Subject Seventeen: Wraith Among Shadows

I look down at Two as her expressions changes. I couldn’t quite figure out why her face was red before, but now her mouth drops open and her eyes have a sort of sinking feeling to it. Did I say something wrong?

Now I know who Sky is at least.It’s Two. I feel as if there is something in the back of my mind trying to nudge me, as if saying I should know this. I decide to ignore it.

“You’re joking, right?” she says.

I look at her as I continue moving. How am I supposed to answer her question?

“What do you mean?” I finally say.

Sky looks at me as if I’m some weird creature before her mouth forms an O shape and she sighs. She whispers something underneath her breath, but I read her lips. She says ‘borrachero’. Isn’t that the same thing Thirteen said?

She doesn’t answer my question. I take note of this and continue heading towards the living quarters. It doesn’t take long for me to get there. I head towards the door with the number two and enter.

It’s a nice little room. The sheets are pure sapphire and are made neatly on the bed. At her desk is a single journal of some kind and a pen. On top of the journal are the words ‘DIARY’ sprawled in gold ink.

I head towards her bed and lay her down gently. It doesn’t seem as if she is able to move yet, although her eyes are turned away from me. It seems as if she is purposely avoiding meeting my gaze.

Turning, I head for the door. It’s best if she is left alone to recover. As I walk I glance over to her desk and the journal on top of it. I’m quite tempted to read it.

“Wait,” Sky says.

I turn around to look at her. She’s still unable to move but her eyes are fixed on me now.

“Yes?” I ask.

“Stay with me.”

I stare at her for a few seconds a little confused. First she didn’t want to look at me and now she wants me to stay?

“How come? Do you need something?”

“Just stay with me. Please.”

I nod and pull the seat from her desk to her bedside. Sitting down, I cross my arms and lean back in the chair.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Nothing. I just feel like having company.”

“I see.”

“You said something to me earlier this week. Do you remember?”

I try to think back to everything I’ve done this past week but I know I probably won’t be able to remember. There are too many gaps in my memory right now. I know if I try to force myself to remember my head will erupt in pain again.

“No,” I say. “What did I say?”

“You said you knew me before we came here. Before all of this.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“Of course you don’t. Not after you’ve been drugged and whatnot.”

“Thirteen said the same thing. What is borrachero?”

“It’s a drug. It forcibly represses memories and emotions and makes a person incredibly susceptible to suggestion. The Doctor uses a modified version to control people.”

“The Doctor isn’t that sort of person. Be careful how you talk about him.”

Sky suddenly sits up and looks at me. She can move now. Her look is somewhat scrutinising. I know she must be delirious from when I hit her chi point earlier. She’s confused. I’ve known the Doctor my whole life haven’t I? He’s not the sort of person who would use such a drug on us.

“Really? So tell me, what were you doing at this exact moment last week?”

I open my mouth to answer before closing it again. I can’t remember. I turn away from her as I try to remember. My head begins to ring as I dig deeper and deeper into my memories. This time I ignore the onslaught of pain and force myself to dive into my memories. I have to prove her wrong.

I try and try again for the next few minutes to no avail. The pain only continues to grow and I begin to sweat furiously. There’s no way I can remember with this pain coursing through my head.

“You can’t remember can you?” Sky says.

“Give me a moment,” I reply, holding my hand up to her. This time I stand up. I face Sky as I take a deep breath and exhale. Then I close my eyes. Maybe I can manipulate my energy to unlock my memory. I let my energy wash over me and direct it to my mind. My memories must be here. I know I’m right.

I will my energy to connect to my memories. At first nothing happens as I feel my energy coursing through my mind. The next thing I know I am out of my body again. I’m astral projecting.

I look around Two’s room and notice her staring at my body strangely. Walking around to get a better look of myself from the front, I see why. My eyes have gone completely white. It reminds me of Thirteen when his eyes flash white whenever he has a vision.

Suddenly the space around me fades away, Sky also. I look around to find I’m somewhere else. Perhaps I’m not astral projecting after all. I’m in what appears to be a weapons room. The room is at least fifty feet wide and has rows and rows of shelves with all sorts of weapons and gear.

I walk through the shelves, looking at each and every weapon I come across. All unique rocket launchers, rifles, submachine guns and pistols. Grenades, bombs, E.M.P bombs, missiles. This room has it all. Something at the end of one of the shelves catches my eye. It’s a small metallic ball, the size of a baseball. It has two indented holes either side and a tiny yellow button in between.

I look down to read the name plate. It reads: ‘SUCTION GRENADE S.O #15’. What does that mean? It takes me a moment to realise that I can hear voices behind the shelf.

I head towards the source of the voices to hear what they are saying.

“What did you do with the information?” one voice says. It belongs to a girl. I instantly recognise it as Three’s voice.

“Nothing. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” a voice replies.

“Fourteen here can read your mind. He knows if you’re telling the truth or not,” a different voice says. This one is deeper. It belongs to a man. I feel as if I’ve heard the voice somewhere before.

“I swear, I’ve done nothing!”

I walk closer to get a look at who’s talking. I catch a glimpse of Three’s long hair and of a dark skinned man in a suit.

“You know I don’t like playing your little games, Barrett,” the man says. “See, I think that Fourteen doesn’t think you’re telling the truth.”

“You heard him,” Three says. “The Director doesn’t like to play games. You just got two of your team killed. So now you have a decision to make. You can die very slowly here where no-one can hear you scream, or you can start talking and we may yet find a use for you.”

“Kiera, stand down,” the dark skinned man says. “There’s no mercy for treason. This one is defective.”

I’m hiding behind one of the shelves, but I can make out Three and the man she called the Director clearly. I risk moving closer to get a better view and I see the boy who had been asleep in the yellow liquid standing with his arms crossed and leaning against one of the shelves. His eyes are red and he seems worn out. Almost as if he’s been crying. He’s dressed in a green military outfit and black laced boots. He must be Fourteen.

“Think about it carefully, sir,” the other voice continues. “What would I have to gain by purposely corrupting information and sending it out to anyone else? Besides, you need me don’t you?”

“Actually, we don’t,” the man says. With that he pulls out a gun and fires it in the direction of the unknown speaker.

“Sir, are you sure about this?” Three asks.

“Are you questioning my actions, Kiera?” the man replies. His voice carries such a menacing vibe that even Three takes a step back in fear. She shakes her head and disappears in a cloud of black smoke.

The man turns back to look at Fourteen. He studies him carefully, as if the boy is trying to hide something.

“Clean this up.”

With that the man leaves. He walks past my hiding spot and turns to exit the room. As he opens the door I see where we are. It’s the door inside the armoury which I had spotted earlier.

I turn my attention away from the door as it shuts and dare to poke my head out of my hiding spot further. I see Fourteen crouched down beside the body. I can only see the feet of the dead person. Fourteen begins to cry as he holds his head in his hands.

“I’m sorry this happened to you,” he says. His voice is deep and has a faint accent to it that I don’t quite recognise. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to save you or the others, but I won’t forget you.”

With that Fourteen picks up the body and begins to walk towards the exit. I don’t have enough time so see who the body belongs to as he walks.

I run after Fourteen as he leaves the room. I need to find out who was just killed. As we enter the armoury I notice that the place has been completely torn up. One of the walls has been completely blown apart and bullet holes are everywhere. There was clearly a battle here.

This scene distracts me long enough for me to nearly lose sight of Fourteen. I sprint after him into the corridor and stop in my tracks when I see it littered with bodies. All are soldiers dressed in a complete set of combat gear. None of them seem to have been shot. Instead it looks as if their bodies have been crushed by something.

I ignore this and sprint after Fourteen. I need to find out who just died. It takes a few minutes to catch up. Fourteen seems to be heading in the direction of the hangar.

“Wait!” I shout out. Fourteen doesn’t hear me so I shout louder. I shout out several more times but I don’t get a reaction. ‘Maybe it’s because I’m not really here,’ I think.

Fourteen manages to reach the hangar before I catch up. It’s just as bad in here as it was in the armoury. The wind whips all around us as I notice the hangar door is missing. Scorched pieces of aircrafts are all around us and there are huge gaping holes in the ground scattered about. Must be One’s and Ten’s work.

Fourteen lays down the body on the ground and moves aside. He heads back towards the door and passes right through me. I look at the body who they had referred to as Barrett. I recognise him instantly.

His hair is no longer long, but short. It’s been cut. Blood trails down the side of his lips and his eyes have the same soul-less trait they had while he was alive. His glasses are broken, several cracks decorating the lenses. The scene repulses me.

I’m back in Sky’s room. She's still in the same position, as if no time had passed at all. The same strange look is still on her face.

“You alright there?” she asks.

I stare at her. I can feel the sweat rolling down my face. I don’t know why but I have a feeling I have to stop what I just saw from happening. I must have used Thirteen’s power. Since I didn’t see it in a dream it means that I still have the power to change it.

I turn my back to Sky and wipe the sweat from my face. I don’t know why but I’m determined to save him. Thirteen had told me that he is crucial to his plan, and right now Thirteen is the only one who seems to have any idea what’s going on in this place.

“We have to go,” I say.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

I turn my head to look at Sky. In this instance I feel as if I know her from somewhere, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

“Because someone is going to die if we don’t.”

“What?! Who?”

“Nine.”