The Placebo Effect

10 - Bittersweet

She was the same, but drastically different.

Tanya walked in, all sweetness and light drained from her into a sharp cruelty. Her eyes, once having seemed chocolatey and kind, now looked dark and hungry.

But her voice was the same - high, breathy, sugary.

"Good morning everyone!"

Morning? I surely haven't been here overnight?

"I, and the other representatives of Northwall Laboratory, would like to thank you for your voluntary aid! With your help, we will be able to develop a breakthrough in science - a memory enhancer."

The room was quiet - what she was saying was nothing extraordinary, but the way she said it made us all hang on to her every word as though it were sustaining us. Even the shock at seeing Tanya - Tanya - in the position of power here seemed to fade once she spoke.

"You will now be taken to your rooms for the remainder of your stay."

As she spoke, a sudden drowsiness sank through my limbs. I felt myself fall asleep - but my brain was awake, thinking, shrieking at this sudden loss of control. I couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't move. I couldn't even feel the cold hard desk cradling my sleeping face.

But I felt the pain.

The stinging in my neck was back, but worse, strong and acidic, as though another needle was being placed in my neck...

My mind suddenly clear, I found I could remember everything that had happened to me since my arrival. For a few moments, utter terror gripped my heart, and I began an endless piercing shriek, mental or physical I couldn't say.

All I know is, I had forgotten by the next morning.