Black as Day (ON HIATUS)

Chapter Nine- The Office

Nima was waiting for me when I stepped out of the bathroom with fresh bandages. She smiled. There was nobody else in the room except for her. I was surprised. Considering the amount of damage I had caused, there was bound to be somebody who knew about what I had done. I had at least expected a platoon of guards waiting to take me away.

This brought back unpleasant memories. The guards! I had just left them there in that burning room after attacking- or maybe even killing them. I didn't know.

"Are you all right now?" Nima asked, looking concerned. I smiled and sat down on the cot next to her.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks." She took my hands and began swabbing them with disinfectant. I winced at the sting but she held my hands tight, stopping me from pulling them away. I eventually got used to the sting. It was a sort of punishment for what I'd done. 

Once the bandages were wrapped, Nima stood up, curly hair bouncing from the movement. "Come with me. I'll explain some things to you on the walk to the office." She walked to the door and I followed. Pushing it open, we walked inside the screen room. I stopped in the doorway when I saw that someone was in there, sitting at a desk.

He turned at the sound of the door opening and made eye contact with me. His face went slack, and he cast a glance at the screen he was in front of. Curious, I looked and was shocked when I saw that it was a security video of me. It was paused at the part when the red and orange fire had been rolling off of me and into the room. The guards bodies lay nearby me in the video and I instantly felt guilty again. 

The boy looked at me again, obviously afraid. I felt awkward standing there. That hadn't been me. That had been like someone else had been possessing my body. He stood up and scrambled across the room. 

"Y-y-you c-can't be h-here!" He yelled, pointing a shaking finger in my direction. "G-g-get out!" Nima ran over to his side and looked up at him. She couldn't have been more than seven and yet she was comforting him. 

"It's alright, Lester. She's fine now." Nima said softly. "I'm just going to the office to explain everything to her. Will you be ok? Don't call for help. I've got this." Lester, still pressed up against the wall, nodded shakily. Nima smiled at him and turned back to me.

"You can come out, Shira. Just wait for me in the hall, ok?" 

"All right." I said quietly. I exited the room and closed the door. I leaned against the wall, sighing. This day was getting worse and worse. That guy, Lester, had been terrified of me. What was I becoming? 

Nima opened the door. "Sorry about that. He's scared of his own shadow. Come this way," she said and led me down the hall. "Don't take it personally, Lester's just really jumpy." 

I nodded, still not convinced. "Ok. So, did I hear you say you were going to explain everything?" I asked hopefully. 

"Mmhm! Well, as much as I can, anyway. There are some things that should be left for the bosses to tell you."  We turned a corner and continued down the hall, gathering strange looks as we walked down the hall. 

"You are, right now, in a top secret place that is essentially dedicated to research the side effects of the violent Phasers. You see, all of us have one thing in common-" 

"Wait." I interrupted. "Sorry, did you say we? As in..." 

Nima laughed at my expression. "Yes, I've Phased. It's incredibly rare, but that's why I'm so smart for my age, and then some. I'm actually smarter then most people even older than you." I made an awed sound. 

"Anyway, everybody in this... hideout, I guess you could call it, was a violent Phaser. The organization originally started in researching them and trying to isolate the variable that made them snap. They eventually did this, but in doing so, they found another side effect." 

"And what's that?' I asked.