The Apprentice's Journey

The Truth

I wake up in the corner of a room. A blanket has been hastily thrown over me. My eyes are slowly adjusting to the darkness.

What happened???

The room comes more into view. It's a dome. Dried blood seems to stain the floor. Across the room I see a small viewing platform. Two blurry figures are staring at me through the window. I squint to try and get a better view. I think it's...Xephos???

No that's not right.

It's Lewis. Then I turn to the next guy. Memories are slowly beginning to return. I hate him, he lied to me. But...but I'm forgetting something. He apologised.

And he cares.

And he's helping me.

Think, Kim think. Let the memories come. I close my eyes and let my brain sort itself out. The whirring slowly stops. I allow my breathing to slow. Before looking up again. It Sips. He's okay. That's a relief. I look him up and down.

His face...is fixed.

Not a scar nor a scratch. No evidence of its previous state. He staring right at me. He looks frightened. I go to move towards him.

But I can't.

I look down at my hands. They are chained to the wall. I can only move a little bit. I look up at Sips, straight into his eyes. He leans down and, his hand trembling, hits a button on a console below the window. His voice is projected through the room.

"Hey Kim." He says.

"Umm, hi. Why am I chained up?" I ask.

"It's hard to explain, Hannah wants to talk to you. I'm sure she will tell you."

"Sure...." I reply.

He takes his hand off the button and nods to Lewis. He looks at what I think is a computer screen and types some commands on the keyboard. The clasps become loose. The door opens. I stand up slowly. My legs ache and feel like they will collapse at any moment. I go to take a step towards the door but stumble. I find myself back on my knees everything begins to spin again. I'm to weak to reach the door. I'm in pain. I can't even keep a strong expression on my face anymore. I desperately look up for help.

They still look at me through the window. Sips stares down at me, his expression almost seems to mirror mine. Pain, sadness and unexplained anger. He turns to Lewis and starts to shout but he only continue to study more. He seems curious to my reactions, as if I'm an experiment. Lewis slowly puts one finger to Sips lips without looking away from me. Sips stops. Lewis puts up his other hand and motions it toward me. Two other figures run towards me dressed in radioactive suits. They grab me under one arm each and carry me out. Sips turns too face me.

"Kim!" He shouts.

One of the men holding me pulls out something. An injection. he stabs it into my arm and I feel myself begin to...get....drowsy.

My eyes begin flutter shut as I begin to lose consciousness. All I can hear is my name being called repeatedly in the distance but I can't see who is calling it.

"Duncan." I cry.

Silence.

***

The room comes into view. I don't even have control over my body anymore. The flux was in control and now yoglabs. I can hear arguing outside as I struggle in the restraints at hold me down to the chair. I'm in a new place now. It seems to be an interrogation room. Two guards stand on either side of an iron door. My head still pounds.

I hear arguing outside. I hear Sips' voice first.

"You don't have the right."

"She is the hazard." Lewis says. "I have the right to do what I want to protect who I feel I have to."

"SHE COULDN'T EVEN STAND UP!!!!! SHE WAS WEAK!!!!! SHE CANT CONTROL THE FLUX AND HE WOULDN'T HAVE GOT HURT IF IT WASNT FOR YOU!!!!! YOU DIDNT EVEN THAT BOTHERED ABOUT HIM ANYWAY!!!!!" A pause, then Sips continues, quieter and weaker. "He did more to help than I did and now he is hurt and that is not alright,"

"You couldn't have done anything Sips." A woman's voice. Hannah. "You were being controlled. Now let me talk to her."

The door slides open. Hannah stands there, smiling at me.

"Hi Kim." She says.

"Hey." I reply.

"I'm Hannah."

"I know."

She turns to the guards. "Let Kim go."

They appear hesitant at first but eventually do as she says. They undo the restraints around my hands. A mark is left on my arm where they were.

"Now leave."

The guards don't argue. They leave without another word. Hannah slams the door and leans against it, laughing.

"You okay? You have this terrified expression on your face."

I smile and lean back in my chair.

"I'm sorry. It's just everything that has happened." I say.

"A lot has happened to me. That's why I acted like I did earlier."

"So what do you want to talk to me about?"

"It can wait." She says

"No it can't. Where is he?" I ask, staring her right in the eye. Her smile falls into a confused expression and she tilts her head still looking at me.

"Duncan's with Rythian. We have to hope that he's at Blackrock if you have a chance of finding him."

"No, not Duncan, Simon."

"Simon. You've only met him twice. I heard you had an argument with him before everything kicked off. Why would you care where he was?"

"Because people don't just disappear. Something happened to him."

She looks up at the ceiling trying really hard to avoid my gaze. I can see her biting her lip as she thinks. She shifts nervously from one foot to another. One thing I've learnt is that it means they don't want me to know. She's hiding something and I think I can guess what.

She sits down and still avoiding eye contact begins to speak.

"Kim, you have to understand that what I'm about to tell you wasn't your fault."

She finally finds the courage to look me in the eye.

"You can't control the flux Kim. Lewis shouldn't have done that to you but......Simon came to try and help you. He fought his way in and when everything went south, he got hurt. He and some of the scientists are in hospital right now, unconscious. Kim, are you okay."

But I can't concentrate. The world around me becomes blurry and faint. I stumble out into the hallway. I don't know where I'm going. I feel someones arms wrap around me. I lean in.

They begin to stroke my hair. I can feel the tears on my face. I imagine the figure as Duncan and try to block the endless calls of my name out.

Its back to how it should be. Just me and Duncan against the world.