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LYNWOOD, ILLINOIS. 2018
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WHEN ESTELA WOKE, THE FIRST thing she saw were the leather straps restricting her wrists down. The growing ache in the back of her neck became more prominent as she slowly lifted her chin from her chest, eyes squinting against the bright lights shining down on her.
She jerked her feet—or at least, tried to—and presumed that the same leather that bound her wrists also bound her ankles. Estela then realized she was sitting upright on a thickly-built metal chair, with multiple wires stuck to the exposed skin her clothes could offer.
Breathing heavily, she looked around and saw that she was in some kind of abandoned lobby that had been made into a dingy laboratory. Multiple people walked around in lab coats, ignorant to her presence like dirt in the soles of shoes. Estela felt a spike of panic rise and she jerked against her restraints again, but still no effort.
Footsteps sounded in front of her, belonging to a stern-looking woman with a too-tight blonde bun and a pore-less face. She was also wearing a lab coat like everyone else, but from the vile glare she fixed on Estela, she had the feeling this was probably their lead scientist.
"What did you do to me?" Estela's voice sounded heavy and weak at the same time, like she had been paralyzed but still tried her hardest to scream out.
"Just some laughing gas, dear," the woman said, and with a jolt Estela recognized her as the woman from the speakers earlier. "Nitrous oxide. Added with some very special chemicals to make it much hotter, of course."
Estela gritted her teeth and tried to fling her hands out as much as she could, finding herself straining more than usual. She focused hard, staring down at the woman's feet, yet no trace of ice appeared.
The woman merely laughed. "Oh, and I forgot to mention, the heat rendered your powers a little. . .useless. Not to worry, it will only last a few hours."
"Where are my friends?" Estela managed to spit out.
The woman's smile dropped as she turned away and walked to one of the many stations scattered around in a circle around Estela. She whispered to one of her colleagues, a tall Asian lady, who nodded and scurried away to another station.
Estela's breathing grew erratic.
"Where are my friends?" she repeated. "Hey! I'm talking to you! Let me out of here, you psycho bitch!"
