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Author's Note: Ok here's a long post, it's probably a bit longer than the first part. I really like these two chapters because I feel the story really starts here. You get to meet some of the other "Colors" in the facility and some of the kids. Just be forewarned there is a real nasty scene that was necessary to establish the brutality of this place. I apologize for any of the grammar mistakes, I was in a rush to post and forgot to check for them myself.

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Chapter Five:

“Stick out your tongue please?”

I ignored the blimp of a man standing before me as he tried once again to stick the tongue depressor in my mouth. I even moved my head quickly to the side as he forcefully tried to shove it in. This guy was a joke. Where was Trish? What had they done with her? Who was this guy anyway? Actually I knew who he was because he was wearing one of this shiny plastic badges on his white coat. His name was Dr. Orange and he was by far the biggest man I’d ever seen. I mean he was enormous. He had to weigh at least four hundred pounds and he had at least three chins. I’m not even sure how he fit through the door. Ok so I’m not being nice but I wanted Trish.

I sound like a spoiled brat I know but the two of us were pals. I didn’t even know this guy. Everything had happened so quickly. One minute Trish and I were laughing it up. She was telling me how pretty I looked (I wouldn’t know, there’s no mirror in this room) then the next thing I knew the door opened. Two men came into the room. One was a tall soldier type, buzzed head, sunglasses too big for his face. He looked like a fricking gym teacher with his bulging biceps and overgrown pecs. I suppressed a laugh at the sight of him. I could smell cop the moment I saw him. I was a little off but not much. He was actually the allusive Mr. Blue that Zero mentioned earlier. Trish whispered in my ear that he was Head of facility security.

The second man was Dr. Orange. I remember what Trish said about him earlier, about him being some kind of perv. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but now I knew I was in real trouble. I wasn’t a sixteen year old guy anymore and this blimp had about five hundred pounds on me. AS soon as he walked into the room I could feel his eyes on me. My skin had crawled.

After they showed up, Trish and the Fat Man went out into the hall. I wanted to use my newly coined “Shadow Sense” (cool huh, thought of that one myself) but I didn’t want to take my eyes of Mr. Blue. He creeped me out too but not because he was a perv. He was so cold. He stood by the door, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyes hidden behind his shades. I hated it when I couldn’t see people’s eyes. Someone once told me they were windows into the soul and I really believe that. A few minutes later, Trish came in and said a quick good bye, told me she’d check on me later and then left. Just like that she was gone and I was alone with two of the creepiest men I’d ever seen.

From then on I decided to play stubborn. I wasn’t going to let either of them get anywhere until they brought Trish back. I felt safe with her. She was like my security blanket (how corny is that) but it’s the truth. So I only sat and half listened to Dr. Orange introduce himself. Apparently he was a neuro-what’s it. A brain doctor I think. But more importantly he was Trish’s boss, senior medical practitioner he called himself. He was just as fake as Zero. He put on this front, like the jovial grandfather but there was nothing grandfatherly about him. He was greasy and disgusting. He had slicked back hair and a huge pimple on his forehead. His clothes were too tight for his size and striped, horizontal ones. Who was he trying to fool?

Dr. Orange was losing his cool. Finally. As he tried once again to get me to obey him, he finally looked over at Mr. Blue. The silent sentinel was ever watchful by the door. I don’t think he moved a muscle since he entered about twenty minutes ago. Dr. Orange (let’s call him Dr. O. It’s just ridiculous calling him orange, isn’t it?). Anyway Dr. O looked at him with pleading eyes. I looked at him too, wondering what he was going to do.

I’ve only ever been in police custody once. It was right after the five of us ran. We were in a supermarket without any money, of course. Frankie talked me into shoplifting some candy bars. I’m not sure why he asked me. I’d never done anything like that before. Anyway I just knew I was going to get caught because the candy was right up at the counter. So I walked over all innocent like and grabbed a couple of Snickers. I stuck them in my pockets and started for the door when the alarm went off. Who knew the door had an alarm. The clerk grabbed my arm and the others bolted. He locked me in the back room until two police officers arrived. I was so scared that I bawled the entire time they questioned me. Of course because of my size they thought I was younger than I looked. So they let me off with a warning and made me apologize.

As Mr. Blue pulled himself off the wall and uncrossed his arms, I couldn’t help but think he was nothing more than a glorified Rent-a-Cop. He even had one of those stupid belts. It had a flashlight that I could clearly see and several little pouches which I’m sure were filled with interesting and useless things. But what it didn’t have was a gun. So even if he looked all bad ass, he was basically a neutered puppy. Whoa, where did that last thought come? I don’t generally think or talk like that. Weird huh? Maybe this whole gender change was messing with my mind too. Great so not only am I a chick but I’m also a cranky one.

“Now Miss” said the Blue as he approached me.

His voice betrayed him. The way he looked I expected him to sound like The Terminator. But instead it was very calm and controlled. Typical pig. Damn, there I go again. This is getting annoying. I once knew a girl who insulted everyone when she talked. I absolutely hated her and I so don’t want to turn into her.

The Blue (that’s what I’m calling him from now on, ok) stood in front of me. He reached for his hip, to where a gun should be. But instead of a gun, there was this black thing. At first I didn’t know what it was until he pulled it out of its holster. Oh God, it’s a tazer. There’s no way he’d use that thing on me. He switched it on, a little spark zapping between the two prongs. I looked into his face, noticing how pale and white it was. Why are all the people here so damn pale? First Trish and now these two. Do they only hire albinos or something? God, what the hell is wrong with me. I don’t want to be the insulting person.

“Listen Miss. The doctor needs you to cooperate with him. You don’t want me to use thing, he doesn’t want me to use this thing and I definitely don’t want to use this thing”

I knew he said that but I could tell he did. I quickly looked from Dr. O and him. Dr. O’s eyes betrayed him. Tubby was clearly a sadist. He was waiting for Blue to use it. He probably got off on it or something. The Blue was hard to read because I couldn’t see his eyes. He didn’t look like a nut job but he had to be slightly cracked to want to work here. I decided that this was not a good place to be. First they killed Johnny and Dell. Then they kidnapped me and Joanie. Who knows what they did to Frankie? Mr. Zero called me an “It”, Dr. O was a definite perv and now good old Blue was threatening to zap me to keep me in line. Yeah, this was definitely not the Holiday Inn.

“You should listen to him, Miss”

God, the Miss thing was really driving me nuts. I’d only been a girl for what, a couple of hours? Well actually probably longer than that, I was unconscious for two days after all. So maybe they were used to calling me Miss but I wasn’t used to it. I’d probably never get used to it. In fact if they called me Miss again I was seriously going to hurt someone.

So when Blue spoke again he was about to say “miss” but a glare from me changed his mind. Calling me young lady was wrong too. He told me once again to cooperate and let the good doctor continue with the physical. When I asked him why it was so damn important; the two exchanged glances once again. I knew what was coming so I tensed my body for it. It happened fast. Blue stuck the tazer into my ribs which without any real clothing for protection was going to hurt like hell. I prepared for it and even winced. I closed my eyes and bit my lip. But what I didn’t feel was any pain. I opened my eyes and looked down.
The tazer was still there. In fact I saw Blue push a button on it, clearly turning up the voltage. Still I felt absolutely nothing. Maybe it’s busted. Blue thought the same thing too. He took it away from my ribs and pushed the button again. Sparks zapped from the prongs just like before.

I took this opportunity to check myself. There was something seriously wrong. I should have been in excruciating pain there. I mean I knew I still felt pain because the light really hurt me before. That’s why we were during this little exam in the dark. So the logical conclusion could only mean that the tazer was faulty, right?

While I was thinking about that, Dr. O and Blue were having a pow wow session of their own. After he fiddled with the tazer a bit, Blue and Dr. O had slipped off into the corner. They talked quietly amongst themselves and then Dr. O approached me. He was holding a clipboard, stumbling about in the dark like a moron. I know I said I could see his eyes before (even though he’s wearing a pair of night vision goggles) and it’s true. Somehow I could see his eyes through the goggles, don't ask me how.

So looking into those shifty eyes now I could tell he was up to something. So when he approached me I was ready for anything.

He looked at the clipboard before he spoke. “Now Miss Grant” He cleared his throat. He seemed nervous. He was going to be in pain if he called me miss again. “When Mr. Blue zapped you with the tazer, are we to believe that you felt no pain whatsoever?”

So I told him the truth. “I saw him coming with the tazer. I tensed and prepared for it. He stuck me and no zappy”

Dr. O nodded. “Can you please lift your gown so I may inspect your ribcage?”

See I told you, total perv. I blushed and then angrily responded: “No way in hell you freaky perv!”

For one thing I wasn’t going to let this guy anywhere near me and for another, the gown was the only thing I was wearing. I wasn’t going to expose everything to these two men. God, that sounds wrong. A few days ago I would have considered myself in the same category. In fact I would have loved it if some girl flashed me everything. But now, things were different. I suddenly felt very insecure, especially about my body. And what a body it was. Though I had yet to see my face, I could tell I was a knockout. Just looking down told me everything.

Blue interrupted. He approached me without a problem. The dark didn’t seem to bother him one bit. Which made no sense because he was only wearing sunglasses? He stood near me but not too close. Was he afraid of me too? “Perhaps, doctor” he said, addressing Dr. O. “You can just look at the spot where the tazer burned…ah…Grant’s gown”

I looked down. The tazer burned me. I adjusted my body a bit and sure enough there was a burn mark where the tazer had been. The gown was scorched and underneath I saw flesh, my new flesh. I didn’t like what I saw. There were two visible red marks there, with clear burn patterns around them. I’m burned, the fricking jackass burned me. I quickly glared at Blue. He took a slight step back. Dr. O bent and poked at the hole, using a wooden tongue depressor and not his fingers. He didn’t want to know what would happen if his fingers went near me.

“Fascinating” He looked up at me, almost giddy. “And you felt none of that?”

“Don’t you think I would have screamed if I did?”

The two adults completely ignored me once again. Dr. O gestured Blue back over into the corner. They continued their private conversation which was fine by me. I looked at my burned side. I reached into the scorched hole and touched my burns. I could feel the two holes in my skin. I realized I was still pretty tense. The shock of being zapped and not zapped had thrown me a bit. But now that it was over I relaxed. As soon as I did I gasped in pain. My probing fingers sent pain up my side. I bit my lip so hard that I drew blood. Holy crap that hurt. But how could it hurt, before I had felt nothing. I looked over at the two morons hoping they didn’t notice. They didn’t, thank God. So I decided to perform my own experiment. I took a deep breath and tensed my body again. I concentrated really hard: No pain, no pain, no pain. Then I pinched myself. When I felt nothing, I tried again. The third time I grabbed some of the skin on my arm and twisted it between my fingers. Still I felt nothing. I looked at the morons to make sure they were still preoccupied. Satisfied, I took a deep breath and untensed my body. This time the pain didn’t come back but there were red welts on my skin. Does this mean what I think it means?

I didn’t get time to dwell on it anymore because the adults came back. Dr. O was absolutely giddy now. He looked over at Mr. Blue who nodded. Then the fat man took a penlight out of his coat pocket. Before I could react, he flicked it on. He turned it on me. First he shined it in my face which caused me to scream like I was being murdered. Then he shined it on my legs. I screamed even louder. Then he did the unthinkable. He ordered Mr. Blue to hold my arms. Unfortunately I wasn’t a very strong person when I was a guy because I was so small. As a girl I was no stronger. Mr. Blue on the other hand is well, you know.

He came around behind me and because I was wreathing in pain from the light I was in no position to fight him. He wrapped his large arms around mine in a full nelson, making it impossible for me to move. Dr. O advanced on me, keeping the light trained on my forehead. The pain was unbearable. I tried to kick him but he snapped the light to the inside of my left calf. The light was like a quick knife jab.

I screamed and stopped kicking.

“Now Miss” He emphasized the “Miss” because he knew it pissed me off. “I’m going to perform a full physical examination on your body and you’re going to stay there like a precious little angel and cooperate. Do I make myself clear?”

“Screw you, pig!” I wasn’t about to give up without a fight.

Dr. O laughed. How could that pig even be considered a doctor? Wasn’t there an oath he took that said “do no harm”? I looked at Dr. O, the pain wracking my body, and couldn’t help but think: maybe he missed that class. As he approached me, he tossed his clipboard aside and slowly started to undo his belt. Oh God he’s really going to do what I think he’s going to do. I tried to fight through the pain but the more he kept the light on me, the more it hurt. It was only a little light too. I already knew what a bigger one felt like and that was horrible. But how such a small one could be causing me so much pain.
“Stop squirming” Blue hissed in my ear.

He was like a loyal dog and Dr. O was his master. It was absolutely disgusting. These two bastards were going to rape me and there was nothing I could do about it. I closed my eyes and tried as hard as I could to bring up my Shadow Sense. Maybe there was something in the Dark World that could help me. I concentrated as hard as I could but as hard as I tried I couldn’t do it. Maybe I’m not strong enough or maybe I need more practice. Or maybe it was the pain. I was finding it hard to focus in all the pain. I even tried to make myself block it out like before but even that was impossible.
But none of that mattered at the moment.

Dr. O got his belt undone and his pants were slowly sliding down his legs. He and Blue were laughing. Of course they were; it was time to nail the bitch. Well I wasn’t going to give them that satisfaction. Somehow I was going to figure a way out of this. So I did the only thing I could do and screamed one name as loud as I could: “TRISH!!!”

The Shadow Sense seemed to kick in. The world went black around me; the two morons went from flesh to blue. The pain from the light was gone, consumed by the other world as I slipped into the dark one. My own private sanctuary. Blue still held onto me and Dr. O was still there. Right now I saw his blue self trying to fumble with what I assumed was his shirt. I closed them all and for the first time I listened. I don’t know exactly what happened or how I’d been about to get into the Dark World but now that I was here I was going to use it.

So once again I screamed for Trish. This time something was different. I felt an overwhelming sense of connection. I felt my voice carry across the room and out the door. It wound down several corridors, up a flight of stairs and through several doors until I finally found her. She was sitting at her desk, looking rather upset. She had a file open before her but I couldn’t see its contents. I called to her and this time she heard me. Her head jerked up and she looked around the room. I called again, telling her to run to me. I told her to help me.

Trish sprang up from the desk and ran for the door. My voice followed her. It followed her out of her office, through the doors as she ran. It followed her down both flights of stairs and around all the winding corridors. There were two guards stationed outside the room I was in. I used my voice, causing them to run down the opposite hall, looking for whatever made the noise. Trish got to my door. She used her ID tag to zip the door lock and then she charged into the room.

The energy I used was enormous. As soon as Trish came into the room I was spent. I snapped out of my Shadow Sense. I screamed as loud as I could. Dr. O had the front of my gown ripped open, laughing as he did so. Trish ran across the room, grabbed his shoulder and threw him back. It was a simple shove but for someone as heavy as him and with his pants around his ankles it was something else. He tumbled backwards, falling on his ass. Blue looked like he was about to react but a nasty glare from her stopped him. She screamed at both of them. Dr. O jumped to his feet, about to protest when the two guards from the hall came running into the room.

Blue let go of me and I fell into Trish’s arms. The two guards helped Dr. O off the floor. Trish told everyone to leave now.

“You have no right” screamed Dr. O. “I am your supervisor”

“She is my patient” Trish whipped the tears from my eyes and reassured me everything was ok. “If Mr. Zero found out what you two were trying to do, he’d have both your asses”

Dr. O snorted, pulling up his pants as he did so. “Who do you think told us to break the new bitch in?”

Trish raged at him. “Get the hell out of this room now. If either of you go anywhere near her again I’ll bust your balls”

“Careful with those accusations, Dr. White, you don’t want to end up like your predecessor”

“Screw you, Warren and get the hell out of here”

The morons and the two guards made a hasty retreat. I cried on Trish’s shoulder. Never in my life had I ever felt more vulnerable. It was absolutely horrible. She held me tight, crying as well. She kept on telling me how sorry she was. She said they went over her head. When they came there was nothing she could do because Dr. O had seniority. They wouldn’t even let her stay in the room or watch from the observation room. She said she should have known something them. The two guards in the hallway had practically escorted her back to her office.

After about ten minutes of comforting, I seemed to relax. I don’t know, maybe it was me or maybe it was whatever was wrong with me but suddenly I felt much better. My mind seemed to glaze over the whole incident. Trish looked at me strangely as she saw my face and asked if everything was ok. When I told her I was fine she frowned. She held my head and looked into my eyes. Whatever she saw there made her groan in anger. She looked like she wanted to punch someone in the face. Me, I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was. Yes the two of them had tried to rape me but they hadn’t succeeded. She stopped them long before they got close to any real damage. Before I had been such a mess but I was clearly overreacting.

Trish let me and started to something but changed her mind. Instead she smiled weakly. She had such a nice smile. I hoped one day my smile could be just like hers. I leaned forward and gave her a nice, warm hug.

Trish laughed a bit. “Are you hungry?”

“You have no idea”

“Well I’m going to get you some fresh clothes, real ones. Then I’ll go to the galley and get you some real food. After that I’ll see if I can get you transferred to some more permanent accommodation”

She stood and walked toward the door. She stopped and looked at me. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

I nodded. “As long as there are no more tests I’ll be fine’

I shuddered at the thought. If I saw either Dr. O or Blue again I was going to kick both of them in the balls. I don’t care who was around me or where they were. I may have felt fine about them almost raping me but that didn’t mean I wasn’t through with it. I was going to carry this with me for a long time and one day I vowed to get back at both of them for what they did.

Trish looked at me a little strangely. It was like she could read my mind. She smiled. “You sit right there and I’ll be back in a jiffy”
She left the room, closing the door behind her. A tear rolled down my cheek as I watched her go. Then I looked over to the large glass window that took up almost the whole wall behind me. I got off the bed, allowing the fragments of my torn gown fall to the floor. Didn’t Trish say something about an observation room? I walked right up to the glass, squishing my naked breasts against it.

“Get a real good look you sons of bitches because it’s the last you’re ever going to see of them”

I covered my breasts with my hands, walked back over to the bed and sat there, staring at the door and waiting for Trish to return.

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Chapter Six:

“This is absolutely impossible”

Trish laughed. “It's not impossible; you’re just doing it wrong”

I threw the accursed thing across the room, angrily folding my arms underneath my naked breasts. I don’t care what they say, there’s no easy way of putting on a bra. First I tried standing into it and pulling it up but Trish had a heart attack. So then I tried putting it over my head. Who knew I had all that hair now. Yeah hair, as in a lot of it, down my back. Black as night too. I was really disappointed when I discovered that: I wanted to be blonde. You’re probably wondering why I never noticed my hair before and the answer is I was too preoccupied. First I was panicked about being blind then some jackasses tried to rape me.

Trish sighed. She walked across the room and picked the b cup up from the floor. That’s right; I’m the proud owner of my very own b cup. Can you hear the enthusiasm in my voice? I was really ecstatic when Trish came back and dragged me out of that room. She brought me another paper gown and a blanket. I begrudgingly got into the gown (never want to see one of those again) then Trish threw the blanket over my head. When I asked she told me they were refusing to turn the lights off so I’d have to go under covers as were. Unfortunately the blanket didn’t cover anything and the light really started killing my bare legs and feet.

It didn’t take us long to get to my new room. Guess what? It looked exactly like the one I just left. Mind you there was no large glass window or medical equipment but it was pretty much the same. The walls were white, the floor was linoleum and there was a bed. It had a window, with bars on the outside (now I knew this place was a prison) which overlooked a small courtyard. It was like a little garden down there but it was kind of drab too. All the plants were dead even the flowers. Whoever the gardener is he needs to be shot?

Once we got inside, she took the blanket off and led me to the bed. It was there that she handed me the pile of clothes she brought. I wasn’t surprised when I saw them. Everything was pretty much one color. I had white underwear (I refuse to call them panties), a white bra, gray t-shirt, gray sweats and white socks. There was a pair of sneakers too; guess what they were white. Trish turned around as I slipped the underwear on. Which was no problem, except my butt and hips are huge now? I used to scoff at Joanie when she used to ask if her butt looked big in her jeans. I’m not scoffing ever again at anything butt related.

Then I tried the bra and now you’re up to speed.

Trish undid the back clasp thingies and held it open to show me. “You put it on you by fastening it beneath your breasts first. Then your pull it up into place and finally slip one arm in at a time. There might be some adjustment but it’s pretty easy”

I snatched the bra from her hand and did as she instructed. It was simple, too simple and now I felt like a moron. The rest of my clothes I didn’t need instructions with. Except the sweatpants were too tights and the legs didn’t reach all the way to my ankles. The shirt was all right except the collar was funny and the sleeves were a bit short. It felt weird to have breasts. Though they were now supported, which felt much better, they were damn heavy. The cut of the shirt showed them off too much as well. It was making me look like I had way too much cleavage.

“You look very cute”

I frowned and crossed my arms underneath my mountains. “I feel wrong” I grabbed my breasts, jiggling them. “These are wrong. Why am I a girl? Can’t you at least tell me that much”

Tears started to well up in my eyes. Trish came forward and wrapped me into a hug. I hated being a girl, they cried at everything. Trish did her best to comfort me, again. One of these days I hoped to return the favor. After a good cry, I asked her again about my state. She still couldn’t tell me anything but she did let one thing slip: I was meant to be this way. What the hell did she mean by that? I wasn’t meant to be a girl, I was a boy, I liked being a boy. Ok so maybe I was small and weak and girly looking but I still had something extra in the right place. I’m not a sexist, I love girls but I don’t want to be one.

She seemed to sense what I was thinking because then she asked: “If you could dress in boys’ clothes, would you still be able to present yourself as one?”

“I don’t know” I honestly admitted. “I don’t even know what I look like”

She nodded her head. “Fair enough. I’ll be right back”

She left the room, leaving me standing there in the dark. Ok it wasn’t really the dark for me but you know what I mean. She came back a few minutes later, with two security guards in tow. I remembered them from outside the room from before. They were carrying a large wall mirror between the two of them. Trish instructed them t hang it on the far wall. After a few minutes doing that, the two guards nodded to her, ignored me and left. The nerve, even with my things practically popping out of my shirt neither one noticed me (Whoa, did not just think that).

“Ok here we go, little Miss”

Not pissed when she calls me that. She’s my friend; she can call me Kermit for all I care. I’m just not being called that by anyone else. No one, ever again.

She then did something that embarrassed the hell out of me: she told me to undress. When I complained, she insisted but only down to my bra and panties, she said it not me, so it doesn’t count. She wouldn’t take no for an answer so I very reluctantly removed my clothes, the ones I put on no more than ten minutes before. Now standing in my skivvies and freezing my ass off, Trish took me by the hand. She told me to close my eyes as she led my over to the mirror. I closed my eyes first just in case if there were any of those of you out there who thought I was peeking. I’m not that kind of guy…err…girl.

“All right, open those beautiful eyes of yours”

I did as she asked and was absolutely floored. There she was or I mean, there I was in. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing: the girl in front of me is gorgeous. She had a beautiful face, striking eyes which seemed to shine with their hidden light, which was purple in case you’re wondering. Yeah purple as in purple. I have purple eyes now, how freaky is that? My hair was as black as I described it before but it seemed shinier in the mirror. It reached well past my shoulders, almost to my butt. Most distinguishing about happened to be purple too. Not my whole hair of course, just a wild bit of it, in the front. The rest of my face seemed to be framed by my hair; it and my eyes were definitely the focal point.

I was pale too. I noticed that before but now I could truly see how pale I really was. I’ve seen some goth girls with more color to their complexions than I know have. In fact she, I mean me, looked a bit gothish. I guess it was the hair, I’ve seen a lot of goths with hair like mine. She was truly remarkable and she was me. I tried to find myself in my new reflection but I was nowhere. It was like going to bed and waking up to find that someone had done drastic surgery to you while you slept. I knew there was no surgery could be this drastic but I still didn’t know how this happened. If I was meant to look like her then why was I so short?

Short? It dawned on me right there. The last twenty four hours or so I hadn’t been paying attention but now it came right back at me. I turned from the mirror, from the girl with the beautiful body and looked at Trish. I quickly asked her how tall she was. She looked at me oddly for a few seconds before answering she was about five eight. I snapped back to the mirror. Oh my God I was taller, a lot taller. How much I didn’t know but at least five eight. I noticed but didn’t notice it when Trish and I were walking side by side. I was at least as tall she was. Four foot five to five eight, that’s got to be some new world record. I wanted to jump up and down with glee. No longer would anyone ever mistake me for a little kid again.

“How can I be taller?”

“It happens” said Trish as she came up behind me. In the mirror we were definitely the same height. “Some people get taller when the change comes. Some get shorter. In fact you’re actually out of the norm because most guys get shorter”.

“I was already too damn short to begin with”

Trish looked at me strangely for a few moments. I wasn’t sure what she was looking at until I saw her eyes looking directly at the tazer burn marks. I forgot all about them because they didn’t hurt anymore. She quickly asked about them so I told her. I told her everything.

She was a bit floored. “You didn’t feel anything at all?”

She touched the burn marks, trying to be as delicate as possible. I giggled because her fingers were cold and they tickled. She probed around the marks for a few seconds, asking questions as she did so. She was very keen to know how I managed to block out the pain. I went into more detail and she kept nodding her head. I showed her my arm and told her how I tested it by pinching myself. I did tell her how the pain came back from the burns afterward. She seemed very interested in that bit of information.

“That’s absolutely fascinating” Before I could respond she continued. “From what you’re describing it sounds like your body can temporarily shut off its pain receptors”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“Well in essence, you can make yourself completely impervious to pain”

Now I was floored. Did she say what I thought she said? I mean I suspected it myself but she’d a doctor so she must know what’s what. I quickly asked her the question that was rattling around in my brain for quite some time now. I asked her if it made me invincible like Superman. She laughed so hard I thought she was going to wet herself. I grimaced, feeling foolish for making her laugh so hard and bit angry for being such an ass. When she finally stopped laughing, almost a minute later, she apologized.

“You’re hardly indestructible. In fact an ability like yours is definitely a double edged sword. You maybe impervious to pain one minute but there’s always a consequence”

“What kind of consequence?”

“Pain and lots of it. In fact it’s usually going to be the pain that you deflected. So if you haven’t felt it now, you’ll most definitely feel it later on. I suggest you use that particular gift of yours with great caution”

Gifts? Abilities? She made it sound like I was some kind of superhero. I looked into her eyes, trying to search the answer out of them. But it’s really hard to see someone’s eyes hidden behind those bulky goggles. She seemed to notice my look so she turned her head away. What was she hiding from me? She definitely knew something, something about me? She made it very clear there was something up with me but then she throws out the “I can’t tell you about it” card out there. What’s so dangerous about all this that Trish can’t say? Am I some twisted government experiment? Hey I don’t know either of my parents; maybe I never really had any. No that’s crap. Maybe I’m an alien? But do I look like the kind of guy; I mean girl (this is getting annoying) that one would find in a cornfield crater? As crazy as it sounds I think I’m losing my mind. Maybe this is all just some wild kind of dream? Maybe I’m still laying in that burnt out house, listening to the others sleeping while waiting to wake up. Wake up idiot, your dreams are messing with your head.

I looked around. I was still here. I guess I’m not dreaming huh.

“You should put your clothes back on. There’s a girl coming in a few minutes with a couple of trays from the galley”

I quickly did as she told, dressing much quicker than before. But seeing as this was the first time dressing in front of a mirror, with this body, I stopped to admire myself. I turned left and right, taking a real good look. Whoever did this to me sure knew how to create a smoking bod? At least that’s what I should have been thinking. Instead I found myself wondering if gray was truly my color and if the sweats made my butt look fat. Oh God it’s happening. I’ve only been a girl for a little while and I’m already starting to think like one.

Trish leaned over my shoulder. I forgot she was still close by. “I saw that. You like the way you look, don’t you?”

I blushed in embarrassment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about”

She smiled. “It's ok if I had a body like yours I’d be admiring myself in the mirror all day, naked in fact”

I was about to respond that she had a great body but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Trish answered it by knocking three times. This door didn’t have a handle on the inside either. The knock must have been some kind of code because as soon as she did it, the door opened. On the other side was a girl about my age, dressed in an identical outfit as mine. She was a cute red head, with freckles and pigtails. She paused at the door, probably trying to figure out why the lights were off. She reached around, fumbling for the switch when I saw Trish grab her wrist.

“You can’t turn the light on Holly. Our new guest is photo sensitive. If you turn it on her skins burns”

“Really” The red head sounded excited. She looked around the room, probably trying to see me in all the gloom. When she was unsuccessful she changed tact. She waved both hands into the room and said: “My name is Holly. I live two doors down, room 405. Umm I’d just like to say welcome to the Asylum and I hope to see you in lessons really soon”

Trish smiled, patting the girl and the shoulder. Then she took two metal trays from her. At first I couldn’t see how Holly was carrying them. Both her hands were still waving for me. Then it dawned on me: the trays were floating in mid air. Whoa, wait one second. How the hell did she just do that? I started for the girl when Trish cut me off. Apparently whatever they are hiding they don’t want me to know about, yet. She keeps telling me that only Mr. Zero can tell me what’s going on. If that’s the case then I want to see Mr. Zero now.

Trish said goodbye to Holly and closed the door, bringing the trays over to the bed. I heard her mumble something about getting me some more furniture. I followed her to the bed, determined this time to get some answers. But my stomach betrayed me. As soon as I got one whiff of the food all other thoughts were gone. It was a simple meal: fried chicken and mashed potatoes. As soon as she set down and handed me a fork, I consumed it. I know, I know pigging out isn’t very “ladylike” but I haven’t been a lady for very long and I was absolutely starving. Ten minutes later, yes ten minutes, my tray was completely clean. Trish passed over a bottle of water and I chugged it down.

“Increased appetite. I expected that might be the case with you. You must burn through a lot of energy what with you jumping into that “Shadow Sense” of yours and now being able to make yourself pain impervious”.

I had had enough of beating around the bush. So I just came right out with it. “When am I going to meet with Zero and learn what the hell is going on?”

___________________________

“Are you sure about this?”

It was the third time Trish had asked the same question. I nodded my head. I was ready to meet with Zero. I needed to know what the hell was going on around this place. You’re probably wondering why I’m so adamant to meet with him. After all he called mean “It”, he was the man in charge of this, what did Holly call it, oh yeah: The Asylum. It was a fetching name. With everything that I’ve experienced in the last twenty four hours, I could really use some meds right about now. Let’s recap for a moment. First I wake up seemingly blind but I’m not. My skin is now light sensitive. I find out that I can somehow enter a strange world where I can see people as pretty colors and I can’t see walls. Then I’m a girl, which I avoided for quite some time. After that the Doctor and the Head of Security tried to rape me. But the real kicker is: I’m semi-invincible.

Ok, everyone caught up, good.

Now where were we? Oh right, on our way to Zero’s office. I didn’t really want to go there but I knew it was the only place for answers. After I had suggested it to Trish about five hours ago, she was none too happy. She told me that Mr. Zero was a busy man and that you didn’t make appointments with him. I reminded her about how he was supposed to meet with me anyway, like yesterday or something. That seemed to get through to her because as soon as I said it, she told me she’d go and see if she could arrange a meeting.

It wasn’t an easy thing to do. According to Trish, there were certain protocols in place at all times. Unfortunately for the facility, most of those protocols were put in place for normal people. Trish called me a “special needs case”. It took a little bit of rearranging but they managed. The first thing they did was shut off all the lights from my room to the most direct route to Zero’s office. Then they had to assign, get this, more than two hundred pairs of night vision goggles to security, staff and students. Yes that’s right, students. This place wasn’t a hospital after all; it was some kind of school. Well that Holly girl did mention something about lessons but I thought she was talking about playing the piano or something.

Then they wanted to wait till dark. Apparently there was no proper way to close all the windows without some light from getting through. The only window that was treated properly, I found out, was the one in my new room. Apparently it was some kind of tempered glass, used for people who had a disease called Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP). It was a disease in which people were born with an allergy to the sun. The install had been rushed and was very expensive and time consuming. Trish made it clear that I was to thank Mr. Zero for being so accommodating. I agreed to it but in truth I didn’t want to thank that man for anything.

Mr. Zero’s office was at the far end of the facility, on the very top floor of a ten story structure. I tried to remember all the twists and turns we took to get there but I was unable to concentrate fully. As soon as I had one turn memorized, I found my mind starting to wander. It was an unpleasant fuzzy feeling. The only thing I seemed to notice was that every hallway looked the same. They were all painted an eggshell color and all of them seemed to have the same drab artwork. There were no floral decorations of any kind and every door we passed was unmarked, except for the doors in the dormitory area. Each of them were marked with numbers. I lost count of how many there were.

My mind was still fuzzy when we finally reached an elevator. We had a three guard escort. When the elevator opened, there was a tall thin man waiting for us. He was dressed in a black suit, with a black shirt and tie. He wasn’t wearing goggles like Trish or the guards. He was wearing sunglasses, quite similar to the ones Blue wore but smaller. His blonde hair was slicked back and he was smothered in cheap cologne.

The man looked down at me, yes he was that tall. He plastered on the fakest smile. He reached into his jacket and seemingly into an unseen pocket. From it he withdrew a polished wooden case. Without saying a word, he opened it up, revealing a pair of circular frame sunglasses, quite similar to his own. Except the lenses were black whereas his were red.

“Good evening, Miss Grant. My name is Mr. Green, I’m the facility Warden, let me be the first to officially welcome you to the Syndicate”

I forced down a scoff. This guy was clearly a tool. His speech was rehearsed and extremely forced. The only thing that peaked my interest was that I had another crayon to put in my mental box and he mentioned something about being a Warden. Did that mean this place was a prison? Weren’t Wardens the guys in charge of prisons? I looked him over from head to toe. He was expensive all over from his gold tie clip, to his genuine pearl cuff links and his fancy shoes. He didn’t look anything like a guy who could run anything. Clearly he was a figurehead and Mr. Zero was the man in power. The guy that stood before me was too crisp (like a new dollar bill) and too young. He didn’t look much older than Frankie. The only way this guy could have gotten a high ranking job like this is if someone high and important pulled some strings.

Mr. Green cleared his throat. I was ignoring something he was saying and only caught half of it. He was yammering about the glasses in the case. Apparently they were some state-of-the-art blah, blah, blah thingies. All I really cared about was the part where he said they reversed engineered the shades he was wearing. The lenses were made with a material very similar to my window glass. So in essence they were super shades, able to protect my eyes from most UV and fluorescent lighting.

I nodded my thanks and took the glasses. I slipped them on and noticed a difference. My world dimmed a bit. Everything I saw took on a slight fuzzy hue. I thought these things were supposed to make me see better not worse. Mr. Green noticed my discomfort and smiled slightly. He was slimy like a frog, his name fit him well.

“One more thing before we go”

He snapped his fingers and another person emerged from the elevator. He was one of those guys. Who snaps their fingers and has people at their beck and call? It made me hate this guy even more. So I turned my attention from him to the girl that stepped out of the elevator. She was dressed just like me but her clothes looked a little baggier on her. She was a mousy thing, with shoulder length dirty blonde hair and was so tiny. She wasn’t as short as I used to be but she was definitely short. Her head was bowed so I couldn’t see her face so I could tell she was real shy. In her arms, clutched to her chest was a white box.

Mr. Green groaned as if he couldn’t be bothered by her. “Girl. Snap to it, we have a lot to do today and you’re dragging your feet like usual”

That pissed me off. All my life people used to pick on me for being small and meek. If it wasn’t the kids, who were cruel, it was the adults. All they saw was a small kid worthy of pushing around. It was like that for several years until Frankie. He stood up for me; he taught me how to fight back. But most important he gave me confidence. He told me that size was nothing and that the smallest person could be the biggest man in the room if he wanted. So looking at this little girl and listening to Mr. Green push her around made me want to sock him.

I lost my cool. “Lay off her”

Trish winced beside me. Mr. Green stared at me with a stone cold stare. I wondered if he thought he was threatening me. The girl raised her head a bit, showing me a quick glimpse of her face and the blush that nearly turned it bright red. I only caught a quick glimpse as her head dropped as quickly as it rose. As soon as her head dropped I directed my attention back to Mr. Green. The two of us quickly engaged in a staring contest. I don’t care who this guy thought he was; he wasn’t going to intimidate me or anyone else as long as I was around.

After about two minutes of intense staring, Trish stopped us. She put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. When she whispered in my ear, I knew she scared, not just for me but for the girl too. “These people” she whispered as quietly as she could. “Are not to be messed with. They have no qualms about killing you or any other child in this facility”

That seemed to do it so I backed down. Mr. Green smirked, satisfied that he’d won.

With the staring contest finished, he pushed the girl forward. He called her Matilda and told her to give me the box. She quivered when his hand touched her back and stepped forward gently. When she held the box out and I took it, I could feel her fear. I can’t exactly describe it but as soon as our hands brushed against one another, I felt just as scared as her. It was an unsettling feeling. The girl quickly stepped back, and then looked up at Mr. Green waiting further instructions.

“You can return to your dormitory now, Matilda”

She nodded and slowly started walking down the hall. When she passed me, her shoulder brushed against my arm. That’s when I heard a voice; it was very faint like a whisper. It was a warning: “Don’t trust any of them”. When I looked at little Matilda, she winked underneath her goggles. Then she picked up pace and disappeared down the hall. What the hell just happened? Had she spoken to me? It was a voice but it was different than others. It was like it came from somewhere other than a mouth but it definitely wasn’t in my head.

“Ahem”. Mr. Green was being a jackass again.

I turned away from where Matilda disappeared and opened the white box. Inside was a long black coat and when I pulled it out I saw it had a rather large hood. Underneath the coat in the box was a pair of black gloves. I understood the purpose immediately: Mr. Zero wasn’t going to adapt to my disadvantage. So I silently slipped on the coat, putting up the hood which almost completely covered my whole head. When I put on the gloves, Mr. Green smiled.

The coat didn’t cover all of me though. A small portion of my legs were exposed because like I mentioned before the sweatpants didn’t cover everything. That didn’t seem to faze Green in the least. Instead he pointed to the elevator. I got the meaning: no more favors. So I shrugged my shoulders and stepped into the elevator. Two of the three guards followed me inside. But when Trish tried to get in, Mr. Green blocked her.

“Dr. White, Mr. Zero wishes only to speak to Miss Grant” Then he turned to the last guard still outside the elevator. “See to it that Dr. White gets back to her office”.

The guard nodded, placing a hand firmly on Trish’s shoulder. My anger started to boil. These bastards can’t treat Trish that way. I was about to punch that son of a bitch Green in the gut but a look from Trish stopped me. Her words from earlier came back: these people were killers. So we exchanged nervous glances. Mr. Green had one won, for the moment.

I got one more glimpse at Trish before the elevator door slid shut.

Photo Credit: MeetMeByTheLake2Nite

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