We're Broken People

Prologue

Thunder clouds rolled into the meadow; lightning began crackling in the distance. The sky was a mixture of torment and misery, an ordinary sight to Gwen.

Her light orange hair blew around her in heaps as the wind began whipping at her. Fear and adrenaline coursed through her cold body, sending shivers up her spine. Her midnight blue eyes scanned the ever coming darkness, horrified of what it was hiding.

Years seemed to pass before something flickered. In the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the darkness moving about. The Night had come to claim their prize.

They started creeping towards her, swimming in the shadows. Gwen was paralyzed as their stench of rotting flesh filled her nostrils and the icy cold swept over her body. The end was upon her.

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Gwen awoke thrashing in her bed. The sheets were strewn about the floor in a heap, having been thrown by her wild actions. Her sweat soaked her clothes, and her face was wet with salty tears. Another nightmare.

White fluorescent lights flickered above Gwen's head, and the brightness was blinding her. A beautiful awakening from the darkened dream.

Whispering to herself to keep calm, Gwen sat up slowly. The nightmare had felt real, as real as life itself. Goosebumps were still raised on her arms, and she was shivering from the frozen nightmare. The dreams were getting longer, more intense, and she was sure that meant something. Her imagination ran amuck of the possibilities, and she was positive that it was real. True madness had overcome her.

Breathing deeply, Gwen trudged to her feet. The cold concrete beneath her feet told her that she was asleep for hours. However, with no way to tell time, how could she truly know? Her windowless room was bare, save a bed and shelf. The white walls mocked her daily, while the locked door was an immediate problem when she opened her eyes every 'morning'.

Gwen was 'insane' by society's terms. Her imagination came to life if she concentrated, but was always scared shadows would attack if she ever had a creative thought. Telling her parents this, they began to fear her. A crazy child was in no place allowed in a sophisticated neighborhood. Thus, Gwen was moved to the Morrison's Children Asylum on her fourth birthday. Since then, Gwen had aged twelve years without her parents' help or guidance, but with weekly experiments or tests.

Gwen is a human lab rat to be disposed of when she is no longer of use. Her life was taken away from her, destroyed by science and the ever lurking shadows.