Unintended Side Effects

Chapter Seven

Adri's ankles and wrists were bound by shackles to the center of the floor. She was able to reach her bed and lay somewhat comfortably, but not able to reach the door. She laid down on the bed, a thin cot with no blankets and a rock hard pillow, barely comfortable with the chains with her arms resting on her stomach.

Her mind began to wander. She was alone in a dirty cell, chained like an animal with a strange green pill in her system. If she had not gone over to Asahi's house, she would be in her large mansion well rested, but she would still be alone. 

She felt her arms and hands tingle slightly. At first, she thought it was because her arms had fallen asleep from the lack of movement. She shifted her arms up so that the tingling could stop, but it didn't. She looked down her arm to see something startling.

Her arm began to glow lime green. Startled by the sudden appearance, she gave a shout and flew off the bed, ignoring the chaffing of the shackles on her wrists and ankles. After a few minutes of controlled breathing, she looked back down and gave a closer look.

The green light produced vine-like markings that wrapped around her arms. Lime green and black danced and slithered down her tanned skin, almost seeming to move with her muscles. But just as quickly as they came, they disappeared, leaving no trace that they were ever there. 

She only had a moment to decipher what happened before the door unlocked and swung open. A different doctor from yesterday walked in. This doctor was tall, so much so that he had to duck through the doorframe while entering. He had dark skin and black dreadlocks pulled back. The surgical mask was there along with surgical glasses. She guessed that the doctors must be anonymous at all times.

"Energy manipulation?" The doctor asked, his tone suggesting that he knew the answer already. Energy manipulation? What does he mean? He must have seen her confusion because he let out a sigh of annoyance.

"Did you take the green pill?" Exasperated, he asked with the same tone as before. He didn't seem like a patient man. She nodded quickly, hoping the man wouldn't hurt her. 

Oh boy, was she wrong.

...

This doctor was getting on the end of Kieran's nerves. So much so that he wanted to scream; if only the damn muzzle wasn't in the way.

Yes, muzzle.

After his little stunt that morning, they thought the best path possible was to put a muzzle on him. It looked like a face mask someone would wear in the winter, except made of hard plastic, metal, and some wood. They were afraid he would try something like that again.

When he bit into the nurse, the blood was bitter in his mouth and made him want to gag. Now, as he could still taste the metallic blood on his teeth, he wouldn't mind going for another bite. Was that weird? 

He wanted to move, but the chains and shackles were prohibiting him from doing so. Shackled at the wrists, ankles, and throat, Kieran was basically a sitting duck. Or, a standing one at least.

The doctor with him, a stout woman with graying blonde hair, was walking freely around him. The nurse that shoved the black pill down his throat that morning was also there, but he stayed in the far corner away from him, with a gauze wrap around his arm and a clipboard in his hands.

Good, he didn't want to see him either.

The doctor, after about five minutes of walking and examining him, gestured over to the nurse who picked an object from the rolling table they brought in. Because of the muzzle, he couldn't see it clearly but he could hear what it was; tight leather and long. 

A whip. Jesus Christ, this woman was going to torture him!

He began to panic, but the chains kept him in place and the muzzle kept him in silence. The doctor walked behind him where he couldn't see her. After a few seconds, the first strike speeds down his back, a sharp pain accompanied it. He screamed, the muzzle dampened his cries. Blood oozed down his back as another strike hit. Followed by another, and another, and another as blood pooled around his feet. 

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor finally stopped. She appeared in his line of vision as she rolled down her coat sleeves. She finally spoke.

"Twenty strikes with the whip, nothing so far." Her breathy voice echoed as the nurse, still in pain, wrote down what she said on the clipboard. He let out a breath, not realizing that he was holding one. His slight moment of joy faded as she picked up a cat-o-nine-tails and headed back his direction.

...

Cristiano was seriously considering pulling a Kieran and just biting the doctor.

The nurse that shoved an orange pill down his throat was the same one who strapped him to a sturdy chair with leather straps at his wrists, ankles, waist, and head, keeping him in place. There was an open space in the back so that his back was exposed. A makeshift gag was shoved in his mouth to muffle his words. 

The doctor, a short black-haired man in a surgical mask and glasses, arrived and immediately began to study him. While the doctor walked laps around him, the nurse was setting up the small table placing five vials of strange thick red liquid, each with a corresponding number taped on. There were also syringes next to the vials, much smaller but just as unsettling to Cris as the strange liquid. Small scalpels and other sharp objects, along with what looked like a taser, were also on the table.

After the nurse was done, she stood in the corner as the doctor examined the table. After choosing a syringe, he chose a vial of liquid and proceeded to fill the syringe with said liquid. He turned to the nurse, who was now holding a clipboard.

"Subject three, normal vitals. Vail one, proceeding." As the nurse wrote down what he said, the doctor plunged the syringe into Cris's forearm and injected the thick liquid into his bloodstream. At first, there was nothing, but then a surge of pain emerged from the area where the syringe was. Cris thrashed but couldn't go anywhere. 

He was able to look down to where the doctor injected the liquid to see his tanned skin replaced by a creamy pale color, almost as if the color was drained from his skin. The creamy pale complexion looked familiar to him as if he should know where it was from. For almost a minute, it stayed that unnatural pale but then returned to his natural tan color as the pain subsided. 

The doctor, as Cris looked up, seemed excited at Cris's pain.

"It worked! It worked! Well, for a minute, but we're close!" The doctor was pacing the room as the nurse wrote down the events that just happened. After she was done, she gathered all the tools onto the table and left as the doctor followed her. The door shutting behind them echoed through the room like a sharp firecracker.