Unintended Side Effects

Chapter Five

The first time the teenagers saw each other after the kidnapping was a day after the event. All six of the teenagers, plus two others they recognized as Kieran's friend Sam and a classmate named Kym, were lead to a large room about the size of their courtyard, except with small windows out of their reach. The lighting was the same as the other rooms they had been in plus the lighting from the windows. 

Once all eight were inside, they were relieved that no one had been killed but also horrified at the events that had taken place. 

"Where do you think we might be?" Asahi spoke first, slightly limping from the attack at his home. His answer, he knew, would yield no answers.

"Well," Ayita began, voice slightly scratchy from their gas attack, "we may be somewhere in northern France. When Kieran and I were jumped, we were somewhere in the forest. I know the only place in France with heavily wooded areas is up north." As she explained, Cristiano's face began to tighten as he glared at Kieran. 

"Ayita", Cristiano began, voice slightly strained from him hiding his anger, "why were you with Kieran of all people?" Before she could answer, Kieran's gruff voice, still sore from the gas as well.

" She was lost and trying to find your house. If you had stayed at school and waited for her, she wouldn't be in this mess!" Kieran's voice started to rise towards the end, anger clearly showing. As he and Cristiano began to argue, Adri spoke up finally.

"I don't know," her voice, while not strained like Ayita's or Kieran's, was still quivering from the cold, "You could have still been jumped, Kieran. You three," she gestured to the other three in front of her, "would have been jumped in broad daylight still. All I'm saying is that it's highly impossible that any one person could have caused this." 

After a while, Zola turned to Sam and Kym. "How did you two get here?"

"I was at the library finishing our", Sam gestured to Kieran, "homework. I was searching for a book on chemicals when I was knocked out by chloroform."

Kym spoke next. "I was at a bakery after school. I ordered a petit four while I worked on my homework. Once I ate some, I felt sick. Five minutes later, I passed out in the bathroom. Next thing I knew, I woke up here." 

As she finished, a crackle echoed throughout the large room followed by a loud ringing, causing the eight to plug their ears to prevent deafness. The ringing died down after a few moments as a soft yet soothing male voice bounced off the walls. 

"Good morning candidates!" Candidates? The voice continued.

"The eight of you have been chosen to partake in an extraordinary study of the human body! When it is completed, this study will change the face of science for years to come!

"You all may be wondering what this exciting new study may be. Well, our scientists have been creating and testing a new line of medication that, when taken, can enhance characteristics that humans may or may not have. SuperMed, the brand name, has been tested on nineteen to forty-five-year-olds, but had unfortunate consequences." 

The seven French teenagers remembered the string of disappearances throughout Paris about two years ago. Two months later, ten bodies were found in northern France. They all died of either dehydration or exhaustion. None of the bodies could be identified, but they were between the ages of nineteen and forty-five and were believed to be the missing people from Paris. 

"So", the disembodied voice continued with a hopeful tone, "we decided to try the experiment again with a younger test group, between the ages of fourteen and nineteen." Sam was fourteen but was able to skip grades in order to be a sophomore and Kieran was the oldest in the senior class naturally at nearly nineteen. The others were either eighteen or close to being eighteen.

"So, you should feel honored to participate in history!" All eight of them wanted to scream, kick, try to find an escape, but the doors locked behind them when they entered. They were frozen in fear at the very thought of being killed.

"Now that you all have gotten the chance to see each other, here is how the study will go; you will be given your medication before each meal three times a day in here, the Common Room. Between meals, the doctors and nurses present will push you harder than you have ever been pushed in order to activate the medication. If it succeeds, you will be able to relax. Unfortunately, the last group was not able to activate the medication and they had dire consequences. 

"So now that you know what to expect, you will now be lead to your rooms." The door behind them buzzed open and nurses filed into the room. The eight teenagers awoke from their shock and tried to fight back. Kicking and screaming, trying to maim the nurses as they grabbed the thrashing teenagers. Another nurse handed eight of the others syringes to inject the teenagers. After the clear liquid was injected into their bloodstream, their bodies went limp as the nurses carried them out of the Common Room into their "bedrooms".

Suprise chapter! I'll be back with more!