Almost Human

Chapter 9: Playing with Fire

I lay on the bed in the middle of the night playing with a piece of string I'd tugged off my bed sheets. I twisted it around my finger and knotted it. I closed my eyes and listened to the silence. The light buzz of the electronic door rung in my ear. The air was getting stale to say the least, and I still had a shot hidden in case I needed a quick weapon. I sighed and threw my feet over the side of the bed. The coldness of the tile floor slivered up my feet into my legs. I hated coldness. I slid on some boots I'd placed to the side and went up to the steel door. I placed my ear against its hardness and listened. There was very low mumbling of two males. I couldn't tell what face the voices belonged to. It must have been the other doctors I haven't had the 'pleasure' to met yet. I couldn't catch most of what they were saying.

I'd only caught "should we tell them?" and something about "-the risks" and lastly resolution of "too much is at risk to-" "-well I agree. See you in the morning Dr-". I sighed and pried my ear from the door as I heard footsteps leaving. I was about to climb back onto my bed when the door slid open. I shielded my eyes from the bright light of the hallway and retreated into the dark so they could adjust. Question: Is this an attack? Mission: stop attacker. I thoughtlessly flung myself towards the intruder and smashed them into the ground. I grabbed the attacker's arms, and pinned them down.

"Calm down girl. Do you treat all your visitors like this?" a female voice snapped. Excuse me? The attacker shoved me off of them and straightened itself off the ground. The steel door closed and we were once again engulfed in darkness. Suddenly, a flame flickered and slowly grew brighter. Trish. The fire danced around her fingertips and illuminated the dark room.

"What are you doing here?" my voice snapped, sounding still half asleep.

"Tsk, tsk. That's no way to treat a guest. The least you could do is pour me some coffee since you attacked me when I came in."

"Trish it is two in the morning. Why wouldn't I attack you?"

She shrugged and propped herself on top of one of the cabinets, crossing her legs as she did so. Her ball of fire began to float away from her grasp. It floated to the light fixture on the ceiling and lightly tapped it. The lights to my room came on and the fire left. I squinted in response. Was that really necessary to turn on all my L.E.D. lights?

"Much better," she smiled. She began twirling a piece of her red hair around her finger; examining it as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"How did you even get out of your room?" I questioned.

"Oh no problem," she sighed. "Honestly all I did was set the wiring system to my door on fire. It opened right up for me." Just great. She can roam the halls and I can't. It'd be much more use to me than it probably would her. "Plus they trust me, so I don't have anyone guarding the door."

"So...you just decided on paying me a visit two in the morning? Wanted some girl on girl bonding?"

"Well I needed to tell you something. It's not like I would naturally talk to someone like you. You're much too beneath my friend standards." Oh thanks. Appreciate it. Really.

"What did you have to tell me? I really want to go back to sleep." She rolled her eyes and groaned as if this was all too much of a hassle for her.

"As you've most likely heard, the doctors did testing on me. It's crazy how worried everyone's been about me. It was no big deal really. They just wanted to know the extent of my powers (which I showed them) and they wanted to see my dreams-" Question: why did they want to see her dreams? What answers or truth did they hold in them? "-I'm not sure what this huge fuss is about, I mean really. But little birdie tells me you're special. All this testing somehow revolves around you." Why would it revolve around me?

Trish laughed lightly, "Don't think you're all that just because a stupid test is about you. All I know is you can't let them see the full extent of your power and the doctors can't see Zane's dreams. I think you two know something you're not supposed to or something like that." Wow. I wonder what this all means. There's so many secrets hidden behind so many locked doors. I intend to find out every one of those secrets.

"Thanks...for the help."

She scoffed, "You're welcome. You're damn lucky I told you anything. Especially after you attacked me."

"I didn't know it was you," I groaned. "Stop complaining."

She snapped her finger and the lights went out again. She opened the steel door and light flooded in. She slipped out without another word. The light was closed off again and I stood in silence. I leaned against the wall and frowned. If the doctors were testing on her, how can I be sure she's not on some kind of stupid medication drugs right now? How can I be sure the doctors aren't using her to get information out of me? How can I be sure...any of these people are really with me? Question: How could I be sure I can really trust anyone here? Answer: I could never be truly sure.