Chapter 23
Alexia woke with a start; she wasn't sure what had woken here.  It could have been a noise, or just the drugs wearing off. Either way, she was now awake, and since she woke so quickly, it was obvious that she was awake to everyone in the room. She yawned gently, startling the two scientists that were sitting at the computer. They spun around quickly to stare at her, gauging her expression. She wasn't sure why they moved so quickly, she was sure that they had known she was awake.
Then she wondered how the experiment had turned out. Had they failed? Or more importantly, had they succeeded? That was the enormous question. Was she now carrying a child inside of her? She fervently hoped not. Sure, if she did have a child she would give it all the love she had, but she still didn't want one so soon, especially if the child was to be turned into a human experiment. NO child should have to go through with that, especially at the young age that she knew they were planning.
Alexia tried to sit up more, but she was still strapped down very tightly. She took a moment to evaluate herself. She was still tightly bound to the bed with the same fire-proof straps, but she was happy to notice that she was entirely clothed. Although she knew that at one point they had to leave her exposed for the experiment, she was happy that they had at least recovered her afterwards. She felt better knowing that she could at least leave with some of her dignity still intact, although not too much of it. Of course, she'd feel much better if the experiment was a complete and utter failure. That alone would make everything better for her, well, not everything. The only thing that would make everything better would be if the entire group was able to escape. She hoped that they could put their plan in motion as soon as she was out of the lab and fully recovered.
After a moment one of the scientists called for Dillenwater to come in; he was there almost instantly. Without even looking at her, he and the other scientists turned to the computer to look at test results yet again. She could hear them conversing in quiet tones, but she couldn't quite make out the words they were saying. After what felt like hours to Alexia but was probably one a few minutes, they finally turned to stare at her. Alexia felt a child go down her spine at the stares that she was receiving. She couldn't help but turn her head to break the eye contact that she and Dillenwater had inadvertently made. As she did, she could feel his smug mood growing. He was happy that he was able to intimidate her. Alexia knew that from that point on she would try her hardest not to give him that satisfaction again.
She turned her head back around only to stare blankly at Dillenwater. She tried her best to show no expression whatsoever on her face, even though she really wanted to. What she really wanted to do though was leap out of the bed to ask a barrage of questions about the results of the experiment, but she knew that she couldn't do that. She also wanted to catch some things on fire, mainly to satisfy her own anger, but she knew that they would be excruciatingly angry. The angrier they got, the more pain they might put her in. She may have wanted to rebel against them, but not at the price they had already set for her. It wasn't worth the pain they would be happy to put her through for it. The pain they put into her leg would be too much to bear.
After another moment of staring at her, Dillenwater smirked widely, taking a step closer to her. Alexia made sure not to flinch at his movement, although she felt like she should. "Well, don't you want to ask questions?" He asked, pulling an armchair up next to the bed. It was set up somewhat like a hospital room would be, with the chair placed next to the bed for visitors. Of course, if Dillenwater was considered one of her visitors, Alexia felt that it would be a very horrible hospital stay anyway. She wouldn't want visitors if he was the only one available.
"Of course I have questions." Alexia said somewhat rudely, but at the same time very soft. She didnât want to push them too hard; they might use their machine to punish her. "May I ask them?" She said, making sure to ask. She felt that after she was rude she had to make up for it by asking permission to ask her questions, even though she clearly had the right to ask about the experiment they performed on her.
"Yeah, go ahead. You might as well know anyway." He said, leaning back in the armchair and placing his hands behind his head in a relaxed position. Alexia couldn't help but resent the fact that he looked so relaxed and happy while she was strapped to a bed and miserable.
"Well, the most important question is obvious. Did the experiment work?" She asked very quietly, as if she were afraid that saying it any louder would make the answer a yes. She didnât want to elaborate any on the question because she didn't want to say the words out loud. She thought that saying them out loud would only make them more real. She would much rather them to be unreal to her, if only for a little while.
The room was silent for what seemed like an agonizingly long time to Alexia. She was hardly breathing in anticipation of his answer. Dillenwater finally smirked and say up straighter in his chair, his relaxed posture disappearing. âWell, we wonât know for about a month will we?â Alexia couldnât help but blush as his implication of the womanly cycle. âItâs hard to tell until then. That is unless youâre willing to do a pregnancy test. We wonât force you to take a pregnancy test; weâre not that evil no matter what you think of us. Besides, we wouldnât be able to get correct results for a while anyway. But Iâm pretty sure that you want to know the results almost as much as we do, so Iâm sure you wonât object to a pregnancy test in a couple of weeks.â He said with a slight smirk. Alexia could feel the excitement radiating from him in waves; it seemed almost sickening for her to be able to feel his excitement. She could feel it almost as if it was her own, and it repulsed her. She hated that he wanted her to be pregnant; in fact she full out hated Dillenwater outright. She really didnât want to hate anyone, but she just couldnât help it; it was hard not to hate the sick and twisted man that Dillenwater was. Truly, it was hard for her not to hate any of the scientists that were working at the lab. Alexia couldnât help but think that they didnât have to do the things they do; but then she wondered if they were forced to. If that were true Alexia would feel bad about hating them, but they still did horrible things to her and her new family.
âFine, I will.â Alexia agreed after a momentâs thought. âBut, Iâm only doing it so I can get answers, since I know you wouldnât tell me anything if I didnât cooperate.â She said, feeling the need to elaborate on her reasons for agreeing to the test. She didnât want them to think that she was doing it for their benefit; only for her own. She definitely did not want to help them in any way.
âWhatever you say, Miss Lambre.â Dillenwater said with another one of his annoying smirks. Alexia wanted to grimace, but she held the expression in so she didnât give him the satisfaction. Instead, she pulled at her bonds, trying again in vain to sit up. When that didnât work, she turned her head to glare at Dillenwater. It went without saying that she wanted to be unstrapped and taken back to her apartment. He just smirked at her âWell, if I let you up from the bed, are you going to do as we say and sit there like a good little experiment?â
âYeah, I guess.â She replied, trying again to get up even though he hadnât released her yet. She knew it was a worthless effort, but she was uncomfortable.
âOk, well I am also going to trust you to walk peacefully with me back. Will you do that?â He asked, standing up and placing his hands on the buckle of the fire-proof straps holding her to the bed.
âYes.â Alexia said, wanting to be let up as quickly as possible.
âAnd you will do the pregnancy tests whenever we ask?â He asked again.
âYes, now will you let me up?â She asked, getting irritated with him and his questions. He just smirked and undid the buckles, allowing her to get up, which she did quickly. After she stood for a moment, which the scientists in the room watched closely so she didnât fall or lose her balance, Dillenwater grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door and down the hallway that Alexia was quickly becoming familiar with. It had the same doors and turns that it always had. She was happy to know that she could basically navigate the twisted hallways. That valuable information would be very helpful when they got ready to escape.
They went the same way that they always had when he took her back to the other kids; a corner here, a corner there. Eventually they made it back to the apartmentsâ door, where Dillenwater pushed a button to open it. Once it opened, he gave her a look to go inside. She somehow knew that he didnât want to hurt her if she was in fact pregnant. Thatâs probably because he was much more worried about a future baby experiment and test subject than he was about her. Before there was a possibility of her being pregnant and carrying their future experiment they didnât mind shoving her into the room, he would even have been much more forceful to her in the lab. The only reason that that they didnât was because they were worried about hurting her so much that she wouldnât be able to carry the baby full term.  If they succeeded in getting her pregnant, that had to be their first priority.
As the door closed behind her, Alexia looked around to see if anyone else was out. It was only eleven, so as teens and pre-teens, most of the kids would still be asleep. When the door finally shut behind her with a loud thud, a pair of green eyes turned toward her quickly. After a second, Alexia recognized that it was Cheater who was staring at her concernedly. He quickly stood up and came to her aid, obviously afraid that she was hurt. He must have been listening in to the whole experiment, which embarrassed her a little, but she was glad that he was taking no chances in worrying over her. Alexia would have laughed at the over-protectiveness in his expression and actions had it not been for the seriousness of the situation. He was acting so over-protective that it was almost cute to her. When he reached her, he gently took her arm and pulled her over to the couch, sitting himself beside her. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, giving her a soft hug. He could read her mind, so he knew that it was just what she needed after the stress of the day. She was upset about everything, who wouldnât be after all of the things that she had been put through, and although nothing could fix it the hug really helped hShe buried her head in his shoulder, holding in the tears that they both knew wanted to leak out. They both realized that they needed to get started on the escape plan, so they could leave as soon as possible, but they would start on that later on. Both needed to let all of their emotions hang loosely between them, since both could hear or feel them anyway through their powers. The two of them felt almost bonded in a way that no one else ever had. Cheater could hear Alexiaâs thoughts and feelings about her day and the experiments that had been performed on her throughout the time she had been at the school. Alexia could feel the worry, the fright, the sadness, and even the love that was radiating off of Cheater.
Alexia understood why he was worried, since they were always performing some horrible experiment on her. She understood the fright, since he was probably scared for her and what they would do to her next. She especially understood the sadness; since he was probably sad for all that she had to go through. But the love? She didnât understand the love at all. Was he feeling love for her as a sister, or as a friend? Or was it a deeper kind of love, one that would take much more thinking and feelings. What was causing the love that he felt toward her? Was it a love for the things she did, the fact that she stood tall in the face of all that was happening to her? What was it? It was true that she could feel the worry, fright, sadness, and love that he was feeling, but she couldnât feel what was causing it.
She didnât know what to think. She was sure that he was hearing her confused thoughts and just not commenting on them, and for that she was kind of glad. She was both very curious about in what way he loved her, but she didnât want to make it very awkward between them if one felt something the other did not. She wanted to think more about the subject, but she felt her cheeks reddening when she remembered that he could hear her every thought. She felt that she might be able to think about it later in the evening when there was less of a chance of him listening in. She really hoped that he hadnât been listening to the incessant rambling of her thoughts. She was already embarrassed, she hoped that he had been tuned out, but with her luck he hadnât been.
They hugged for a while longer, each feeling comfort in the otherâs embrace. When both were feeling more at ease, they released each other and moved back for a moment to look at the other one. They looked in each otherâs eyes, each not knowing what they would see in the others. When Alexia looked into his eyes, she saw his compassion for everything, his love for life, his happiness despite the world around him. His bright green eyes sparkled with mystery, making her want to discover the mysteries that were held behind them.  She wondered just what he saw when he looked into hers. She hoped whole-heartedly that one day she would find out.
The rest of their day was spent lounging around in Alexiaâs apartment. She felt like she couldnât face the others just yet, not while knowing what huge secret that she was keeping from them. She knew that she would have to face them sometime, but she just felt like she needed a day to relax with Cheater. They both needed a day to forget about their problems and just unload their stresses onto the couch and leave them there for a little while. They played board games and watched TV for hours, laughing and joking around like other teenagers got to do. But Alexia and Cheater werenât normal teenagers after all. He was a telepathic, and she was a telekinetic teenager, along with everything else that had been thrown on. Their lives would never be normal, no matter how hard they strived for it to be.