Into The Black

FIFTEEN

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the lovely Abby as I promised her I would upload last night and I did not! Terribly sorry, hope you enjoy this chapter!

November 2013

Buttercup picked at the stitching on her left sleeve, 221. The right sleeve had Buttercup stitched on it. Her name, and her 'patient number'. Buttercup had pulled on the snug fitting jumpsuit and slowly folded the blue one before placing it on the end of the mattress. A twinge of homesickness struck her as she did so, she used to place dirty clothing at the end of her bed and Anna would take it to be washed.

"Oh don't you look lovely!" Buttercup turned around to see Chrystal reentering her room. "And just in time for group sessions!" Buttercup stifled a yawn as a sudden wave of tiredness swept over her. Group sessions didn't sound like something she would enjoy and she nearly asked if she could sleep instead. Chrystal either didn't notice, or chose to ignore this as she hooked her arm through Buttercups and propelled them towards the doorway. One of the bald men stood outside and slipped into the room after they had exited.

Chrystal stopped in front of Imagine's room and rapped her knuckles agains the wall twice. Imagine appeared through the doorway and linked her arm through Buttercups. Buttercup felt short and awkward trapped between the two as they chatted away. She chose the focus on the small cylinder attached to Imagine's Cannula. She has it tucked into the waist band of her jumpsuit, and it almost blended in.

Her attention was diverted when they took a sudden turn and ended up at the hallway's end, a bright green door. The sudden burst of colour shocked Buttercup and she barely contained a gasp. Chrystal once again knocked twice and the door was pulled inwards. On the other side was yet another pure white room, except for the floor. The floor was the same polished surface as the others but it was the same lime green as the door.

In the centre of the room a group of nearly a dozen people sat in a semi-circle, a woman with dark skin and a buzz cut sat in a chair opposite them. Chrystal ushered the girls towards the circle and sat the, next to man in an orange jumpsuit, with no lettering. Buttercup wonder if he too ha even cured of something.

"They mean something you know." Imagine was no longer holding Buttercups arm. "The colours." Buttercup didn't know, so she shook her head.

"White means their tests are completed, Light Blue means their tests are in progress, Orange means they're unstable, Green means they're a High Risk patient, and Dark blue means their test results were negative." Buttercup quickly realized that she meant the jumpsuits. Images of the patients in the C.O.P hall and behind the metal doors flashed though her mind as each colour was listed. Buttercup was about to ask if sitting next to the man in the orange suit was safe when the woman at the front clapped her hands together. Everyone in the room went silent and swivelled towards her. When she spoke her voice remained quiet and yet managed to fill the entire room.

"Today, we are lucky enough to welcome not one, but two new members to our group." She pointed towards the other side of the semi-circle and Buttercup recognized the skin and bones girl from the hall.

"Keys," the girls hands raised so quickly that her elbow clicked. "And Buttercup." All eyes shifted to Buttercup when the woman's finger pointed at her. Imagine elbowed her arm and she slowly raised it. The woman gave a nod of consent and Buttercup quickly pulled her arm back down to her side.

"We will now introduce ourselves to our new members." The woman stood slowly, and buttercup thought she looked like she in pain. "I am Today, I am 32 human years." She looked at both of the girls in turn before seating herself again. They want counter clockwise around until everyone else had spoke . Buttercup learned that the man to their left was called Bracken and was surprised to find that she was the youngest in the room. Imagine was 12, and the skinny girl was a 14 year old named Nebula.

After the naming the woman went on to explain different rituals they apparently partook in at each gathering. For Buttercup it was all a blur of words and sharp, controlled hand gestures. She passed the time scrutinizing the other patients. A boy named Maker had silver hand cuffs locking his hands together in front of him and he consistently turned his wrists back and forth within them. Bracken held a length of white string which he tied and untied into a dozen different knots.

They all stemmed human, normal, and calm. Buttercup however was full of unease, how could they all just sit there none of them could have been here by choice. Could they? They had to have all been taken in like her. Did they have families? Friends? Lives? Buttercup felt a line of sweat forming at the bas of her neck and resisted rubbing it off until the end of the 'session' when Today clapped her hands together again and let Chrystal and several other nurses help the patients out of the room.

While Chrystal led Imagine and Buttercup back to their rooms Buttercup tried to question her about the other people.

"Why did we all meet there?"

"So that you could get to know the other patients, of course."

"All of those people are patients here?"

"Yes."

"But why are they all patients?" A look of annoyance clouded Chrystal's face and Imagine answered for her.

"Because they needed to be fixed." Butter cup was getting tired of open ended answers, but didn't get a chance to ask another question before they reached Imagine's room shortly followed by her own. Chrystal guided Buttercup to her mattress and informed her that she would be brought a meal before being able to sleep. When she left Buttercup lay face down on her mattress and found her mind wander back to her plans of escape.