Shifters

Chapter 3

I paced back and forth in my room until 2:00, when my schedule said to report to the meeting room.

"Meeting room," I said and followed my guide out the door.

When we arrived, Will was already there. He nodded hello and beckoned me in. There was a square table in the middle of the room where we sat down to wait for Luke. When Luke arrived, he sat down at one of the two remaining seats. My eyes scanned the room until I saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. Where a second ago had been plain lavender walls, there was someone there. The man walking toward us had seemed to come out of nowhere. In a long white coat, he looked like my kidnappers, but his face was kinder. Too bad a kind face didn't mean a nice person. His brown hair was fighting a losing battle against numerous strands of grey, but I couldn't quite tell his age. He strode over to his seat and sat down facing the three of us.

"Well, children. It is good to see you. I am Dr. Edmont and I would like to wecome you to the world of science." He looked at each of us in turn. "You three are the lucky few who get to experience the experiment that is as close as we come to actual magic in this world." He smiled at us and continued. "In the next couple of months, we will need your absolute cooperation while we are experimenting. Not that you would ever try to make it hard for us. This is a delicate process. Yes, it is dangerous, but if it works, you could maybe even become famous," He paused to let that sink in. "Thank you for coming. I'll see you again this evening." He got up and left through the doors. I was disappointed, since I had thought he was going to leave the way he had come. I really wanted to know how he had entered to stealthily.

"That was...odd," Luke said.

"Understatement of the day," I agreed. "This is so weird."

"I have to agree," Will added. "These people are strange, to say the least. But, really, there's nothing we can do."

Luke smiled thinly. "I'll see you guys next time we're supposed to be somewhere." He pulled his schedule out of his pocket and cursed. "We're already supposed to be somewhere. Lab 1," he told his guide. Will and I jumped up to follow him. Getting in trouble now would not be in our best interests.

When we arrived at Lab 1, the black-painted door was unlocked, so we tentatively pushed it open. There was a row of chairs against one of the cold white walls, so we each took a seat. The only decoration in the room was a vase of flowers that were obviously fake. The lack of life added to my uncertainty. When Ms. Merriweather arrived, I groaned inwardly.

"Follow me, please," she instructed us. We followed her through a white door in the far wall that I hadn't noticed despite the doorknob in it. We were led into a room with many doors and no furniture.

"Will, you go in there," Ms. Merriweather said, pointing to the second farthest door on the left. Will hesitated a moment then followed her directions. As he pushed open the door, he smiled nervously back at us.

"Luke, you next," Ms. Merriweather pointed to the door to the right of the one Will had just dissapeared through. Luke strode through the door without a backward glance. Ms. Merriweather pointed to the next door in line.

"Go on," she urged me. I walked toward the door, trying to keep my hands form shaking. I pushed the door open and stepped into a room painted in a dull shade of dark grey. I jumped as a voice came out of nowhere. Apparently, there was an intercom installed in this room.

"Ms. Myers, today we need to give you something so that your body will accept the way your cell structure will morph. We thank you for your cooperation." There was an audible click as the intercom shut off. In less than a second, a figure in a long white cloak materialized out of the shadows of the far right corner. My stomach clenched as I saw that he or she was carrying a syringe full of a metalic gold liquid. You see, I kind of have a fear of needles. When I saw that gold-filled torture device, I freaked out. I started backing away and heard a squeaking sound that I later guessed was me. The voice over the speaker systems said something I couldn't hear over the pounding in my ears. I barely registered a hissing sound as my consciousness started to fade. The white-coated figure loomed over me and my vision blinked out.

************

When I came to, I was lying on a cold metal table. My hands and feet were bound. The only sound was a humming that I put down to an air conditioning unit. From what I could see, I was alone in the new lab room. The monotony soon lulled me and I fell asleep again. When I woke up, I was completely disoriented because I was back in my room. As the fussiness in my head dissipated, I swung my legs out from under the covers and almost stepped on my guide rock. My schedule was still in my pocket and I checked to see what was next until I realized I had no clue what time it was. There had been a clock in the cafeteria, but I still didn't know how Luke had known the time after our meeting with Dr. Edmont. On a whim, I turned to the little blue gadget on the floor.

"Time?" I asked it. Green numbers glowed up at me from the smooth blue surface and I was surprised to find that it was already time for dinner. According to my schedule, there hadn't been anything I missed, so I told my guide to lead me back to the cafeteria. Luke and Will had beat me there again, so I grabbed my dinner- whole grain pasta and meatballs -and joined them at their table. For a couple of minutes, we sat there in silence while we ate our dinner. Luke broke the silence when Will, coming back from getting a straw, bumped into his arm.

"Ow! That's the arm they made into a pincushion, remember!" he moaned.

"Sorry," Will apologized.

"That reminds me," Luke turned to me. "What the heck happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were gone, like, forever. Will and I got the shots and were just allowed to leave. Well, they kept us tied up for a little while first. Something about some people don't react well to the chemicals. But you disappeared and didn't come back for hours."

"Oh. To tell the truth, I have a fear of needles. They had to knock me out to give me my shot," I admitted.

Luke raised his eyebrows at me. "Cooperating might be a good idea once in a while, you know," he joked.

"It's not like she can help it," Will said defensively. Luke threw his hands up in mock surrender.

"No, he's right," I admitted. Luke grinned triumphantly at Will as he left to throw out his trash. I did the same and then let my guide rock show me back to my room.