Oriehn

Chapter 4- Taliesin

The ominous sound that we all feared echoed as the doctor pointed his gun at me. I stiffened for a second but then laughed gently. Alice shot me a horrified look, while the doctor wavered, just for a second.

I doubted that Doctor Prose would even shoot the gun, much less accurately. I raised my eyebrow at him, daring him, and he clenched the gun even tighter between his hands. "Just let me go, Doctor Prose," I bargained slowly, taking a step forward. "There's no need for anyone to get injured."

"Not on my watch," the Doctor replied. I took another step forward towards him. "Don't take another step or else I'll shoot," he warned.

"Fine. Let us go, and we will be of no more concern to you. No need to worry about us anymore. If you trap me here, I cannot guarantee that there will be no fatalities." Beside me, Alice glared.

"He's bluffing," Alice spat, "He's winded already from breaking a window—his kind wasn't meant for earth's conditions and he has been confined for months."

"Yes," Doctor Prose answered, acknowledging Alice's bold statement with a quick nod, "If you even try to escape, you'll go down."

I shrugged and twitched my foot slightly. Doctor Prose glared at me, and I smirked back. I noticed how his hands shook, his wavering grip following my every move.

I darted upwards, springing towards the ceiling, and recovered in a crouch immediately after. Doctor Prose fired a shot off, which ricocheted into the piles of broken glass, the bullet burying itself in the floor. "You missed!" I declared triumphantly, watching as Doctor Prose glowered and reloaded his gun.

"Are you crazy?" Alice hissed, "Are you trying to get shot?" She kept her eyes trained on Doctor Prose though, not even sparing me a glance.

"Perhaps so," I muttered.

Alice rolled her eyes at my answer. I shrugged, which startled Doctor Prose. His eyes bugged and he shot the linoleum ground. I resisted my laugh at his expression."Are you done making a fool out of yourself?"

Doctor Prose sneered at me, livid. "Are you done trying to get yourself killed? Maybe I will shoot you, seeing as you're so eager to die."

At this, Alice stepped forward, and raised her hands gently. She turned warily towards me, but spoke to the doctor. "Hold your fire, Doctor, we need him—we need to study him." Doctor Prose slowly lowered the gun, and I smirked at him again.

"Are you too scared, Doctor? Can't even go into the room since you're so paralyzed with fear?" I taunted, leaning back on my bare heels.

"That's it!" Doctor Prose pulled the trigger, and I felt a pain blossom in my shoulder. At first I thought it had echoed, only to realize that he had pulled the trigger once again. I fell down onto the ground with a sickening thud. I thought that was echoed, too, until the boots of the wardens surrounded me as they picked me up with their gloved hands.

Black spots began to create a vignette around Alice's angry face. Smiling a bit at her infuriated expression, I drifted off.

***

I woke up to Alice's face again, but this time it was arranged in a calmer expression. "You're awake," she muttered in a monotonous voice.

I groaned. The pain in my arm was unnoticeable, the flesh wound healed over the short time I was asleep to a small pink spot, but the headache battered my skull like a drum. "Atiem, yes," I said and laid my head back down. "Where am I? Tien—what are you doing here?"

"You're in a different room. This one is securely locked and always monitored under surveillance. I'm here to help you escape," I looked around the room, noting the location of the one door and the four cameras. I pierced one with my stare. It stared back, blank and full of apathy.