Infinity Academy

Chapter Nine

“Sir, I’m telling you, we can’t possibly take what we need from her until she’s started to heal. Look at her, if we take her blood now, she could die. What’s the point of doing that if we need her alive for the serum to work?” 

“Allan, she’s strong, she will survive. My brother worked his whole life to get to this point and I’m not wasting another second, we are doing this now. It’s just sad that he isn’t here to finish what we started.” 

I’d been listening to the men talk, trying to place their voices, but neither were familiar. I tried to open my eyes, even tried to move, but my body felt heavy, like there was a giant weight holding it in place. I felt a cold pinch in my arm and fingers pushing on the skin around it. I didn’t know how it was possible but I could feel the energy being drained from me.

“Rick, stop, her vitals are dropping, you’ve got enough.”

****

I awoke feeling groggy and sore. There wasn’t a part of my body that didn’t ache; I felt like I had been hit by a bus. “I see you’re awake. How are you feeling?” A short, plump man asked from his desk on the other side of the white walled room. “Who are you?” I croaked, turning my head slowly to study him. “I’m Allan, your doctor. I thought you would wake much sooner but it seems you lost a lot of blood,” he commented, looking at a clipboard in front of him. “You mean the person you’re working for took my blood when you didn’t recommend it,” I countered. The smile dropped from his face and I could see him become physically uncomfortable at my knowledge of what had happened. Eventually his face gained back some of its colour and he moved to stand, walking around his desk and leaning casually against it. “I guess I should’ve known the sedative wouldn’t work properly on you, sweetheart. You’re a tough one, just like your father.” That comment made my blood boil. “Don’t you dare talk of my father,” I seethed, “You and your boss are the reason he’s gone.” Allan turned around to collect his clipboard and then strolled over to me, pressing buttons on the machines behind me. “I did no such thing. Your father was a good friend of mine for many years. But when the effigy decided to exterminate the human race, and your father agreed, well, I had to take the side of my people. Honestly, I don’t know what he expected to happen when he supported the guild’s declaration of war on us.” “So you helped them kidnap me, and then killed my parents?” I asked, my anger starting to dwindle. “No, I had no idea of your kidnap until the guild managed to find you and take you back. My friend Rick, was the brother of the man that they killed to get to you. I guess you used to call him Uncle. But I didn’t know, and I wouldn’t have supported their decision; I was only told that you had perished with your parents.” He seemed genuine, but I didn’t know if that meant I could believe him. He could just be making these claims to trick me into trusting him. “Then help me escape. If you truly were my father’s friend and care for me, then let me go.” Surprise, then sadness filled his eyes and he shook his head, “I can’t do that, Emerald. I’m sorry, but the time for peace between humans and effigy is over. You’re our last hope of ending this war for good.” My eyes started to grow heavy and I looked over to see Allan pushing a syringe into one of the tubes that were connected to me. “You’ll see things differently by tomorrow, Emerald. I promise.” 

“No,” I whispered as I slipped back into darkness. 

****

I had lost track of the time and days as I laid strapped to the gurney, unable to move. When I awoke again from the sedative that Allan had given me, I finally met Rick, the man who helped take the lives of my parents, and the leader of this psychotic operation. I refused to talk to him, he didn’t deserve the breath it would take for me to reply to his bullshit excuses. He wanted me to side with the humans, since his brother had practically raised me after k********g me from my real parents. He tried to tell me that I loved the fake siblings that I was raised with, and that if my memories hadn’t been wiped, I would have avenged their deaths in a heartbeat. I wanted to tell him to f**k off, to shove his terrorist propaganda where the sun doesn’t shine. But again, I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. 

“You need to eat Emerald, we can’t have you wasting away,” Allan said, pushing the tray closer to me. I turned my head, and if I could’ve crossed my arms then I would have. “How am I supposed to do anything when you won’t let me out of these constraints,” I argued. “Now, now, you know I can’t do that. What if you decide to try and escape? We can’t risk anything happening to you. We care about you, you know.” That made me laugh, “You care about me? The only thing you people care about is using me as a weapon against my own kind, so don’t try and cover your true intentions by telling me that you care about my wellbeing.” Allan scowled and moved back to his desk. He very rarely left the room apart from when Rick came in to talk to me. “You will see things our way eventually, Emerald.” 

“Don’t hold your breath,” I retorted. I was getting sick of the whole ‘we are just trying to spare your life’ crap that they kept spieling to me. I had to figure out a way to make them release me, at least from the confines of this room. The whiteness was starting to screw with my eyes; I needed to be out in the open. 

****

It was Thursday, or at least that’s what Allan said when I asked him, but I wasn’t sure if he would tell me the truth or not about something so simple. I’d spent the last two days trying to convince both him and Rick that I was no danger to them and that I wanted them to help me regain my memories so that I would know if what they had told me was the truth. Of course, it was just a cover for my true intentions. I needed to get out of this bed, to get out of this room, and the only way I could do that was by convincing them that I had chosen to take their side in this so-called war. I knew that they planned on using my blood as their weapon against the effigy and that once they had ended them all, they would no doubt kill me too. “How are you feeling today, Emerald?” Rick asked, pulling a chair forward to sit down in. “Confined,” I stated, “I just want to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. I told you that I have decided to take your side, so why am I still stuck in this bed, in this room?” Rick took my hand and held it comfortingly in his. Just the feel of his skin on mine made me want to vomit. “I told you, Emmie, we need to be sure that what you say is the truth. I have a friend coming tomorrow with his lie detector system to test you. If you pass the exam then I will be more than happy to release you from this room.” I couldn’t wait until tomorrow, I needed to get out of here now. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to pass the lie detector test and then he would probably never let me go, he would know that I had no intention of ever being on his side. “Please, Rick. I can’t wait that long, I need some fresh air, this room is driving me insane and Allan even more so. I don’t care if you have someone escort me or take my yourself, I just want to see the sky again,” I begged, hoping he would take pity on me. “I’m sorry, Emerald. But the answer is no.” He got up and pushed the chair back against the wall, “I will see you early tomorrow morning. Get some rest.” I nodded and lowered my eyes, still trying to make him feel bad for me. He turned and left, looking unphased by my demeanour. I was alone for a while before Allan came back in. He looked upset; his eyes kept flicking to me as he studied the papers on his desk. “What’s wrong?” I eventually asked, my interest piqued at the strangeness of his behaviour. “Nothing for you to worry about, Emerald. I’ve just run into a few… complications,” he mumbled, shaking his head. I noticed how his brown hair clung to his forehead and his blue shirt was sporting some serious sweat marks. “Complications?” I questioned, confused. He lifted himself out of his chair and walked over to the camera on the wall that was pointed at me, turning it to face the opposite way, then hurried over to me. He pulled a key out of his back pocket and started unlocking my constraints. “I thought they just wanted you for your blood, to create a toxin that can kill the effigy. But they’re not who they say they are, Emerald. They want to turn you into a weapon and use you until you’re of no use to them anymore. Even if I didn’t want the human race to die at the hands of the effigy, I can’t just sit here and watch them destroy you. Your father wouldn’t want me to be a part of this,” he trailed off. I could see he was uncertain if what he was doing was the right thing, but I could hear in his voice that this was the first time he was genuinely telling me the truth. Once he had my wrists and ankles released, he helped me stand from the bed, wrapping his chubby arm around my waist to support my weight until my legs got accustomed to being used again. “We need to get you out of here now. When they notice the camera has been moved, they will come for you,” he rushed, trying to get me moving. My legs felt like wet noodles underneath me, and I didn’t know how long it would take them to finally get back to normal. 

The going was extremely slow, and I couldn’t believe my luck that nobody had come after me yet. “Come on, Emerald, we need to move faster,” Allan whispered, his arm still supporting most of my weight. “I’m trying,” I whispered back. I couldn’t understand why it was taking so long for my legs to regain feeling, but it was incredibly frustrating knowing that the longer it took us to get out, the higher our chance was of being caught. Allan led me down a narrow hallway with bright lights illuminating our path. There were no photos on the walls or any signs of life other than the multiple rooms we hobbled past that were all set up in the same manner as my white room was. We were just nearing a glass panelled door when my legs were finally able to support my weight; the feeling coming back completely apart from some slight tingling in my feet. Poor Allan was able to release his grip on me to take the lead, moving ahead to scan the area. The cool afternoon air reached my nostrils first as Allan pushed the door open and I couldn’t help but run past him, desperate to see the sky once again. “Wait, Emerald!” He hollered behind me but it was too late. As I ran out, a blaring siren sounded around me. I tried to cover my ears but to no avail. “Run!” I barely heard Allan call out. I didn’t hesitate for a second. I knew that if Rick didn’t already know I was gone, he certainly would now. I bolted for the line of pine trees that were the closest to me, hoping for some cover. 

The trees were just about within reach when I hit some kind of invisible wall and flew backwards, landing on my back with a thud. The air was knocked out of my lungs and I gasped, trying to breathe. “Emerald,” Allan panted as he reached me, kneeling down by my side, “Are you okay?” I took deep breaths, still feeling winded, “I think so. What the hell was that?” Allan looked worried, “I’m not sure. Rick said something about having another secret weapon up his sleeve, but I’ve never seen anything like this before, only in…” he trailed off. I knew exactly what he was thinking. “The Effigy,” we both said in unison.