Eleven

'That wasn't what I saw in the monitor." I peered below the slide because looking at it in the microscope the thing looked alive. Nothing was out of the ordinary when gazing the slide with the naked eye. I returned to looking through the lenses of the microscope. I know my face was crumpling in to something similar to disgust because the blood—my blood—that was taken from me a while ago looked like quail eggs with luminous orange-yellow spots that were pulsating. What the heck. 'Exactly my thoughts moments ago." I heard Leib beside me. 'What is it?" I didn't know who talked—probably April—I didn't have time to figure it out because my ears suddenly felt blocked, all sounds around me were muffled until only the white noise remained. I looked at everyone's faces gathered around me, all of them with either a panicked or worried expressions. And then when I blinked, none of them returned from my sight. There was only darkness, endless of it. I screamed. I knew I was screaming because I felt the scratches of air going out of my throat to my mouth. Hands, I felt hands on my arms, face, and neck, but I couldn't see nor hear. There was a momentary pause of everything. My world stilled and I felt myself fall. The muffled thud must've been my back making contact with the floor because I felt myself fell. My sight returned to a bright and white ceiling. There were cluttering sounds every now and then followed by a long silence. The only thing that filled it was the sound of bubbles being blown under water, it was constant and irritating. Was I lying down? I think. I raised my hands to my face, I could see them, whereas in the typical dream I was nothing but an existence with no form. I got up. Can they see me? I waved my hand in front of one of the masked people but it went ignored. I walked farther, checking the metal tables and the glass bottles that contained different colors of liquids. With unknown explanation, my head snapped to the direction I came from. My breath seemed to deflate my whole self. I saw someone that looked exactly like me, lying naked in what looked like a glass-domed coffin. A white mask with a fat tube attached on it center covered the lower half of her face. Is this a memory? My feet took me back to the body I assumed was mine and I stared down at myself. My hair swished back and forth as big bubbles that came out from the mask touched them. My eyes were fluttering but they didn't dare open. Several transparent tubes were connected to me; in my neck, wrists, thighs, and feet. I gasped and stepped back when one of the people in white walked through me. He—or she—was probably from the other side of the room, the one I wasn't able to explore. The person opened a latch on the bottom of the tank where my body was and inserted a metallic, cylindrical canister in it. I stared at that being staring at the me in the tank and then it walked away. My eyes were glued to the individual's back until it stopped. The horror and disgust I felt made me retch. Lined perfectly, were glass tanks that were positioned upright and in them were babies, wrinkled and pale babies! They were floating in the middle of their liquid-filled container with faces covered with the same smaller version of mask as mine was. Needles were punctured in their temples, hands, and feet with a tube connected to it that led somewhere on the tank. As I couldn't look at those poor creatures, I kept my eyes on the person in white I was staring earlier, but what he did made the churning of my stomach worse. The cruel human being pressed a button and blood filled the tubes that were connected to the babies. Their tiny fists clenched, and though miniscule I saw their bodies tensed as life was slowly being drained from them. I couldn't do anything but watch as my eyes seemed like they'd glued themselves in their direction. Tears and sobs rose from me for these poor victims. After what seemed like eternity the person in white repressed the button and the drawing of blood stopped, the babies were grayer and I beat myself that I couldn't do anything. One by one the white-clad person stopped by each tank and grabbed something from each bottom. A metallic, cylindrical canister. That looked like... My eyes were as wide as saucers when realization hit. No. No! I was shouting these words but I knew no one would be able to hear it. It was a dream after all. Stop, don't do it! I blocked the path, but the person paid no heed and walked towards my tank, bent and inserted two of those he collected, and stood to watch. I screamed and pounded the glass near the face of my body as crimson liquid started going towards my body via the tubes. I screamed the loudest I could to wake me, but then I fell. In the darkness. My tears were gone, the feelings of sadness and fury and disgust were instantaneously gone. I was still falling and the high pitched whistle of the wind was ear-splitting. When my back connected to the ground, I felt the hit and my breath was knocked out of me. I bounced and collided with it again. And again. And again. ●●●●● 'Goddamnit! Scott hold her legs." My breath was knocked out of me. Why? 'Kat, Ekaterina." The cold thing that was suddenly on my head made me snap my eyes open. First thing my eyes focused on was April peering down on me. 'You're okay, you're okay." She seemed to be telling me this. 'Sweetie," And my mom's head was beside hers. 'You had an episode." She whispered. Episode. 'What's wrong with her eyes?" Mom asked somebody. 'May I see?" I was surprised by the smoothness of my voice. Was it even mine? I guess it wasn't only me who felt that I was talking in a different voice but the people in front of me as well. I got up. Can't. I looked at my side and saw my brother there, holding my right wrist and arm. My dad doing the same thing on the opposite side. Somehow I ended up on my bed. My eyebrows couldn't be any higher when I saw Scott and Les holding my legs and feet. 'What are you guys doing?" There was that voice again. 'Holding you down." Came Les' reply, but then she let go of my feet. Shaking Leib's slack hold, I finally got up and walked to the large mirror in the corner of my room, beside my windows. Two steps. That was all it took for me to reach it. I whipped back to look at them to confirm that they saw what I just did. Seems like they did because their eyes were all focused on me. I shrugged my shoulders at them and turned back to the mirror. That was cracked. As far as I could remember, my mirror was perfectly fine. I stepped closer towards it to inspect myself. What in the world happened to my eyes? My iris was black and in the middle of it were swirling—moving—multitude of colors; red, yellow, orange circling the pupil. I frowned when my attention was snagged by the crack on the wall beside the mirror, my appearance forgotten. It was big and deep, and apparently super long because I followed it to the other side of the room. There was a scratch behind me and I turned around so fast my hair slapped my face. My family and my friends were still staring at me now with wariness. 'Wha..?" My mouth was probably as wide as a dam when I saw the whole room, or what was left of it. Was there an earthquake? Scratch that, my room looked like a mini wrecking ball bounced all around it. 'Kat," Leib step forward and extended his hand. Automatically, I walked to him with the intent of asking him what happened, but stopped mid-step because something didn't feel right. I ran my eyes slowly to each of them. Something really wasn't right. They were too still. Mom wasn't crying, Les was looking more indifferent than she usually does. And Scotty looked loopy, like he was under anesthetics or something. My gut was telling me that something was off and I shouldn't come to any of them closer. So I just stood there, eyeing the people I knew all my life but somehow these were not them. 'Five-minute mark lapsed." I jumped at the sound that suddenly boomed all over the place. Was this one of those dreams? 'Resetting simulation area." I just stood there staring in amazement and horror as my brother's hand started to fade the blue laser-like light seemed to crawl up his arms and made it disappear. Everything else vanished with the blue light and when all was left was a bright, white area, I remained still. Smack dabbed and confused. 'T-35. Test failed." The robotic voice talked again. I looked for windows, doors, something, anything that I could look at other than the blinding endless white floors and walls. 'Shutting down in three," Panic washed down on me like a waterfall, was I gonna be shot? Killed? Diced into pieces? Bombed? 'Two." I ran and pounded the walls screaming for someone to let me out. 'Let me out!" 'One. Initiating." I heard a whirring sound but I did not dare turn to look at it, instead I ran to the other side or the area and did the same thing, scream and beat the wall. I felt it before I heard it. My breathing became ragged as I watched the red bloom larger on my chest. Another hit my stomach, the hit came from the front this time, I got a glimpse of a CCTV-like device before it hastily retreats in the walls. What the fuck. I think I will be allowed to curse now as I am already dying so, why in the ever goddamning fuck is this happening to me? A couple more shots hit me before it got me on my knees, pain became my bitch seconds ago, but I still felt my strength slowly seeping out me as more holes were made in my body. I rested my hand on the wall, leaving a bloody imprint of it as I slid it down, my eyes following its movement to the floor. When I looked up, I came face to with the CCTV-like shooting thing and I instantly knew that the aim this time was my head. But I ain't going down that easily. With the intense anger I suddenly felt, I gripped the thing and ripped it out of its mount as easy as pulling a shallowly pinned pushpin on a Styrofoam. Holding my shaky knees, I slowly got up and faced the room. Resting my bloody back on the wall, I yelled as loud as I could until I was breathless. And then, small dots started appearing on the wall in front of me, whatever those dots were, were too far away for me to discern what they really were before one of those fired and missed me. 'Oh, shi—" were the only ones I could finish before bullets started raining down on me.