Immortalia

Chapter 5 - When Reality Comes Knocking

Chapter 5 – When Reality Comes Knocking

Aurora struggled to free herself from the table in the cold examination room. Once her body had healed, a Haw Tech official had fetched her from the recovery room, only to move her here. They’d asked her to lie down on her stomach, and she’d obliged, thinking that they had yet another test for her.

She had known the mutual respect had been too good to be true. As soon as her chest hit the padded table, four Haw Tech scientists had bound her hands and legs. She’d tried to reason with them that there was no need for this—she’d do as they asked. But they ignored all her pleas and questions.

She wasn’t sure why the restraints bothered her so much. Compared to everything else she’d been through in her life, this was almost a luxury, and Haw Tech still hadn’t given her any reason to distrust them so far—well, with the sole exception of tying her up like a rabid dog. More than anything, it was the feeling of being unable to move that she found so disturbing.

Though she couldn’t see them but for the corner of her eyes, she could hear the tap of feet against marble as scientists in white lab coats circled around her; she heard them mumble about various medical jargon: blood-scans, surgery, and she tensed when she heard someone ordered to bring out a laser. Aurora didn’t know what they intended, but something definitely feel right.

“I want to talk to Daniel Hawkins or Charlesta Callan,” she said. She waited for one of them to answer, but there was no reply.

On second thought, it’s not the being tied up that bothers me the most—it’s their silence. Why won’t they at least talk to me?

She couldn’t even see their faces. Her head was pressed into the table, and if she strained her neck, she still couldn’t make out more than their torsos.

I need a shot, she thought. Badly.

It was difficult to keep her eyes open; she needed something to pep her up. Her eyelids were heavy, her body exhausted, and she wanted to sleep.

Maybe I can go see Ron.

Would now be a good time to get away? To return to her world of shadow and warmth? She glanced around the room. All the white-coated people had their back turned towards her so that none of them would notice if she let herself slip away. She doubted they would mind even if they did notice. It was, after all, her body they were interested in and not her mind.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One….

It didn’t take long for her to slip into the right state of mind: relaxed, numbed, and distant. Without the fear of pain to hinder her escape, she was able to leave the examination room behind her. There was a feeling of floating, of weightless, and then with a quick, barely perceptible flicker, she found herself outside Ron’s apartment—his apartment.

Her heart sank when she noticed he was nowhere to be found. She searched the area around her; the sun was just rising, and the street in front of his apartment was filled with the usual morning traffic. There were many faces in the crowded sidewalks, but if he was here, she would find him—or he would find her.

“Hello?” she called. “Are you there?”

Men, women, and children shuffled past her, and all ignored her call as if she were but a ghost, unseen and unheard. None replied to her question: the pedestrians continued on their way, disregarding her existence. She waited around a moment before calling after him again. For a second time, no one answered. Aurora wondered what she was supposed to do.

Her eyes landed on the door to Ron’s apartment and over the small flight of stairs leading inside. Could she simply walk inside uninvited? He had called it his home, and he’d claimed to have been in a relationship with her.