Anomalously Black

Chapter 2

So far, I've learned two things this morning, and I don't even think that it's 9:00 yet. One:adding bright sunlight in an already bright white room can make for a very uncomfortable experience. Two:having electricity shot through your body can make you forget things. I don't remember how I got back into my room or even falling asleep. The last thing that I remember is Dr.Sullivan talking to the large bald man. My body still feels numb, and every once in a while my left eye twitches. I don't know why this is happening, but the bright sun shining in my face is not making it any better.
     

The door to my room opens, and the two large men from yesterday walk inside. The bald man looks at me and scowls. The other man with hair only walks towards my bed, bending down on his knees, and tries to grab my wrist. I yank my hands away from him, glaring harshly. The man sighs, and looks up at me. "I need to put these around you Adeline. It's not just for my safety. It's for your own as well."
    

I stare at the man, dumbfounded. His voice is very deep and smooth. But he talks to me gently. Almost like I'm a toddler. In the few moments that I'm distracted, he quickly takes the handcuffs from behind him, and attaches them to my wrists with my arms in front of me.  I decide not to fight against the men. From what happened yesterday, I'm honestly too afraid of what might happen if I decide to fight them again. Besides, my body is still fairly weak.

The man with hair gestures for me to stand up, and I do. He leads me out of my room after grabbing my notebook and pen, and when I pass by the bald man, he looks like he wants to kill me. I guess he's still mad about me kicking and scratching him yesterday. I can even see the cut on his cheek. It is scabbing over, but it's still noticeable.
      

As we walk down the long white hallway, I glance up curiously at the man with hair. A tag hangs on the left breast pocket of his white uniform. It reads "Henry A". His name is Henry A? That's weird. Why is his last name just A? I shrug my question off though. Almost everyone who resides in this building is weird, including me. We walk to a large pair of doors, which Henry A opens for me. There are dozens of round tables that stand next to each other. Despite the large amount of tables, there's barely anyone occupying them. Only a few people per table. On each table is a tray full of food. I'm in a lunchroom.
     

A hand roughly pushes me forward, making me stumble. When I turn around, the bald man snickers quietly and Henry A is glaring at him. Henry A then looks at me and gives me my notebook and pen, before taking the handcuffs off my wrists. "Go have a seat Adeline." I look back towards the table, and a sense of discomfort rises in me. I don't want to be here with all of these people. In the many days that I've been here, I've had my meals alone in my room. I don't like people. They make me nervous. Now they suddenly want me to eat with the other patients. This is a bad situation for me indeed.
    

I look back at the large men, but they only stare at me, clearly waiting for me to sit. Sighing, I walk towards a table that only has 3 other people sitting at it. It's right next to the big windows in the lunchroom, a fair distance from everyone else. I sit down on the opposite end of the other table's occupants, not paying attention to any of them. On the tray in front of me is what looks like a Sloppy Joe sandwich, a cup of applesauce, and a tiny carton of milk. The food doesn't look the least bit appetizing, but my stomach is growling due to me not eating dinner last night. I sit my book and pen next to me, and reluctantly, I pick up the sandwich and begin eating. As I eat, I feel like eyes are piercing through my body. I'm self conscious of how I take my bites of the sandwich, and I'm careful to make sure that none of the meat is left on my mouth.
    

I eat in silence for a while until someone pokes my arm. I look at the person who poked me, annoyed that they even thought about touching me. It's not that I think I'm too good to be touched. I'm just really uncomfortable around other people. A woman a lot older than me smiles when I look at her. She has dirty blonde hair and dull brown eyes. I stare at the woman, confused as to whether I should smile back or just ignore her.