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.

"Why did it take you so long?" she gritted out.

I looked longingly to my bed, "Can we move this conversation over there? My body is killing me."

She nodded and helped me over to my bed. I laid down and turned my face towards the blank ceiling. I heard Essence lay down on her bed as well. This didn't necessarily help my pain mentally or physically, but I figure it would be easier for me to tell Essence without looking at her. I felt like a coward, but I knew I wouldn't tell her otherwise.

"So?" Essence drawled.

"I killed a woman."

Wow, way to put it delicately, I thought. Although, bluntness was probably the better way to go at the moment. It usually was better than beating around the bush in hard situations. I never was good at coming up with stuff to say anyway. I could always put my feels into art or writing, but as soon as it came to speaking I was done. My parents had always made fun of me for it.

"Okay," said Essence.

There was no gasp. There was no asking why. I guess maybe she figured I had a good reason. I was grateful though. I sighed in relief.

"What were you and your boyfriend fighting about?" she asked.

I propped myself up on my arm and gave Essence a look of confusion. How did she know we were fighting?

"Girl, that guard called you out in front of everybody, not to mention I have ears. It was pretty clear that conversation wasn't about cupcakes and rainbows."

I sighed, "Fine. It was a misunderstanding about Alistair."

Essence's eyes lit up with unanswered questions. I swear this girl thrives off of drama in any form. I could only imagine how she must have been with Rosaline.

"Oh, did you and Golden Boy have some history?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Ugh, not you too," I mumbled frowning at her name for Alistair.

She giggled, "Well, do you?"

"No! Well yes. You know that he was my friend, but he did ask me out. I said no though! But that's not even what the argument was about. How did you manage to make me tell you that?"

"I have my ways." Essence said.

I took in the smug look on her face and rolled my eyes. Huffing, I flopped back down onto my back. I could hear giggling as I stared back at the ceiling. I was overreacting significantly.

"How could you manipulate me," I said trying to keep a straight face, "I am so very hurt. I have been betrayed! Why? Please avenge me, Cade!"

I then pretend to be dead. I could hear Essence laughing hysterically.

"Ow! Laughing hurts!" she declared in between laughter fits.

I tried to sit up, only to be struck by a wave of pain. I grunted and flopped back down.

"I'm pretty sure anything we do is going to hurt," I whined dramatically

As if sent from, well hell but like in angel form, a guard unlocked the door and barged in. He was of average height but looked super intimidating. He held a tray of two paper cups. The stuff inside was a light green liquid. It reminded me of puke. I scrubbed my nose as the guard came closer. Even better, it smelled bad too.

"Are you both in pain?"

Both Essence and I nodded.

"Drink these." he said, handing us each a cup, "It will take away most of the pain.

I took the cup in my hand. I threw caution to the wind as I tilted my head back and took the liquid like a shot. The nasty green goop burned it's way down my throat. I made a sound of disgust and placed the cup back down on the guard's tray.

Essence mimicked my actions and gagged, throwing the cup back at the guard.

"This nasty stuff better work," she grumbled.

"Thank you," I said to the guard.

He nodded and walked out of the room. I heard the click of the lock and sighed. I was starting to get stir-crazy sitting in this little room. I honestly couldn't see how some people could do this all day. I never really talked to people, but I did like to be outside.

"Hey, I think the pain is starting to go away." Essence said.

I sat up, and surprisingly there wasn't nearly as much pain as before. I shot Essence a smile and she sat up too.

"Much better," she sighed, "I think I'm going to try and fix the picture I was drawing."

I nodded, "sounds good. I'm going to see if the guard will bring me to the bathroom."

With the pain alleviated I noticed my bladder was about to explode. I jumped and waved in front of the camera. Essence laughed in amusement, but sure enough, I heard the lock click within minutes.

"What?" asked the same guard as earlier.

"May I use the bathroom?" I asked as politely as possible.

He looked at me with uncertainty. He must have heard about what happened earlier. But for goodness sake, the man looks like he could rip me in half! I think he could take me. Regardless, I should probably hurry this up before my bladder did explode.

"I promise I won't try anything, sir. I just really need to use the bathroom. I'll be super fast."

I hoped that would be enough convincing for him. I thought I sounded genuine enough. It's not like there were any tells anyway because I was telling the truth.

He looked at me sternly, "Yes, you will behave. You walk behind me in handcuffs. I bring you to the bathroom and take them off. There you will do your business quickly and come out. Then you will be handcuffed and will follow me back here."

I stared at him oddly, why was he speaking like that? Oh yeah, everybody else here is susceptible to their commands. I nodded, but it looked like he was waiting for something else.

"Yes, sir?" I said, more of a question than a statement.

The guard shook his head, "weird kid."

He then shackled my wrists in the handcuffs. Thankfully he didn't put them as tightly on my wrists as the last guard had. It felt odd to be glad about something like that, but I couldn't help it. Small pleasures had become everything in this place.

I followed the guard wordlessly down the long hallway. There were so many rooms and they all looked exactly like the ones before them. I could hear screaming from some rooms and crying from other rooms. Overall, it was a heinous sight that made me feel very uneasy. I wanted to ask the guard what was going on, but I couldn't remember whether he said I could speak or not. I figured that it would probably be better not to ask. I didn't want to give away that I hadn't gotten the real injection. That could be a fatal mistake on my part.

The guard didn't even flinch at the screams. It made me wonder what this man had seen. It made me wonder what this man had done. I had done so much, but still, I was not this callous. I wasn't that stone cold. I still hoped with every part of me that nobody had actually died. That this was all some elaborate trick. But I knew it wasn't, and that's what continuously killed me inside. That's why I flinched at every single scream and cry. I flinched because I had seen somebody I loved die right in front of me. I flinched because I had killed two people that others loved. I had taken something from somebody that I could never give back or fix. But I had people taken from me too. Did that make us even in some sick sense? And I don't think I ever will.

"We're here kid." The guard said while roughly unlocking my handcuffs.

I mumbled a thank you before rushing into the bathroom. I quickly relieved myself and went over to the sink. I stuck my hands under the soap dispenser and watched the white, bubbly substance fall into my palms. I then rubbed my hands together furiously under the water. I watched the soap flow into the drain. Something about it looked rather peaceful.

I switched my line of vision to the mirror as I dried my hands. My hair looked disgusting. It was knotted beyond belief. I sighed, knowing a shower was most likely out of the question here. My eyes met my twin in the mirror. They looked dull and sad. I nodded. That was accurate to how I felt inside.

"Hurry up!" the guard shouted.

I quickly finished drying my hands. I took one last look at myself in the mirror and sighed. I then walked out and offered the guard my raw wrists.

The guard looked at them and started to walk back towards my room. My eyes widened significantly at the guard's actions. Why would he do that for me? Perhaps he wasn't as heartless as I had thought.

"Sir?" I asked for a big chance.

"Yes." He said.

"Why did you do that?"

"You guys don't deserve this," he said, "None of us do. I respect you. You do what you have to, do I. We're more alike than you know."

He sighed deeply, stopping at my room.

"Be careful, kid. They're looking for any chance to kill you off now."

I nodded. I knew how hard it must have been for him to break the rules like this.

"Thank you so much, sir."

He chuckled, "You can drop the sir. I know you weren't injected. The whole command thing was an act. There was another guard around the corner. But heads up, the correct would have been; I will do so."

"Okay, thank you again. I can't tell you how much you've helped."

He nodded grimly, "Well, I have a lot to make up for."

He then ushered me in the door and shut it. Hearing the locks click I turned to Essence.

"There's a lot I need to tell you," I said biting the inside of my cheek.