you've been here for six years? "  he looked at me unfazed and said, 

" I guess. Yeah, that sounds right. I've been here since I was 11. " 

" I – I – I am so sorry."  I said barely more than a whisper. 

" it's fine. There is some here that I've been here for as little as a few months to as much as 14 years. "  it was silent for a few minutes that I asked, 

"what do you mean by calling the people here experiments?" 

"Experiments."  He laughed. Then he turned cold, " more like human lab rats. "

" what did I do to you here? "

" they test on you to find a well... A weapon. "  he stopped at a door that said '026.'

" always hope for is to be released from this prison. They say  what they want is a weapon but, what they really want is for you to lose your help. So while you're here remember, number one thing is never lose hope that's what they really want... "