Chapter 5- Altered

Rosetta woke up in a strange environment strapped to what looked like a hospital bed. She could not fathom what was going on. She looked around, she was still in her clothes but she had something like a tag stuck to her clothes. She tried to free her hands but couldn't she was cuffed to the bed with leather straps. She craned her head to the left, she saw other beds. Some of the occupants she recognized by their clothing. There were all asleep. She was the only one awake. It could be because she didn't finish her drink. She had been wondering why the drink tasted off, it had been spiked. She tried to free herself and noticed hair on the floor, part of her hair had been shaved off. She looked around and saw that the others had part of their hair shaved off too judging by the hairs on the floor close to their beds. She didn't know why and was not willing to stick around and find out. She struggled against her bonds but they were too tight and bruised her skin. She needed to find a way out and fast. It was obvious this was no excursion neither was it a seminar. She couldn't fathom any excursion or seminar that would require the participants to be strapped to a hospital bed neither did she know any that used them as a means of transportation. She struggled again but stopped when she heard sounds of rushing footsteps rushing towards them.

Rosetta lay down and pretended to be asleep. A group of nurses rushed in and waited. They all seemed nervous and tensed.

A man walked in after them. The heels of his expensive shoes clicked on the cold concrete floor. He wore a black suit, black tie and mirror shades. Rosetta peeked and wondered why someone would decide to wear shades in a room with low visibility, unless he wanted to hide behind them which was obvious since the nurses stayed a good distance away and didn't look directly at him. He looked around and seemed pleased.

"Prepare all of them for the procedure! " He commanded looking straight at her. She thought what procedure? He seemed to notice she was awake.

"Welcome back Miss Stone. How was the nap?" He asked her. Rosetta realized three things. One he sounded very much like the man the leader was talking to on the phone. Two, he probably gave the order for them to be drugged. Three, it was no mistake she was here because this man intended for her to be here.

When there was no reply the man continued. "I could have been very surprised that you are awake and others are asleep but I was told you didn't finish your drink. Figured out it was spiked didn't you? Well I didn't expect less from Dr. Stones' offspring."

"Excuse me sir, what am I doing here? "

"Ever so polite. I guess who I am doesn't matter and in truth it doesn't because you won't remember. You see my dear... " the man said moving closer to caress her face "You are part of the research, an experiment. On top of the list if you ask me that's why you'll be going in first. You see your parents made an ingenious discovery that requires the best of the best and who is better than the child of the two geniuses " he finished with glee rubbing his hand together. He motioned for them to wheel her away.

"No! My parents... "

"Will be performing the procedure themselves" he laughed at the shocked expression on her face as she was wheeled away.

Rosetta was too shocked to do anything than stare. No there has to be a logical explanation for this. He parents wouldn't use her as their lab rat. Wouldn't use any child. They were good and ethical people, that man had to be lying. She looked at the people wheeling her down a dimly lit corridor.they were moving fast as if they had limited time. They passed a lot of rooms. The building appeared to be an abandoned hospital. No this was a nightmare. She thought. Her punishment for secretly reading horror books. She was going to wake up at anytime and find herself on her desk in the study. The nurses moved too close to the wall to allow some other group of nurses to pass. They accidentally scraped the back of her hand against the wall. She felt the pain. This was no dream. She screamed.

She wheeled to a room where they forcefully gave her a shot to stop her screaming and struggling, it made her immobile and they proceeded to strip her of shorts and top and dress her in the hospital drab. They were so tensed and nervous that the missed the edge of something white sticking out from between her thighs. Rosetta tried to move to conceal it but couldn't. It was as if she was paralyzed. They dressed her in a patient surgical gown and then wheeled her to another room with machines and equipment. They connected an IV line and put her on drips. They also attached the lines of various machines to her body. She was just regaining her locomotion when her parents and a group of doctors entered.

Rosetta's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. She couldn't utter a single word for two minutes. She just starred at her parents dressed in surgical gowns with their mask hanging from their necks. Her mom walked towards her and lay her hand on Rosetta's head.

"Calm down honey, mommy is here. We only want to make you better "Dr. Annabelle Stone said caressing her head.

Rosetta's head felt heavy. She looked from her mother to her father to the group of doctors. This was serious. This is real! She thought.

"No"Rosetta said shaking her head. "No" she said more forcefully. They were going to use her for some research project, her own parents. Tears streamed from her eyes. They couldn't do this. They simply just can't. "You can't do this! " she screamed struggling to get free. When she realized that her bonds were too strong to break, she pleaded. "Please "

Her mom stood up from the bed "Can't you see honey, we are trying to make you better, to make you more than you already are"

"I'm human! And that's enough for me. I don't want to be more! " she cried.

"But it is not enough for me. You can have more, can have all! "

"I don't want it. I don't want anything! "

"Sadly it's not your decision to make. I can and will make you better! "

"Dad please" The child turned to her father. He was the voice of reason. He could make her mom stop. He just looked at her and after sometime he said.

"You're going to be alright, honey. Let's begin" he said the last part to the doctors and they began to man their stations. Rosetta renewed her struggles as she saw her mother approach her with the anesthetic. She doubled her struggles trying to break free, to get away, to avoid the injection.

"Stay still! You'll thank me later" Annabelle Stone said as she administered the shot. Rosetta turned towards her and spat on her. Before she went under she saw her parents instructing the doctors as they laid out their tools. If her parents could do this to their only child what was the fate of other children?

"I will kill you! All of you! "She said as dizziness overcame her.