Endgame (Book 3)

Chapter 14

I've woken up in some pretty strange places, I thought. But never before somewhere like this.

I walked from side to side of the space I occupied again, trying to take in my situation. It was a lot to digest.

One thing was for sure: I definitely wasn't in any hospital.

Besides discovering the fact that all of my bones were magically healed upon waking up in this room, I was disturbed to discover that I was in some sort of compartment, like a box. There was clear plexiglass on all sides but below, where a plastic white floor met harshly with my bare feet.

On one side of me was a bed (more like a cot on wood, really) and on the other a toilet. Both connected with the walls. Other than that, the room was empty.

But what concerned me the most was what was located on the outside of my box, not the inside.

Us humans will never really know what space looks like until we go out there for ourselves. That said, I've seen a lot of space movies, and this looked pretty damn convincing.

That's all I could see for as far as my eye could rove. Empty blackness with stars making small pinpoints of light every so often.

That was what was so hard to believe. There couldn't have been the time to get me into space. No, I had to be somewhere on Earth. Someone was trying to make me believe I was gone, separated from everyone and isolated. Alone.

Right now, it felt real enough for that painful feeling of loneliness to cloud my judgment. I stopped pacing in the middle of the floor and sat down.

Then, thinking it was the wiser choice, I plopped down on the bed and pulled the one thin sheet over me. With nothing on but a heat-releasing, white tee and some black sports shorts, I was freezing.

My cheeks heated up red when I realized that someone had undressed me and put some clothes on me. They even changed my boxers.

If you were going to ask why I hadn't tried to break out by now, don't bother. I did. And my powers were completely unresponsive.

All there was to do now was wait. Something had to happen eventually, and I could use a little break from all of the excitement.

Despite the total silence, I couldn't sleep. Each one of my thoughts was vying for my attention. I had so much to work out, there was no chance I could rest now.

I flipped over and stared at the ceiling. I wasn't really looking at it, though.

Zero puzzled me. Not only was he a part of me, but he changed into a scary monster that could kick my ass. Neither one was particularly nice, but I thought I would take Zero over It any day.

What bothered me was how unlike me he was. I would never do any of the things he had done. And I had nothing to do with It. It must have been a part of Project Ares.

My heart clenched in my chest. I thought of Cassie. What was she doing right now? Did she know I was missing, or was she still out helping with cleanup? What about my family?

Ah! What about Zero!

If he was still able to roam freely, he would pose a major threat to humanity. It would kill everyone! He had to be locked up.