Sickly Sweet

The New Lana

Sophie woke in a cold blue room with her arms tied to the bedpost, needles protruding from them. Wincing at the uncomfortable feeling of liquid being forced into her veins, she looked at the door and struggled against the ropes holding her back.

The needles were attached to tubes that projected from a large, metal machine. The room was dank and lit by a single, flickering bulb above her head.

Sophie tried to twist against the bed just so the needles would come out but it was no use. She was stuck.

Eyes rolling into the back of her head, she groaned and slipped back into unconsciousness.

When she came to for good, she was once again trapped inside the tube in the lab. Her eyes fluttered open and exclamatory shouts floated to her pounding ears through the thick walls.

"She's awake!" a muffled voice shouted. Mumbling to herself, she rubbed her cold arms and felt the small pricks from where the needles had stuck into her skin.

So it wasn't a dream.

Looking down at her feet, Sophie gasped. How? Had the needles been injecting some sort of dye into her system?

Her once beautifully delicate pale skin was now a shimmery aqua. Beautiful, but strange. Looking at her chest, she found that a silky sea-green gown was enveloping her now curvy frame.

Mouth wide open with shock, Sophie stared at her reflection in the dirty glass. Large bowls of swirling teal marked in the middle by a black pupil stared back at her.

Green emeralds matching her dress were stitched into her skin, draping around her neck almost like a necklace. Touching the cold stones in shock, Sophie's huge eyes welled with tears.

She was beautiful, but, in a way only she could notice, monstrous as well. She had become one of them.

Clutching her turquoise-and-green streaked blonde hair, she sunk to the floor and began to sob as the scientists watched on. Sophie rubbed her eyes and wiped her swollen red nose.

Leaning against the cold wall, she reluctantly opened one eye and watched the men watching her. Feeling a sudden burst ignite inside her, she threw herself up and began banging on the glass.

"What? What are you looking at, huh? What's so special about me? Why - why am I the victim?"

Most of the men stepped back, frightened. A few lingered in the front row. One in particular nodded and wrote down something with a large blue pen.

Furious, Sophie raised her voice.

"Why me, huh? WHY THE HELL DID YOU CHOOSE ME TO BE HERE? WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT ME?"

Screaming, she slammed her hands against the wall as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Why - why me?"

All the fight was gone, the spark was out of fuel. She opened her mouth and let her muscles go slack. The beautiful orbs slowly scanned the room, pausing on the scientist writing in his notebook.

"Why me."

~*~

Fifteen minutes later, she was drawing small figures in the misty glass. Her cheek was pressed against one of the metal sides, and her hand was outstretched, creating hearts and stars and small people. Decorating a short-haired girl with a large smile, she mumbled,

"Briel."

Next to her was a long-haired beauty with dimples and sparkling eyes.

"Deandra."

Ignoring the scientists documenting her every move, she finished with two taller, older-looking characters.

"Mum, Dad." She leaned back against the wall, a small tear trickling down her face. Sighing, she brought herself back up and wiped away the drop. She was missing someone.

Sketching a small girl with shoulder-length hair and a small smile, Sophie accentuated the small tank top and leggings.

"Me."

"Well, that was me." Used to being on her lonesome, she had adopted the habit of talking to herself.

"Now I'm just a monster, like the rest of 'em." Gesturing to the scientists, she got to her feet.

"Well, at least I still got my personality. I'm still Sophie, just on the inside."

"And they can't take that away from me."

Or could they? She wondered. Could they somehow force her to lose her memory like Lana, only to be uncovered years later?

But even if she were to recover her memory, she'd have no way of getting home. It was best to get there while the trail was hot, and Sophie was pretty sure it was ice-cold by now.

Which really, really, sucked.

Turning to the men, she pointed at one of them who looked at her like, Who, me?

Nodding, she directed for him to come closer and he tentatively did so. Leaning in, Sophie carefully enunciated each word.

"I'm. Hungry."

He looked a bit confused but held up his hand as if to say hold on and ran to the other side of the room while the rest of his bunch watched on.

Grabbing a small bucket, he plunked it into a crane-like device that opened the lid of her tube and dropped the food in. Starving, Sophie grabbed the bucket and leaned in.

Shoved against one side of the bucket was a huge hunk of meat, cooked medium-well and soaked in delicious-smelling spices. The smell wafted up to her eager nostrils and, listening to her stomach growl, she realized just how hungry she was.

Delicately laid in the center-right was a thick, fat slice of bread coated in rich butter. Sophie reached out to touch it and brought her hand back, smelling the slightly bitter but devine smell of freshly-baked sourdough.

Sighing deeply, she practically dove in and finished the meal in seconds. Her stomach was murmuring with satisfaction at being treated to such fine food, and her tastebuds were singing.

Sophie licked the last sliver of butter from her fingers and smiled. She could get used to this.

Maybe it wasn't so bad after all, being held captive here. After all, she was at a palace.

And Sophie was more than ready to live the life of a Princess.

(A/N)

I have an excuse. I was sick over the weekend, but I still incredibly sorry. And, being a vegetarian, extremely hungry for meat. But I will try to make it up to you guys :) Please vote and comment if you like/dislike my story!