Inexplicable

13. Sadie

The figures in dark clothing are chasing me. We are back inside the exit-less building with the infinite white tile. My black funeral clothes are ripped and bloody from who knows what. The large figures are getting closer. I scream. My heart is racing and I can't think. The salty tears streaming down my face begin to turn into a deep crimson color. I scream louder. I try to turn back, but my blurred vision makes me fall. The cold tile is ice to the palms of my hands. I'm screaming so much my throat runs dry. No sound is leaving my mouth. I punch the tile, the wall, everything until my knuckles are raw. I try to yell, to do something but nothing is happening. But, all of a sudden lush lavender shoes are in front of my face. I go very still. I look up and cry harder. "Mom?" She laughs coldly. "Foolish girl." She stomps on my throat.

I wake to myself screaming. I helplessly look around and can find nothing I recognize. I'm on a black bed in a windowless room. The wooden door bursts open, and Aiden comes running inside. I've stopped crying, but I can't catch my breath. Aiden's arms wrap around my shoulders, letting my head rest against his chest. "It's okay. It was just a dream. Breath." His voice is genuine but rehearsed, as if he was the one having the nightmare. I close my eyes, but all I can see is my mother stomping on my throat. I pull back, once my heart rate is steady. The door is closed now, leaving Aiden and I alone in a foreign bedroom. "Where am I?"
Aiden sits in a worn gray chair in front of me.
"What do you remember?"
I haven't thought about that. But then it all comes rushing back. The funeral, the building from my dreams, Aiden and the others. Suddenly all I feel is an empty pit of anger. "Did you kidnap me?" I yell. He is about to reply but I cut him off. "I was at my grandparents funeral!" How inconsiderate can he be? After he was the one who left me at the Transportation Center? He shifts. "I saw that building and then all of a sudden I'm here?" I can't believe this. "Did you knock me unconscious? How long have I been out?" Then I remember Emaline. "Oh my God. My family. They must be worried sick." I start towards the door but Aiden grabs my arm, thankfully not the one I hurt from the crash. I pull it back.
"There are others out there. Let me explain and then you can go." I shake my head.
"Why is it every time we meet something goes wrong? First the plane and now this?" I gesture to everything around me. I look at him straight in his eyes. "Who are you?"
His jaw flexes, but he doesn't break. He takes a step closer to me. "If I tell you, you will live your life in constant danger. There will be no going back." For the short time I've known him, I've never seen him so conflicted. I take a step closer to him this time. I'm tired of living a meaningless life. What's life without some risks? I want the world to know my name. To know I made a difference. I narrow my gaze and set my hands on my hips.
"Tell me." He smiles, expecting that answer. He tells me about the experiments, about how him and his friends just outside that door have suffered at the hands of scientists around the United Provinces, but never goes into details. He tells me about the government and their failed attempts at saving us, but instead destroyed us. He tells me about how there was once a time when humans lived until the ages of ninety. How is that possible?
When he is finally done, he stares at me. But all I can say is that "My parents were scientists." But maybe they were different. Maybe he's wrong that all scientists torture others. There had to be some good ones, right? My parents would never ever inflict pain on others for their personal pleasure. How could they? All my life they were perfect, in times stress they never wavered. I could and will never see them as the scientists Aiden is talking about. My parents loved others as much as they loved me. It's just impossible. It has to be impossible.
He sits down next to me. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way." I turn to him but don't look at him. "I'm sorry for what you've been through." He doesn't reply to that. The door opens and a tall girl with short black hair comes in the room. "Sorry to interrupt," she looks from me to Aiden, "but they finished re-downloading and decoding the files." She crosses her tattooed arm over her chest and leaves. "That's Maddox." Aiden says. She seems nice. He gets up and starts to leave. I walk with him. In this room, there are no windows, but there are three large monitors sitting on a glass table. A guy with glasses is sitting in front of them anxiously waiting for a timer to reach 00:00. We still have 10 seconds. More people are filling into the room. A large man with one ear stops next to me and says "Glad see you woke up." He smiles, with some teeth missing. I don't respond. Aiden leans down and whispers, "that's Kräne." I nod. There is a blonde boy standing next to the one with glasses. They wreak of anxiety. The timer hits 00:00 but nothing appears on the screen. The guy with glasses smacks the table in frustration, causing it to crack. "No!" He curses to himself and I flinch. He throws his hands up. "Of course. They knew we were coming!" He turns to face the blond-haired boy and becomes eerily silent. "They will always be one step ahead of us." He pushes through us and leaves the room. A girl, not Maddox, and Kräne go after him. The blonde-haired boy faces me. "How do we know this isn't your fault, huh? Are you helping them? Why the hell were you in Dr. Elias' house anyway?" Aiden gets in front of him. "Rolland it's not her fault. She didn't even know where she was!"
Maddox and the others left, leaving Rolland, Aiden and I alone. I turn to Rolland. "I'm sorry if I ruined your plans, but I had nothing to do with those files. Up until a few minutes ago, I didn't know they existed."
Rolland lets out a chuckle and leaves the room with Aiden following after.