Into The Black

SEVEN

November, 2013

Alaleh opened her eyes and immediately slammed them shut again. The light burned her eyes so she chose to instead focus with her other senses. She could feel something wrapped around her arm just above her elbow; it felt too tight and she tried to twist her arm out of it. As she did so a beeping sound started up, she screeched as it sounded like something blaring in her ear. Screaming she tried again to open her eyes and as she slammed them shut once more tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her screams turned into coughs and heavy breathing.

"She's awake! Get help, now!" a man's voice called out but to Alaleh it sounded distant and muffled. All she could hear was the infernal beeping as it filled her head and she whimpered. The beeping suddenly stopped and she was overwhelmed by all the other sounds. She began screaming again and thrashing around. Warm hands gripped both of her arms and pinned them down until a strap of some sort was pulled over them, then the same thing happened to her legs. When she realized she couldn't fight them she continued to scream in panic and pain. Her throat felt swollen and she had to stop screaming in order to gulp in air.

"We cannot do this to her, she isn't ready!" This time it was a woman's voice, she sounded clearer than the man had. Alaleh continued to take rapid breaths and tuned out the conversation trying to only focus on filling her lungs with air. A few words drifted through her mental block

"Sedative. . ."

"Too much. . ."

"No time. . ."

Cracking her eyelids open, she took in as much as she could in the short time she was able to keep them open. She wasn't sure where she was, but it was not her home, or the farmhouse of Shellie and her father. The ceiling was black and dull, almost matte; it had white specks sprinkled across it. She glanced to her right and caught sight of a machine that seemed to be measuring her heartbeats, and on her left she realized that she was just inches from a wall. The wall was white and so shiny she could almost make out her reflection. Snapping her eyelids shut again she dropped the sound barricade in her mind and caught the end of a conversation. The man's voice came first.

"I think we should move her to a different room, this one won't be confidential for much longer."

"She'll be fine for now, but I don't want her awake until we are sure she can be brought out safely."

"We can't use any more sedation on her! We've already used a risky amount! We want her alive, do we not?"

Instead of a reply the man grumbled, then sighed. Footsteps could be heard as someone rushed into the room.

"Doctor! Another patient is awake, and his heart beat is unstable! We need you, now." Two sets of footsteps quickly departed and Alaleh focused on her breathing once again. The woman had been the one to stay; she was fiddling with the machine that Alaleh was hooked to in hopes of lowering her back into a state of unconsciousness, just for a little longer. Opening her mouth, Alaleh attempted to speak but all that came out was a dry cough.

"Oh dear! You need water don't you." More of a statement than a question, then the woman left the room. Alaleh pried her eyes open; they had finally started adjusting to the light. She looked at the restraints on her wrists and ankles, they were leather and lined with white padding, like you might see on TV. However instead of a tanned colour they were black. Looking to her right again she caught sight of the opposite wall; it was shiny white as well. Craning her neck she looked herself up and down.  She was in what appeared to be a hospital bed. Her hometown had only one hospital, which had only ten rooms for its occupants, and they were nothing like this one. The bed was bright orange and did not have the usual rails along the top half. The sheets were the expected white but the top blanket matched the bed frame.

"Ah! Your eyes are adjusting! Fantastic!" She snapped her neck up and saw a slim woman with bright pink hair staring at her grinning ear to ear.

"The experiments can start early!"