The Wastelands

Chapter 19

Lights flickered in the ceiling and a fan swayed carelessly above Blue's head. The strong scent of bleach and ammonia burned the inside of her nose. She held her breath, but it only made the stench creep deeper into her mind. Her eyes were on fire. A harsh pounding erupted in the back of her head. The straps binding her to the chair cut the skin on her wrists. They didn't give her the time to heal before new scratches were made.

Her chest heaved up and down with every frantic breath. The first injection nearly killed her. She writhed on the floor for hours, screaming in agony as the strange, clear liquid ripped through her veins, invading her soul. It made her body feel like it had been lit by a thousand matches, slowly burning deeper and deeper under the thin layers of her skin. She begged for them to stop and cried to be set free or even killed. She preferred a bullet to the head over the agony ringing through her. They ignored her wishes and pushed harder to get the results they needed.

The tall doctor with tan skin and hair as black as the night threw his head back in a cackling laugh when he caught the tears drifting from her eyes. That treacherous laughter echoed through her brain over and over until it became the only sound she heard. His murderous eyes were all she saw when she squeezed hers shut to avoid his stare. The man was everywhere at once, tormenting her until she begged her body to succumb to its fate and die. She never felt the sweet release of death; only more agony and pain.

The doctor stabbed her arm with the long needle and plunged more of that poison into her veins for the second injection. An invisible flame ignited her eyes and the light became blinding. A scream blared out of her throat and she tugged harder at the straps. Her pain stole the laughter from his throat and concern flooded his eyes. It was nothing more than a façade—she knew that much—and the doctor knelt down to watch her slip through the transformation.

He forced her to look into his dead eyes and listen to the words spilling from his mouth. He both loved and hated seeing her pain, knowing that he caused it. He gripped her shoulders, digging his claws through her thin shirt to break the skin beneath. He pushed his face close to hers and the screaming stopped. Hot breath caressed her cheek. His lips two inches from her own and the longing in his eyes that wanted more than she could possibly give him.

"Remember something for me, darling," he whispered and that little pet name bore into her soul, "you volunteered for this."

"Please no," she begged through the tears.

He stole a sharp kiss from her lips, then pulled away. Laughter burst out of him that seemed to grow louder and louder as the seconds ticked by. The scream coming from her throat ached and burned as much as the fire in her eyes, but she still let the sound come out. It was the only way to drown out the constant amusement the man found at her internal torment.

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter until the burning transformed to a headache. She cried out for help, for someone to save her and set her free. Her wrists pulled at the straps, getting her nowhere. She was trapped like a rat with no way out through the maze of hell in that chair.

A weight pressed down on her shoulders and she expected to hear the doctor's voice in her mind once more. The pressure was gentle and soothing, nothing like the man's demented touch.

"Blue," the name sounded strange, breaking into her dream, "wake up."

She kicked and flung her arms around wildly on the bed. The deep voice spoke calmly into her ears, willing her to wake from the frantic memories of her dreamland. The hands on her shoulders held tighter until large arms wrapped themselves around her.

"Please, let me go." she pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"Blue, wake up. It's just another nightmare." She finally recognized Frank's voice, but still struggled against him.