I woke up to screaming.
The first sound I've heard in days other than the voices of Xiumin and the doctor.
The screaming was loud. High pitched, but the voice wasn't female.
I sat in the dim lit dining room. Across from me was Xiumin, dressed in something other than his blood stained white uniform. It was his first time in the dining room, with me, at least. His head bobbed forward; he was still unconscious. I figured it would be best to leave him be.
After all, we weren't alone.
And from the sounds of the screaming, we would only be getting more company from now on.
---
"Are you O'Four?" A voice emerged from across the table. I realize that I must've passed out again, I woke up with my face pressed against the tableware in front of me. The chain on my lip clattered against the silver plate.
I look up and see another young man, sitting next to Xiumin, who was still passed out. The young man had his black hair swept up; his forehead was shiny, not from sweat, but from all the foundation that was tightly patted onto his face. He had a prominent jawline and a boxy mouth. His ears stuck out just the slightest bit, and the expression on his face was calm, thought somewhat nervous.
I nod, the chain on my lip follows the movement of my head. "That's me, I'm O'Four,"
The young man slots take my lip chain into consideration. Why didn't they give him a lip chain?
"I'm..." He began, not sure if he should introduce himself, or his given number, which was twenty-one, according to the small numbers sewn onto his black turtleneck. "I'm Chen," he finally says.
"Chen," I repeat, letting the simple name roll of my tongue. I decide not to baffle him with my own name, and now I remain known to him as O'Four. I shoot a look at Xiumin, who is slouched down in his seat, still passed out from whatever drug they dosed us with.
I've come to understand that everytime someone comes or goes, the doctor and his white minions come in and drug us up. Either through the pills, or a leaky gas that puts us to sleep. Why? The only rational reason I have is that the doctor doesn't want us to know how he enters and exits between rooms. I turn my attention back to Chen.
"What can you do, Chen?" I turn to him, and he turns toward me. "What did you do?"
Chen shakes his head. "Someone's asked me that before," he begins to tell his story. "I swear, I didn't do anything, but apparently we'll find out what soon."
I could tell it wasn't him who was screaming earlier. "You seem to know what's up. Have you been here before?"
Chen shakes his head. "No, I haven't. You?"
I shake my head also.
"Kai has," Chen continues. "Bet he was the one screaming, he's been doing it ever since they threw us in the back of their van,"
"They threw you in a van?" I repeat, being cautious of what I say aloud.
Chen nods again. "How did they catch you?"
"They caught me at work," I hush my voice, and Chen leans closer. "I was closing up my shop and they just barged in, they pinned me to tables and dragged me out."
Chen's mouth is now ajar. "And what did you do?"
"This," I haven't used or tried to use my abilities since I tried to escape my white room. I discovered I could control light, and concluded that that must've been why those men took me, because I was the one who made the bulbs in the supply room light up. It felt ridiculous, and very unnatural. I point a finger at the candle that was placed between me and Xiumin. Nothing happened.
"I can control light," I shake my head. "I don't think it works with fire,"
"Maybe fire's not your thing," Chen offers.
"I like fire," I point at Xiumin. "He doesn't, though."
"What does he do?"
"Xiumin's cold," I explain. "He can make frost with his hands. Touch him, I dare you,"
Chen touches Xiumin's cold palm. He immediately retracts his own hand and wipes it on his sleeve.
"Amazing, isn't it?" I remark. "He's really a big softy." I think of what the doctor made me do to him the other day. A lump formed in my throat and I averted my gaze from Xiumin. "If he isn't, well, he hasn't proven otherwise."
"Why is he passed out like that?" Chen continued to regurgitate question after question.
"It happens to all of us, you'll learn to get used to it," I try my best to make Chen feel comfortable and answer his questions. I would've loved to have someone answer my questions. I ask him one of my own; "What about the other guy? Kai?"
"Kai is strong," Chen exclaims. "Like, really strong, he punched through the glass... you know the glass that separates the two cellars? He could punch through it."
I grin, finding Chen's diction humorous. "Sorry," I clear my throat. "Go on,"
"He's also really fast," Chen continues. "He's like a wolf, but that's not even why he's here."
I lean forward, remembering to hush my voice. "Why is here?"
"He can teleport," Chen merely whispers, and it dawned on me that if we were out in the city, dressed the way we were and talking how we were, we would look hysterical.
"Teleport?" I repeat. "Why can't he just teleport his way out?"
"He can't," Chen shakes his head. "He has to... I don't know, envision a specific place if he wants to teleport. And..." Chen reaches for his throat. "He has electric cuffs on his neck and arms. He gets electrocuted whenever he makes a sudden movement."
I gulp. "That's..."
"Bad," Chen concludes, and his head begins to bob up and down, as if he were falling asleep. I feel my own eyelids begin to get heavy. I know that somehow, the doctor was drugging us up again.
Chen's voice echoes in the back of my head as I begin to dose off. "Someone else is coming,"
e)(o
