[U/C] Stranger Feelings || Mike Wheeler

The Next Step [5] ✔

"Morning, Twelve," The cheerful presence of doctor Evans filled the frowzy area. The buzzing of the led lights was extremely aggravating: the lighting also made me blind whenever I tried to glance at it. I really don't like being here. A tall man with white hair and a stern expression entered the claustrophobic room. "Are you ready for today?" I look up at him and feel my muscles stiffen. I try to swallow, but my throat stays dry. The man sits down on my bed - his weight causing the mattress to lower. "It won't hurt, okay?" Doctor Evans rolls over a machine with tons of cables and radio-like gadgets that filled the shelves. "What is that?" I point at an object that doctor Evans holds: it resembles a crown with wires. "That, my dear," The man states as Doctor Evans attaches some wires to me: cool sticky circles getting pressed onto the skin of my temples. "That's the next step."

A sterile liquid gets administered into the crook of my arm, causing me to flinch. I glare at doctor Evans as the man grabs my hands: giving me a warm smile: "I'm going to need you to lay back for a few minutes." A momentary look of discomfort crosses my face: "Why?" He gets up again, "I'd like you to be in a comfortable position while we wait."

I slowly lower myself on the mattress, feeling my heart picking up a pace. Is this normal? "The first shock might overwhelm you. Try not to move," Doctor Evans explains as she presses a button. A zooming noise resounds as a jolt turns me into a crack of lightning: my body collides together due to the unforeseen pain. My body suddenly turns paralysed as another jolt goes off over my body. My skin grows warm with electricity as my eyes shut: disorienting flashes of light and dark surround me. A crumbling wall appears in front of me, cracked and overgrown. Spores like tiny tumbleweeds drifted through the air. I try to reach for one, but the waves of electricity continue on their track. It looked so beautiful. The broken wall vanishes and gets replaced by a sky full of moving stars.

Thousands of images flash before my eyes as pure darkness overwhelms my sight right after. I let my spirit wander around in the dark room, trying to search for something... anything. A sudden chill extends over my skin - leaving me with goosebumps. "What do you see?" his voice echoed through the area. I analyse my surroundings: "Nothing, papa." "Look harder."

Another shock forces its way over my body, causing my spirit to fall to the floor of the dark room. Wet. I move my hands over the floor, "Water." I get up again and continue roaming around until something inhuman appears. The electrons collide, making the creature more vivid - almost real. With hesitation, I approach the creature. It looked tall. Muscular. With animal skin and scales, not like humans, though. His skin was dark and slimy. I reach my hand out to it: my heart stumbles over its own rhythm. The creature abruptly glares over its shoulder - its head opens like a flower as teeth get shown. It screeches as fear overwhelms my muscles.

My upper body jerks up from the bed as I remove the wires from my head. Cold sweat emerges all over my body as I struggle with controlling the quavering of my hands. Doctor Evans signals to the man, "Doctor Brenner, we aren't finished with the experiment yet." He looks at me with curiosity: not saying a word. Doctor Evans attempts again, "Sir--" I glare up at her with pure terror within my eyes. I hold my knees against my chest and shake my head: "No more... Done... finished..." Doctor Brenner stands up from a chair and tells Doctor Evans to send another shock. "No," I stutter as Evans places her hand on the button - ready to press it.

She makes eye contact with me as she pushes it. A jolt surges through my veins as I suddenly see myself from a higher perspective: an eight-year-old child with a buzzcut and a hospital gown. I'm staring right into my own soul. I look down at my hands and notice a white jacket with a nametag on Patricia Evans. "Miss Evans?" Her hands start shaking as she gazes up at the man. "I told you to give her another one," She shakes her head: "No!"