The hallways were specifically white, and the linoleum hummed beautifully along with the smooth wheels of my wheelchair.
I stared at the floor while i was rhythmically pushed through the hallways. The man doing so hummed gleefully to himself. I sat there. Disgusted. I could stand up. I wasn't even ill. But I I didn't have the willpower to do so at this point.
Gale made a rather sharp left turn into what seems to be a hospital cafeteria. He rolled me up to a plastic table. The kind that would be brought out in the elementary school gymnasium when there was a bring your parent to lunch day, or something like that. I stared emotionless at the face of the table as he slowly made his way around to take a seat across from me on the other side. He scooted his chair in and clasped his hands together on the tabletop.
I looked up and met his devilish eyes. He always had the same slight sinister grin. I could feel my pulse in my throat and hear the ticks of the clock on the wall. Suddenly he took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
"Stephanie" he spoke calmly, fiddling with the plastic top of the table. He seemed to be thinking of each word that escaped his mouth.
"Do you understand why you're here?"
A look of absolute dumbfoundedness fell across my face as I squinted my eyes and shook my head, hoping to get the message of "seriously?!" across to him. He chuckled. Not with humor, with anger. He stood up and wiped his palms together, then sat back down and cracked his knuckles before returning to his previous position.
"I hear that it didn't go to well when you were introduced to the other girls." He spoke softly, obviously calm now.
"What do you think, dickhead?" I asked in an equally calm voice.
He chuckled once more, but with more humor this time. Seeming to let it slide, he continued.
"If you want to fit in here, you have to understand that those girls are your friends." He said raising his eyebrows to exaggerate the words.
I sat silent, torn of wanting know the answer of why and not.
"They're your partners. Your friends. Your sisters."
I looked up from my blank stare at the tabletop to see him staring.
"We know what's best. Trust us, and you'll never go wrong."
And at that moment something changed. Something inside of me clicked, like I was where I was supposed to be. Everything fell into place, and euphoria flowed through my body sending chills up my spine.
Gale knew.
"So, would you like to go back?"
He spoke calmly, knowing he was winning.
I sat still, mouth agape trying to shape words.
I nodded.
Gale stood up and wheeled me back out the door, to the elevator.
***
When I entered the room once more, it was the same. The white bed. The garage door. All the same. But the feeling was interpreted differently, and I had a feeling of untargetted determination. The garage door slid silently open, revealing a slimmer crowd of girls, again, wearing the same clothes I was. This time, a black tank top, right gray pants, and once again, white fingernail polish. I walked out with confidence, my chest puffed out and my eyes set on one redheaded girl. She had bright ice blue eyes and she was chatting with two other brunette girls. I walked up and invited myself into the conversation.
"Hey..." The redheaded girl started. She had a questioning look on her face and the other girls silently agreed. "Aren't you the girl that went down in the middle of the court?" She said, shifting the weight of her slim self to her hip and raising an eyebrow in question.
I nodded.
"Yeah."
"Are you ok?" One of the brunette girls asked.
"Yeah, did you go to the hospital?" The other chimed in.
"Yeah I'm ok. Just an overnight thing." I said, knowing full and well that I sounded nothing like the me I knew.
I stared blankly throughout our new founded group's awkward silence.
"So..." Began the redhead.
Everyone perked up, wanting something to talk about. Anything.
"It's Stephanie, right?" She asked me.
"Yeah." I answered blankly, not questioning how she knew my name.
"Well, I'm Ryan. Have you been out yet?" I snapped out of my lost mind, and looked her in the hazel eyes.
"You mean we can get out?"
"Well... Yeah for missions... Have they not told you yet?"
A shot of excitement went throughout my body.
"No!" I shouted.
"Oh... Well then I shouldn't be saying anything." Ryan then began retreating to a small set of stairs that made me realize that there were many stairs like this that led up to many different lofts that all had garage doors similar to mine. I watched her disappear into a door, and soon after a ringing alarm blared. The two brunettes informed me that it meant to go back to your room, which I did. Once inside, all of the doors slammed in chorus and a slight click echoed. A barred door in the back of my room opened as if on command, and a man appeared with a syringe. He walked up to me without hesitation, which frightened me. The syringe went for my arm, but I dodged it, throwing myself against the wall and screaming in fear. The man gripped my arm with such a force it seemed like it wasn't human. The syringe was jammed into my arm, and the entire thing was emptied. My arm almost immediately went numb once he pulled it out, and I fell over as my legs went numb as well. Things began to go black once again, and i fell asleep on the cold floor of my room.
