We All Fall Down

|01

     I grew up here, in a small cell with a single bed and toilet. Food comes three times a day, and it is always the same meal; a bread roll, apple, a glass of water, and an egg. Never any meat, although I prefer not to eat meat, because even though I grew up in a tiny cell I can't stand the thought of animals suffering.

     I have always worn the same thing, a simple white collared tee-shirt with blue jeans and a pair of black sneakers. The people who give me food refer to me as "Test Subject A-486" and watch me through a small camera that they placed in the corner of my room. Every so often they will take me out of my cell and inject something into me, or place me into a room with some other creature or person, each something new to test me and analyze my reaction.

     There are more test subjects here, and considering that I am A-486, there has to be at least 485 others, probably even more than that. I have only met one other person, subject A-352, although we gave each other names, so I call her Sophia. She used to have long light brown hair that went down to her lower back, but it is now a bob because most of it was burned off in her last test.

     I picked out my own name, Aria. I don't know why, but I just like the name. I have short black hair, with a single streak of red in it from one of the tests. They injected me with a red liquid and I passed out, but when I woke up I had a single streak of red in my hair, which is about two inches wide. It doesn't fade like hair dye does, instead it gets brighter. Although, that test nine months ago.

     "Subject A-486," I hear a familiar voice call, and I get off of my bed. The man, a person named Dr. Hale, meets me at the door of my cell to get me for a test. "I see your streak has gotten brighter," he says and opens the door for me.

     I have made friends with Dr. Hale, because he is the only one that seems to have any sympathy. "What is this test going to be?" I ask him.

     He stops walking and grabs my shoulders, which causes me to let out a small shriek. Quickly, he puts his finger to his lips, motioning for me to be quiet. I look at him, confused, and he looks around before speaking. "This test is different; you won't be alone for this one. Trust your instincts. We have done this test before, and no one has survived so far," He quickly says and motions for me to start walking again.

     "What?" I ask him, but he just nods his head and looks at the door that we are now facing.

     "Good luck," he says and opens the door for me, waiting for me to enter before closing the door and walking away.

     Inside the room there are two people in lab coats, one male, with short blonde hair, and one female with a brown ponytail on the back of her head. They are each wearing a mask, and sitting in chairs next to a small table with three needles, and a table for me to lay on.

     "Please lay down," the blonde doctor says, and I do, not trusting either of them.

     "What are the needles for?" I ask him, but he does not respond, which doesn't surprise me, they usually don't respond to my questions.

     The doctor with the ponytail grabs one of the needles and gives me the shot in my left arm.

     At first, all I feel is the usual soreness that you get when given a shot, plus the prick of the needle entering your skin, then stiffness settles in my body until I can't move them.

     I start to panic, but quickly calm down when I hear the blonde doctor say that it isn't permanent, and that it will only last a couple of minutes.

      "We need to do the procedure now," the female doctor says, and grabs the two needles, handing one to the blonde doctor.

     Panic surges through my body as the female doctor takes the needle and brings it towards my eye. As the needle gets closer I see what is on the end of it, a small black dot with a hint of red in the middle-a camera.

     Not being able to close my eyes, the lady plunges the needle into my eyes as pain explodes through them. This pain is far worse than any other pain that I have ever experienced throughout all of the tests. It was as if a bee was stinging the inside of my eye.

     As the pain started to dull away the blonde doctor sticks the second needle into my eye, refreshing the pain in both of my eyes.

     I try desperately to move my arms, until after another three minutes, they move. Immediately, I bring my hands up to my eyes and grab them. My vision does not look different, and I am grateful for that, and for the fact that the pain has went away.

     The female doctor looks at me before speaking, "Are you ready?"

     "Ready for what?" I ask her as I wipe away the tears that started pouring out of my eyes.

     "The real test," She says and we start to walk out of the door.