Who Corey Was

19

"Okay," he began with a sigh, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. "A little over a year ago, I became a student here. I was the second orphan."

"Wes," I interrupted, the name appearing in my memory suddenly.

Xander nodded. "Wesley Briggs. I didn't know him well. I was only at MSC a week before the incident occurred. Which is unusual, seeing as they usually wait a couple months before experimenting. You and I are exceptions to the rule. I'm not sure why yet.

"One night, I'm grabbed from my bed, knocked out cold. I wake up in this lab-like place. I'm strapped upright to this table-thing. There're teachers everywhere. I see Wes struggling in a similar structure to my right.

"They injected him with something, and he started screaming. Before I knew it, they had a needle in my arm too. The pain was unbearable. I yelled. Nearly passed out.

"Meanwhile they were putting some sort of purple gel on their fingers from a dispenser machine and rubbing it onto Wes's temples. While all this was happening, something exploded. I was barely aware of it; I was in so much pain. Someone touched my head.

"I just remember seeing a bright flash and a bolt shot through my chair and Wes's. Alarms were blaring, people were yelling. There was utter chaos everywhere. My table was smoking and the braces holding me in place were melting.

"I broke free and saw Wes's table doing the same thing, only his eyes were closed, and his table had been knocked into its horizontal position. As I'm seeing this..."

Xander paused, eyeing his hands. His brow wrinkled as if he was thinking hard. I got strange feeling he was leaving something out, but I didn't say anything. I was too absorbed in the story.

"Another lady came at me. I looked her in the eye and yelled, 'No!' And she stopped. I remember wondering why but being too panicked to come up with a reasonable explanation. So, I said, 'Just tell them you did to me whatever you did to Wes and let me go!' She just nodded and stepped aside. Just like that."

"Wait," I interrupted again, confused. "She just let you go?"

"Yeah," he replied, looking up and meeting my eyes.

"Why? I don't understand," I questioned, exasperated.

"Because, Core," he replied, maintaining eye contact. "I told her to."

"What do you me—" I stopped as a feeling of light-headedness came over me.

"You're hungry," he said, staring intensely. And as he said it, I realized that I was hungry. Starving actually.

"Ask me to come have breakfast with you," he commanded.

"Would you like to finish your story over breakfast?" The words poured out of my mouth before I realized it. Why had I said that?

He got up and started for the door. I jumped up and followed him. "How did you do that?"

Xander didn't even look at me as he answered, and we started down the hall. "Core, I could make you say or think anything I wanted you to. If I wanted you to forget something, you'd forget it." He paused. "Although that part might not work on you. Strange..."

He lapsed into silence as we descended the stairs, clearly pondering this possibility, but I had other things on my mind. "How?" I asked.

He glanced at me then kept walking. "Some sort of side effect I guess. Not sure."

"Wait, how did you get out of there?" I asked, pausing just before we entered the cafeteria.

Xander smirked and turned to face me. His gloved hands gripped my shoulders and he rotated me so my back was towards the foyer. He put his arms out in front of me and I realized I was his shield, blocking the view of the cameras.