Chapter 95 The Agency of Nightmares
1497words
I sighed, pressing it to my ear. "How did you get my number?"
"I got it from Ember," Kayn replied, sounding out of breath. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, why?" I frowned. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"I don't know," he answered in a half-groan. "It started about ten minutes ago. It feels like…" I almost dropped my phone at the sound of him crying out in pain.
"Kayn?" I tried to get up on my feet, only to remember I had wires strapped to my forehead. I cursed, sinking back into my seat. "What's going on?"
A slap sounded and rushed voices followed. "Sit down!" I heard Ember shout.
"Ember?" My heart became loud inside my ears. "Hello?"
A rustle of movement sounded when Ember's voice pierced through. "What the hell are you doing that's hurting him?"
"I'm not…" My eyes widened. "Exactly when did it start?"
"About ten minutes ago," she answered. "He's in a lot of pain. Carly, I don't know what's going on. What are you doing? Kayn refuses to tell me."
"Ember, I'm getting a scan," I said. "Can it affect him somehow?"
"What kind of scan?" she asked. "Are you getting it now?"
"Yes, your standard EEG," I lied. "I'm in now, yes."
"While you're on your phone?" she asked skeptically. "You're not supposed to move or be on your phone—"
Ember cursed as another cry of pain sounded from Kayn.
"Is he—"
"Carly, whatever. I don't care why you need it, get out of there. Now. He's not okay, not even close."
Just like that, the line went dead. I spat out a string of curses and pressed the redial button. It went straight to voicemail.
I pushed my phone into my pocket and started tearing the wires from my forehead. If they were harming Kayn, I needed to get them off. I racked up a few excuses to offer Katherine once she returned, trying to keep my shaking hands steady.
I didn't know why, but the sound of Kayn in that kind of pain did all sorts of horrible things to me.
All I wanted to do at that moment was get out of there and go to him. Maybe if I pretended I was sick?
Heels clicked toward the door and Katherine appeared, her eyes wide. "I just got a notification…" Her eyes settled on the wires lying around me. "Why did you do that?"
"My head, it hurts so bad," I feigned a breathless voice, pressing my hands to my head. "I think I'm going to throw up."
"Hold that thought." Katherine turned, cursed, twisting back. "Come with me."
I didn't have to pretend any further, as my legs wobbled as I tried walking, literal nausea spiking through me. I grabbed hold onto the edge of the steel table to steady myself, my vision swimming. "Oh, no."
"Rupert," Katherine shouted by the door. "Some help over here, please. Quickly!"
My knees buckled and I was on the floor, the world swimming around me.
"This is not supposed to happen." I could feel Katherine by my side, grabbing hold of my arm. "Hold on dear, help is on the way."
"I don't feel so good," I drooled on the floor. My body became limp and I felt myself slipping from a too-white world, into pitch darkness...
***
The first face I saw when my eyes reopened was Janice's. She didn't notice me at first, scribbling intently on a clipboard, a digital camera resting beside me on the bed.
"What are you doing?"
Janice jumped, snatching up the camera as if it was about to run from her. "You're awake?"
"Where's my mom?" I asked, groaning as pain suddenly pierced my skull.
"She went to get a coffee," Janice lowered the clipboard, hiding the scribbles from my view. "How are you feeling, dear?"
"Not good," I answered. "You promised it was safe."
"I did," she responded. "I've done that test hundreds of times and never had it have the effect on anyone as it had on you. I don't even know what to offer you as an explanation, because I have no idea why that happened."
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was connected to Kayn?
I nodded, eyeing the camera. "What's that for?"
"Oh, this thing?" She held it up, offering a smile. "I was working on a subject when Katherine called me in. I forgot I had it with me."
"I see," I said tentatively. "What was the subject?"
"Let me show you." Janice twisted around, placing the clipboard face down onto the table behind her, turning back to me. She clicked through some pictures before she found the one she was looking for and turned it so I could see.
It was a mermaid. A living, clearly breathing, mermaid, held inside a large tank of some sort.
"Is this...real?" I blinked, trying to hold my shit together. "Why are you showing me this?"
"Yes, of course, she's real." Janice held back her camera. "We caught her a few weeks ago. And, since I've just hired your mother, she'll be working with me on my subject."
I swallowed. "Wait, my mom's working for you now?"
"Yes," she chirped. "I figured it's safe to show you since your mother tells me you're the biggest skeptic on earth."
"I am," I lied.
"I'd love to take you to her, but we need to get you checked out first to make sure you're not suffering any serious side effects from the scan." Jance placed her camera on top of the clipboard. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"
"My head," I answered. "But other than that, I feel—" I patted my pockets. "Where's my phone?"
Janice's head cocked to the side. "What phone?"
"It was in my pocket," I said. "Maybe I dropped it in the room where Katherine had me tested."
"I'll have Katherine look for you," Janice said. "They were in such a rush to get you to care, I doubt anyone noticed if your phone fell out."
"Thank you. I'd appreciate that."
"Teenagers are very attached to their technology," she teased. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find it. Anyhow, I'll go get your mother. And then have someone check you out, okay?"
Janice marched out, leaving behind her precious camera and clipboard.
I immediately threw my legs off the side of the bed, about to reach for the camera, when Mom rounded the corner. "Carly!"
I stepped back, offering her a weak smile. "I'm okay, I promise."
Mom placed down her polystyrene cup beside the camera and drew me into a hug. "You are going to be the death of me, I swear," she breathed. "How many more heart attacks are you planning to give me? So I can start preparing myself. I don't think I can take any more scares like this."
"I'm sorry." My shoulders sagged. "If it helps, I didn't plan on passing out."
When she released me, she said, "One of the doctors will come to check you out soon. Janice said that's never happened before."
"So I heard."
"How are you feeling?" she asked. "You look way too pale. You want me to get you something to eat? They have croissants to die for."
I considered it, my eyes on that clipboard. "You know what, Mom, I feel a bit faint. I think if I eat I'll feel better."
She rested her hands on my shoulders. "I'll be right back."
Mom barely left when I pushed the camera off from the clipboard to read what it said. There was a brief summary of my physical health, appearance, and, "What the hell?" I murmured, holding the clipboard closer to my face. "Responds negatively to the test, same as subject 611 and 342."
I placed down the clipboard, picking up the camera with shaking hands. The last ten pictures taken on the camera were of me, lying on the bed. Closeups of my face and body, as I laid unconscious and oblivious of what was occurring around me at that moment. In a state of shock, I almost placed it back onto the table, when I decided to go further instead.
To the pictures of the mermaid, Janice showed me. A chill crept through my spine as I stared at the young woman's face, her eyes wide and pleading.
Her hands were pressed against the glass of the tank, her tail in all tones of autumn floating behind her. The reality of what I was looking at hit me harder than it should have. This was a person, caged to be experimented on.
My hands shook as I clicked the next image and my eyes found the tag written in clear black letters stuck to the side of her tank.
She was subject 611.
