Legacy In Fire (Book 1)

Max'ed Out(Chap-8)

It was dark. An almost tangible dark.

I was in a state of semi-consciousness, fluctuating through reality and nothingness. I was grasping for something substantial, something that I could hold onto, to pull me to shore, to cognizance. I was fighting and didn't know what was winning, who was winning; the part of me that wanted to stay in this caliginous abyss and away from thoughts of a missing mother or the part of me that would fight to the end no matter what was the circumstance.

I didn't get the chance to ponder on that for another infinitesimal moment, because by sheer willpower or a miraculous occurrence my eyes shot open revealing to me a white room, and me on a tiny mattress.

No, white was an understatement.

The room was starkly plain, no ornaments anywhere, and everything, and I mean everything was one monotonous shade, blending in together, amalgamating into a mundanely boring blank room. The ceiling was high and dotted with recessed lightbulbs that shed a dull light that illuminated the small space, and where the walls met the high roof that was where any sign of interest left, no love was put into this room. The floors were-

The floors? I couldn't see the floors. I tried to get up off the mattress and was surprised to find that I couldn't do it. I turned my head to get a better view of my arms that laid unmoving beside me. Straps fastened them and when I examined my feet, they were too. I started struggling, in attempt to free myself from the braces, I could feel them now, they were cold, they were metal and they were repulsing me every second they held me in their captivity.

I started to scream, a succession of shrill noises that afflicted my throat and my ears. On my second set of screams I was interrupted by a voice, a feminine one that came through concealed speakers, I stopped abruptly and rotated my head (what little I could) but I couldn't find its source.

The voice said, "Please calm down".

"Where the hell am I?" I sneered, and then something else popped into the forefront of my mind. "Where the hell is Max?"

"Don't worry about him, he is safe", she said, somehow her voice didn't sound as malicious as it should have. "May I enter?" but before I replied she was in the room. It made a thought resurface in my mind.

"When was the last time I saw you?" he asked cocking his head to the side, his grin mischievous.

"Yesterday." I retorted, rolling my eyes "Might I ask, why you aren't in class?"

"Why do you ask, may you, if you were going to ask already?" he asked, crossing his hands across his chest.

Max.

I had to know where he was.

The woman that stepped in held a notepad in her hand, her hair was the colour of charcoal and her eyes were the same, deep and dark, she wore a white coat, an average sized one but it surpassed her knees and on her face, a small smile was painted. She looked young, about in the earlier twenties.

She looked at me, her smile growing. "Hello?"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Dr. Carter, but you can call me Vanessa".

She seemed so nice, but why was I chained in the bed if she was nice? I decided to push this button. I gave her my most dazzling dumb blond smile and the most sincere tone I could muster.

"Could you", I intentionally paused, "perhaps, unstrap me from this bed".

"You have to be sure to not use your abilities, because then you will be sedated and examined my force."

I was a tad confounded to what she was uttering about, but I ensured her that I would not all the same.

She gave an imperceptible pause, but then went straight ahead to the unfastening of the braces. She was like a mouse, moving at light speed, unlocking the metal braces as if she was the one imprisoned and not me, when the last clasp was unbuckled I let out a palpable sigh of relief. My hands felt sore and stiff; I didn't know that it would ever feel so exhilarating just to be able to move my wrist. I decided to push my luck a little further and hopefully it wouldn't bear fatefully.

"Where is Max?"

Her smile fell for a miniscule moment, but it re-appeared immediately, remolded in a beautiful curved line.

"I'm sorry but I can't disclose that information presently."

"Why not?" I could bet my face had taken a trip to GrimaceVille.

"I apologize but to impart this knowledge upon you, I would be greatly out of my rank."

"Can't you just tell me?"

"I can't." she tapped her pen on her notepad. "Do you want to ask anything else?" she looked at me somewhat piteously "I will have to leave soon; we only get an affixed amount of time with our...patients".

I searched through the accumulation of disjointed thoughts that ran in confusion throughout my brain and grasped one that closely resembled coherency and wasn't regarding to Max.

"Where am I?"

A small smile adorned her face. "You are at the CORE; the Corporation of Renegade Experimentation."

I was confused, was I being experimented on? Was I a renegade? Why was I here?

This didn't make sense.

"Why am I here?"

"We have to examine your behavioral patterns and the instigators for your ability. We also need to employ various tests to find your particular ability." She walked a bit closer to my bed and smiled, a sweet a smile. "You and your friend differ greatly from the others, with the exception of an especially peculiar case, but you'll find out about that in time."

"When will I get to leave?"

"Soon." A sonorous ring commenced simultaneously with her utterance. She leaned down to be in great proximity to me exactly then and said, ever so softly, as if she didn't want someone to hear. "We have to get you and Max out of this place as soon as possible."

Then she got up and departed. I was left dumbstruck but then I remembered of a person, a person with blond hair, a person still missing.

My mother.

~~~~~~~~

What did you think of Vanessa? What about Max's sudden abscence? Oh, and do you like the new title and cover?

Last but certainly not least could you please vote, comment and/or share, I would be eternally gratified ;)