Stuck in a Dream (INCOMPLETE)

Chapter 1

"Mom, you say that as if they're not your own grandkids!"

"It was all just a dream."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm Dr. Stanley Cooper, head of the PL Institute."

Pain. So much pain.

Make it stop!

~*~*~*~

When Rose woke up, she was staring up at a blue ceiling. But wait. Why was she staring at a blue ceiling? Wasn't she just outside with her daughter and son-in-law, watching her grandkids play in the yard?

Ah, yes. Everything came rushing back to her. The scientists. The PL Institute. The dreams. The aging. It all came back. Without meaning to, she sat up quickly, her hand coming up to her head as black spots danced before her eyes and everything started spinning.

"Whoa, Rose. You shouldn't have sat up that quickly," Dr. Cooper says, rushing over to help her before she hit her head on the table as she fell back.

She scrambled away, looking at the man with fear. Of course she would. Who wouldn't be afraid of someone who's tested on you your whole life?

"Rose, don't be scared. It's just me; Dr. Cooper," the doctor says reassuringly.

"Let me go," she says, her voice quivering.

"There are still many more tests to be done, Rose," he replies, holding his hands out to show her that he meant no harm.

"I don't want to!" she exclaims, sounding like a five year old. "I want to go home!"

"And where will you go?" he asks, his voice suddenly cold and malicious. "You don't remember where you live. You don't even know if you have a home."

Rose says nothing, just quivering in fear at the doctor's sudden tone. "I-I don't-"

"You are not going anywhere," he says in an alarmingly calm voice. But that's all he gets out before plunging a syringe in her arm and everything goes black.

~*~*~*~

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Slowly, Rose opens her eyes for the third time, staring up at a green ceiling now. What is up with these people and their different colored rooms?" she wonders to herself.

"The subject is awake," a voice eminates throughout the room.

She whips her head around, trying to find the source, but to no avail. The room was empty. There was just the table she was on, medical equipment, and a single door. Rose got up from the table and walked towards the door, reaching her hand out and turning the knob. Surprisingly, it was unlocked.

She half-expected alarms to go off the second the stepped outside, but nothing happened. Did they simply forget to lock the door? Or did they have so much confidence that Rose would be incapable of escaping the institute?

She walked down the hallway, her feet padding against the cold, hard linoleum floors, the brick wills echoing her foot steps as she walked on wards. She turned up at a fork, and decided to go left, trusting her instinct. It turns out she was right, because she ended up going into the room where she first woke up. On the far wall was a closet and Rose walked towards it, hoping to find something to wear other than the hideous hospital dress that they had dressed her in.

And she was in luck, because inside, she found a pair of cargo pants, combat boots, two shirts, and a leather jacket. Below it, sitting on the base of the closet, was a backpack, big enough to fit all of these clothes, including more supplies she may find on her exploration of the building.

Exiting the room, she went right, walking straight ahead. Rose ended up at two doors. She peaked into one of the windows in the doors and saw that it was the blue room where Dr. Cooper had injected her with something. Hopefully, it wasn't a tracker. She still wasn't sure how smart and clever he was. In the blue room, as she liked to call it, there was no supplies that looked useful, so she looked into the other room, smiling to herself when she saw food and bottles of water.

Quietly opening the door, she tip-toed inside, grabbing a ton of granola bars and canned foods from the pantry and stuffing them in her backpack and pockets, along with a huge canteen and a dozen water bottles.

Quickly, she head out, scouting the building for an exit and hiding around corners when she saw assistants, nurses, or doctors walking around. She pushed open the door and took one step outside, when suddenly, a blaring alarm sounded out throughout the whole building.

"LOCKDOWN. WE HAVE AN ESCAPER. PREPARE FOR LOCKDOWN."

Rose runs outside, whirling her head around to quickly glimpse gates crushing down in front of the door she just ran out of, doctors and nurses watching as she ran away.

"Rose!" Dr. Cooper yelled out. "Rose, come back! We're not your enemies!"

Instead of turning around to glance at him, she just ignored him and kept on running.