Oblivion

Chapter 13

            My brain pounded hard against my skull.
My eyes were sore as I quickly opened my eyes only to close them as a blinding light blared down on me. Again, I opened my eyes, slower this time. I noticed I was in a sanitized, white room, my back was pressed against a cold metal table. My heart rate sped up and my breathing quickened, and I tried to yank my arms up, only for them to be held back by leather straps. I was strapped down, and I thrashed around on the table, like a fish out of water. Panic flared in my chest. Where the hell am I?! I thought, trying to yank and pull my hands from the straps. I wondered where Orion and Allister was and how I got here and not at the bottom of the make-shift lake. My thoughts were cut short when a loud buzz rang through the room and a woman's voice spoke clearly through the room.

          "Hello Addieca Jones."
My head whipped around in search of the speaker, but the room was completely empty. "Where am I? Where are my friends?" I bellowed, pulling against my restraints.

           "Your friends are safe and where you are, I'm not prohibited to tell you that." The woman told me so little and anger tugged at her heart. How dare she keep me chained up and not tell me where the hell I was. I struggled harder against the restraint.

        "Are you going to let me go or what?" I spat. There was a deep silence, before the straps retracted into the table and set me free. A loud, earsplitting creak echoed through the room and I clapped my hands over my ears. A panel in the wall opened up and was replaced by a mirror.

          "Alright you let me go. Now tell me what happened to my friends."
I expected some bullshit answer about how they weren't "prohibited" to tell me but instead the wall behind me screeched open and Orion and Allister stood in the doorway.

         "Hey Red, looking good." Allister said with a smirk, but his smirk didn't have the same humor in it as it usually did. Unease pricked at my belly, "Hello," I said coolly. "you guys look... nice."

         "A lot better than you it appears." And the familiar humor echoed through his eyes, but it wasn't there for long.

       "Did they have you strapped down too? Do you know why we're here? What do they want from us-" I wasn't able say anything else, Orion cut me off.

      "Come with us Addieca, someone wants to talk with you." Orion sounded tired and worn.
The uneasy feeling pulled at the back of my chest. "Have you...spoken with that someone?" I asked, my stomach dropping ever so slowly with each passing second.
         Both boys stayed quiet until Allister stepped forward, "Yes we have Addieca and he's a very pleasant who wants to see you. Come with us so he can see you."

     This was the first-time Allister has ever said my real name and I took a step away from them. I pushed myself against the wall, away from Allister and Orion. Something about this seemed very off and none of it made sense.

       "Please Addieca, come with us, the man that wants to see you can't wait forever." Orion sighed irritably, my reluctance was starting to wain on him. "Don't worry you'll be safe, I'll protect you." And he held out his hand for me to take it.

     It occurred to me as I grabbed his hand and let him pull me away, that I trusted him. That during the long time of being in both boy's company I had grown some-what attached to them.

      My surroundings were the most peculiar sight I've ever seen. The walls were the same white color as the room I had been in but it appeared to be all made out of cold, unforgiving metal.

        "What is this place?" I whispered in awe, looking at all the white metal. Back in Everlost scrap metal was as good as water and gold.

      "You'll see, Red." Allister told her, a bemused looked never left his face.

         I found myself stopping in my tracks when I saw a small group of men and women, all wearing white, walking towards us. They looked and moved like machines; while Orion and Allister moved to the sides of the hall to let them through, I was rooted to the spot. The group didn't stop; they just marched around me and I watched them in fascination, they looked at me too; their eyes slid over to me and I couldn't help but feel inferior to them. A hand grasped my wrist and Orion pulled me aside, "Keep to the side." He hissed into my ear. I merely nodded, but my attention was drawn to another, bigger group of young men and women rounding the corner and coming towards us.

           Orion groaned, seized my arm and pulled me down the hall. At the fork-where the groups had come from- I saw a huge room (a lunch room) filled with men, women, and children, all wearing white. They all seemed to notice her and they all stopped whatever activates they were doing to stare openly at me.

       "Come on Addieca." Orion hissed at me before dragging me away in the opposite direction.

        "Who are those people? Where am I?" I asked curiously; swiveling my head to look behind me.

       "Can't tell you that Red. They guy we're going to meet will tell you everything." Allister threw his arm around my shoulders; forcing me to stop looking back.

I looked at both of them before asking, "Did he already talk to you two while I was out?"

        "Yes, he did." Orion said coolly before Allister could open his mouth to speak. "Now be quiet, my head's killing me." He murmured rubbing his temples.