The Choosing

Chapter Nineteen

As I predicted, mere minutes later, Elder Ryann and Alistair stood before me. They both surveyed the damage before looking at me. Elder Ryann's face conveyed no emotion, whereas Alistair looked conflicted.

"What? Are you surprised?" I asked, feigning innocence.

Elder Ryann's lips pulled into a straight line, "Not in the slightest, little lab rat. We just came to give our favorite subject her shot."

I gritted my teeth at the memories that provoked. But they weren't getting away without a little paranoia.

"Aren't you going to make sure I didn't take any needles? Oh! Or even better, another piece of glass?"

Alistair wordlessly restrained me to the chair. A look of guilt flooded through his eyes, but it was quickly replaced with indifference as Elder Ryann got closer to us.

I rolled my eyes and threw the shard of the glass to the ground.

"How wonderfully predictable." Elder Ryann relented.

I wanted to cross my arms, but the restraints didn't allow it. I, instead, settled for a loud sigh. Elder Ryan seemed to be getting a little short-tempered with my antics. Perfect.

"You can handle this freak, can't you?"

"Yes, ma'am," Alistair said politely.

Elder Ryann sashayed out of the room taking her annoying air of authority with her. With that Alistair began to draw some sort of liquid into a needle.

"Same one as always?" I asked.

Alistair ignored me and continued to prepare.

"What happened to you? The bruises I mean."

No answer once again.

"Why won't you answer me, Al? You seemed more than willing to talk a couple of days ago."

His robotic actions didn't stop and he still didn't respond. Instead, he walked up to the camera and switched it off.

"This injection is going to make them able to control you, Eve. I don't want to give it to you, but that camera needs to see me injecting you or else I'm dead."

I gasped. Control me! They had to be kidding me. But it didn't take me long to get over it and think up a plan.

"What if you injected me with something else?" I asked hopefully.

"That could work. Now shut up and let me turn the camera back on. We never talked, got it?"

I nodded furiously as he turned the camera back on.

"Ugh, I can't believe I put the wrong amount in this again!" said Alistair.

I hoped they would buy his subpar acting.

He then switched the previously filled needle with an empty one. He proceeded to fill it with a similar-looking liquid that I assumed did close to nothing.

Oh, how wrong I was.

The second he shoved that needle into my neck, I was in pure agony.

"Sorry. Unfortunately, it still has to look real." Alistair whispered.

I continued to whimper in pain as he and another guard carried me back to my room. They shoved me in, but looking back saw Alistair give me an apologetic smile. I just continued to groan as the injection worked its black magic.

As soon as the door shut, Essence was by my side also grimacing in pain. She looked in slightly better condition than me, but that could be because she got the actual shot.