INSOMNIAC

Chapter 15

Verity stumbled forward and put her hands out in front of her so that she wouldn't hit the wall as a guard shoved her roughly into a cell. She hit the wall and felt the rough grimy walls slice at her delicate skin. She wore simple cuffs around her wrists, and she knew that her powers wouldn't work here. When she turned around, the guard was long gone, and her cell gate was locked. The isolated room was a plain grey cement color, with a dull iron gate at the entrance. Verity carefully placed her palms on the gate and looked around her. She was in a long hallway, surrounded by cells the same as hers and equally spaced every half-meter or so apart. There seemed to be hundreds of them, if not thousands. As she looked around, Verity recognized a few of the people, having seen a few around paradise. Verity carried on looking, and she saw two men at the farthest end of the corridor. One wore a simple white button-up white shirt, while the other was emphasizing his wealth with a branded jacket. She watched as they came closer, and they eventually came to a stop at a cell down from hers. Verity tilted her head to the side a little, curious as to why the men were examining the people in the cells. They said something about taking the person and came closer to her cell. They came to a stop outside her cell. She stared at them icily, slightly angry and very self-conscious. They were looking at her as if she were a juicy meal that they wanted to devour. The man with the branded jacket motioned with his hand towards Verity.

"How much for this one?" He asked. "Same as all the others. She's in good health, and only 16, so she's still young." Verity's eyes widened with surprise, and she angrily yelled at them.

"I'm not for sale!"

"Feisty, I see. She'll be a handful to test on." The man said. "Put her with the others. I want her."

After the men left, two guards came into her cell and grabbed her arm securely and forced her towards the one end of the hallway. Once they reached the end, the went through a door towards what seemed like a delivery point. There were multiple trucks parked, and one specific truck was a prisoner transport truck, which already had 7 other people standing at the entrance to the back, each with two guards securely holding them in place. Verity was forced to stand next to a man in about his mid 30's. His hair was a luminous white, and Verity wondered weather he had dyed it, or if it was natural.

Verity stood around with the group, which grew by another 4 people until a guard grabbed her and forced her into a seat. Verity sat in silence with the rest of the prisoners, and soon the truck roared to life and started moving.

-

Loki growled in frustration as he hefted up yet another bag of supplies. He was ordered to Move every single bag, and until the task was done, he wasn't allowed to leave. He dropped it with a 'thunk' and walked back to the truck to grab another bag. They only weighed a couple of kilograms, but moving a lot of them made each one seem like it weighed the same as a whale. Loki was temporarily distracted from his task when he saw the prisoner transport arrive. He was always checking the trucks to see if anyone new ever arrived. The only other person that he knew here was Alvin, and they weren't on the best terms at this current moment. He continued with his task, sending only the occasional glance towards the prisoners. they were slowly dropped off one by one, and lead to the containment area, where they would be tested and deemed worthy to work. He looked up for the eighth time and saw what he never thought that he would. The prisoner walking out, accompanied by a guard, was none other than Verity. Loki stared as she walked away, his brain reeling. Now they could discover a way out of the place together, and maybe even survive doing it.

Loki finished his task as quickly as possible and headed to the shower rooms. He cleaned himself up, scrubbing the grimy dirt off his skin. He got dressed and headed to the new worker's post. As he expected, most of the new people were there, except for the one person who he was looking for. Verity wasn't one of the new workers, which meant that either they were still clearing her fit to work, or she was to be an experiment. Loki waited for another hour or so, but he walked away with hunched shoulders from his disappointment.

-

Verity opened her eyes groggily. She looked around, and once again found herself in a plain cell, with nothing but her hard bed and a toilet with a sink. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. A wave of dizziness hit her, and she immediately sat back down. Since the guards had led her to the lab and the doctors had put her to sleep, she couldn't remember anything. She tried to stand up again, this time slower. Verity stood and walked over to the sink. She opened the tap and splashed the lukewarm water onto her face. She was about to sit back down, but before she could get to it, the door to her cell opened, and two guards came in. The one held out a pair of handcuffs, and Verity turned around so that they could put them on her. They grabbed her arms and led her out the cell and into a lab. They sat her down on a doctor's chair and secured her handcuffs to the seat. The guards walked out, and a doctor walked in. He was average height, with flame-colored hair, and he carried a clipboard.

"Ms. Milton," he said, taking a seat across from her and putting his board on the table. "You are the only survivor of Star's experiments." Verity stared at him, not allowing herself to show any signs of how she felt. She knew very well that this was the organization that gave her her powers.

"We've made some alterations to your powers, and I believe that you are no longer what they call a sub-elemental," he said. "You have more than just your electricity now. You can create fire, control water, even make flowers grow! You are the evolution of the people with powers. You are an elemental source."

Verity continued to blankly stare at him. She was shaken by the news, but it could just be a trick to simply sway her loyalties. The man sighed and turned to the door.

"If you insist, I believe I know someone who could change your mind."

He opened the door, and someone stepped in. No, not anyone.

Tyson Glover.

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Thank you for reading!