Chapter 9: Stay Awake

I lie on my bed, drifting off to a well-needed dreamland, where there lived a normal girl, before any of this ruckus happened. Rogue F was mad at me, that's for sure. Or maybe he's just in denial that this could actually be true.

I saw a little girl ran around the room, with a dog trailing behind her as her mother watches with cautious but admiring eyes.

Her mom shouted, "Stop, you'll fall." And the girl did fall. She cried out loud, bearing the pain of a scratched knee.

The scene changes so quickly to a world where the girl's parents were dead, her hands were covered in their blood, as were others'.

A man stood by her, holding her hand as she watched her parents' coffin be lowered into their graves. On her right stood a little boy, no older than she was, her best friend, one that she would soon betray.

The scene changes again, to a burning world full of screams of agony and the smell of blood and dust all around. Mothers and fathers, crying and screaming after their children who were taken from them.

Scene changes, a world full of technology and aspiring people.

A world where we are in temporary peace, everyone going about with small, daily quarrels.

A world is destroyed.

A world is rebuilt.

"Mankind would always destroy the world after rebuilding it."

"Viviane?" I woke.

I glanced beside me, unaware of where I am, only to recognize that I'm in a motel room.

"Rogue F?" I whispered, getting up and drinking the glass of water on the table. Things were scattered all across the table; pens, papers filled with notes, empty glasses, shards of glass.

I felt it before I heard it, the presence of someone behind me, holding a gun pointed at my head. So I turned, only to see Alpha Q, eyes focused and enraged.

It all happened so fast. Too fast.

A bullet pierced through me, shooting pain in all directions. And it stopped, making me feel numb.

My eyes drifted, not focusing but I could still see him.

Stay awake. You have to stay awake.

I couldn't.

The last thing I saw was Alpha Q, bent down to look me in the face and smiling, either empathetically or maniacally.

Either way, it was a sight for sore eyes. I told you that smile would kill me, and what a beautiful death it would be.

Stay awake.

I can't.

➰➰➰

When I awoke, I was in a white room, it was empty and I was alone. Cushions pierced on the walls, not one door or window was there, except a camera in the corner of the room.

I wonder who's watching.

"Alpha Q?" I asked the camera. Whoever is on the other side of the screen must be watching. "Please get me out of here."

No one answered.

I was truly and utterly alone.

I sighed, sitting down since I was still so, so weak. They must've injected me with some kind of drug.

Suddenly my body jolted, a pain coursing through my chest and spreading through my whole form. And I remembered what had happened.

I was sure I was dead, that my last sight before I go to wherever everyone else goes was Alpha Q's smile.

Melancholic, don't you think?

Very much so, but calming nonetheless.

I heard a door opening, right in front of me, and Alpha Q walked in, trailing behind was Rogue F.

I got up, walked towards them with the little power I have left. "What is this?" I asked, whispered in fact.

They both looked at me as if I was nothing. I'm something, aren't I?

"Answer me!" I shouted at them, and yet, their expressions didn't falter.

"You must forgive them," I heard a voice, so similar, so dreaded. "It was an order to not speak a word to you," Ultimate Z said.

"You," I whispered.

No, no. I was right, Ultimate Z wouldn't've done this on his own.

"Yes, yes, me," He mocked, "the evil one, the bad guy, the antagonist."

I glared at him, feeling betrayed even though I couldn't believe it.

"What, you're gonna ignore me?" Ultimate Z asked, as I looked away and decided to not acknowledge him at all.

"Listen to me!" He shouted, and I felt the room vibrate.

Stand your ground.

You've been quite talkative today.

I've always been.

"-and she won't even listen to me," Ultimate Z huffed, making me stop the conversation with my head.

"Look- calm down, alright?" Rogue F said as I sat down against the wall.

Alpha Q stared at me with a straight face, making Ultimate Z and Rogue F's voices drown out.

Damn him, he doesn't even care about you.

"Phoenix X," Alpha Q said softly.

I furrow my brows, silently asking him 'what'.

"Phoenix X!" he exclaimed, diving down for a hug, which I avoided. How dare he hug me after he shot me to near death.

"Phoenix X, i-it's me, Alpha Q," he said, still kneeling before me, arms wide, smile slowly dropping.

"Alpha Q, get away from her," Ultimate Z commanded.

And he just...complied, so simply.

Something's not right, that wasn't him.

"Alright, Phoenix X," Ultimate Z spat out, "If you're not willing to talk now, then I'll just have to get some people here to drain the information out of your brain."

Show no weakness.

"Get Xenon V," He commanded and left, the two of them following closely behind.

Not even a glance, huh?

Harsh.

I sighed, looking around the room. Well, the silence might just be useful.

To do what?

Devise that escape and rescue plan I might have to use.