Telepathy

4.

The large metal door slammed shut and I was left alone with the dust specks that floated in the dark room. The light above me only lit up the centre of the room, so shadows crept around in a perfect circle. As a kid I had always been scared of the dark, scared of the monsters that lurked in it, but now I was unsure what to feel. A mixture of emotions whirled around in my head. Anger, anxiety, fear, sadness, grief, loss, confusion.

Suddenly lights flicked on from all around the room, revealing what had been hiding under the thick blanket of darkness. It looked like a lab from the 1930s and everything seemed to be dated almost a century. Dust clung to everything I saw and mould had gathered in the far corners. A shiver ran through my body.

I let out a sigh and allowed myself to slip of the chair I was handcuffed to. I didn't have the motivation to move anywhere, so I just pressed my back against the ageing chair. That was enough to tell me that, somehow, the chair was secured to the ground.

While I had time I decided to check out my surroundings. Rows of tables were neatly arranged down the room. A couple of microscopes dotted the surfaces of the dusty tables. Cupboards hung on the walls and one was missing a door, revealing rows of empty test tubes. I shivered.

As I was looking around, I heard someone fumbling with the locks on the large door. A woman opened the door and stepped in. She had long blonde hair and her eyes were a faded green. However, I couldn't help but notice how dull they were. I tried to imagine them bright and sparkling, and it was a much prettier sight. She wore a long lab coat like Dr. Tim and she was holding a stack of papers.

"I take it you're Archer?" She spoke as she placed the papers on one of the tables. Her voice was tired and emotionless, and I longed to know what was going on with her.

I nodded.

"I'm Dr. Ray." She looked at me and smiled slightly.

"What's going on? Why am I here?" I asked. Hopefully I could get more answers from her than from Dr. Tim.

"I thought Dr. Tim explained it? Oh well." I watched as she walked to the side of the room and pulled a chair up to mine and sat on it. "You're aware that you cannot psychologically communicate with another being. In other words, you know you can't read minds. Correct?"

I nodded.

"Dr. Tim decided to keep you here for a few tests." She continued. "I didn't agree with it." Dr. Ray whispered that sentence, looking at me. Her green eyes were cloudy with sorrow, and it was a massive improvement from the dull ones I'd seen before.

I stared at her in astonishment. "You didn't want to capture me?"

"No, but I would have been fired if I didn't." She sighed. "I'm so sorry Archer."

"Surely being fired from this place is a great thing." If I worked here, I would do anything I could to get fired.

"Not exactly. I don't have anything else. My mother and father have passed away and I have no idea where my husband is with my daughter. She was six when they took me, and that was years ago." Loss broke her voice and I felt the same feeling just listening to her story. She'd lost her family too...

"They took you?" I prompted carefully, choosing my words cautiously.

"Yes. I have better hearing than most. Dr. Tim demanded to look at me. After a while I was offered a job in exchange for good sanitation, food and water. Before that, I'd been given nothing." She explained, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "I do not want that to happen to you, Archer." I watched as she stood up. "I'm planning something for you," She whispered so quietly I hardly picked up her words. "But you have to be quiet about it."

I nodded, excitement making my heart tickle and butterflies begin to flutter in my belly. "I will."

"Good. I will be back later this evening, for now, take this." She put something cold and metal in my hand. I looked down into my palm. It was a watch.

"Thank you." I was really grateful, now I will be able to tell day from day and month from month.

"Don't let Dr. Tim see you with that though." She warned before leaving through the metal door.

She was going to get me out of here. We were both going to get out of here.