Chapter 5

So. Many. Words. In. One. Little. Space.

Chapter 5

          I awoke in a stupor having no idea where I was. My eyes darted around the room I was in but I could hardly make out any details. There was an incandescent bulb hanging in the middle of the ceiling which poorly lit the room. I felt cramped; the room was merely the size of a broom closet and it was empty. The walls, the ceiling and the floor were blank, save for the light coat of dull grey paint that was peeling off in strips. The focal point of the room was the door which drew my eye. It was dark black with a bright golden knob. I hopped onto my feet and reached for the door but my hands couldn’t reach. They were in chains and the chains were holstered to the back wall. I screamed and tears streamed down my face as I tried with all my might to reach the door. But it was impossible.

          “Shyloh!” I screamed as I pulled on the chains harder. I kept calling her name at the top of my lungs until my voice was hoarse and the words scratched their way out of my mouth. My body went limp and I collapsed with a mournful sigh. I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t know why I was there or what was going to be done to me and worst of all, I couldn’t feel Shyloh at all. No matter how far away we were from each other we could always feel one another in the back of our minds. I focused hard, racking my brain for any sign or feeling of her but I couldn’t find anything.

          I sat there crying for awhile. Tears raced down my face and dripped into my hands, they clinked against the chains and burned against my wrists. For the first time in my life I felt alone and truly terrified. I curled my knees into my chest and rocked back and forth. The steady motion started lulling me into unconsciousness, the light was dimming, the walls stripped away and the door faded.

          I snapped back to reality and consciousness when the door clicked and someone pushed it open. My heart started to thud against my ribs and I tried to muster all my strength to leap from the floor and tear the face off the person who was standing in the door way, but all I could manage was a grunt. I must have looked pathetic and defeated.

          “Where’s my sister?” I whispered. The person in front of me said nothing, they just raised their hands and I was face to face with the barrel of one of the glowing guns. Lightning crackled and a flash of light struck my face. Blackout.

 

***

          My head pounded steadily and I could hear a monotonous beeping that sounded like a hospital monitor. I tried to open my eyes to see where I was but they wouldn’t open. I started to panic a little so I tried to reach my hands to my face but they wouldn’t move at all. The beeping accelerated with my heart beat and the pressure at the back of my head increased. It felt like someone was pushing on my brain with their hand. I could hear someone breathing next to me and the clinking of metal on metal. My instincts kicked in and I tried to move everything at once and scream but nothing happened. The beeping accelerated further and I could hear someone moving quickly around my body. Blackout.

 

***

          A bright light snapped me out of a daze and my eyes shot open. I was out of the dingy broom closet as far as I could tell. The room I was in totally contrasted it. There were bright fluorescent lights lining the ceiling, the walls were the same as the steel from the lab and there was a big window on one of the walls that looked out into a gorgeous view of a hallway.

          I was lying on a comfortable cot wrapped up in crisp white sheets that were a welcome feeling from the chains that I was once shackled in. When I remembered the chains everything fell into place. My mind raced through the recent events that had taken place; getting caught, the guards shooting us, the cell, waking up with someone pushing on my brain and now sitting in the cot. I sat up and realized that I was not alone in the room. There were four cots in the room, an empty one next to me and then two on the other side of me that had lumps of people hiding under the sheets.

          In the bed right next to me was a girl with dark brown skin and wavy, auburn hair that was draped over her pillow. Her hair colour was fading; I could see her dark black roots peeking out at the top of her head. I couldn’t make out much more of her because she was asleep and covered by her sheets. There was a third bed next to hers with a person lumped under the sheets. I could see long dirty blonde hair that rolled above the sheets as the person shifted. I could see her neck where a bandage was stuck on where her spine connected to her skull. My heart leaped when the girl rolled over to face me and I realized that it was Shyloh.

          “Shy--” I started to scream as I jumped out of the bed and collapsed to the floor. My hands and knees thudded on the floor and I grunted. I pulled myself up with the help of the cot and sat down; I didn’t understand why my legs were wobbly. It felt strange to be standing, like I didn’t have much control over my motor functions and my stomach was growling something fierce. I was famished. “Shyloh.” I called to her but she didn’t wake up, she just rolled over again and the black girl sniffed and twitched in her sleep. Swinging my legs, I propelled myself onto my feet and waivered on the spot. I focused hard on the floor and caught my balance. A smile spread across my face as I triumphed over the adversity of my lagging motor functions. I walked slowly towards Shyloh’s bed, one foot at a time at a very sluggish pace. I was wearing pale green scrubs that made scrunching noises with each step. The floor was cold against my bare feet and footprints trailed behind me as the warmth of my skin condensed my perspiration against the icy floor.

          I stopped in front of the big window and peered out into the hall. I couldn’t see anything but some closed doors and the same steel walls that were apparently everywhere in the lab. I turned to Shyloh’s bed and made my way towards her. A surveillance camera moved in the corner above her bed and buzzed, following along with my movement as I sauntered to Shyloh’s bed.

          It felt like it took hours for me to reach her bed and by the time I sat down next to her I was completely exhausted and out of breath. I panted next to Shyloh and I tried to utter her name to wake her but there was no need. She rolled over to face me and her eyes slowly cracked open and stared at me. She looked around me at the room she was in, paying me absolutely no attention for a few seconds. Then her eyes locked on me and I guess I startled her because she shot up and flushed her back up against the wall. Her eyes looked hazy and she was confused.

          “Shyloh it’s me.” I said in a very calm and soothing voice. “It’s your brother.” After a few seconds of staring, the haze cleared out of her eyes and she jumped on me.

          “Sylas you’re alive!” She screamed wrapping her arms around me.

          “Yup I’m here, still in one piece.” I managed a smile and a sigh of relief, relishing in the verity that my sister was alive and we were reunited.

          She pushed herself off me, “I thought you were dead. They locked me in this dark cell and I was chained up and I couldn’t feel you anywhere. I was so scared.”

          “I know they did the same to me. I thought you were dead too. I racked my brain for awhile trying to get a sense of you but it came up blank. Then some guy came in and shot me.” Shyloh nodded her head excitedly and then stopped because it hurt. She reached her hand behind her head to rub her neck and felt the bandage on her neck.

          “Yeah the guy shot me too and then I woke up and someone was pushing on my head which, I assume, is why I have this bandage here.” She pulled off the bandage and there were a few small drops of blood on it.

          “Turn around and I’ll take a look at it.” She did as I said and I saw that there were dots of dried blood in a circular formation where the bandage had been. It looked like someone had punctured her neck a few time with needles. “I think they injected you with something Shyloh.” She looked at me with fear in her eyes.

          “You’ve got a bandage too.” Fear struck at my heart as Shyloh took off my bandage and the same pattern of dried blood revealed itself on the gauze.

          “Crap.” I said. “What do you think they injected us with?” Shyloh shrugged her shoulders having no guess than I did.

          “They didn’t inject you with anything.” Said the raspy voice that was coming from the black girl who was clearly awake now.

          “What?” Shyloh and I asked.

          The girl sat up slowly in her bed and stretched her arms behind her head. She looked like she just woke up in a luxurious hotel, she was totally calm and collected, and she even cracked her neck, knuckles and back. “They didn’t inject anything. They took something out.”

          Shyloh and I looked just as confused as ever. “How do you know?” I asked. The girl didn’t answer; she turned her face away from us and revealed the same circular scar on her neck. We all fell silent for a moment. The girl turned back to face us.

          “So what did they do to us?” asked Shyloh.

          “There’s plenty of time to explain that to you but first things first.” The girl got up out of her bed with ease and waltzed over to us with her hand extended. “Bellatrix Parnell. You can call me Trix.” My jaw dropped and Shyloh and I exchanged looks of equal surprise. Trix stared at us perplexed. “What?” she asked.

          I shook her hand “I’m Sylas and that’s my sister Shyloh. Sorry about the looks but we were both surprised to run into you here.”

          Trix still looked uneasy; she wandered back to her bed and sat with her arms crossed. “Do I know you two or something?”

          Shyloh shook her head, “No. We just heard about you from Marilyn.” Trix’s eyes lit up and water swelled up under her eyelids. “She told us about how you used to travel together and about your brother being taken by the Spooks.” Trix’s face darkened and a tear rolled down her cheek.

          “God damn Spooks.” She chewed the words and spat them out with such hate. “They took Steve and brought him here and then the scientists killed him.” She looked away from us, unable to hide the pain and hate that was sweltering inside her.

          “They killed him?” I asked. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine the feeling of losing your twin.” She looked up at me; it was hard to judge the expression on her face. There was anguish and pain but also hope.

          Her eyes looked to Shyloh and then back to me, “You two are twins right?” We nodded. “Consider yourselves lucky then. If you were just siblings the Blues would’ve killed you.” Her voice was hard as stone and the words clung to the air, sending a sharp chill down my spine.

          “The Blues? Are those the soldiers?” Shyloh asked.

          “Yeah, they’re just stupid grunts with guns. Not much thinking goes on in their heads; they just follow orders, point and shoot.” Trix said.

          “Is that what they did to your brother?” I inquired.

          Trix shook her head, “No. The scientists didn’t order the pathetic little peons to shoot Steve. He was killed during an experiment.”

          “What experiment?” Shyloh asked. “I mean we saw them go through the time machine thing and bring back some dinosaurs but I don’t understand how that involves people.”

          Trix laughed drily, “It’s not a time machine. It’s a portal--a window of sorts, to other dimensions and universes. They wouldn’t be able to travel back in time and remove organisms from an environment without drastically altering the present. That would be foolish. Don’t you guys watch TV?”

          “So they go to different parallel universes and take the dinosaurs out? Why?” I was trying to reason everything in my head but I have to admit that I was a little out of my league. My mind was in shambles already from thinking that the scientists were time-traveling but now it’s this? Jesus Christ.

          “They’ve been traveling to a universe where dinosaurs never died out and man never existed. They bring back a couple specimens and they engineer them here to use as weapons for war. That’s why they didn’t kill you. They need you.”

          “They need us for what?” Shyloh asked.

          “The scientists need a way to control the dinosaurs so they can be ordered to kill enemies specifically without going on violent rampages. They use the brain matter in twins because there’s some psychic connection in our brains that can be used to help transmit ideas, or in this case, orders to the brain of a dinosaur when the brain matter’s been inserted. They’re still in the trial stages though. That’s why my brother died.” Trix sniffed back some tears and stood up to pace around the room.

          “So they took out parts of our brain so they could put it in those raptors they brought back?” Trix grunted.

          “Hmm, well at least they went for smaller dinosaurs for you. My brother wasn’t so lucky. I watched him get crushed to death by a triceratops because its brainwaves didn’t sync up with my brothers.” Trix stopped holding back the tears and cried. Shyloh got up and sluggishly made her way over to Trix and hugged her. Trix cried into her shoulder.

          “I’m sorry about your brother Trix. When I first woke up in a cell and I couldn’t feel Sylas my whole body felt like it was going to shut down. I know how painful that loss can feel. I’m so sorry.” Shyloh pushed Trix’s bangs out of her face and she straightened up, wiping her tears off her cheeks.

          “Thanks,” she said. “I just hope your trials go better. When they put you in that room with your raptor, make sure you’re careful and don’t let your guard down for a second. That thing can turn on you instantly.”

          “Thanks for the advice. We’ll keep it in mind.” Shyloh said as she sat back down on the cot next to me. “So what do we do all day? Shouldn’t there be like a welcoming committee letting us know what we’re doing here or something?”

          Trix chuckled, “I think you’re confusing this place with a Best Western or something. We just sit in here all day until Dr. Priya comes in with our breakfast and takes us to run more tests. She’s the lead scientist around here and she’s a raging beast. She acts really sweet and nice but she’s a monster.”

          “Oh awesome, I’m so excited to meet this ‘Beast’.” Shyloh hissed.

          “So what have they done to you since you’ve been here? I just kind of want to know what to expect.” I said.

          Trix lay on her bed and folded her arms behind her head. “Well let’s see, I’ve been here for…” She went silent and looked at us. “What day and year did they catch you?” She asked.

          “October 16, 2011” I piped up.

          “So that means it’s got to be at least November now then so--” she was cut off by my sister’s shrill voice.

          “November!” she squealed.

          “Yeah,” Trix nodded, “They took out bits of your brain matter and it takes at least two weeks to wake up from that, you don’t just bounce back like a five-year old.” Our jaws dropped. We’d already been here for at least two weeks. What were our parents thinking? They were probably freaking out and thinking we were dead. The cops were probably looking for us with no luck and my friends were probably blowing up my phone with texts and voicemails.

          Anger, sadness and huge waves of countless emotions swelled up in my stomach as the realization kicked in that I probably wouldn’t see my friends or family again. My dog Zero would grow old and die before I could see him again. I’d never go to school, never graduate, never hang out at the mall, never party again, never play sports again, never drive again, and never grow old with a wife and kids. Shyloh mimicked my thoughts and emotions and she started crying on my shoulder.

          “I miss mom and dad.” She said, wrapping her arms around my neck.

          “I know, me too Shy.” I draped my arms around her and squeezed, tears fell freely.

          Trix sat up, “Sorry, I kind of just dropped a bomb on you guys. But at least you have each other right? That’s something.”

          I let go of Shyloh and wiped the salty drops of my cheek and sniffled, “I guess you’re right. But there’s no way in hell that I’m just bending over and taking any of these scientists’ crap. I’m getting the hell out of here whenever the first opportunity strikes.”

          “Keep that motivation Sylas, that’s what keeps me waking up every day. If it’s November 2011, that means I’ve been here for three years and I’m still not giving up.” Trix smiled trying to encourage our hope, which helped a little. I’m actually surprised that she’s so optimistic even though she’s been here so long.

          There was a knock at the door and it slid open with a whooshing noise. I sat still as my heart slammed in my chest, waiting to make first contact with the people who locked us in their lab. A tall and slender Indian woman stepped through the door. She had slick black hair that was pulled back in a tight ponytail, so tight in fact, that it looked like the hair was stretching her face back; giving her a very pronounced forehead. Her eyes were black and beady and her nose was sharp. She really did look like a raging beast. She had an air of superiority about her and she had her nose stuck up at the sight of us like we stunk up her perfectly superior air. I just wanted to clock her in the teeth but that was impossible because there were two Blues behind her with guns at the ready.

          “Ah, you’re awake.” She said. Her voice sounded sharp and high-pitched. She reminded me of a snake or wolverine. Her voice alone could rip the flesh clean off your bones. “I’m Dr. Alag, but you can address me as Dr. Priya or ma’am. Alright?”

          Shyloh and I nodded. I didn’t want to say anything for fear that she might rip out my tongue and show it to me.

          “What’s for breakfast?” Trix said insubordinately. “I hope it’s not slop again.”

          Dr. Priya locked her eyes on Trix and she pasted on a sneer which looked sinister enough to melt your eyeballs clear out of their sockets. Trix had some major balls to be sassing this woman who scared the living crap out of me.

          “No Bellatrix, it is not slop as you say it. We are serving you simulated eggs and various other foods from all the food groups. They are all genetically modified to have more nutrients in them than regular food.” Trix was mouthing every word Dr. Priya said, I guess she’s heard this speech before. “It has insurmountable amounts of protein and is--”

          “Good brain food.” Trix cut in. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard the speech before Priya.”

          “That’s Dr. Priya.” Dr. Priya hissed. “I take it that you’ve taken the liberty of introducing yourself to our new guests and given them a rundown of how things work around here?” She questioned Trix.

          “Just ask the puppets you’ve got operating the camera. We all know they’ve been listening to every word we’ve been saying.” Dr. Priya stared blankly at Trix as though to say that that wasn’t the answer she was looking for. “But yes, I’ve explained to them that you’ve removed them from their families and friends and locked them up here so you can rip out their brains, implant them in dinosaurs in attempts to have them take orders from them. Or they’ll get eaten or something. Good enough?”

          Dr. Priya chortled; it was the fakest laugh I ever heard. “Oh Trix aren’t you so clever. But I’d watch my tongue if I were you. I may need your brain but I don’t need your voice, don’t think I won’t hesitate to rip it out.” Dr. Priya’s face was dark and her eyes were slits. She turned her head towards Shyloh and I, “So welcome to the facility. What are your names?”

          “I’m Shyloh.” Shyloh shook Dr. Priya’s hand and then she turned to me.

          “I’m Sylas, her brother. Nice to meet you.” I tried mustering a smile but it didn’t go over so well. I shook the doctor’s hand which felt dry and scaly.

          “How polite, it’s lovely to meet you.” She stood up straight and flattened out her lab coat. “I may come off as a bit strict or mean but I’m not. If we respect each other we can have a joyous experience. I need you to complete this facility’s research which is a wonderful opportunity for both of you. You can be a part of something great, one of the most brilliant advances in biochemical technologies and genetic engineering. If everything goes well we can even release you, with your sworn oaths of secrecy of course.”

          “That doesn’t sound so bad.” Shyloh said. Dr. Priya was beaming at her.

          “Exactly!” she said excitedly. “You could learn from these two Bellatrix. At least try to pick up on their manners.” Dr. Priya addressed Trix without looking at her. We all knew she was never going to comply with Dr. Priya’s wishes, but I guess Dr. Priya didn’t see through my sister’s façade either; there was no way in hell that we were going to stick around either. However, if all it took to survive painlessly here was a simple charade until we figured out how to escape, that was fine by me.

          The two Blues that were standing behind Dr. Priya left for a moment and then returned with three silver trays that carried white, yellow and blue lumps of God knows what; it looked a lot like paste. If that isn’t enough to get your taste buds tingling I don’t know what is. The soldiers walked a tray over to each of us and laid it in our laps along with a napkin and some plastic cutlery. I leaned down to smell the food and I discovered that it had absolutely no smell at all; I thought that to be quite odd. One of the soldiers whispered something into Dr. Priya’s ear and she pursed her lips tightly.

          “Well I will leave you to your nutritious breakfasts. I’ve got lots of things to do.” She gave us a quick nod and turned to the door. “I’ll be back shortly to run some tests on you.” She didn’t turn so no one knew who she was referring to, although I suspected it was a general address to all of us. She left the room and walked by the window, she turned towards and mouthed the words “Busy, busy, busy!” with an uncomfortably large smile. The soldiers followed her out, one of them swiping a key card on a key pad to close the door. The door slid shut with another whoosh of air and then it clicked. Locked.

          “Well this doesn’t look to bad.” Shyloh said fingering the lumps of paste on her tray. “At least it doesn’t smell like anything.

          Trix laughed, “You two are lucky for now. It smells like old socks and tastes like sweat. Your senses are just out of whack right now because parts of your brain are missing and healing over at the moment. Try to enjoy it because when the senses come back they’re extremely heightened.” My eyes widened and lit up with anticipation. Trix noticed this and cut me down, “Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool. You can see and hear things that are far away or are practically inaudible and you can follow certain scents like a dog. But God help you when you taste nasty food. The first time will probably make you puke.” My eyes returned to their normal dreary selves. I was ecstatic to have ‘spidey senses’ but I didn’t want to have to experience the revolting taste that supposedly accompanied the ingestion of the “super duper nutritious” crap that was jiggling on my tray.

          “Balls.” I said solemnly, “It figures that we’d get something sweet out of all this and then have it back fire.” I sighed and scooped up a chunk of grey paste and shoveled it in my mouth. I swallowed it with no issue, definitely no taste. For now.

          “Don’t worry, you’ll eventually get used to the taste after eating it every day.” Trix was certainly one optimistic girl which was surprising for someone who had been captive for years and watched her brother’s demise. But I guess when you’ve been homeless for a lot of your life getting three square meals a day and a warm bed to sleep in is a blessing, even in this hell hole.

          I looked over at Shyloh whose tray was empty and I watched in wonder as she whipped the last forkful of blue gunk into her mouth. “Holy sassafras, hungry much Shy?” I jeered.

          She wiped her mouth with her napkin and laid the plastic cutlery on the tray which was now devoid of food. “Don’t even hate. I haven’t eaten in two weeks, there’s no way in hell I was going to let some sweaty-tasting food stop me from eating. I’m definitely taking advantage of the fact that we can’t taste anything yet.” She eyed my tray which was still full. “Are you going to eat that?”

          I covered my tray with my hands, shielding it from her hungry eyes. They looked like they were practically undressing my food right in front of her. “Piss off! No! I’m eating my own food thank you very much. I too haven’t eaten in weeks. Get it together girl.” I said with a laugh forking down some of the yellow stuff. The food squished and slid down my throat and instantly my stomach halted its incessant growling, it felt good to be eating finally.

          “So what tests is she going to be running on us?” Shyloh asked breaking the insufferable cacophony of plastic forks scraping on metal trays and the wet squish of paste being more or less chewed in our mouths.

          “Well it’ll be your first day so all they’ll do is hook you up to this machine that’ll monitor your brain activity. They’ll make you talk and walk around the room to monitor the motor functions, check out your breathing and whatnot, prick you with a needle to see how your pain receptors are doing and then they’ll probably make you watch some clips of movies to check on your brain chemistry and emotions. At least that’s what they did to me.” Trix finished the food on her tray and walked it over to the door, waving her hand at the camera. A few seconds later, a short man in his thirties approached the door and opened it.

          “Hey Trix, you all done here?” Trix nodded and the man looked over at Shyloh and me.

          “Guys this is Tim. Tim this is--”

          “Shyloh and Sylas.” Tim cut in, “I know.” He smiled walked over to pick up our trays for us. He seemed like a very pleasant man, his voice was kind; he had a coiffed comb-over of ashy brown hair and his green eyes looked gentle.

          “Tim is the coolest guy around here and he operates the surveillance center.” Trix said, gesturing at the camera in the corner.

          “You’re wearing a blue uniform though.” Shyloh said giving him the fisheye, “Where’s your gun?”

          Tim laughed, “Oh sure that’ll be the day. I can’t handle one of those honking big guns!” I lifted up his arms and squeezed his bicep, “Do you see these lanky arms? They can’t handle even lifting one of those b******s. Besides, what do I need a gun for? I just watch the cameras and collect your food trays.” Tim seemed like the nicest guy I had ever met. Why in the hell would he be working here? It just didn’t fit. Everyone else here seemed like they were dismal and heartless. “Well anyways I brought you the cars Trix, I’ll try to see if I can smuggle in a board game or something next week. I know solitaire can be sort of boring.”

          “Thanks Tim,” Trix said beaming, “At least I’ve got these two rug rats now, so maybe we can play something a little more exciting.”

          Tim nodded and flashed another pleasant smile, “Well I got to get back to work, it was nice meeting you guys. I’ll see you around.” He winked, obviously hinting that he’d be watching us momentarily from his surveillance room. I’ve got to admit though, I didn’t mind being watched by him because he was so kindhearted, it really alleviated the tension and unease of being trapped for eternity in a secret lab.

          “What an adorably nice man.” Shyloh said as Tim exited. “How does someone like him end up working here?”

          “This place pays a lot of money especially since they have to keep a lot of secrets.” Trix replied. “He’s sympathetic towards us because he has three kids and he’d hate to see them locked up here. But he can’t afford to lose this job because it saved him when the banks foreclosed on his house a few years ago. He got laid off by this security company he used to work with and then his wife died and his kids were like, starving and whatnot. So this placed saved him.”

          “Well that’s nice I guess,” I said. “At least he’s nice to us.”

          “Definitely,” Trix nodded hopping onto the floor, “So do you guys want to play crazy eights or Bullshit?”

          “Bullshit?” Shyloh and I asked.

          “Yeah, it’s like cheat except that when you catch someone cheating you scream ‘Bullshit’ instead of ‘Cheat’. It makes the game more exciting.” Trix laughed and dealt out the entire deck into three piles. “So you guys want to play?”

          “Sure.” I replied and Shyloh nodded. We swiped up our decks and sat on the floor with Trix.

          “Two aces.” Shyloh said laying her cards face down in the middle of the floor. I was about to lay down a two of diamonds when the door clicked and slid open.

          “Oh, God damn it!” Trix said rolling her eyes as Dr. Priya walked in the room with her clipboard and two soldiers.

          “It’s time for your tests Shyloh and Sylas.” She gestured to the door with her clipboard.

          We stood up dropping our cards on the floor, “See you after.” Trix said, collecting the cards and shuffling them.

          “I won’t keep them long Bellatrix.” Dr. Priya assured her. Trix didn’t respond, she just kept shuffling and started to lay out the cards in columns. “Right this way you two.” We followed Dr. Priya into the hallway leaving Trix to her solitaire.

          We walked down the blank hall without anyone saying a word. The only sounds were the Blues’ boots clunking heavily against the floor, the click-clack of Dr. Priya’s black and unconventionally tall high heels and the scribbling of her pen against her clip board. No one so much as cleared their throat, needless to say, the silence was discomforting.

          We rounded a corner where the hallway ended in a door. Dr. Priya stopped and turned to face us with that well-rehearsed smile of hers. “Okay so we are heading to the testing rooms at the back of the facility but we have to cut through the research lab which we call The Menagerie.” I could hear excitement throbbing in Dr. Priya’s voice. “You are going to see some things that will shock you. There are many wondrous things behind these doors and some of them are terrifying, however, never fear because you two are absolutely safe with me. Alright?”

          We both nodded and I wiped my clammy palms on the sides of my pants. I was riveted with excitement but I was also very nervous with what we were about to see. Shyloh sensed this and gave my arm a reassuring squeeze.

          Dr. Priya spun on her heels and pushed a big blue button next to the door causing it to slide open. We stepped through and the view was breathtaking.

Reviews

[Kandy Kitt]

Awesome.