Monsters In White
by Devin Berglund
by Devin Berglund
Where am I? I can’t
move! She looked down at leather
straps holding her hands to the table. The memories flashed across her mind of
men and women holding her down. They poked and prodded her with sharp silver
instruments. Some also injected her with insulin which had thrown her into a
coma. Rows of empty surgical beds filled the room. She breathed deeply, How
am I going to get out of this?
The doors flung open as
two nurses rushed into the room with a squeaky wheeled silver table. They
hastily pushed it to the foot of her bed. The large machine to the right of
Claudia squeaked and beeped. One nurse was writing on a clipboard. The
scratching noise of the pen meeting the paper sent Claudia squirming. I
doubt she knows how much louder things like that are for me compared to her. Claudia
wrinkled her eyebrows wishing the screeching pain from the noise would leave.
“It took three months for
this one to come around…” The one with the clipboard spoke to the red head.
“We should start the third
stage test on her.” Said the red head while she bulged Claudia’s vein by tying
an elastic band around her arm.
“The arm straps are still
tight, right?”
“Oh don’t worry! She
should be weak, still.” The redhead smiled.
I won't let them do it
again, Claudia thought.
The nurse turned to the
table filled with a silver operating scalpels, tongs, and syringes. She picked
up a long thick needle and stabbed it into a vile of bubbly chemical and drew
it into the syringe.
“This chemical will have a
severe affect on her.” The nurse with the clipboard giggled.
Claudia’s heart raced
while pumping faster as adrenaline filled her muscles with strength. The red head came at her with the syringe,
Claudia’s eyes stretched open wide with fear. She started shaking as her
instinctive defensive nature took control over her - she ripped her hands free
of the restraints. The other nurse screamed into the walkie-talkie for help and
then assisted the redhead to try force Claudia back onto the table. Claudia
pushed one nurse away and grabbed the redhead by the throat. The other nurse
ran out the doors. Claudia’s heart raced as she squeezed the woman’s throat and
watched the life drain from the nurse's face and then dropped her to the
ground. Mixed emotions filled Claudia’s heart as compassion flashed through her
eyes. I didn’t want to kill her, but she was going to hurt me. Cuts,
bruises, and burn marks were scattered all over her body. She got up and
knocked down a locked door on the opposite side of the hall. She ran to the end
of the narrow hallway and turned right into another passage. She entered the
first door on the left. It must be
the storage room. The slightest
sound made her jump as low rumbles and high pitched barks echoed through the
passageways. She hid behind some boxes stacked in the corner.
Leaning over in pain, she
sat down while whispering a song her mother had sung to her.
"Hush little baby...
don't you cry... Momma's going to buy you a mockingbird." The floodgates
of her eyes opened. Footsteps echoed on
the ground in her hallway. The men yelled as the dogs barked. They opened the
door, while the light from their torches leaked into the room reflecting off
the damp floor and walls.
"I don't see her in
here!" a male nurse spoke to the other two while the dogs were barking and
jumping up and down on the wardrobe’s door.
"Is she in
there?" The other pointed his plastic glove covered hand in that
direction.
"Stupid dogs…No, that
is where Test subject 48's remains are kept, besides this room is filled with
wolfsbane,” the first man replied.
Test 48? Who is that? She thought as the nurses and dogs made their way
back into the hallway. Claudia’s heart beat faster as she pushed herself
upwards. Everything went foggy as she grabbed onto the wardrobe, that the dogs
had been barking at, for support. She fell forward on all fours after realizing
she had accidently pushed opened the wardrobe’s door.
Why am I feeling so
sick?. She thought while her
memories started answering her own questions. It is wolfsbane! She
thought back to how at one time the vases of pretty purple-blue flowers held
her to the bed stronger than the wrist restraints. To an outsider’s eye it may
have seemed like a few visitors had dropped off some flowers for her, but it
wasn’t from a visitor, as she had never had one. She couldn’t stop sneezing as
her eyes watered, her airways started closing, and her strength became
nonexistent.
“It seems to be working.”
One doctor spoke. Another doctor quietly spoke with a nurse and pointed at her
notes on the clipboard.
Several doctors stood
above her and stared. One doctor with giant black-rimmed glasses pressed a
silver bullet into her waist. She could feel it burning. Her skin made sizzling
noises upon contact with the silver. She screamed and howled as her back arched
off the table. Beads of sweat poured down her forehead.
“Please! You’re hurting
me! I am not a bad person!”.
Another doctor answered,
“You? You are no person!” The doctors laughed as tears dripped from the corners
of her eyes.
“Dr. Frankenstein, can I have
a second opinion?” the doctor with glasses asked.
“Yes, you may!” the man
looked up from the clipboard and sat down next to him.
Even now the scars on her
waist hurt just thinking about it. Inside the wardrobe doors, test jars and
tubes filled the shelves. Body parts floated inside them.
A heart floated in some
clear liquid inside the largest jar. Claudia leaned in closer to inspect the
heart. Something looked strange - a
silver bullet was lodged inside the heart. Her stomach jolted as she slammed the
doors of the wardrobe shut in disgust.
I need to get out of
here, the wolfsbane is making me weak,
she thought while crawling to the door. She paused when she felt wetness on her
knee. Looking down she couldn’t see what it was in the dark, but it burned. She
pulled the door open while crawling into the hallway. She stood up and leaned
against the brick wall. She breathed in deeply and saw the blood dripping from
her knee. But why does it burn my skin just like the silver had? After
rubbing the blood off with her nightgown. Silver specks shown in the low light.
Oh no! it looks like this might be test subject 48’s blood. They must have
filled her bloodstream with silver and it must have caused a lot of pain, so
they shot her. Such a high dose of silver would kill any werewolf in the matter
of seconds. She closed her eyes while holding her breath, which cleared her
senses. The throbbing pain in her head disappeared.
I have to get it
together. Let me see, which way did they go? Claudia raised her nose in the direction she heard them and breathed in
deeply. She couldn’t smell them, but she could definitely hear them ahead of
her. They must be using the anti-werewolf scent serum, which prevents me
from smelling them. She tip toed past different cell doors, but one caught
her attention. Inside a giant man with bolts in his neck and stitches in his
skin moaned at her and dragged his leg toward her. He pointed in the direction
they went.
“I am sorry they have done
this to you, too.” Claudia spoke, “They’ve been torturing us.” The big man
nodded his head in agreement.
“Thank you for your help!
I hope that you get out of here soon, I would help you if I could, but I must
go!” she was met with a smile. I never knew something so huge and ugly could
have such a kind smile.
“Bye!” she waved. She
walked toward a door leading to a spiral staircase. Moonlight shown through the
narrow windows lighting up the stairwell. Not much longer now, She
thought. After reaching the top she
pushed the door open. Before stepping out she looked both ways and then stepped
into the hallway. This is near the front door. I remember walking down this
hallway when I was admitted.
The cool air bit at her
bare ankles, as she tip toed down the white washed corridor stretching out in
front of her toward the exit door. She moved at a quick pace past the thick
iron doors leading to some padded rooms, the laundry room, and the cafeteria.
Her nose twitched at the overwhelming smell of antiseptic and chemicals. She
jumped and stood in a fearful stance while suspiciously averting her red eyes
from one end of the hallway to the other - just to make sure no one was
watching her. She raised her finger to her mouth and bit on her knuckle
anxiously while breathing deeply. She continued forward to an office area and
on the front of the desk a sign read “Nurses Station”. No one was there at the
moment.
Claudia sighed deeply.
Is this for real? Am I escaping? She thought as she made silent leaps
toward the door and pushed on it. The thick steel door didn’t budge.
“Oh crap!” She yelled.
She ran to the nurses
station and then shuffled through drawers full of papers and personal items.
Pulling another one open to find a huge ring of keys. Yes! A breeze blew
the blinds away from the barbed windows, filling the room with moonlight
momentarily. Her fingers thicken and her fingernails lengthen. She dropped the
keys.
“No, not just yet!” She
said while clumsily picking up the keys. “The dogs have her scent, she is this
way!” she heard yelling echoing through the hallways close by.
She ran to the door and
tried the first key. It didn’t work, so she stuck the next one in. After a few
that didn’t work she fumbled to try the last one. Panic set in as the growling
pack of dogs rushed around the corner leading the mob of doctors and nurses.
“She is trying to escape!”
the doctor with the wide rimmed glasses screamed while pointing at her.
“Get the silver bullets.”
Another one yelled.
She pushed the last key
into the hole without complication. It fit perfectly. She twisted the key, time
slowed down as a doctor stopped running and lifted a rifle toward her. The door
clicked. She pushed the heavy door open and ran into the yard enclosed by a
huge black iron gate.
“She won’t be able to get
out.” Doctor Frankenstein yelled.
Claudia felt like the sun
was warming her soul, except it was night.
She ran toward the gate - the moon’s gentle beams settled her anxious
nerves as she leapt over the gate. She landed on all fours, but they were no
longer her useless clumsy human limbs. Instead they were her furry paws that
she’d choose over feet and hands any day. Turning she growled and then bolted
into the forest. Freedom!
“No! Open the gates…” the
Doctor with the glasses yelled, “Send the dogs after her!” They opened the
gate, but the dogs cowered in fear.
“Stupid dogs!” he kicked
the dog closest to him.
“Dr. Frankenstein, what
are we going to do now? She was our only hope to figuring out the werewolf
infestation.”
Dr. Frankenstein looked up
and frowned, “We have to call into action Plan B, call the werewolf hunters.
She wont be safe for long. They will find her and then…” He grinned evilly, “We
will finally find a way to exterminate their race.” he stared at the full moon
as a long deep howl echoed through the surrounding mountains.
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ReplyDeleteHey, where did my vote go? I was up at like 2am reading them and finally voted for this one, battling the robot detector and everything!
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