Chapter 15

Hot droplets kissed every inch of my skin and rolled over my body as though caressing me. Cascading through my hair and running off my shoulders, the water hugged me at every contour like an appreciative lover. Steam rose and hovered in the air around me, cocooning me in a blanket made of mist. Raising my chin to greet the oncoming waterfall of warmth, I allowed a small and grateful smile to grace my lips.

The highlight of my day…a shower. The one place where an unbiased element nurtured me without a judgmental stare or awkward gaze.

Walking down the hall behind the armed guard, taking me to and from my daily bathing, I received nothing but sideways glances or avoidance from passing agents and workers. It was like being a leper of society without any visual proof of illness.

Drying off and dressing myself in the standard white jumpsuit issued to me after my clothes had ‘mysteriously’ been cut off, I was led back to my room.

Breakfast was always waiting for me when I returned. Day after day, the routine was the same—until today.

Agent Evans was standing in the middle of my cell when I returned. His face looked pale and he seemed agitated. I couldn’t help but notice the worried frown on his face.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, suddenly concerned for my own welfare. Briefly, my mind wandered to Agent Meyers and his assaults, hoping that maybe he’d been caught and Agent Evans was going to put a stop to it.

“Wrong?” He sighed as he shifted his weight from one foot to another. “I don’t know if I’d call it wrong.”

I sure hoped he didn’t mean that what Agent Meyers was doing to me was okay! My hands clenched into fists as I glared at him. Suppressed anger began to flood to the surface of my body. I could feel myself becoming volatile. I envisioned lunging at Agent Evans and tearing at his throat like a wild animal would after being caged and unfed for months.

A knock at the door invaded my deranged fantasy.

“Excuse me.” Agent Evans mumbled as he quickly walked to the door. The door cracked open slightly, I couldn’t see who was on the other side, but Agent Evans had a very quiet conversation with that person.

Wishing I had better hearing, I tilted my head in their general direction. I focused all my attention to my ears in hopes of catching anything, even just a word, a sentence, something, but I couldn’t make anything out.

Apparently these people were good at secrecy. I wasn’t surprised. I had determined long ago that they were part of a secret government sect, but it didn’t take a genius to figure that out.

“Okay, yup, okay.” Agent Evans finished his mysterious conversation with the unknown person on the other side of my cell door. Turning his attention to me, I stood with a defensive stance. My arms folded across my middle, I gave him my best ‘what the hell do you want’ glare.

“Yes, well, someone will come for you shortly.” Avoiding my abrasive expression, he looked past me at the wall.

“Come for me? Why?”

Walking quickly toward the door, he knocked to signal the guard to let him out. For a moment I thought he wasn’t going to answer me, but at the last second, he turned and gave me an unreadable expression. “We need to do another test.” And with that, he walked out.

Sitting down beside my uneaten breakfast, my stomach lurched at the thought of food.

Test? What kind of test? How painful will this one be? Curling up in the fetal position, I wondered what these jerks had in store for me now.

***

“Pee into this.” The lab assistant (who I recognized as the asshole who’d taken a chunk of scalp from my head a couple months earlier) insisted as he handed me a little plastic cup.

Two armed guards had led me to a bathroom near what appeared to be the lab and then left me alone with the lab assistant. Hovering in the doorway, I gave him a cold glare.

Is he just going to stand there and watch me?

“Go ahead.” He stated crossing his arms.

Out of all the torturous tests and inhumane acts, this had to be one of the most demeaning. Unzipping my white jumpsuit and pulling it down to my knees, I sat upon the cold, white plastic seat. Thankfully my long hair fell over my face and acted like a black satin curtain, blocking the gawking attendant from my view.

Holding the little cup between my legs, I waited for my bladder to release. There’s nothing more difficult than trying to relax an embarrassed muscle.

Finally, after what felt like forever, I managed to let my fluids go. Catching it in the little cup, I fought back the tears of humiliation as I handed him the warm liquid.

With his hands outstretched to obtain the sample, I intentionally tipped the cup and spilled some urine on his hands. I grinned with satisfaction under my veil of hair.

Pulling his hand back with a disgusted grunt, he stormed away to the lab. Giggling for the first time in months, I pulled on my jumpsuit and zipped it up.

Noticing for the first time since I’d arrived; I was out of the cell and unsupervised. Without a guard watching my every move, it was suddenly strange to walk around without an armed chaperone.

For a moment, I just stood in the bathroom doorway and just observed my surroundings. I could see the lab technician studying my urine sample. He was sucking it up with a little eyedropper and dribbling it on some slides and papers.

The lab looked like any I’d seen at a hospital; centrifuges, shelves filled with boxes labeled ‘gloves’ and ‘syringes’, and vials of blood standing upright in little plastic trays.

I haven’t had a blood test in weeks. Who’s blood is that?

I guess it was a little naïve of me to think that I was their only specimen, but I wondered if there were any more like me.

Tip-toeing away from the bathroom, my bare feet made quiet patting noises as my skin made contact with the white tile floor. Staying close to one wall, I moved down a secluded hallway. Fluorescent lights buzzed monotonously above me and reflected a blinding iridescence off the polished floor.

The hallway was long and wide with no identifying signs or pictures, just stark and bland.

Every so often I’d come across a closed door, not unlike the one on my own cell. I wondered if I should open one and have a look. Maybe there was someone just like me in there, afraid and alone.

Placing my hand on one of the door handles, I contemplated whether or not I should.

What if there’s a crazy person in there?

Seemed rather likely in this place. I’d only been here for a couple months and I’d already danced with the prince of insanity.

No happy endings in this place, I’m sure.

With my hand still on the door handle, I decided to take a chance.

Why not, got nothing to lose.

Holding the latch down with my thumb, I yanked the white door wide open. My jaw dropped instantly when I saw who was in there.