V for Veneration

• V •

i.

Green. All I remember is green. Round, green... orbs. Eyes. Green eyes. Soft, like spring moss.

"Number 5, can you hear me?" someone asks me. I shift my gaze to the person looming over me.

"His auditorial response is functioning normally," she notes to someone else. In a split second, a light is shining in my eyes, and I blink, squinting to see.

"His pupil reflexes are normal," the person summarizes. She tucks her light into a pocket and asks again, "Number 5, can you hear me?"

I find my voice after a pause, and frown at how raspy it sounds. "I can hear you."

"What do you remember?" she asks me. I study her face when she comes into focus. Weary, aged, with a blonde shoulder-length hair that is tied back in a low ponytail.

"I... I don't remember anything. Who... who am I?" I ask, my heart sinking at my total loss of knowledge.

"You are now a patient, one who survived a terrible virus. I'm afraid you survived at the loss of your memories. We... found you in the woods not far from here."

I blink a couple times, taking in this new information. I can't help but feel the uneasiness in the room, and it's as if I am the reason for it.

Rightly so, as the following seconds blur. Before I could even think, my hand is gripping a doctor's wrist, my other hand at her throat. Her long golden brown hair is bunched up behind her neck, her eyes squeezed shut. The sound of the glass syringe clinking to the floor brings me to my senses.

"Number 5, please let go of Dr. Kelly," the older female doctor asks me nicely. I do as she says, and look down at my hands and my body. How did I do that? My eyes travel back to Dr. Kelly, who is on her hands and knees gasping for air as if she was just saved from drowning. What have I done?

"What am I...?" I ask myself aloud rather than the doctor.

"Number 5, please sit down back on the table. We are going to check-up on you, and make sure you are back in health before allowing your leave," she tells me.

"Don't stick another needle in me," I say firmly, before I could bite my tongue. She looks taken aback with my sudden demand. "Please."

"Of course. No more for the moment unless it is needed," she says. I situate myself on the table, and the doctor sits next to me. "I am Dr. Diana Stanton, head of the research here at the Larkhill Detention Facility. We aren't here to hurt you, Number 5. We are here to help you."

I nod and twiddle my thumbs, starting to feel on edge about being in this room.

"You must be tired," Dr. Stanton continues. I glance at her, and decide that anything to get me out of here I'd do without hesitation.

"Come along. Dr. Kelly will escort you to your cell. When you awaken, call for a guard, and they will escort you back here for your check-up," Dr. Stanton says kindly. I simply nod, unable to bring my eyes to Dr. Kelly's shaken form again.

Dr. Kelly carefully stands up, and we lock eyes. Time in that instant seemed to freeze, the world on pause for just a moment. Her green eyes are the eyes I can remember. Her eyes which are now filled with hurt and sorrow deep underneath her emotionless expression.

"Follow me, Number 5," she says with a slightly scratchy voice, breaking our eye contact. I follow her out of the room, aware of everyone's stares in that instant.

Many lefts and rights later, she stops her pace in front of a cell with the letter "V" in front of it. Roman numeral five.

"They never found me in a forest did they?" I ask her, feeling betrayed with the blatantly obvious lie they told me. That I believed.

Dr. Kelly looks up at me, that sad look she had before returning. "No. You don't remember me at all, do you?"

I don't respond, studying her face. Soft features, large round green eyes, small lips, and a warm skin tone. Her waist-length hair is a deep golden bronze color. She slowly raises a hand to my face, resting it upon my cheek.

"I'm sorry... I don't," I murmur. Her hand falls from my cheek, and her eyes start to glisten. My heart seems to shrink and writhe inside my chest at the sight of her tears, but I don't know why.

I look to her neck where I held her in a chokehold, already seeing the bruising form. I lift my hand lightly to gesture to it, murmuring, "I am sorry about what I did to you."

Dr. Kelly steps back once, and I feel my heart shrink again. She hastily wipes her eyes, and says in a soft voice, "If you can, escape. It'll save you a lot of pain."

With that she opens the door and gestures me inside. I comply, and think about her words. Who was she to me? Did I once know her as much as she seems to know me?

"What is today's date?" I ask before she closes the door behind her. She lifts her eyes to mine, already holding another emotionless expression. Analytical.

"The 9th of September," Dr. Kelly answers. The door shuts with a metallic clunk and I look at where she stood before. Thoughts begin racing and my blood begins pumping through my veins. Escape? How does she expect me to do that?

I take in my surroundings, the only source of furniture in this cell being an open toilet. The floor, the walls, and the ceiling are all stone—concrete.

I really am stuck here...