The cell was cold which was the only blessing they had afforded her. She curled back away from the only entrance staring with blank eyes at the steel bars of her cell. She hadn't slept in days. Not knowing if it was night or day, or even if days had actually passed. For all she knew it could have been weeks... Time seemed utterly still in this place. Where ever this place was. She was healing slowly... There was to much cement between her and the real ground she was longing for a connection. Whoever these idiots were they knew far to much about her.
She hadn't told anyone, recently, what she was. She was good at playing human. It was the only way t survive most of the time. Death followed those that were different... or powerful. If someone saw her as a threat she would've been dead by now... So what could they want? She hadn't seen any of their faces. All covered cleverly by magic whenever they give her food or water. And the pawns that come to get her to take her to the restroom, or the "lab" are all to brain dead to speak, or maybe that to was magic.
She took a deep breathe and started to count backwards again. Panic attack right on the border of her mind. She needed to think of something less. She closed her eyes and thought of a beautiful meadow. Lush grass on either sides of a stone path that twisted and turned down to the lake. Flowers in full bloom. The sweet scents of nature dancing about in her mind.
700.... 687.... 674.... 661.... and the panic stopped.
It wasn't the counting. It was the image so fresh in her mind that she could feel the pure power radiating from her vision. Her mind trying to reach out to the things that keep her grounded and safe. Pulling something to her that could never be taken away. The only thing she had that kept her sane, and she would never tell them what it was. Never.
Footsteps. Far end of the hall. Before the two double sealed doors, and the guarded check point. This place was more then a prison, but even though she knew as much as she did she couldn't figure out what they wanted. Were the footsteps for her, or was she not alone...? Her eyes still closed she waited. It took four minutes to pass go. Each door then took two minutes each, the walk between them took another four minute, and the final walk to her cell was another three minutes. Fifteen minutes before she would see a faceless man or woman that would take her to the restroom and then drug her, and she would wake up here. Again. All of this was an instant thought. She had timed it until she know for sure how long she had. She had always heard other people in this room with her, but they never responded. Yet every time she woke up... she tried again. She had to.
Curled into a ball at the back of her cell she knew her voice would still ring load in this horrid place, but not loud enough to be overheard from outside. The steps started again heading to the first door. Time was wasting. She tried her voice for the first time since she awoke. Her throat refused to make a sound. She tried once more, and then again. Praying for sound. On the forth try words came from her throat.
"Hello....? Please, if there's someone there... I just want to know I'm not alone..." She hated feeling so helpless. She hated more that she let it sound in her voice. She refused the tears that started to burn at her eyes.
The steps stopped at the second door. Not a sound from the room. Not an increase in a heart beat. Not an increase of breath. She couldn't understand why.... Unless it was her captures playing with her more. She forced her mind to try to recall something from while she was drugged. She always assumed she was awake because of the way her body felt, but she couldn't know of sure. I was all a blank slate. Black and uninviting.
Her heart broke when the final door opened. She heard the creek as it began to swing back and the loud BANG when it hit the wall. Clicks of heels on the ground told her it was a female this time. Couldn't even be a cross-dresser the sound would be different. It was light and crisp. And familiar. She was visited often but whoever this was, and at the memories her stomach gave a violent twist. She pulled her knees closer to her, and prayed that just this once the woman wouldn't come to her. That she would come for someone else. Proving she was not alone, and giving her time to calm herself.
She broke down. Tears falling silently from her eyes as the steps got closer and closer. The steel bars blurred in her vision and she tried to reclaim her peace. The lush grass and open water calling to her... but it was tarnished. The grass was brown and begging for water. The flowers wilted with their colors dulled. The water polluted and nasty. The stone walk cracked and in pieces. Her last paradise... destroyed.
Pain wrenched in her chest and she stood waiting for Bitch No. 1 to show herself. She gave up trying to fight them. All of them seemed to be overly strong... to strong for humans... and this had worried her, once. Now the pain was to much. Her hurt was to deep... She knew that it wasn't even real but that fact that that place was destroyed in her mind... it was an unspeakable offense. If someone had the ability to take her mind from her how would she ever escape....
Just as she thought.... The footsteps stopped in front of her.
"Oh, on your feet to fight today are you?" the smirk on her face could be heard in her words even though she was, as always, faceless.
"Spare me your pleasure, and lets get this over with..." Alice said.
She walked out of the cell and down the hall. Slow but steady and without the help of anyone. Her head held high, and no evidence of tears in her eyes or on her face. She was emotionless. Hardened to protect the value of herself. They would not win this.
Those fifteen minutes back went faster then the wait for the footsteps to come to her. She turned the corner after the check point. Clearly able to pass go on her own as long as she was headed in the right way. All the people she saw there were faceless... and motionless. Like Robots... It was unnerving.
She walked straight to the restroom took her time and washed her face. She looked as she should for someone being held against their will with little food and little water. The harsh light did little to make it better.
Bags under her chaotic green eyes. Greasy reddish-brown hair that would have had a slight wave, or even some curls on a good day. Cracked lips from lack of water, and an all to skinny face. Her Pale skin adding an eerie look to her. Like she were once dead and then brought back, but was fighting with the thought of life. She looked worse very second she looked in that mirror.
She was not unsupervised at all, of course, since she was a captive. Oh the hell that they would pay if she ever found a way out... They couldn't even think of what would happen to them... but she could.
She smiled lightly thinking of ways to kill them slowly. Taking days to end their suffering... Maybe she would keep them alive longer then that. Because she knew, without a doubt, that she would get out of here, and she knew that she would kill them for what they had done.
The woman must have seen the smile and took it the wrong way because just as that last thought ran through her mind Alice felt the needle pierce her skin. The drug took effect in seconds and she fell back against the woman.
"I knew water was your element... they never listen to me... how are we suppose to keep you alive if the one thing everyone needs makes your stronger?!" her voice snapped, harsh and angry. Like it was Alice in the wrong. She sighed heavily and spoke again "Lets just get this over with..."
The drugs were making things time skip. She noticed she was strapped to a table, face down. It wasn't as uncomfortable as it should have been. She felt something on her back as well as murmurs from behind her. A quick slice of pain that the drugs covered and turned to pleasure. Her mind screaming something was wrong. Metal clanking was heard behind her interrupting her thoughts. The voices got louder.
"She can't deal with much more of this today... Why do you always push her so far? Why is she so special?" It was the female again. Her mind told her, but she didn't care. She didn't even care what they said. She wanted to go back to her thoughts...
"She heals faster then the rest. Since we have to give her water. She is my pet project, and I won't let anyone take her from me, and I sure as hell won't let her go." She couldn't tell if it was a man or not but the possessive nature sent off the alarm bells in her mind... until the drugs turn the bells into Mozart... What the hell was going on.... Darkness claimed her.
Something cold was placed against her face and the sensation was amazing. She slept deeply lying on the cement floor of her cell, and dreamed of knives and metal gears, and a beautiful garden far way... With lush grass and a glorious lake.....
She woke with a start her mind buzzing about. She was in the cell. Again....