When Stars Align

Chapter 5

I slowly open my eyes, my vision spotted, and let my eyes adjust to the light. I squint my eyes to try to clear my vision and take in the room around me. I am lying on a small cot in one corner of the room, a door on the opposite wall of the cot, and another door next to that. What is this place? The last thing I remember is driving in the car with Max when he missed my turn. Did he bring me here? Why is my memory so foggy? I roll out of the lumpy and uncomfortable bed, stumbling a little from sore feet, of which the cause is unknown, and walk over to one of the doors. I turn the knob and walk into a small bathroom with pipes running the length of the wall. At least I have some privacy. Walking out of the bathroom and closing the door behind me, I reach for the second knob, trying to turn it unsuccessfully. Locked. Great.

"Hello?" I call out, banging my palm on the wooden door. I hear footsteps approaching from what sounds like a long hallway. The doorknob starts to turn slowly, as though my captor, I refuse to believe its Max, is trying to draw it out and make me more terrified than I already am. As if that's possible. The door starts to slowly open and it's not until I see a pair of faded Nike sneakers that I realize I've been staring at the ground. My head snaps up as I hear the sound of a throat being cleared. Its not Max, is all I can think, until I recognize another all-too-familiar face and my knees start to buckle. Strong arms that I know like the back of my hand reach out to catch me, and then, as they sense the awkwardness of them being my kidnapper, they release me and I stumble a bit but am able to stay on my feet. I cannot comprehend who is standing in front of me. I know exactly who it is, but my mind refuses to even think the name, censoring my thoughts so I can pretend its not really him.

Suddenly, everything from the night before floods my mind, the disastrous dinner, running away from Max, blacking out and the talk with his "friend," who is standing in front of me, making me momentarily dizzy and overwhelmed.

"I know what happened last night," I whisper.

He nods slowly but doesn't look me in the eye. I don't know what to think. I'm glad that he doesn't speak to me, I can almost trick myself into believing it isn't him if I don't hear his voice. The voice that has always sounded like its own genre of music, a beautiful, one-of-a-kind symphony.

He opens the door, motioning me through with his hand. I'm too afraid to ask where we're going. My curiosity gets the best of me and I walk through the door, glancing one more time at the person I know who has just become a stranger. If I were a cat, I'd be dead right about now.

I glance around at the hallway, trying to find something of significance that could give me a hint to my whereabouts, but nothing seems familiar, except the soft thud and creak of the wooden floor that reminds me of home. The hallway is long, just as I had guessed, with many doors lining either side. Finally we come to a staircase and start to ascend.

"Aren't you wondering where I'm taking you?"

I finally hear the symphony I've been dreading, the one that confirms everything I've been trying to disprove. There's absolutely no doubt about his identity. Nate.

"What I'm really wondering is why you're doing this," I try to shout but my voice comes out squeaky and mouse-like.

"Patience," he scolds.

"You'll find out soon enough."

I don't answer as we approach the landing, my heart pounding, palms sweating, and knees shaky as he opens the door. He motions me into the room but does not follow. Just as I turn around and prepare to ask why he's not in the room with me, the door slams closed, leaving a gaping me, my face not even two inches from the door. I window in the top of the door slides open to reveal a smirking Nate. I turn away and inspect my new surroundings. This room is slightly smaller than the one I woke up in, containing nothing but a chair against one wall and a table several feet away from it. The door I came in is the only exit, and I jiggle the knob, testing. Locked.

I take a seat in the chair and pull my knees close, resting my chin and let my mind take in all that has happened. Talk about a mental overload.

After what seems like minutes, or hours, I really can't tell without a clock or windows, I start to feel claustrophobic. I close me eyes and when I open them, the walls are getting closer and my head is spinning, making me immensely dizzy and I almost fall out of the uncomfortable chair. I squeeze my eyes shut to ward off the coming panic attack, and after what I think to be a few minutes, I open them and the walls are back in their normal places, for now. I hear a static sound and look above me to the ceiling, where a speaker hangs right above my head.

Attention New Subject

You are being held in The Underground Lab for Identifying Unnatural Human Beings, or ULIUHB, funded by the national government. We have recently received accounts that your behavior is unnatural and unprecedented. During the next few weeks, you will be tested and it will be determined whether you are dangerous or harmless to the normal human population. Your fate will then be decided by a council of highly regarded judges, and you may or may not be allowed to return to your normal life.