Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Alexia woke up slowly, her eyes opening into slits and then opening wider and wider.  Again she instantly saw the two scientists, but this time they weren’t leaning over her.  Instead they were across the room at a computer, presumably adding the results of their tests.  They were both very into what they were doing, and they didn’t notice that Alexia was awake until she yawned loudly.

“Oh, so she’s awake.”  One of the scientists stated as he turned around to see her.  “So, we now know that giving a larger amount of the drug does in fact help knock her out longer.”  He said to the other scientist, who nodded back.  The one who spoke walked casually to hit the button on the wall, and again Alexia couldn’t help but flinch, even though she knew that it was for an intercom.

“The subject is awake.  Would you like to come see the results?”  The man spoke into the microphone.  Another voice came out of the speaker, but since Alexia was on the other side of the room she still couldn’t hear it, the same thing that happened the last time.  But this time she knew that it was Dillenwater on the other end of the speaker.  “Yes sir.  See you in a moment.”

A minute or two passed before the door opened and Dillenwater stepped in.  When he saw that Alexia was still bound to the bed, he smirked at her.  “Are you comfortable?” He asked, moving forward to go look at the results of her tests on the computer.

“Yes, very after you changed the beds for me.  Thank you for that wonderful show of kindness by the way.  You are such a wonderful person!”  She said sarcastically.  She knew instantly that she went too far when she noticed that Dillenwater’s emotions went out of whack the minute she finished the sentence.  He went from excited to extremely angry.  He instantly pulled out a small receiver device, about the size of a remote control.  He grinned maniacally at her, and pushed the button on it.

Alexia tried not to tense but she couldn’t help it and it only made it worse.  Hot sparks of pain shot through her leg, making it burn.  She twisted and turned in the sheets, trying to alleviate the pain in some way.  No matter which way she turned the pain didn’t go away.  The twisted so much that the sheets on the bed were tangled around her legs, putting even more pressure on them, which wasn’t helping the situation.  She tried to stop moving, but the pain was too much to bear, and she had to do something.  So she continued to twist and turn.  She didn’t cry out or even whimper though; instead she bit her lip as hard as she could, partly to help her forget the pain in her leg.  It did absolutely nothing to help the pain in her leg, but it did make her lip start to bleed.

After what seemed like hours to Alexia, Dillenwater pushed the button again and shut off the pain.  She sucked up a deep breath of air, starting to breathe heavily from exhaustion and pain.  Even though her leg no longer had pain shooting through it, it still tingled painfully.  Her lip was still bleeding pretty rapidly as well.  She was still twisted up in the sheets as well, and she couldn’t move any of her body because she was still bound to the bed.

“Do you want to try that again? Or have you learned your lesson?” Dillenwater said, leaning toward her.  Alexia didn’t want to show any kind of fear, but she couldn’t help but shrink farther back into the bed when he leaned over her.  He chuckled, “So I guess you did learn your lesson.  Good.  Now, let’s get back to what we were doing before you so rudely angered me.”  He said to her, turning back to the scientists at the computer.

Alexia was shivering, even though she was wrapped in a blanket.  She was terrified of what Dillenwater would do next.  He could drug her, do more tests, do more experiments, or who knows what else he could do.  She hoped that when he was finished looking at the test results that he would send her back.  That probably wouldn’t happen though, with the school, she almost never got what she hoped or wished for; in fact she normally got the opposite.

Dillenwater and the other scientists clicked the mouse a few times and pushed some buttons, and then they were finished.  After printing a copy of whatever results that they had compiled, Dillenwater turned to Alexia with a smirk set deeply on his face.  After the pain he had already inflicted upon her that day, she couldn’t help but flinch again despite her better judgment.  His smirk got even wider as he noticed her movement.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  Have I scared you now?”

“I’ll be fine.”  She said loudly, attempting to sit up but failing because of the straps around her.  “So when can I go back?”

“Oh, we’re going to take you back in just a minute.”  He said smirking again.  His smirk made her very wary, because he should be smirking about taking her back, right?  Something had to be going on.

“Um, ok then.  How are you going to get me out of here?  Do I have to do anything special? Oh, and should I be expecting some sort of new ability this time?  I know I came in here for an experiment…”  She said, trailing off.  She was always somewhat worried about the experiments, and this one was no different.  The experiments were always so unpredictable; she could never predict what would happen after one of them.

“I am just going to trust you enough to be able to walk down the hall with me.  Just remember, I am a lot stronger than you, even with your powers.  I also have backup only seconds away from me if you try anything.”  Alexia’s eyes widened.  That was really unusual, sure he let her walk on the way to the lab, but she didn’t expect to be able to walk back too.  Her thoughts were interrupted when he continued.  “Also, you have no reason to expect any new abilities, because we didn’t do the experiment that we had originally planned.  In fact, we didn’t do any experiment.  We have decided to skip the next one we have planned, and continue on with ‘experiment C.’” He said with an evil grin.

Alexia had a sharp intake of breath and she almost passed out from the terror.  She didn’t know what ‘experiment C’ was yet, but she knew that it couldn’t be good since Cheater was so set on not telling her until she had to have it done to her.  “So, when will you do this experiment?”  She said with a calm, clear voice.  Normally when she spoke in that tone, it meant that she was going to explode in fury, but she knew that it was impossible for that to happen the way she was tied up so she held it in check.

“I am not going to tell you.  I want it to be a surprise, or at least until Cheater finds out and tells you.  But for now, I am going to take you back to go rest.  So when I release you from the bed, do you promise not to do anything stupid?  Or do I have to tie you to something?”  He asked her sarcastically, apparently already knowing her answer.  Of course, it was pretty obvious what she was going to say.

“Of course I’ll go quietly.  I’m not stupid.  I promise that I’ll be nice.”  She said with a smirk back.  He just nodded slowly and motioned for one of the scientists to come forward and unlatch her bonds so she could get up from the bed.  After he moved back, she sat up and began to untangle her legs.  When she had completely released herself, she stood up slowly, knowing that after being knocked out for so long it might be hard for her to stand up very fast.  She had already learned her lesson about that.

When she was fully on her feet, Dillenwater nodded at her to follow and went out the door.  The followed the same path that they had every other time that Alexia had been awake to see it, and she made sure that she remembered every time they turned the corner.  She hoped that they could somehow escape before they tried to do ‘experiment C’ on her, and if so they needed as much information they could get.  Alexia was truly worried about the experiment, especially since Cheater seemed so worried about it.  Surely he would have told her if it was something really bad right?  But then again, he might not want her to worry about it.  Either way, it was going to happen unless they could get ready and escape in time.  She just had to hope that they had enough time before the experiment to prepare themselves.  If they didn’t have time to work out the kinks that were still left in the plan, then escape might not be possible before they did the experiment on her.

When they arrived at the door, Dillenwater threw it open and pulled her in quickly.  After she regained her balance, he dropped her arm and walked back out the door, making sure to shut it behind him.  Alexia sighed deeply and dropped onto her knees, holding her head in her hands.  She was tired, confused, angry, and she just couldn’t stand up.  She needed to sit down because her head was swimming around in circles, making her very dizzy.  She finally let out the tears that she had been holding in since she had walked into the lab.  They flowed freely down her face, her vision becoming blurry and her breath ragged.

In only seconds, a door creaked open and there was a sharp intake of breath as someone noticed her position on the floor.  Alexia felt arms wrap around her shoulders softly and hugging her tightly; just letting her cry.  She lifted her head and could barely make out Cheater’s face through her tears.  He smiled softly at her before lifting her up and carrying her to a couch, sitting her on it and laying her head on his shoulder; she leaned back into his chest.  He just held her there and let her cry; rubbing small circles on her arms to calm her down.  After a few minutes, she calmed a bit and the tears started to flow less freely and it became easier for her to breathe.  When she felt calmer, she lifted her head to look at him again.  He smiled softly at her again, pulling her even closer to him and wiping her eyes of the stray tears that were left.  “Any better now?”  He asked her softly.

“Yes, I think I’m ok now.”  She said softly back, averting her face from his gaze.  She wasn’t used to crying in front of others; in fact, she couldn’t remember crying in front of anyone.  She was very embarrassed that he saw her in that state.  But then again, he had more than likely been reading her mind, so he probably knew that she would need him at that moment.  She had learned a lot of things that a person just couldn’t handle on their own in one day.  It would be hard for any person, especially a sixteen year old who already had enough on her plate.  “Can we go to my apartment and talk?”

“Of course we can.”  Cheater said back, this time being the one to avert his gaze.  She knew that he didn’t want to tell her about ‘experiment C’ but he knew that he had to.  Now it was essential that she knew about what the experiment was, whether he wanted to tell her or not.  Alexia didn’t need mindreading to know that he really didn’t like it either.

She attempted a smile in his direction before turning and going back into her apartment.  She walked in slowly, going into the kitchen first to get herself a quick snack before they started talking.  She had already found out that after being knocked out for so long, a person got really hungry, hence the snack.  That, and when she woke up she always felt groggy and tired, she really needed the energy that the food might bring her.  After getting a bag of chips, she walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, turning to face Cheater who was on the adjacent loveseat.

“So, um, what do you want to talk about?”  Cheater asked her, trying to stall.  Alexia knew immediately what he was doing and frowned at him.

“Cheater, I’m sure that you were reading my mind the entire time I was in there, either mine or someone else’s at least.  So don’t even act like you don’t know what I’m talking about, because I know that you do.  So, are you ready to tell me what I need to know?”  Alexia asked him seriously, her facial expression showing it.  She crossed her legs unconsciously out of anxiety.

“Fine, I’ll tell you, but only because I have no choice now.”  He said, grimacing.  “But, you have to actually ask me the questions.  I’m not going to just explain it all to you, especially because I don’t want to have to explain something that you already know; that would be completely pointless.”  He fell backwards into her couch, getting himself comfortable among the many pillows scattered around it.

Alexia nodded, he made sense.  “Ok, well, I’ll be nice and start with the easy questions.  So, first question.  When is my next experiment, since they said they are skipping the one they had planned and moving up ‘experiment C.’”  She said while holding her head down.  She couldn’t look him in the eyes, she was afraid of his reaction.  She didn’t want to see it if it was pity.  She couldn’t handle pity very well; it always made her feel worse.

“Well, the next experiment they have planned for you is early tomorrow morning.  Actually, it’s at around eight o’clock, so early for us, but not too early for them.”  Cheater said she could hear the smirk in his voice; he was trying to cheer her up.  It was a nice gesture, but she wouldn’t be able to get out of her funk until she received some good news.  That would be a very hard thing for him to muster up for her.

“Ok.  What experiment is it?  Is it ‘experiment C?’”  She asked quietly, she wanted to speak louder but she couldn’t force her voice any more.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but it’s ‘experiment C.’  I don’t think that gives us enough time to get our plan ready to escape.”  He said sadly.  Again Alexia couldn’t look at him, because she knew that he would have a look of pity on his face.

Alexia took a deep breath and let it out very slowly, taking time to let Cheater do the same.  “What is ‘experiment C?’  What do they plan to do to me?  What do they expect to get out of it?”  She asked slowly and evenly.  She wasn’t about to let out her emotions before he even told her the answers to all of her questions.

“Alexia, before I do tell you, remember that the only reason I didn’t tell you was because I didn’t want you to worry.  I did all the worrying for you, believe me, so please don’t be mad at me for not telling you sooner.”  He said, taking a deep breath.  “I learned about ‘experiment C’ not too long after I first arrived here, way before you came, obviously.  This was before they learned to block my thoughts. Back when they first came up with it, ‘experiment C’ didn’t have a name, which is why I wasn’t sure that was what they were doing to you at first.  But now I’m sure that’s what they’re planning.  ‘Experiment C’ is something that will change your life forever.  By doing ‘experiment C,’ they plan to get you pregnant.”  He stopped for a moment as she took that in, her eyes widening and her breath and pace quickening.  After she looked like she was ready to let him continue, he did.  “The C in ‘experiment C’ stands for child.  They want you to have a child, and see if that child has any powers.  If it does, then they would continue to do experiments and tests on both you and the child, although they would wait a few years for true experiments on the child.  They also want to find out if you would carry the child the normal amount.  The main thing they want to get out of it though, is the child itself.  They could keep the child here for its entire life.  I was afraid to tell you all of this, because I knew that it would worry you and freak you out.  I’m sorry Alexia, I truly am.  I didn’t want to keep this from you; I just felt that it was the right thing to do.  I don’t want you to be hate me, but I would understand if you were.”  Cheater said, looking at the floor.

Alexia was silent for a few moments before moving his chin up so he would look at her.  “Cheater, it’s ok.  I understand why you did it, even if it upsets me a little bit that you didn’t tell me.  I know you did it because you care about me.  That’s what matters.  So I’m not mad at you, but what are we going to do?  I don’t want to go through with this.  Is there any way we can stop it?”  She said, turning her head to look at the clock.  It was around eight o’clock in the evening; they still had plenty of time to talk.

“I honestly don’t know what we can do.  I don t think that we have enough time to complete our escape plan; we had too many loose ends with the current one to even try it.  I mean, we can brainstorm and try to come up with something, but it will be hard.  But I’ll stay up all night with you if you want, so we can try and come up with something.”  He said with a soft smile.  One thing Alexia appreciated about him was that he was showing no pity towards her, instead he was trying to be strong so she could be strong.  It was a really sweet gesture, and she knew that it had to be hard for him to keep it up.  She smiled at him and quickly threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you Cheater.”  She said softly, burrowing her face into his shoulder.  She wanted to cry, but she wasn’t about to cry in front of him.  She had a feeling that it wouldn’t bother him and that he’d just let her cry on his shoulder, but she really didn’t want to cry in front of him anyway.  It would be way too embarrassing for her; definitely not worth it.

“Well, I’ll always be here for you, as long as you let me.  Now, let’s get started thinking about how to get you out of this.”  He said, pulling her arms away from his neck only to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

“Hey Cheater, first, I have another question.  If they want to get me p-pregnant, don’t they have to have a guy to donate the, well, you know.”  Alexia said, blushing profusely.  Cheater chuckled even though they both knew it was a very serious question.

“Yes, someone had to donate that so they could do the experiment.”  He said, trying not to answer her obviously implied question.

“Well, who was it?”  She asked softly.

“Do I have to tell you?  I really don’t want to.”

“Yes you have to tell me.  Now out with it.”

“Well, when I first came here that’s one of the things that they made me do, I had to ‘donate’ that.  I had thought it was only for a test, but now I see otherwise… I’m so sorry Alexia.  I really didn’t know that’s what they wanted with it, really!”  Cheater said, worrying about what her reaction would be.

“I think I’m kind of glad that it’s you, and not some completely random person.  I mean, I don’t think that if I have to go through with this, that I would want any other person to be the father.  At least I know it’s not some weird old guy.”  Alexia said, babbling nervously.  ‘That came out all wrong.’  She thought to herself.

“Ok, I’m glad you’re not upset.  You really are one tough chick, you know that?”  Cheater said with a wide grin.

“Yeah, I know.  Thanks.”  She said, grinning slightly.  “So, are you ready to settle down for a night of brainstorming?”

“Sure am, as long as you can provide the food.”

“Of course, just don’t eat like a pig.”  Alexia smiled.  They stayed on her couches until around twelve, which was about four hours of thinking.  They would have stayed longer, but they both needed their sleep for the day to come.

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So, the secret about 'experiment C' is out! Please let me know what you think, and what you think will happen.  Will they escape, or will 'experiment C' proceed as planned?  Find out in the next chapter!