16 years latter

 Iris walked up to the plexi glass wall separating her from the world around her. SHe placed her hands against the cool, smooth surface and peered out. It was unusual for everyone to leave so early on a friday. Normally, someone would be coming in to collect some data or something like that. But, as she peered out, she only saw empty tables, no bunsen burners on, nothing.

“What is going on?” SHe whispered out into the dark room. The lights in her containment unit had already been turned off, awaiting her to sleep. They needed the data from her dreams to see how fast her mental capacity was growing. But she had gotten very good at hiding it. They had no idea what all she could do now, how close she was getting to being able to break free. But she knew that she would not be able to break out, not yet. Even if she could get out of the building, she would be reported or even killed at first site. The marked were not accepted among the society, and there was no way that she would be able to make it out of the building, much less the city, without being spotted.

Defeated, she layed down on the small cot positioned in the corner of the room and pulled the single, thin cover over her body. The blanket was stiff from all the wires and electrodes running through it, same the single pillow placed at the head. These recorded her movements, heart rate, brain function, and other things while she slept.

Just when Iris felt herself succumbing to the dark hands of sleep,the rooms surrounding her cell burst into bright lights and a loud commotion could be heard down the hall.

Iris jumped up and smushed her face to the glass, trying to see what was going on. She couldn’t tell what had happened, but she knew that whatever was going on, it was about to change her life forever. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did, she simply could feel it. 

“Help!” Iris heard someone frantically screaming and fighting down the hall. The Noises were getting louder when the voice was suddenly muffled, as if someone had placed a gag into their mouth. 

“Now,” The voice of Dr. Anderson, one of the main scientists working in her study, came booming from right outside the door to the lab prep area. “That aught to teach you how to stay quiet. You best hope my little friend in here doesn’t hear all this. She’s a feisty little one, hates change and especially loud noises. And it looks like you will be bringing both to the table.” Iris heard the door open up and ran toward the farthest corner of the room. She hated Dr. Anderson, remembering the first time they had meet, when he decided that she was going to be perfect for his study, after she almost caught the end of his shirt on fire in response to him breaking her finger. He said she was the next generation of the marked, she held more power within her than any of the others before her. SHe was only two then, and had grown even more hate and resentment toward this man whose main goal in life was to cause her pain, and “study” her reactions to it.

The first people who came into her line of site was one of the young women who had joined this study under an apprenticeship program sponsored by Dr.Anderson himself. SHe walked hurriedly by Iris’s cell, not paying any attention to iris. Instead, she opened the cell beside her and pushed her finger against the scanner on the side of the wall, turning the opaque glass that separated the two cells into a crystal clear window. 

Then she saw him. He was pulled in by a total of four guards, all looking distraught, some with scraps across their face, others with burns and singed hair. But the kid they were dragging, he looked more beat up than any of them. But that wasn’t what drew her attention. It was the bright red blood mingling with the black climbing down the side of his face, disappearing under collar of his ripped shirt. They tossed him through the open door and slammed it shut behind him. The guards all left the room along with the apprentice, leaving them alone with Dr.Anderson.

“Iris. I think it’s time whe stopped playing silly little games, don’t you?” She didn’t answer, just kept staring at her feet, afraid to look up into his face, afraid to see his hate filled eyes rake over every inch of her. He walked over to the door to her cell, placing his palm against it. Iris backed up even further, hitting her back against the wall.

“Now now. Don’t act like that. I’m not going to hurt you, my dear. I already told you, no more childish games.” He walked into the open door, but instead of approaching her, he walked over to the now clear glass partition and placed both palms flat against the glass. Little blue waves encircled his hands for a few moments. He removed them and walked right back out of the room, locking her door behind him. The glass separating her from this wild eyed stranger slowly started to raise. Iris’s heartbeat picked up as internal fear formed in the pit of her stomach.

“Like I said, I will not hurt you. But no promises on that one.” Dr.Anderson waited for her response.

“What do you mean?” Her voice came out soft, much like a frightened child.

“He was one of the resistance, living out in the forbidden forests beyond the city gates. He’s wild and unpredictable. One of the few marked children to have been saved and raised out there, instead of in a lab like you. I’m sure this little experiment will be a fun one to experience. Although the board may be unhappy about me introducing you two so soon, I’m sure the results will make them forget about this small insubordination.” He walked out of the lab, leaving her alone with this stranger.

Iris stood still, watching the wild boy laying on the floor. He stared right back at her. Neither moved, both waiting to see what the other would do. The lights in the rooms surrounding them suddenly flicked off, sending them into darkness. Iris waited for her eyes to adjust to the sudden change in lighting, listening for the movements of the stranger next to her. Suddenly, something grabbed her and whipped her around so that she was facing the wall. A rough hand covered her mouth, drowning out the scream that tried to climb its way out of her throat.

“Shhhh. I don’t want to hurt you,” A surprisingly soft and calm voice spoke right next to her ear. “But they want me to. They expect it of someone as feral as me.” He slowly removed his hand from her mouth, but still kept a firm grip on her arms.

“What do you want to do to me then?” Iris’s whisper was shaking, much like the rest of her body. He she had no reason to believe that he would hurt her, but she also had no reason to believe that he wouldn’t.

“I want you to trust me. And so I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance for what I’m about to do, but it’s what they expect. I can’t have them thinking too hard on what I do if I ever want a chance of getting out of here. I’m sure you’ll understand.”

“What are you..” She didn’t get to finish when she saw one of his fists fly up and come into contact with her temple, sending her mind into darkness. She didn’t know what to expect with this stranger, but it surely wasn’t this.

Iris woke up, feeling the cold, stone floor beneath her. She sat up, with the dizziness almost forcing her back down on the floor, and tried to remember what had happened. Then she looked over to see the glass panel back in place, giving her full view to the concerned eyes of the stranger. The stranger! She remembered him hitting her. How long had she been out? She placed her fingertips on her forehead, feeling for any damage. All she felt was a stiff, cotton bandage and a small spongy spot, her blood slowly seeping to the edges. They must have come in while she was unconscious. She looked around, cursing the fact that she had lost all sense of time. She always hated it when she ended up unconscious or when they drugged her to sleep. They would always end up giving her too much, and she would wake up a few days latter, losing all sense of time.

“Are you okay?” The stranger was standing, his hands pressed to the glass. Iris back away, crawling on her hands, not quite yet ready to try standing up. SHe didn’t answer.

“I’m sorry. I told you, I had to do something that would keep them from questioning what is actually going on in the forbidden forest, to keep them from finding the resistance. If they see me as civil, then they will wonder why I’m not wild and crazy like they expect all of us to be.” He sounded sincere, but Iris didn’t know if she could really trust him. BUt right now, they were both in the same boat and she was simply too tired to care.

“You didn’t have to hit me so hard.” Her voice sounded hoarse and tired, like an old mans. “ Feel like I was just hit by a train.”

“That wasn’t me, I promise. They came in and forced me aside, pulling that wall back down. The they wrapped up your head and gave you something. They injected something into your arm. You didn’t wake up for awhile. You never even moved.” He sounded like he was worried, but Iris didn’t understand why he would be, he didn’t even know her.

Iris went to stand up, slowly, starting out by getting on her knees and then bracing herself against the wall to help steady her on her feet. The stranger looked like he was about ready to jump through the wall if she were to fall. But she managed to stay on her feet and take the few small steps to her small cot.

I really am sorry. I didn’t think that they'd come in here and put you under, it just doesn’t make any sense.” He looked as if he was lost in thought. 

“You’ll learn soon enough. They things work around here, it’s sinister. They “experiments” and “tests” they do with you…” She cut off, a tremor racking through her body as if she was remembering something terrible from her past. “You’ll learn that you can never escape them.” SHe leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, as if she could make everything go away in the split seconds of darkness.

“Well, aren't you just a bottle of sunshine. And here I thought I’d be able to get some prime information from you. But it looks like you've already given up.” He was getting angrier, his voice hising with every word. “ANd how long have been here, huh? A month? Two months? Maybe a year? And you’ve already given up?!?”

“Sixteen years….” She whispered, not even realising that he could hear her, not even caring.

“What? WHat did you just say?” 

“I said,” Her voice was rising, getting fed up with how rude this shrager was being to her. “I’ve been stuck in this glass box for sixteen years! ANd I’m never getting out of here!” SHe had silent tears streaming down her face.

“What… How?” He looked at her, almost, was that, with sympathy.

“You know what? WHy don’t you stop asking questions and start answering some of mine. Who, exactly, are you? Where did you come from?” She still seemed ticked, her eyes ablaze with flames.

“I’m James. And I come from the woods beyond the city walls, from the resistance. And I will get out of here, whether you think I can or not.”

“ It’s not possible, I’ve tried, believe me, I’ve tried everything. There's no way to get out of here.” Unless they let you out. She finished it off in her mind. SHe had an idea but she couldn't let this stranger, JAmes, know what it was. SHe has no trust built up for him.

James dropped the subject, seeing how Iris had started straining, trying her hardest to stay upright during this conversation. “Before you sleep, will you at least tell me your name?”

Iris was glad that he was relieving her from this conversation. “Iris. My name is Iris.” And she let herself lie down, falling asleep the second her head hit the lumpy pillow.

Iris, finally, we've found you. And I’m going to bring you home.