Avery Daniels
"You haven't slept in four days?"
The lady-scientist looked at me in amazement. I wanted to point out that her huge eyes bugged out of her head. It was a bit disturbing. I shifted uncomfortably on the cold metal table and nodded.
"Yup."
"It hasn't affected you?"
"Yo no sé."
Her lips puckered in annoyance. I wanted to punch her in those giant blue eyes. What was the point of these questions when they were just going to torture me for the next hour or so? They'd find out once they, oh, sliced me open? Tore major organs out? I don't think sleep affects survival much when pieces of your brain are removed.
"We've asked you to only speak English here in the Lab, Avery."
I rolled my eyes. Sorry for being born in Uruguay. It did get annoying, having to translate my thoughts into English, since I thought in Spanish. They say that when you are fluent in a language, you begin to think or dream in it. While that had happened a few times to me, I preferred Spanish over any other language. It was smoother, had a better sound to it, and was a great cover for when I wanted to curse.
The woman wrinkled her eyebrows disapprovingly at me and stalked away. I hoped that she wasn't that lady Noah was fixated with. She was a jerk. He deserved an intelligent jerk. Like him.
I snickered to myself. I wished Noah could be here with me. He was one of the only other subjects that was forced to stay awake through procedures. Once we had had a double operation, and it was the best time I had ever had in the Lab. It was still hell, but it was more bearable.
"I'd give you a hand, but it seems I don't possess one at the moment." Noah had gestured at the bloody stump of his arm. While it was disgusting, and caused him to groan in pain, it still warmed my heart that he cared enough to try and joke even in times like that.
"Even if you did...unh...mine would slip right through it," I had choked back at him, my tears turning from mist to liquid and back again as they fell.
His brown eyes crinkled up through the pain, and at that moment, I knew that I had a friend who would stick with me through everything. He had done some pretty horrible things, but so had I. We didn't talk about the past, and accepted each other for who we were.
I was snapped from my thoughts as a male scientist commanded me to put on my testing collar. The Lab had found a way to make me stay tangible, in my torso at least, by placing a special high-tech collar around my throat. I shivered at the cold metal touch, and despised the choking feeling I always got when I tried to turn to shadow.
They also shone extremely strong flood lights on my body from all sides, eliminating any shadows.
I hated being this weak.
I settled back in the chair they strapped me into, my heart already beginning to race. Every time I came in this disgustingly sterile room, I forgot how bad it had been the last time.
"¿Qué -- I mean, what is it today?" I asked no one in particular, biting my tongue at the slip of native language. A small throng of white-clad "doctors" swarmed a table of medical equipment that resembled torture instruments. One of them turned to me with a blank look in his eyes. It was like I was only a thing to them. A guinea pig for the wonders of "science."
One of them pulled out a large drill-like tool and gave it a giant whir. I jumped, clenching my hands under the special restraints, just for me. He looked at the others quizzically, and they nodded. The scientists pulled down their masks, and the horrors began.
It was pretty bad.
***
I staggered into the hallway, my sight immediately gone as my eyes struggled to adjust after such bright lighting in the lab. My whole body was shaking, and cold sweat ran down my back. I had never felt so exhausted. Maybe sleep was a good idea after all.
But as I wandered slowly back to my quarters, hoping that my joints would stay solid until I reached it, I heard slow shuffled footsteps behind me. Inwardly sighing, hoping it wasn't an idiot guard looking for trouble.
Dark brown eyes and that signature marred eyebrow greeted me.
"Hey, Bora," I sighed, immense relief at my one friend flooding my worn body.
He smirked at the sound of his nickname and flicked my nose with one finger, an old joke between us. I laughed despite myself, but my happiness faded as I noticed a rapidly healing bruise around his eye.
"¿Qué...?" I asked, wary of what he would tell me. I thought we had agreed to no ore fighting.
Noah shifted his weight, sheepish. He rubbed his forehead and glanced at me.
"Long story."
"Isn't it always?"
He gave a small laugh, at that was all the time it took for his bruise to heal away completely. It was a miracle I noticed it before it disappeared. It must have been pretty horrible.
He swept an arm over my shoulders and guided me down the hallway until I stumbled, weak. He looked at me in concern.
"C'mon, Dani. Let's get some food, and whine about life."
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