Rebirth

Chapter Nine - Programme Alpha

Chapter 9 – Programme Alpha

My feet pound against the snowy concrete as Tai contains her death grip on my arm.  I can feel the light thud of my blood running through my veins as it struggles to bypass Tai’s fingers.  I have no control of my body as she continues to run to an unknown destination.  As we run through the frosty air I can see our breath come out of our mouths in a hasty puff of smoke.

Tai’s pace doesn’t falter as we continue to storm towards the doors.  She refuses to let go of my hand even when she opens a presumably heavy door which leads back into a smaller section of the campus.  The only time she does pause is when I accidently trip over the door step, although a pause is all she allows, as soon as I’m back on my feet she immediately yanks me forward again.

Weaving through desolate hallways I have nothing better to do than casually glance at the walls that stream past. They’re all mainly bland, blank and boring but I find that as we dive deeper into the unknown realms of this building I can in fact see beauty.  Hand carved borders line each door way, intricately crafted to show incredible shadow and lighting which contrast together perfectly to create a dark blended colour.  At the top of each door there are also hand carved dogs, each in a different stance or position to the next.

Shards of shattered memories still scrape their way back into my mind, slithering in like a venomous snake, you don’t know if it’s lethal or not.  Every time I look at one of these animals on the door those shards appear: black fur, claws, blood, screaming, darkness, light, fangs, and the wolf.  Yet every time I pass it off, because I knew it was just a dream, a side effect of my recent self-torture.

In my blur of thought I don’t realise that Tai is talking to me, so I immediately turn around, hopefully she didn’t notice my lack of concentration.  Subconsciously while she talks I begin to rub the back of my left hand, it feels slightly irritated, like a mixture of heat and pins and needles.

Finally she turns around, asking me to wait outside the door while she goes in first.  It confuses me why I have to wait but I daren’t argue when she’s like this. So I patiently wait as she walks through the doorway and closes the door behind her so that I am left in the hallway with only my thoughts.

I can hear muffled shouting from the room next to where I stand, the one which Tai entered.  As I try and hear what is being said I lean against the door slightly, not much weight against it, just so I can press my ear against the sliver of a gap between the door and the frame.  Unfortunately the shouting stops, disabling me from trying to figure out what’s happening.

Then, a roaring bellow summons me.

“Atka!” Tai yells, I could tell it was her any day. I gulp slightly from her tone of voice; it beckons a ‘don’t piss me off’ kind of attitude. Hesitantly I stalk into the room, pushing the door open timidly.

To my surprise when I walk in I am immediately greeted by none other than the table of Elders from earlier this evening.  My heart practically stops, or at least skips a beat. Tai stands behind Trent at the end of the table, her stance is defensive and her arms are crossed, her expression is a mirror of her body language.

Trent’s face is almost the same, his eyes are locked on my while his head is slightly bowed in thought. His hands are clasped together with his elbows on the desk; his posture is straight, as if he is struggling to come to a decision and is at war with himself. The other elders just stare at me, piercing eyes with judgemental looks. I find myself uncomfortably shifting my feet. Feeling agitated about all of this attention I clear my throat loudly.

“Kaskae, sit.” Trent commands strictly. I obey immediately, trembling for a split second from his commanding tone.  “We’d like to talk to you about your… incident this evening.”