Chapter Two

Second chapter!

I awoke in a dark room. I couldn’t see anything around me, but I could hear voices. Small whispering voices seemed to be all around me. I wanted to move, but I felt chains around my arms and legs. Fear swelled up inside me and my heart beat faster than it ever had in my life. I felt someone come closer to me and the air around me grew cold. Something was wrong. I felt a cold hand rest on my shoulder. Very wrong.

I felt as his head slowly move toward my face. “Don’t be afraid, it’s almost over.” He whispered in a deep slimy voice. Then he moved away and plunged a needle so deep into my heart that my mind when blank and I felt as my humanity was quickly whisked away.

 

I woke to Kyle’s bright green eyes. “Get up!” He shouted and then jumped off the bed. Seth and Alice were already up but they didn’t look the same as they had on the first day I’d met them. Alice of course, looked confident, but something about her made her look even more so. Seth also looked extremely confident; unlike he had when I first met him. Something else about him was different, but I couldn’t really pin point it. Even Kyle looked different.     

“What happened to us?” I said and then covered my mouth. My voice was different. It sounded so attractive. I wanted to talk more just to hear it.

“I don’t know,” Said Seth’s newly manufactured voice. He still had his accent, but his voice was so much more attractive that I had to think about something else to keep from attacking him like a crazed fan girl. “But I like it.”

“Me too.” Said Alice. As if she wasn’t already pretty enough, her voice made her ten times prettier.

“You guys are insane.” Said Kyle and his voice was the most attractive of all. I’d begun to move towards him before I realized what was going on and stopped myself.

“Holy crap.” I said in my angelic voice. “You never need to talk again.”

“I know right.” Said Alice with a knowing glance.

“Sorry?” Said Kyle looking confused.

“Anyway.” I said trying not to be rude, but failing. “Guys really. Last night? What happened?”

       They looked at each other with confusion and then Seth replied, “Well, I’m not sure, we just woke up here, like this. I mean I know I should be freaking out right not, but what if what’s happening isn’t all bad?”

       “Are you serious?” I asked him. Not bad? We were trapped and weird things were happening. How could this not be bad? “This is terrible!” I shouted at him. I felt weird, and not in a good way. “And about last night, did that man… did you see a man?”

       “I don’t know, I kind of like it.” Alice said, and then she gave me a look. “A man? What man?

       “The man with… with the needle.” I said remembering the pain of it being forced into my heart.

       “Needle? What? Please don’t tell me there’s a man with a needle that I can’t remember. That’s messed up.” Said Kyle. Once again, I was drawn closer to him.

       “You really need to not talk.” I said. It came out wrong, but I was a little embarrassed about being so openly attracted to him.

       “What the hell is your problem?” Kyle said accusingly. “You two need to take some freaking chill pills. Jesus Lord. Seth and I are the only ones in here who don’t try and start fights. Why, of all people, were we locked in here with two stuck up girls?”

       “Are you done?” I asked quietly. I’d had to ignore most of what he said to keep myself still. I felt like I was trapped in a room with three people who didn’t really understand what was going on. We had been kidnapped, first of all, and now we spoke differently, and there was a man with needles, or maybe that part was a dream, but the possibilities didn’t look so good.

       “Sure. I’m done with both of you. I try to be nice, but no. That’s what I get for trying to change. I never-“ He was cut off by Alice jumping on top of him. “Get the hell off of me!” He shouted.

       Seth burst out into loud laughter and I watched as Alice went about kissing him. She had her hands running through his hair and her lips slammed up against his. Kyle no longer struggled to get away from her.

       Seth was on the floor rolling with laughter and I was standing wide-eyed with my jaw hanging open when Alice finally realized what was going on. “Oh my God!” She said as she stood up. “Shoot shoot shoot!”

       Kyle was starring up at her with an extremely confused look. “What was that?” He asked with an almost inaudible voice.

       “Your stupid voice!” Alice shouted. I caught a little worry in her voice.

       Seth laughed even harder and then tried to speak. “It… it didn’t… look like you m… minded to much!” Honestly, I wanted to laugh. In any normal situation this would be funny, but we weren’t in a normal situation.

       “Shut up.” Said Kyle without denying it.

       “Okay.” I said loudly. “Can we focus here? Do you guys not realize what is happening? This is not normal. Just try not to talk for now, Kyle.”

       “Okay,” He said quietly.

       “Sorry.” Said Seth. “What about this man? With a needle?”

       I closed my eyes, opened them, and then said, “The man with the needle jabbed that thing straight into my heart. I mean it seriously went right in. It hurt soo bad. My heart was beating so fast right before that and then bam, it didn’t-“ I thought for a minute and then quickly tried to find my pulse. Nothing. “It didn’t beat anymore.” Okay, now I was seriously freaking out.

       “What?” Seth said with a strange look. He frantically grabbed for his wrist.

       “My heart doesn’t beat anymore.” I said with a calm voice though I didn’t feel it. In reality, I was about to start screaming. What are you supposed to do when you realize your heart doesn’t beat? I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

       Alice frantically tried to find her pulse. “I can’t feel mine either!” She shouted. Her eyes were full of fear. “Oh my GOD!”

       “Wow.” Said Kyle with amazement. He didn’t seem as frightened as anyone else.

       “This is weird.” Seth whispered. Then he spoke and he stuttered as he did. “What does this mean?”

       “What else!” Alice yelled as she starred at me with wide eyes. “Now I’m scared.”

       “That’s it.” I said, “I can’t remember anything else.”

       “So this,” Seth said pointing to himself. “This isn’t right. What’s going to happen? Are we going to die? Are we just going to live forever? What is this!?”

       “I don’t know.” I replied. I was feeling and thinking the same things as him.

       “Weird.” Said Kyle softly.

       “This is really creeping me out. Quit reminding me that my heart is no longer beating!” Alice said loudly. “I can’t do this. Can we just, I don’t know, can we pretend everything is okay for like five minutes?”

       “Sure,” Said Seth quickly. “What do you want to talk about?”

       “Where did you come from? I mean like, where do you live?” Alice asked almost as soon as he finished talking.

       “North Carolina,” He said proudly. “What about you?”

       “New York.” Alice replied sweetly. “And did you have girlfriend in North Carolina?” Alice asked, completely ignoring Kyle and I. She was obviously showing a liking for the sweet southern boy. A liking that seemed mixed with the fact that she was trying to forget all about the fact that she was the walking dead.

       He laughed an uneasy laugh like he wanted to just be talking about this, but knowing it was only a cover for what was really going on. “Yes, well, no. We date on and off I guess, and currently, it’s off.”

       “Oh,” said Alice with obvious disappointment. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Do you think she’s freaking out since your not there to start up the relationship again?”

       “No way. I bailed on her to go see a movie with my friends on our “anniversary”. She’s probably still pretty pissed.” Seth said calmly. I could tell he was thinking about how much he wished he had went with her.

       “Huh.” Alice said. “Do you miss her?”

       “Yeah. I do.” Said Seth honestly. “So much, especially now.”

       “That’s really sweet.” I said.

       “I guess,” He sighed. “So, where are you two from?”

       “I’m from Indiana.” I replied.

       “Well I’m from the exciting state of California.” Said Kyle with a sharp smile, totally forgetting the effect of his voice on us. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I heard Alice do the same.

       “That’s going to take some getting used to, but let’s hope we get out of here before I have to.” I said.

       “True story.” Said Kyle. “Sorry.” Then I heard him say to himself, “Sorry I’m so damn hot.”

       I gave him a look and he shrugged. Then, there was a knock on the door. “What the…?” Said Seth. “Ya’ll going to answer that?”

       “Ha, no.” Said Alice. “Especially not if that man with the needle thing is out there.”

       I looked at Kyle and he shook his head. “Fine, I’ll do it.” I stood up and walked slowly to the door. I put my hand on the knob and tried to turn it, but it was locked. “It’s lo-“ That’s all I said before it hit me. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I smelled it. The most amazing smell in the world drifted into my nose, then I lost it. I felt my brain and thoughts slip away, and the only thing left was the thought that I needed to get that food. I slammed my entire body into the door and started screaming and shouting. I dug my fingernails into the door somehow and destroyed it, not enough that I could get out, but enough that I could smell the food even more, which made me go even more insane for it. I couldn’t think. I didn’t know what I was doing. The only thing I knew is that I had to get to it.

       I heard Kyle run up behind me. He started to say my name, and then he too joined me. It wasn’t long before all four of us were clawing fiercely at the door, groaning, and shouting strange things. Then, ever so slowly, the smell drifted away, and I felt my mind coming back. I realized what I’d done and jumped back in panic. “What did we do?” I asked Kyle, Alice, and Seth as they realized what they’d just done.

       “I don’t know.” Seth said with a strange voice. He looked so afraid.

       Then we heard someone approach the ruined door. “Good job.” Said the deep slimy voice I’d heard before. “You’re almost ready.” Then he walked away.

       We looked at each other in shock. “That was him,” was all I said in a breathless voice.

       “What are we almost ready for?” Asked Alice. Her voice was shaky and her eyes looked blank.

       “Nothing good I’m sure.” Said Seth. Then, before we even had the chance to dwell on our horrifying ideas, four large masked men entered the room threw bags over our heads, and dragged us away.

       One of the men tossed me into a lightly lit room with sickly yellow walls. He quickly went back out through the door and locked it behind him.

       “Are you kidding me…” I heard Kyle say from behind me. I turned and saw that Kyle was the only one here with me.

       “Where are the others?” I asked, ignoring his comment. My body was shaking as I searched the room with my eyes.

       “Hell if I know.” Said Kyle rudely. He didn’t even seem bothered by the fact that nothing going on here was okay. Everything was wrong.

       “Is that your favorite word?” I said annoyed. His rudeness towards me was definitely dulling the effect his voice had on me. “And do you not realize what is happening! Are oblivious to the world?”

       “Yeah, it actually is. And yes I am. You got a problem with it?” He said rolling his eyes. He obviously was.

       “What is your problem?” I asked. I hadn’t thought I’d done anything to him, but he sure acted like I had.

       “I don’t know. I’m just angry!” He shouted.

       “Well don’t be then. We need to figure out how to get out of here.” I said quickly. “We have to get out. Who knows what’s going to happen next.”

       “You really want out of here? Were you not here when we totally went phsyco and ruined a door because we smelled something? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be roaming the streets and randomly tear off someone’s head to get to this “smell”. I say we wait, and they either let us go, or they get rid of us. Whatever really.” Kyle said as he sat down on a fragile looking twin bed. He had said his words fiercely and quickly.

       “Are you kidding me? Are you really talking about your own death as “whatever”? As for the smell thing, I don’t think we would tear off someone’s head to get to it. I just think were hungry and we just need to eat, that’s why we acted so strange. We didn’t really act to crazy.” I said trying to convince him that getting out of here would be the best solution. A part of me knew that I hadn’t acted like that because I was only hungry. It was because something was wrong with me. They’d done something to us.

       “No, you didn’t see yourself. You went insane. We were scared. You didn’t look the same. Your eyes were completely void of any humanity, and you just looked like a monster. I don’t even know how to explain it.” Kyle said, and his voice was starting to sound normal, so naturally, I’d started inching closer to him. “And why are you moving towards me like that?”

       “Oh, sorry.” I said, moving away. “It’s not me, it’s like involuntary. These new voices, and yours is by far the most… That’s why Alice did what she did. You don’t hear it?” I asked, realizing that Seth and Kyle hadn’t reacted to our voices.

       “Well, you sound different, and so did Alice, but I guess voices aren’t really attractive to me?” He said as a question. This most be some other creepy part of whatever was happening to us.

       “Sure.” I said. Then we heard the scream. The sound pierced into my soul and sounded like pure death. My body shivered in response as I saw Kyle do the same.

       “Holy hell.” I heard Kyle whisper.

       “That wasn’t one of them was it?” I asked, fearing he’d heard more to it than I had. I rand to the door and tried the handle. Locked.

       “No. That couldn’t be. It didn’t sound right.” Kyle said, looking like he was trying to convince himself more than me. I was afraid. If it wasn’t them, who was screaming? What was going on? Could we get out of here? Alive? We sat in silence for what seemed like hours, I didn’t want to move, I was afraid if I did, that I would do something crazy, so I sat. Then the door swung open and the men were back. They grabbed us and dragged us down a few flights of stairs. I tried not to scream, I was afraid, but I knew that if Alice and Seth were still alive, I didn’t want them to be afraid. I knew this was a moment where my heart would be flying in my chest, but instead it sat completely still. I heard Kyle making noises next to me as we went, and finally we were thrown to the ground.

       I heard soft crying in the background, but I couldn’t focus. I smelled it. The amazing smell I’d just smelled moments ago. I looked crazily in all directions and watched as Kyle did the same. I felt my mind returning to the state it’d been in when I’d forgotten everything I’d known and felt my mind slip away. Then, I pinpointed it. I charged, and Kyle joined me. I heard the cry of pain and death and complete fear, but I didn’t stop. I hurled myself onto the smell, and felt as I dug my teeth into warm flesh. A part of me knew what I was doing was wrong, and it urged me to stop, but the other, stronger part, forced me to keep eating, even as I heard the soft plea of help. Next, to me, Kyle hesitated, though he didn’t really look like Kyle anymore. I didn’t really take much notice though, I just kept eating and eating, until I realized Kyle had completely stopped and had fallen backwards onto the floor. His body was shivering, covered in bright red blood, and tears fell out of his eyes. Never in my life had I witnessed a boy cry such real tears. This brought me back.

I turned towards what had been my lunch a few seconds ago and something came over me. I felt like someone had punched me in the chest repeatedly, and I couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. I could never do something this horrible. Kyle could never do something this horrible. Tears poured from my eyes and I began to sob hysterically, no longer aware of the incredible stench that had driven me to this terrible deed. Lying on the floor was what once had been a living human being reduced to a barely recognizable mess of blood. The only way I had known it was a human was because the one thing I hadn’t completely obliterated was her right hand. I couldn’t bear to think that we’d done this. It wasn’t right. This had to be a sick dream. It couldn’t have been us, but I wouldn’t wake up.

I heard Kyle shout exactly what I was feeling, “No! This didn’t happen. Please tell me this didn’t happen!” His voice was shaky and full of terror.

“It happened.” Said the voice. “Unfortunately you didn’t pass.”

“What are you talking about?” I said with a voice full of sorrow. I was so afraid. I was angry at what I had done, and I was afraid I would do it again.

“Don’t worry, you passed. You though,” He said, turning to Kyle, “didn’t”

       “What does that mean!” Kyle shouted. He sounded like he’s lost it, which I wouldn’t blame him if he had. His eyes were crazy.

       “You’re still to human.” He said, and the masked men came in and picked him up. He didn’t even struggle. His face looked blank and he looked completely broken. I didn’t think he could ever recover anyway. The man was right, he was still too human. Something in me said I wouldn’t see him again, but that was to painful of a thought, so I turned away and tried to remember what it was like to be sitting at home watching T.V. without a care in the world.

       “Back to your room.” The man said. All he had to do was say the words and the men stepped in and hauled me away.

 

Author's Note

This is the edited second chapter. After I got a review, I went back and tried to fix some things.

Reviews

[FumiTuki]

This reminds me of the short story Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson and I had a feeling "the smell" was what it turned out to be. It's an interesting concept that doesn't seem to be done very often, so I applaud you!

The characters, again, don't feel frightened enough. Realistically, anyone in their situation would be very concerned with escape and whether their family/friends are searching for them or perhaps in cahoots with whoever kidnapped them. I was hoping the characters would develop a little more in this chapter; learning more about a character helps the reader sympathize and identify with them, which helps make momentous events, such as the ending, have much more impact.

I like this though, and I hope you decide to continue writing it. :) Feel free to message me if you'd like some help, whether it's with ideas or editing.