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Chapter 7: The Darkroom

"Welcome, Alexander Black, to The Walton Institute for Creative Killing and Ephemeral Destruction. Your new name is 031456x-1. You are no longer a man. You are our test subject. You are nothing more."

A brilliant white light lit the room, blinding him momentarily as he woke from his sleep, these words ringing in his head. He tried to move, but he couldn't. His arms were attached to a table. Feeling returned to his limbs and he felt the cold metal of the table pressing against his bare back. He became nervous and struggled to escape from his bonds. It isn't that simple to escape from things. 

There was a searing pain in Alex's left arm, and he looked to see what it was. 031456x-1 was tattooed into his arm, or branded. He couldn't tell, he just knew it hurt. He tried to call out Anna's name, but no sound came out. His throat hurt too much to speak, it was better if he kept his mouth shut. 

Malicious laughter emanated from the darkness behind him, just out of sight.  "I wouldn't do that," a woman's voice taunted. "You might get yourself hurt!" It was her, the same woman from before... the one who looked like Anna. She sounded different, though, something changed about her. Her heeled shoes could be heard, clacking against the marble tile as she walked towards him, dragging her finger lazily across his chest, and grinning at the fact that he couldn't move to defend himself, couldn't scream out for help.

 "My, my, Alex seems to have gotten himself into a bit too much trouble, hasn't he?" she said. She leaned in, her lips almost touching his, closer than anyone had ever gotten to him before, even Anna. But this wasn't the thought that went through his head. Instead, he realized she was too close to defend herself, and he knocked into her head with his own, sending her stumbling backwards. 

"You insolent wretch, I'll teach you to respect me, to obey me!"she screamed. She attempted to control her anger, but her composure was quickly falling away, as she smacked Alex square in the face, multiple times, drawing blood with her sharp fingernails.

"Be a good pet, and that won't happen again," she growled. His eyes watered, but he refused to let this woman watch him break before her. He gained control, and lay there, stoically. This angered her, and she stormed off to a cabinet, reaching inside. Glass bottles clinked against each other as she rummaged through the cabinet, presumably for something sharp, and most likely painful. After a moment, she returned, bearing a simple glass vial and a syringe.

"I had expected you to be more... cooperative," she said, with a grin. "It appears that you will not be... are you prepared for your shot?" 

Let it be known, Alex was deathly afraid of needles. Once, when he was younger, the doctor was supposed to inject him with a vaccine for Influenza in the arm. Instead, the doctor came to work drunk, and stabbed him repeatedly, though never in the arm. Alex had been afraid ever since. This woman seemed to know this, and came close with a sneer, trying to hold him still. 

"It's either this, or you drink it. Which would you prefer?" she questioned. Alex tried to respond, to say drink, anything but an injection. The woman just laughed. "Oh, I forgot to mention, pet. You can't talk. I gave you some liquid before you arrived to shut off your vocal cords." This came with another laugh. "It's so much more enjoyable when my pets can only groan and yelp, but can't form words of their own... or scream!"

With this, she stabbed him in the arm, injecting whatever liquid it was inside of him. He couldn't stop her, he was powerless. Just as powerless as when he was bullied in school, unable to stop his oppressors from doing as they pleased to him. When he felt the metal pierced his skin, his lips melted into a silent scream. He yelled and yelled and yelled, but nobody could hear, nobody could hear, not even himself. It was then when he realized how truly terrible his situation was, and he couldn't hold it in anymore. He began struggling, he was no longer still for a moment. The woman was surprised, yet smiled as if this was somewhat expected. 

"Stay still, pet" she commanded. He didn't stop, and she got annoyed. She sliced at his chest with her nails, cutting large gashes across it, tearing through his shirt, drawing beads of blood. 
"You will do as I say, and nothing else. Not following my orders will result in punishment. Are we understood, pet?" Alex, in pain, longing for Anna, missing his life, nodded. She giggled, as if she were a child, and she kissed his forehead. "I'll be back tomorrow." She added one more thing, with a grin, before walking out the doorway and shutting the lights. "Don't go anywhere"


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As soon as the woman left the room, Alex's strong, brave, stoic exterior melted away, replaced by the kind, loving man who cared for all. He cried, fountains of tears erupting soundlessly from his eyes. Tears for all the things he'd never get to do, tears for all the things he'd never get to say. Tears, for he didn't know if Anna was alright. Tears because he loved her. Tears because he knew that if Anna was here, no matter how bad things were, everything would be okay. But everything wasn't okay. She wasn't here. 

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 He was awoken the next morning by an angry slam of the door. Before he could open his eyes, a collar was placed around his neck and he was injected with another liquid. He was then unfastened from whatever table he was on, then rolled onto the floor, landing on his hands and knees.

"That injection I just gave you will prevent you from bending your knees in any other position than they are know, and keep your arms stiff. You will have no choice but to walk on all fours today, my pet." She laughed and there was a sharp pull on his collar, he had no choice but to follow her. 

"Tell me, " she questioned. "How do you feel today? Do you feel... powerful?"

She placed the keys to his collar on a table and chained him to the wall. "Can you get those keys for me? I'm dreadfully tired." She chuckled and sat down just out of reach of his chain. He hadn't really paid much attention to how he felt, other than tired, hurt, and betrayed. He glared at her, and she just smirked. He dashed forwards, hoping maybe she accidentally put the keys too close, but he was stopped by his collar. He tried to reach it as hard as he could, but it was too far away. Each attempt made the woman laugh, each laugh made Alex angrier and angrier. 

"You seem angry, Alex" she said. "If you want something... just think hard enough, and it might come to you." 

Needless to say, this was the most confusing thing this strange woman has said. If you think hard enough? What kind of advice was that? But Alex had nothing better to do, so he decided to try it out. He glared at the keys, and at first nothing happened. Time passed, but Alex wasn't keeping track. It could've been seconds, minutes, even hours, but he stared at those keys, focusing as if they were the only things that existed. The woman gave him a critical look.

"I guess I grabbed the wrong g-" She didn't get to finish her thought, for at that moment, the keys began to rattle, and they rose a good foot off the table, quivering in the air as ig yhru ertr trying to decide where to go. She frowned. "I guess I was wrong." She stood up and wrenched the keys from midair, tucking them away into her pocket. She walked back over to Alex and lifted his chin, forcing him to look into her eyes. "You did good today, pet. Maybe some day, I might reward you." She unchained him from the wall and pulled on his leash, forcing him to follow her again. Now, he was too stunned to resist, and followed her blindly. He didn't notice as she led him past the room he woke up in. He didn't notice as she let him through a small hole in the wall, into a cage. He did notice, however, as she attached his leash high above his cage, not allowing him any movement whatsoever. The door slammed shut.  She turned and left the room, leaving him in darkness. She didn't even say goodnight.