top of page

Seven: Chapter 2 – A Continuing Story

Jan 25, 2020

The man at the desk glared at me—not just stared—GLARED, in silence. Wondering what he was thinking and why he wasn’t answering me, I stared back, noticing his bald head and white, clean clothes. Was he wearing a one piece?

Uncomfortable from all the staring and glaring, I looked away, back to the mud-colored walls and orb sconces. The place was lit, bright, but looked like the inside of a cave. The walls curved into the ceiling, creating a rounded, elongated archway. The floor was made of polished wood planks. The hallway was beautiful, earthy, and bare.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the man at the desk picked up a small glowing, gold and white disk and spoke into it, “Seven, could you come to the steam room? I need you to take care of a lost puppy.”

“On my way,” an exhausted male voice called back from the disk.

The man took one last look at me, smirked, and turned back to his desk—an empty desk. Leaning over, I arched my neck to see what his attention was focused on. Nothing. The desk was completely empty, just as I thought. Yet, the man’s attention was definitely fixated on the desk, like there was something there I couldn’t see.

Weird.

I looked around the hall again, wondering if I should find my own way out. This man clearly didn’t want to help me. I could go right or left. Right always seemed like a good choice. And, if it wasn’t, I could turn around.

As I took a step in that direction, the man coughed and commanded, “Stay,” as if I were a dog.

Did he call me a puppy before, I thought, remembering his conversation with the disk. Whatever. I took another step.

“I’m warning you,” the man called.

I wasn’t going to listen to him; who was he to give me orders? I took another step.

The man—I didn’t see him even get up—jumped in front of me, holding out the same disk he talked into, and touched it to my shoulder. Immediately, I felt a shock surge through my body and I fell to the ground, dropping my purse and the bag holding my new combat boots.

“What the…?” I started.

“I warned you,” the man said as he retook his seat behind the desk. “Now stay.”

I sat up, but didn’t make any attempts to leave. My heart started to beat as I realized I was in a lot more trouble than I thought. This clearly wasn’t the mall. And I was sure this wasn’t anywhere in Washington either. How did I get here? Where was I? How could I get back?

As my mind started to ponder questions with no answers, another figure tiredly walked down the hall toward me, or, more precisely, toward the man at the desk. He looked worn out with droopy eyes and limbs hanging carelessly as he walked. But that face—so beautiful. You know the kind of face you can’t look away from. It was a regal face, with, not a skinny nose like you see in old royal paintings, but it had a sort of point to it that spoke of royalty. His hair—black—was long, coming just past his ears; it was unkempt with strands falling in his eyes. As he approached, he brushed the strands away, revealing emerald green eyes that glowed. Seriously, they glowed. And I was staring again.

“Thaddeus,” the figure said without glancing my way.

“Seven,” the man behind the desk sneered. “This girl,” he gestured carelessly with is hand, “seems to be lost. Remove her.” With that he turned his attention back to his desk.

“It shall be done,” Seven sighed.

Finally, his glowing eyes turned to me. “Shall I carry you or do your legs work.”

Why was everyone rude in this place? I scowled, “I can walk.” I got up, grabbed my purse and shopping bag, and waited for Seven to show me the way. Without saying a word, he started toward the right.

“I knew it!” The words escaped my mouth.

Seven looked back at me—no readable expression on his face—but only for a second. I grumbled inwardly. I needed help figuring out what was going on but everyone seemed bent on being rude.

I followed Seven in silence. We walked down the long hallway, passing a few desks with bald men in white clothing, similar to Thaddeus. The hall opened up to a large waiting area with a longer desk and four bald men and four bald women standing behind it. The area held couches and chairs full of men and women who looked relatively normal—I mean they had hair and they wore diverse clothing, not the one-piece white suits of those behind the desks. And on the far side of the room were several glass doors, letting in bright, almost blinding, sunlight.

Seven continued walking through the waiting area, not looking back to see if I was still following. I was following, but very slowly, trying to take in my surroundings—the soft wood-looking chairs with plush furry pillows, the pots of green spiky plants with stems that curled around themselves, the huge skylight above that looked made of crystal, the man talking into a glowing disk, the woman petting something that looked like a dog but was clearly something else.

I stopped. Where was I? Maybe asleep? I pinched myself. “Ow!”

Seven turned around. “I don’t have time for this,” he growled. He walked the few feet back to me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me forward. I tried to slap his hand away but he maintained his hold. Wow, he was strong!

Seven kept walking toward the outside doors, but veered right at the last minute, heading toward a big metal-looking door. “Uh, that doesn’t look like outside,” I said, hoping Seven would explain what was going on.

He didn’t.

As Seven approached the door, I tried harder to get away, punching him in the shoulder and kicking his legs. He almost lost his hold on my arm and had to re-grip. As he did, my elbow hit the door. With that small contact my mind exploded into images of what lay behind the door, like I could see through the thick—yeah, I saw how thick it was, more than a foot—metal. I saw more than what was just behind the door—another desk with a bald man and woman—I saw past it, into another room.

Two bald men and two bald women stood at a table, waiting—waiting for me; I could feel it. My mind took a closer look at the table, seeing what they would do to me: strap me to it and clean my mind by sticking a long white and gold metal thing up my nose. It would be painful. And I would only remember what they wanted me to remember. Seeing that I came from somewhere else, they would take everything from me.

I screamed, feeling the future pain. Seven dropped me and I crumpled to the floor. I could feel people in the waiting room look in our direction, then quickly back to themselves. Seven stared at his hand. Then looked at me. He had a knowing look on his face and I wondered what that meant.

Without saying anything, he grabbed my arm again.

“No!” I weakly objected, feeling confused and a little exhausted from whatever my mind just showed me.

Unsuccessfully, I struggled to break free of Seven’s hold. He pulled me up to standing and walked me back the other direction, out the glass doors, into the sun.

Don’t like to read? I got ya. Let me tell you the story through this video:

[VIDEO?]

Looking for more of this story? Check here.

0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page