I awoke in what seemed like minutes. I was in a tight cell. It looked like a prison cell. Except I was not wearing prison clothes at all. I was in tight black leggings and a tight black sports bra that showed all of the cleavage possible. My blonde hair was left down and my makeup was well kept. I knew because above the sink was a profoundly expensive mirror. There was no casual door, but a large garage door that seemed locked. I had been laying on a rather large bed that took up most of the room, and it had white sheets and blankets and pillows. I stepped over to the garage door, noticing that my feet were still bare, but my toenails were painted white as were my finger nails. I crouched down to inspect the handle, which I could only assume opened the thing. I grabbed onto it and have it a slight tug upward. It made no noise, but lifted itself off the ground slightly, then plopped back down. I shifted my weight and used both hands to pull up. The door was still silent as it easily sprung opens o reveal what looked almost like a cafeteria. I stood there, puzzled at what I saw. There were so many other girls. All wearing what I was wearing, all gorgeous and tan, and all... Happy.
I accidently made awkward eye contact with a redheaded girl, about an inch shorter than I was. She smiled graciously and waved at me before turning back to her friends to chat. I stood, breathing heavily and sweating now, I could feel my heart palpitating rapidly in my heavy chest. I swallowed. Only to find that the only good it did was push up dry heaves. Much of the commotion stopped as I fell to my knees trying to catch my breath. About half a dozen girls ran over to my aid and tried to help me up. I heard my heart beat in my ears and felt it in the tips of my icy cold fingers. Darkness clouded my vision as I felt weaker and weaker until I was gone.
***
I awoke in a hospital bed.
Around me was all white. The image was quickly ruined by a slutty looking nurse with bleach blond hair and a Monroe piercing. She looked in her late 30's but gave off a much older and much wiser vibe. She carried a tray of red jello and a bright silver spoon. She placed it on the table next to me. "Here you are, dearie." She spoke soft, yet confident. She looked like the kind of person she spoke like. She looked up at me. I could tell that she knew I was scared. And she knew I knew.
She opened her red lips to say something, but caught herself and closed them. "Where am I." I spoke quietly. I heard her sigh as her eyes closed with pain. "You- I- we-" she couldn't start the sentence. "Will they hurt us?" I asked her, hoping to give her an easier answer. A tear fell down her tan cheek as her eyes whipped open, showing me all of the answers. "Yes." She whispered under her breath. I stared for a moment. "...why?" She shook her head, seeming to gather herself as she opened the small package of jello. "I don't know." She said. "Tell me."
She ignored my persistence and handed me a spoon. I stared at my reflection in its mirror like back. I didn't know what I saw, other than me. I placed it by my side and waited attentively as I could for the cup of jello. She looked at me. Her eyes were telling me something that I knew was important. But I didn't know what.
She handed me the jello. At the bottom of the cup I could see a small balled up piece of paper. She stared into my eyes another moment, and then she left without another word exchanged. I dug the paper out and I opened it carefully, not to draw attention from the busy hallway. It was scribble handwriting that had obviously been done recently. Probably when I was looking at the spoon. It read messily "They turn you. Don't let them. Run." I felt my throat clench up as I struggled to swallow my saliva. The paper fell onto my lap as a covered my cough. A different nurse rushed in, thinking I was seizing or having a heart attack. She placed her hand on my shoulder. "Are you ok?" She asked.
I nodded, still having a decent cough attack. She patted my back and looked down to see the scrap of paper, written on side up. She stopped mid pat to pick it up. The paper flopped in the woman's pale hands as she mouthed the words to herself. "Madness. Who wrote this?" She demanded angrily. "I... I don't know." I said finally done coughing. And I was telling the truth. She snatched my ear the fastest I've ever seen a human being move. "I said" she spoke leaning in to my gripped ear "who wrote this." I squeaked from the pain in my ear. "I- I don't know her name!" I spoke sternly but quiet enough to still not draw attention. She ripped her hand away, leaving pain behind in my ear. "Very well." With that, she left the room carrying the scrap of paper with her. My only warning. My only hint. I looked around the room for the first time. It was all very modernistic and everything was geometric and centered. There was a rectangular white flower vase with a single purple orchid. Seeming to be lonesome, but there's nothing he could do about it. I looked around some more. No windows. Just an air vent that was smaller than my fist on the ceiling. I didn't know what to do at that point. I sat for hours. Wondering what was going to happen to me, what "they" we're going to "change" about me. I thought about the girls that I had walked into. We were all wearing the same thing. Why? Why were the wandering about seeming so happy to be here? At about midnight, my door creaked open. The once busy hallways were now abandoned by its familiar passerbys. I glanced up from my nails. It was a face I recognized. Gale.
"Hey there." He spoke softly, but confident. He slid in and shut the door behind him. "So I heard you got a little nervous when introduced to the other girls?" He said sitting on my bedside. "Where am I..." I demanded through gritted bleached teeth. "Don't worry you'll be happy with where you are. I promise." He said this as he reached into his pocket. A syringe. "We all thought you'd like it here, Steph. We thought you were a pretty attractive young lady. No hope in education. So that's where we come in." He flicked at the nearly full syringe. "We save people like you. You never have to worry about school now. I mean obviously you didn't care right?" I stared off as he put the needle into my IV and injected the entire thing. "That should do it sweetheart." He said brushing my hair behind my ear. "Now let's talk about this." He said pulling out that scrap of paper. "Wanna tell me who gave you this?"
"I don't know."
"Sure you do."
"I don't"
He looked at me sternly. His jaws locked in place. He looked scary. He smiled ever so slightly.
"We'd never change you, Stephanie."
I gazed at his nearly blank stare. Nothing was there. Nobody was home.
I did t answer. We just looked at eachother for half an hour. No talking. No movement. Nothing.
Finally, he stood up and got a collapsible wheelchair out of what seemed like some kind of dispenser out in the hallways. He dragged it in and lifted me up, then plopped me into it.
"Let's take a trip." He said, wheeling my IV alongside me, out into the white hallways of the hospital.
