Hybrid: The Prologue (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter Four, Betrayed

Chapter Four, Betrayed

Raze’s pancakes tasted so good. I know its simple but it’s my first meal since eating the slop that PARADOX serves. Now I am sitting here in the huge, dark TV room. Watching TV on this huge screen that makes it look like you’re in a movie theatre. Avalon is walking in Raze’s maze garden and Byron is taking a shower. Raze walks in and sits beside me.

“Why are you watching this boring thing?”

Raze almost surprises me as she remarks loudly. I didn’t know what this show was about but it’s been a long time since I watched any TV so I kind of just let it run. Simple pleasures. She claps twice and the TV turns off. Then she smiles and faces me. She looks down at me leg and frowns. I look down and see that my leg is swollen where the taser brace used to be . . .

“Where’d that brace go?”

Raze looked at me and smiled wearily.

“I used to work as a doctor in PARADOX. I unlocked you guys’ braces so you could take them off.”

I touched the swollen area. It’s really numb. I can’t feel a thing. A shock suddenly hits my head and my heart beats slower. I start to black out . . . again. I'm getting really tired of this being weak stuff.

I feel a warm hand stoking my forehead and a crying person in front of me.  I slowly open my eyes and look around. Judging from all this medical stuff in this green room, we’re in a hospital. To my left Raze is smiling weakly and stroking my forehead. Avalon is at the foot of the bed crying. She looks up, wipes her tears and smiles.  Byron is —

“ Don’t you dare worry us like that again.”

Byron has a neutral face and his hair is still wet. He’s sitting at the right side if the bed, closer to me.

“Okay, sorry I ruined your bath time, Byron. I promise not to interrupt you or worry you again.”

We all start laughing while Byron turns red.

A doctor with goggles and rolled up sleeves came in through the door.

“Excuse me? May I examine Miss Xena, privately please?”

Byron smiled and ushered Raze and Avalon out the room, along with himself.

Then the doctor closed the door and approached me. He took his hearing-the-heart thingy and put it to my chest.

“Your heart beat is slowly going back to normal. Like always right, Little Miss Snow?”

Then the doctor smirked mischievously and took off his goggles. My eyes widened. His gold hair, gold eyes, and his elaborate mark on his arm. Why the heck didn’t I notice him? Especially the mark. I would know that mischievous face anywhere.

“Nyx?!”

He shrugs and lets out his arms as if to say, no duh.

Then he comes closer and gives me a hug.

“How did you get out of PARADOX?”

Nyx slowly backs away from me, still mischievously smiling.

“I thought you know about me being a favorite.”

My expression turns to confused.

“Yeah I know.”

Nyx rubs his head.

“You don’t get it do you?” I nod my head slowly for no.

“Favorites get sent on missions. I’m here on a mission to find you guys.”

I frown. My heart is beating so fast right now. My eyes start to tear up. I’m so pathetically sensitive.

“Nyx . . .why?” I manage to whisper through the tears.

Nyx frowns and puts his hand on my shoulder, but I slap it away. He uses the same hand to get something out of his lab coat pocket.

“I don’t thing ill tell them yet. I’m gonna see how this turns out.”

Then he takes out an injection tube with pink liquid and injects it on my neck. I want to scream but I cant. I can feel the pain in my neck spreading, but my heartbeat is going back to normal. I look at Nyx, coldly. The way I would look at the doctors before they take me out of my ‘cage’. He gets the injection tube and puts it in his pocket and unfolds his sleeves to cover the marks.

“I’m sorry but this doesn’t mean I can’t experiment on you.”

Nyx shrugs his arms and begins smiling mischievously again, but a little less. My head is starting to hurt again. I would clench my fists but my touch is weakening. I close my eyes. The last things I hear are Nyx telling Raze, Byron, and Avalon that he put me to sleep to calm my heart down and the door closing. Nyx was just being his mischievous self. Just with a touch of poison to his personality. This hurts me a lot knowing that Nyx seems to be playing the role of PARADOX’S henchman willingly. I feel so betrayed.

But I have to move on. Who knows when he’ll tell them and we get brought back to that torture place? I fall into a deep sleep as I pray to God that that pink stuff isn’t poison. Please don’t be poison. I need to warn Byron and Avalon. So please don’t be poison.