A Freak of Science

Two | Erroneous | Nine

I had to disregard another message from Kathy. She was demanding to know where I was and threatened to call the police if I didn’t message her back. If only the MCH made me switch phone numbers, it might have actually been a bit more bearable without all these messages on my phone almost every hour of the day. Every time I deleted her message, I felt like I was taking another step away from Kathy. Since when had I become better friends with Just than Kathy? It would be terrible if that happened.

     I moved some important stuff to the basement level of the MCH over the weekend. I hated leaving my home into some company’s basement. At least it was better than strapping me to a laboratory. I couldn’t really object to the MCH’s orders. They had forms of my consent (it turned out to be the fine print part I didn’t pay attention to). Legally, I couldn’t do anything but comply.

     Still, I would have liked it to make it harder for them—if the entire purpose of the experiments wasn’t for me. I wouldn’t sabotage myself by not agreeing to their terms. Now I lived further away from the school, and I was to be driven there by someone from the MCH. Otherwise, I was to stay in my basement quarters the entire time.

     I found it funny how Dr. Bridgette kept on hinting that I was turning out to be anti-social because I didn’t hang around people and socialize after school. Now that they were taking those privileges away, I felt like they were actually trying to make me anti-social.

     Staring at the bleak walls around me, I tried to push the thoughts of hatred out of my mind. If it was anyone’s fault it was mine. I was the one who signed up for the experiments in the first place.

     The only good thing about this windowless room that was probably monitored twenty-four-seven was that there was probably no chance for Aleron to get in here.

     Unless all those paranoid thoughts I had in my new room proved to be true: the Cult would get me somehow—they might even be working for MCH.

     That thought didn’t fail to bring shudders through me. I wrapped my arms around myself, focusing on the grey cement floor beneath me. The mattress I sat on felt too hard beneath me and the walls were much too bare. I could still see dust motes in some corners even though I had sent two days here.

     The door across from me opened. White light burst through the open door, illuminating the dim room. I squinted, looking at the figure at the door.

     “School,” said a gruff voice. My pupils finally adjusted to the light. The light-haired man who always escorted Dr. Bridgette stood at the doorway waiting for me.

     I grabbed my bag off the floor and slung it over my back. Following the man, I made it up the narrow staircase that led directly to the main entrance. When we reached the top, he shifted to the side and held the door open for me. I stepped through it into the main room.

     For the headquarters of a lab, it certainly didn’t come off that way. The four walls were painted an immaculate shade of beige. The glass doors were simple. On the back wall, the words MCH were painted in dark blue with the full name in smaller letters right below the abbreviation.

     The light-haired man led me outside to the small, white car waiting out in the front. After holding open the back seat door for me, he slid into the front seat and began to drive to my school. The radio was off and the both of us kept quiet the entire way to school. I stared at the passing scenery, trying to quell the rising panic at the thought of facing everyone after my freak show.

     He dropped me off at the front of the school before driving away without word. Predictably, Just was the first one to come up to me. I stopped in my spot, waiting for him to come towards me. I didn’t want to speed this up any further.