Chapter Eight: Your Wish Is My Command
Copyright © by J. Faith Kenney
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission.
The past few days have passed in a big blur. All I can remember is getting pushed and shoved into places. Most of the time I am in a dark, small room all alone. No windows and no one really talks to me without pushing me or holding my elbows close to my shoulders blades.
I haven’t seen Zac, but did get word he is alive and doing alright. I don’t believe he is doing alright, because I am barely doing alright, and I am not the one who got shot. Bruises and cuts are all over my body from being dragged around. My lips are swollen, cracked, and bruised from getting punched in the face a couple of times when I moved too slowly for them.
The last few days and hours I have drifted in and out of sleep, falling into the same memory of Zac lying on the floor, shot and bleeding. This will haunt me, scare me for the rest of my life. I just know it.
The room I am in is dark and cold. There is no bedding, no drawers, no light, nothing. Nothing at all, only the cold floor I lie on, with the cuffs rubbing my skin raw.
The heavy, solid door creaks open, shining the only source of light from the hall into my cell. I know who stands in the doorway. The same man who has been pushing me around from the moment I got to this place—Cole Carter. Cole has dirty blonde hair, dark gray soul killing eyes, and a sharp jawline that matches his little sick grin he always wears. He is only a couple of inches taller than me, and scrawny with only a little bit of muscle. He is the person in charge of me.
“Lily wants you.” His cold, emotionless voice fills the whole room.
I don’t say anything or move, just stare at the opposite wall. He takes a few seconds before grabbing me by my arm and pinching my skin, which is already bruised from him. He drags me out to the bright light in the halls that burns my eyes, making me wince. Cole gives a little chuckle at seeing me in pain before shoving me hard to keep me moving.
My cell is at the end of a hallway and different from the rest, with the solid door blocking me from everyone else. Cells with glass walls line the hall on both sides of the solid door at the end, where stand two guards. The walls are jet black, the floor pure white.
My eyes adjust to the brightness just in time to see Zac in the second cell to my left, sitting on the floor, his head on his knees. He seems to be in one piece with little cuts and bruises on his exposed arms, his muscles tight.
His clothes have changed from his nighttime sweats to jeans and a t-shirt. As we pass by his cell, Zac looks up, revealing a gash in his head. We make eye contact, and he is up on his feet standing as close as he can to the glass.
“Thela!” he shouts, and I can hear him perfectly clearly through the glass.
Cole gives Zac a look, making him sit back down, but his eyes stay on me the whole time. Cole shoves me again to keep me moving, pushing me out of the door to the main hallway. We go into a dining room right next to the jail cells.
It contains a long, rectangular table with an unnecessary number of chairs around it. The table is a dark gray wood with black chairs matching the black walls. A golden rust colored chandelier hangs above, giving us dim, harsh lighting. Torches of fake fire are around the room, matching the candles on the table. Lily is at the far end, sitting at the head of the table and looking like a queen.
“Thela, please join me.” She waves to the seat next to her, revealing a small black ink crown tattoo on her left inner wrist. How fitting, she has a crown. “Let’s make up for the lost time and have a meal together, since we haven’t seen each other in over fifteen years.” Her voice sweet, but her smirk reminds me that she is evil.
Cole pushes me before I can even get the chance to walk on my own. He pulls out the chair for me before pushing me down by my shoulder to sit. Lily’s smile turns wicked and joyful.
“Where is Tess?” My voice raspy with a tremble from not speaking in days. “I know you have her.”
“In fact I do. She’s fine, and I know she is a Neuroner. To be honest, I should have killed her because she is just a Neuroner, but she has been useful.”
“What does that mean?” I spit out. “I am just a Neuroner as well.”
“No, Thela, you are more. You are what is considered a Dangerous Neuroner, or what I like to call them, the real ones that matter. Your friend has been my guinea pig to help me learn what more I can do to you. To push you to your limits. My question to you though, is why didn’t you die in the woods fifteen years ago?”
I hesitate before replying. “I almost did, does that make you feel better?”
She sits back in her chair, looking me right in the eyes like I am irritating her. “What happened that made you live? How did you get placed in the orphanage?”
A shiver goes through me at discussing this uncomfortable topic, especially discussing it with Lily. “Someone found me.” My voice low as I hold back the tears. “They asked if I had a family, and I told them no. They placed me in the orphanage and put up posters and things like that, hoping someone would claim me, but no one did. So, I was officially an orphan.”
“Well isn’t that sweet. I guess I should thank them, but we have work to do.” Her voice sounds as if she’s bored with my answer.
“Wait, I have a question.” She raises her eyebrows like this is a challenge, and I roll my eyes, continuing on. “How did you find me, and why take others instead of me first?”
“How I found out you weren’t dead is not important. I had a spy though, George Good, the patient you had that you never met. My taking people before you were warning shots, and fun for me.”
Lily nods to Cole, and he grabs a hold of me and pulls me up. Lily gets up from her seat and makes her way toward the door. Cole pushes me along to follow.
“Grab the boy and grab the girl. This is something they won’t want to miss.” Lily’s voice colder than before, sending chills down my spine.
The boy? The girl? Zac and Tess.
“Leave them alone!” I hiss, pushing Cole off me with my elbow, and for a second I am free. Only for a second.
Cole shoves me onto the table, but I shove him off with my shoulder, causing him to stumble backward. My reward for that is two other guards holding me even tighter until it feels like my bones in my arms are about to break from the pressure.
Lily turns back around with a smile. “Well she is a fierce one. Don’t let her escape.” She leaves, and the guards push me forward, not lighting up on their grip.
Straight across the hall, we go into a room that leads to another hall next to it. This room is very bright white, way different from the dining room. The room from floor to ceiling is white. In the very back is a raised platform, and to my right is a double set of doors. On the raised platform is a chair waiting for Lily, and she takes it with ease. She looks even more like a queen, just without the crown or dress, but she doesn’t need them.
You are not a queen! Never was and never will be.
The double doors open and two guards bring—more like drag—in Zac, in worse condition than before. It looks like he can’t even stand on his own two feet without the guards holding him up. But his own pride makes him stand on his own, leaning on no one for support. Our eyes meet and his are filled with pain. Mine are the same. The guards move him off to the side, and we hold each other’s gazes.
A few seconds drag by before the doors open again, and one guard wheels Tess in on a wheelchair. She is alive, but still sickly pale. Fear resonates in her eyes, and when she sees me, the fear grows almost like a cry without any noise. Her arms and legs have bandages around them with little cuts on her face showcasing her scars. Her left eye is bruised pink and purple. The bruising is a couple of days old, but it is healing.
“So, how are you feeling, Thela, now that you have seen Tess and Zac in the same room?” asks Lily, and I don’t say anything, just stare at her with disgust and pure hatred. “Thela, I want to command you, have all of your brain under my control.”
“How?”
“Simple.” She snaps her fingers, and a lady in a black uniform with Lily’s symbol on the back comes in carrying a tray. Lily nods with appreciation as she takes the medicine cup and holds it up for me to see. The little cup is filled with a clear bubbly liquid. One the tray the lady in black holds a syringe filled with a vibrant blue liquid. “All you have to do is take this, and I will inject you with this for full control.”
I look over to Tess and to Zac. Will it save them? Help them get out of this mess? Will it help them go back to their normal lives? I am the Neuroner, it should only be me who has to suffer.
My eyes lock with Lily’s power hungry eyes. “If I do this, will you leave Tess and Zac alone and only make me suffer?”
“NO, THELA!” shouts Zac.
I turn right in time to see Zac get slapped across the face by the guard. Flashes of his father doing the same to him go through my mind, and I can’t help but shiver. Lily holds up her hand to stop another slap, and I turn back to look at her.
“Something went through you when Zac got slapped.” She gets up and takes a step down, her eyes amused. “Fine. Tess and Zac will be safe.” She nods to the guards, and they hold Zac a little looser, but don’t let go all the way.
“Are you ready, sister?” she asks, but I know I have no choice.
Here I have been running my whole life from an owner and now I have one. Not only that, it is my sister. I nod and she takes a step forward with greed for power. Whatever happens, I will find a way out of it.
“I want to inject this myself,” states Lily as she takes the syringe off the tray.
I give one last look to Tess before locking eyes with Zac. Everything will be fine. Giving him the smile that tells him everything will be fine. He shakes his head, and all he can do is watch how he is losing me. The guards’ grips already back to their firm hold on him.
Turning back to Lily, releasing my final breath that is truly mine. She hands me the medicine cup with a smile full of power on her face. I take it in one gulp, not letting the taste of burnt to a crisp food that lingers in my mouth affect me.
Lily holds the syringe close to my neck and leans in to whisper in my ear. “I waited for this for a long time. Do you remember what you did to make me call you a monster all those years ago?”
I shake my head no, and she leans back, rolling up her right sleeve to reveal a scar along her forearm. “This scar is from you,” she whispers and leans closer again. She places the syringe right under my jawline but not in my skin, yet. “We were playing outside in the yard of the blue house. There were leaves and sticks everywhere. You picked up a twig and did something to it. You manipulated it so it became sharp.”
She pauses only for a second, then her voice rises but remains a whisper. “We started to play pirates, and you stabbed me with the sharp twig right through my arm.” Lily only backs away enough to see my reaction.
“Lily, I am so-”
The needle plunges into my neck before I get the chance to finish. As the liquid enters my body, my shoulders tighten, and I twitch as the liquid enters my bloodstream. Lily lets out a laugh of enjoyment, taking the needle out and stepping back to see what she has done.
My head rolls with my eyes, my breathing becoming heavier. My head drops, looking at the ground. The whole room is deadly silent and waiting for my response to the liquid.
I look up right into Lily’s eyes. My face dead without any emotion, but not in my mind. “Yes, Lily, my command is yours.” My voice dead as well.
“NO!” shouts Zac, and the guards tighten their grips, holding him back.
Lily’s eyes light up with joy, and she gives a nod of power. “Good, very good.” She looks to the guards holding Zac. “Put the boy back in his cell. We will deal with him later. For the girl, place her in a cell as well.”
“But you said-” starts Tess, fear regrowing in her eyes.
“That I will make only her suffer?” Lily’s voice cold. “She doesn’t remember that, and I am keeping my promise. I just can’t release you two yet.”
Lily waves her hand lazily, and the guards start pushing them out of the room. Tess doesn’t put up a fight, too scared of what Lily will do to her. Only one guard wheels her out as the other goes to help Zac’s guards. Zac seems to find all his strength as he squirms with his muscles tight, trying to break free. Instead of the two guards he originally had, he now has five all pushing him back to his cell.
“NO, THELA!” yells Zac. “DON’T GIVE UP. DON’T LOSE ME. I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE. FIND A WAY OUT, FIND A-”
I look at Zac with confusion, not sure what to think of him as he leaves the room. Turning back to Lily, I have the same confusion written all over my face.
“How does he know my name?” I ask. “I’ve never seen him before in my life.” The words taste bitter in my mouth.
“YES! Thela, do you know who I am?” asks Lily.
“Yes, of course. You’re my owner.”
She snaps her fingers for the guards behind me to step forward. “Take Thela and hook her up to the mem-monitor. I want to see if we have full control over her brain and see where her brain is at. Thela?” I nod to tell her she has my attention. “You are in good hands.”
“Okay.”
Lily nods her head, and the guards guide me to the doors Zac and Tess were pushed out of. They lead me down the long hall to the last door at the very end. One guard puts a series of numbers in the keypad before the doors open to a lab of pure white. The only thing different in color are the metal machines around each station and a pure metal table. It is a circular room with stations outlining the circle. In the center of the room is the pure gray metal table with a few machines around it.
The guards lead me to the table, and one motions me to sit while the other takes off my cuffs. With the pressure off my wrists, I feel free, but that is the only part of me that feels free. I sit down on the table, and the two guards go stand by the doors we came through—the only entrance and exit.
I look around to everyone in the room. They are already eyeing me as they do their own work. What is this place?
“Excuse me, sir,” I say to the one wearing Lily’s uniform, but it’s different from the guards’. He stands right by the machines closest to the table. He looks up with his gray soul killing eyes. “What happened to me? I feel like I hit my head or something, and I don’t remember waking up this morning.”
“You woke up in here like always, and always will.”
“What is here?”
“A facility for your kind, designed by Lily. You are safe here. Now lie down, that will help the feeling in your head.”
I lie down on the gray table in the middle of everyone like I am a piece of art for a show. The bright white lights shine in my eyes, and I close them, not wanting to look anywhere else.
“One more question, what is your name?”
“Cole.” His voice cold. “Now close your eyes and try to relax.”
I nod and close my eyes again. Cole places an IV in my arm. On my head, he places a helmet with three cords coming out of it and connecting to the monitor. A beep fills my ears, feeling that my head is no longer attached to my body. Electrical shocks go through my whole body, feeling like electric shocks from an outlet. My body does a little twitch as the feeling of bugs eating me alive takes over.
Opening my eyes, I see Lily there instead of Cole. The lights for the room are dim, revealing only she and I are in here.
“You did great. Tomorrow you will have an assessment.” Her voice sweet and calming.
“Okay, what do you mean?” I ask.
“I will tell you more tomorrow, but you will be hooked up to this and going through obstacles with your mind.”
“Okay, sounds fun.”
She nods. “Try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day for you, and of course me.”
I nod and she leaves the room as I fall into a restless sleep.