Hidden Under Perfection

Chapter 24: John

I lay chained to the bed, in an all white room. it creeps me out, the obsession with white. The room through the glass wall is empty, and all I do I stare at the ceiling. The hours pass slowly and I count the ceiling panels, the walls, the number of springs sticking me in the back. The only change I get from the white is when guards in black come to bring me dinner. I saw Doran in the showers the second day here, well I think it was the second day, he told me that everyone was here, including my mom. When he told me that I couldn't believe it at first, but then it didn't take very long for me to believe it wholeheartedly.

The second time I showered I didn't see him and I thought that that was a little strange, The Clandestine was normally very punctual. I walked back to my cell just as I saw Claire being carried back into hers by a guard with yellow eyes. I sit on my ed and stare at the ceiling and time goes by slowly as I wait for the guard to come in with dinner. I force down the tasteless mush and I take a sip of the water, not enough that the drugs affect me, but enough that I won't immediately fall asleep. My eyes slowly become more heavy and eventually I fall asleep.

When I wake up, my eyes are blurry and my shoulders ache from the awkward position that being chained to the bed causes. My stomach growls but the one meal I get comes in at least three more hours. The guard with the blond hair comes into my room and takes me to the showers. The guard sits in the chair and I walk into the room. I walk up to my locker and I take a step back right before it swings open. I unlock my cuffs with less struggle than the previous days. I put the metal restraints in the locker and then I grab the clothes and put them in a stall.

I hear talking outside and then Doran walks in. His feet shuffle against the floor and when I look at him, I see the pain behind his eyes. He has a deep purple bruise on the middle of his neck. His wrists have a line of split skin that looks deep circling around both of his wrists. When he looks at me I see that there is no light in his eyes, all hope gone. I ask, "What happened?"

He looks at me and says, "I fought one of the guards, and they tortured Claire in front of me, for twelve hours. She was in agony for twelve hours, and it was my fault, I couldn't do anything to help her and I couldn't stop it." He shuffles to his locker and unlocks his cuffs. He grabs his clothes and towel and heads into the shower. I hear him hiss when the water turns on.

I walk into the shower stall and I turn on the water. The water feels good against my scalp, and I stand under the stream. I quickly finish in the shower and get dressed, I meet Doran outside the stalls. He has the same expression as before and he looks downward. I tell him, "Doran we need to get out of here."

"We can't." he replies.

"This place is killing us, you most of all. We have to get the others and get out of here, it won't be easy but we have to." I insist.

"If we fight them, they will hurt our loved ones, I can't see Claire in that much pain again." His voice cracks when he says Claire's name.

"They can't hurt us if they don't catch us."

"Yeah, but that is what they do, they are very good at finding people." He whispers and walks out of the room, his head tilted towards the ground. I wait a couple minutes before leaving the room, to make them think that we hadn't talked to each other. The guard leads me to my room and I yawn, something in the corner catches my eye, it is a black orb, maybe half an inch in diameter, it follows us down the hallway. It is a camera, it is almost impossible to spot unless you are looking for something. I look straight and the guards don't notice that I saw something. I let them chain me to the bed and then they leave me to stare at the ceiling. I try to open my eye screen, but nothing happens, it is just blank. They probably have some sort of shielding system that prevents the use of electronic devices. I lay there staring at the ceiling, and waiting, waiting for sleep and waiting for something to happen.

I eat the white mush, it doesn't taste like anythingand it makes my mouth really dry. I drink a sip of the water and I give it backto the guard. Once he leaves I look for cameras, there is one in the cornerabove my bed. It moves from side to side, rotating slightly, following mymovements. There has to be some way to trick it. The sedative in the water mustbe particularly strong tonight because I can't keep my eyes open any longer. I passout chained to my mattress.