White Noise (The Inadequate Experiments 1)

16. The First Stage of Loss

Calliope

"Initiating stage one." A strange voice murmured, cutting through my unconsciousness like a knife.

My head spun as I woke, and I dropped back against the bed. I took a deep breath, keeping my eyes shut tight as I waited for the room to stop spinning. I ran back through my memories – the meeting at the Java House, warning Sera about Oliver, the Officers—

The Officers.

After dragging us from the café and shoving us in the back of a van as if we were nothing more than animals, it wasn't long before vents in the roof started releasing some kind of gas, and the four of us fell unconscious.

I sat up too quickly as I realised that I was most likely in the Compound. It wasn't exactly the way in we had planned, but it was a way in nonetheless. I remembered Sera's words from the café – Go with them. I'll take care of Oliver. Hyoyeon will take care of Josh. – and I hoped the three of them would be able to rework our plan and land Sera and Oliver in here, too.

I trailed my eyes over the room, and for a second, I thought I was back in the hospital after the explosion. I shuddered. I felt bile rise in the back of my throat, and my heart started pounding. As my breath came far too quickly, I remembered back to the first time this had happened – when I was trying to alter David's Watch and it sparked, setting the old tablecloth alight...

The fire spread faster than I expected, and I jumped away from the table, falling to the floor as all the strength fell away from my limbs. In the corner of my eye, I saw David scramble to his feet, his eyes scanning the brick-a-brack scattered throughout the basement until he found an old blanket. He threw it over the flames, starving them of oxygen. But even with the fire out, the smell of smoke lingered in the air, forcing its way down my throat. I flinched away from the smoke I could see in the air, just as I flinched away from David as he crouched beside me, his eyes scanning my face with concern. I pulled my knees to my chest and found myself gasping for breath.

I was both in the basement but not. Beside me, David flickered in and out of focus. The room was shrouded in the orange tinge of close flames. The world was both too bright and too dark all at once.

"Cal," David's voice was far away, "Cal, listen to me. You're at home, in the basement."

I closed my eyes and the flames drew closer. I struggled to breathe in their heat. I felt David grab my hand. The world tried to come back into focus.

"Cal, you need to ground yourself. Talk to me. What's your name?"

I shuddered despite the heat against my skin. "Calliope. Calliope Olivia Jackson."

"Good. More. Where do you go to school?"

"St. Elizabeth's College for Gifted Scholars." I managed between breaths.

"Where are you right now?"

My breath came in rasps and I scrunched my eyes closed tighter. "I-I don't know. The flames – the flames, I can't see—"

"Calliope, open your eyes." David's voice was as soft as a caress.

Hesitantly, I did as he asked. He was kneeling before me, leaning in with an almost scarily calm expression, but somewhere behind his eyes I could see his worry. The room was still lit with the glow of fire.

"Good." David said again. "Now look around you. Tell me everything you notice that makes this the basement and not the theatre."

I didn't question the fact that he knew where my mind had gone even when I couldn't tell myself. I took a shaky breath. "The tables." I muttered. "Covered in my things. They wouldn't be at the theatre."