Enhancement

- - 5 - -

"--not as well-functioning as we thought. Needs to be stronger and permanent."

"Well, now what? We need one uncontaminated for a dependable control group. Should we use someone else?"

"No, she'll be fine. Just make a higher concentration and inject accordingly."

"Right away, ma'am."

I lie groggily on a stiff surface, phasing in and out of consciousness. Bits and pieces of reality float past me like dreams, disabling me from panicking or opening my eyes.

Light tinkling noises echo softly around the room, and those light sounds are the last things I hear before a dull needle sinks into me, pulling me back under.

-- -- -- -- --

"Holland?"

It takes another three times of Stephen repeating my name to coax me awake. I sniffle and feel the weight of a million bricks on me. Stuck to the hard floor, my neck refuses to stir. Stephen's face clarifies in front of me, merely inches away from my nose.

"Oh, my God!" I gasp. A disgusting bruise covers half of his face, making the untainted skin look even more thin, even more yellow.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he says. His voice, the way he says it, is so selfless.

A flash of electric pain stabs my temples. I let out a straggled heave, and my hands fly to my head. My eyes contort and shut as another flash pulses.

"Holland!"

I gasp again, eyes watering. I try to move my hands from their position, but I can't. I'm too weak to move my fingers. My vision blurs again, and the sharp pains keep pulsing. I start panicking.

Stephen rushes to calm me. "Holland, it's okay. I promise, it'll be okay." I barely feel him close his hand around mine, squeezing, trying to give me something to hold on to.

I scream, rolling onto my side and curling against his chest. I feel him jolt in surprise then relax again. My cheek rests against his warm shirt, the only thing warm in the icy, white room. His free arm wraps around my back, and our hands stay locked together.

"T-the injection-n," I stutter, "They gave m-me another in--"

A massive lightning bolt slams inside my head, the pain blinding. My shouts bounces off the walls, yet Stephen doesn't reply to me. He just smooths a piece of my hair out of my face, jumping at every one of my ear-splitting yells.

The jolts continue for eternity. Stephen's shirt dampens against my cheek, and I realize it's my own cold tears soaking it.

Then a larger electrical pulse explodes in my head, forcing the thought a million miles away. I release a high-pitched scream, my hands squeezing Stephen's as I press closer to him. I strain my muscles as hard as I can, trying to distract myself from the pain with movement. I practically suffocate the life out of Stephen, but his fingers squeeze back, still intact.

The pulses begin subside, fading in intensity and quantity. I stay wrapped up with Stephen, fearing another knife will rip through my head. Slowly loosening my fingers from Stephen's hand, my palms feel wet and disgusting.

"They over?" Stephen asks.

I nod, my eyes not leaving his pale shirt. Stephen uses his thumb to draw rhythmic circles on my forearm. He comforts me, soothing me after my first experiment. Around, and around, and around his thumb traces.

The door sounds. My eyes dart towards the wall, wide and fearful, and I throw my back against the wall. A gloved hand pushes a bundle through the partially-open door, and we're locked back in our cell with an empty swoosh.