Page 11 of Beta Lies and Cursed Lives
Despite pronouncing her surname like a native Scandinavian, she doesn’t speak with a discernible accent. She could have been born and raised down the street from me in UNA.
I nod in confirmation, and Gayle’s smile turns consoling.
“I can’t begin to imagine how overwhelming this is for you, dear. I promise to make this visit as swift and as painless as possible.” She gestures to the nearest bed. “Take a seat, please.” She reaches for something on her desk as I sit on the edge of the bed. When she returns to my side, she holds an electronic tablet. The screen is clear glass, and the information that lights it up appears backward on my side. A photo of my face, some basic information like my age and height. Her fingers dance across the screen nimbly, and the information scrolls as she begins to ask questions.
“You’re an uncontrolled tactile, yes?”
“Yes.”
“All right, and when was the last time you administered a suppressant?”
I swallow. “Just before...I came here.”
She doesn’t look up from her tapping. “Excellent. I’m going to draw some blood and do a few tests. This will only take a moment.” She looks at me then. “If you would, please, unzip your sweatshirt and expose one arm.”
I do as she says while she puts on gloves and grabs some other instruments from a nearby table. Before I know it, she’s put a tourniquet on my upper arm, drawn a few vials of blood, removed the tourniquet, and put a bandage around my elbow. I put my arm back through the sleeve and zip up while the doctor takes my blood to a machine across the room.
Nyx stands beside me, like she’s lending me strength, while we wait. For what, I’m not entirely sure until minutes pass and Doctor Gayle is back on her tablet, tapping away and scrolling. She smiles up at me, her face illuminated in the screen's blue glow. “We’re all set here,” she says. “I’m assigning you a date to return for your next suppressant dosage, which will be on the tablet you’ll be given before lights out. All your other tests look good. You’re in perfect health.” Her smile is wide and kind.
I let out a long breath and am suddenly aware of the heightened anxiety that had been flowing through me. When I slide off the bed, I land on wobbly legs but feel physically lighter.
It worked.
“Thanks, Doctor Gayle!” Nyx says, sounding chipper. She places her hand on my back and guides me out of the infirmary and into the hall. “Good job,” she whispers. “Now that’s over, it’s time for your assessment.”
Training Ground One is an indoor facility, vast with mostly glass walls and a solid domed ceiling.
Nyx walked me all the way and then went off on her own, assuring me she’d see me that evening.
Now, I stand alone in the center of this vast room, strangers, mostly in military uniforms and lab coats, standing along the far wall. Headmaster Laurant is there, too, as is Major Tomlin.
Oh, and something tall covered in a sheet is just a few feet to my left. I don’t know what it is, but it’s square at the top.
The discomfort invading my senses raises my anxiety.
One of the men in a white coat steps forward and says in a loud, commanding voice, “Remove the sheet.”
I look around to confirm that I’m the only one around the thing.
I am.
My feet move slow and rigidly closer to the object, and I grasp the sheet, slowly pulling it from what it’s obscuring.
I can’t even react to what I find. My brain kicks into overdrive because I know...I know exactly what they intend me to do.
Beneath the sheet is a cage atop a pedestal. Inside the cage is a small, white rabbit. It looks at me with dark, frightened eyes, that fear surely reflected in my own.
“Remove your gloves and touch the animal.”
My head whips to the lab coat guy with the white hair and thick glasses, the same one who commanded me to remove the sheet.
He’s out of his fucking mind.
“No.”
The word leaves my mouth before my brain catches up, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what they do to me or threaten me with. I am not going to kill a defenseless animal to sate their curiosity.
I just killed a full-grown man, for the love of the universe! They know full well what I am capable of.
