𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧

Chapter 17: Alan

I drifted in and out of consciousness. My head ached.

I awoke to the sound of people talking. Through bleary eyes, I saw two Nurses standing above me. "Oh, he's awake now." One of them poked at my eyes and I flinched at the sudden contact.

Yes, I was awake. Barely.

Where was I? I tried to look around, but I found that I was tied down to a bed. I was so confused. What had happened?

The Nurse seemed to read my thoughts. "Don't move, please." She held out a hand to stop me. "You must keep still, dear."

"W-what h-happened?" I croaked.

"Don't worry about it," she replied promptly. "You'll be all better in no time."

Then it all rushed back to me. Chief Petrov. Oh, that was one hell of a day. Then waking up in the middle of the night and realising that Violet wasn't there. It had been raining outside and she had left some footsteps. I followed her footsteps to the containment centre. I remembered getting caught...then her getting caught too. The expression on her face as she was shot with a stun gun and hauled into a van. The bruises on her face, her split lip...

I screamed, my eyes squeezed shut. "Stop! You can't do this! Give Violet back! You will not—" I was cut off by a series of hacking coughs. I writhed on the bed, pulling at my restraints.

The Nurse turned to the other Nurse. "We'd better get him to a quarantine room, just in case."

They shared a look that I couldn't decipher. If I were Violet, I'd probably know exactly what they were thinking.

I sat up straight and immediately felt dizzy. The Nurses grabbed my arms, but too weak to fight back, I could only protest weakly. My mind was conflicted. I didn't really understand what they were trying to do, but I knew these people were bad. They were working for the Government.

The Nurse stuck a needle into my arm and all the noise in my head suddenly became quieter. The world felt like it was underwater; everything was muffled.

They strapped me down onto a gurney and wheeled me to another room. Through blurry eyes, I tried my best to memorise the directions, but all I saw was a white ceiling, and it was so hard to remember where I went. Why was it so hard to remember?

The Nurses left me in the room for what felt like an eternity. I stared at the white walls, wondering how my life had escalated so fast. It was all fine until Violet got her mind-reading powers. Even now, I still wondered if I could trust her. Could she be faking it? I quickly dismissed the suspicion. If she had been faking it, then how did she know what I was thinking? There was no other explanation that I could think of. 

I scanned the room, wondering where I was. By the looks of it, I had probably been transported to the Upper Quarter. I was alone in a small room, the walls and ceiling a pristine shade of white. The door looked like a reinforced clear glass door with a hand scanner, so I probably wouldn't be able to escape so easily. I was tied down to the gurney, and I was in a bad state anyway. My mind was foggy and I struggled to breathe.

The occasional sounds of beeps could be heard from outside the room.

I wondered if Violet was anywhere near me. I tried calling out to her. Violet! Can you hear me? Violet?

There was no answer. I sighed heavily, my mind feeling numb. What was I going to do? How was I going to–

I saw a glimpse of the Nurse through the glass door. I called out to her and she came in. This time, she was wearing what looked like a hazmat suit. "Where am I?" I asked her, my voice hoarse.

She stood at the door. "You're in the Institute of Virology Centre, Alan. In a quarantine room."

"Why?"

The Nurse sighed. "Unfortunately, our tests show that you've had the Virus for about a week. Your sister Violet does too."

An icy fist gripped my heart. Violet? No. She couldn't have it too...

"We're keeping you in this quarantine room so that you don't spread the Virus to anyone. Violet is also isolating."

"Is she okay?" I asked.

"Don't worry about her. She seems to not have any symptoms at all. We're just keeping her isolated because the tests say she's positive. You'll be able to see her soon."

I thanked her with gratitude as she left. I needed to see Violet again.

That night, I tossed and turned in the bed that the Nurses had given me. It was cold and my coughing was getting worse. It was scary to think that we both had the Virus. Were we going to die?

Just as I was about to fall asleep, Violet screamed in my head.

"HELP, ALAN! HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!"