There it was again. Out of the corner of my eye I could see it. The needle piercing through the skin on my lower arm. My vision too clouded to know whether the purple substance was being put into my bulging vein or withdrawn from it. I try to move my head, only to discover it’s screwed into a metal brace. I can feel each and every sharp point of metal that’s been twisted through my skull. The people around me are covered in strange cloaks and carry various surgical tools, but my vision is too weak to observe their facial features. Something begins to beep and screech causing the people to go into a frenzy of panic as they run around frantically. At this point I wasn’t sure if the room was getting darker or if my eyes were shutting down. I couldn’t move my body, couldn’t hear anyone, and I couldn’t see anything; I was trapped with nothing but my thoughts in the darkness of my mind.
I sit up in my bed and stare at the wall to the right of me as I put my hands over my face in frustration. All I wanted was to forget what had happened. It’s been ten years since the experiment and I still have the same nightmares; the nightmares that replay everything. Twelve years ago I was fighting in the Canadian war and was stationed in Anchorage, Alaska. We were ambushed late at night leaving all of our troops either in critical condition or dead. By the time help arrived I was the only one still breathing. I don’t remember most of the attack or what happened once I arrived at the hospital, but once I gained consciousness the doctors told me I had been in an accident and that I had just woken up from a nine month coma. They continued to tell me I had been transferred to a government facility in Texas, but refused to tell me anything else. After that day they began running procedures on me and decided the only option of survival I had was a new experiment they were working on. The experiment would put me into a video game and would feel as if I was dreaming. I would control my body and actions and get to follow along with the story line of the video game. The experiment is called Operation Reality. My body was too weak for actual movement but my brain needed exercise, which is exactly why they chose to do the procedures on me, even though it wasn’t ready for human testing it was supposedly my only chance at surviving. After they finished the surgeries and running the statistics they tried running the program. I entered the video game but stood frozen there waiting for something to happen, but before anything happened my vision went black. Once again I woke up dazed in a hospital bed only to find out the experiment failed and I had been in another coma for two months. That night there were men standing just outside my door discussing the failure and how they were planning to continue using me as their guinea pig until they could figure out how to run it successfully. After one day of torturous tests I knew I had to get out of there. Within that week I was strong enough to escape, so that’s exactly what I did. They didn’t have me well guarded due to the fact they thought I was incredibly weak, so all I had to do was sneak out late at night without getting caught. Ever since that night I’ve been traveling the back roads of America staying under the radar and picking up small jobs here and there. Most of the time I find shelter in abandoned buildings, but sometimes I manage to rent a place for a month or two. I’m currently staying in an old worn down apartment building that was abandoned not too long ago and I’ve been here for almost three months. There’s no power in the building and it is still nighttime. I sit there replaying my memories, but they only go so far back. The only things I remember from my entire life is the war, the experiment, the escape, and now. I managed to keep one torn photo throughout everything of a young girl whom I think is my sister. She has blue eyes and dark hair like me, but other than my picture I have zero memories of my family, my childhood, my friends, and everything in between. My guess is that the government took it away somehow to have leverage against me, and sometimes I wonder if it would be worth it. To go back to them and endure through the pain just to remember my mothers name, but I know if my family is out there and loves me as much as I hope they do, they’d want me to be safe. So for now all I’m trying to do is live a normal life while managing to stay hidden. Out of the corner of my eye I see the sun beginning to rise off in the distance. I get out of the small creaky bed and make my way to the bathroom. I step in front of the mirror and just stand there for a moment. My blue eyes once bright and full of energy are now just icy cold marbles. My pale skin makes all of my scars stand out. I stare at each one individually testing myself to see if I remember how I got it. I can recall the one from the ambush, a few from my countless surgeries, and most of the rest from the experiments. All of the muscle I once had from military training is completely gone and my ribs are clearly visible. I wash my face in the dirty sink and change into an old pair of dark jeans with a plain white t-shirt. It’s still too dark outside to see much of anything, but I can definitely hear something out in the hallway. Sounds of heavy footsteps, but only one set of them. I step back into the darkest corner in the room and focus on the door. The sound got closer and closer but finally came to a sudden stop. Before I even saw the shadow under the door something came sliding in from beneath it. The footsteps stated again but the sound got quieter and quieter until I couldn’t hear it anymore. I emerged from the corner and out to the paper that had been pushed under the door. I unfolded it and began reading:
“Dear Jaxon,
I know it has been a while but we really do need you in order to complete the operation. We understand that you plan on never returning here to finish the program but there is more on the line that just you and your life. Your body was most compatible with the system and could handle to tests, but everyone else we have tried is now very sick. Therefore, if you do not return to assist us we will have no choice but to continue looking for the right candidates whether they survive or not. Well, you know where to find us if you decide to do the right thing.”
As I finish reading the note my phone begins to ring. I walk over to it to check who’s calling but it reads UNKNOWN. I answer and put the phone up to my ear.
“Who is this?” I said.
“I guess you could call me an old friend.” The voice said.
“Why do you have this number, and why are you calling me?” I asked.
“I think we have some catching up to do, I mean it has been about 10 years hasn’t it?” The voice taunted me as it said this. They knew where I was so hanging up wouldn’t do me any good. I just wanted to be done with all of it.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
“Well I’m sure you’ve read the letter by now, but in case you haven’t we need you to come back to help finish what you started in the programs and-” The voice was cut off by a high pitch scream coming from the other end of the phone.
“What was that?” I asked, getting angrier at this man.
“Oh that was just one of my other…um… friends. She just got here a few days ago, I think you guys would really like each other.” The voice let out a little snicker. It took everything I had to not throw the phone at the wall repeatedly.
“So what you’re saying is that if I come back to finish the experiments you’ll stop hurting the innocent people?” I asked, trying to calm myself down.
“That is exactly what we are saying.” The voice paused. “So, what do you say?”
I knew that whatever my answer was they would still be after me considering they knew my location now. If I went with them there’s no promise that they’d actually let those people go. I stared down at the phone being clenched in my hand. I slammed it down on the ground and ran over to my bed. I grabbed my backpack and threw the few valuable things I had into it and ran to the hallway. Whoever had dropped off the letter was probably close by, so I jumped out the window and braced myself for the third story drop. I landed softly in a mound of trash and rolled myself into the dead grass. I heard yelling and gunshots coming from behind me but I didn’t have the time to turn around and look. I sprinted into the woods closest to the apartment building and just kept running. The gunshots stopped and the yelling could no longer be heard. I stopped and looked around me, but there was no sign of anyone or anything besides me, and the trees. I walked for a couple more hours until I became too tired to continue. I found a rock to sit on next to a stream and opened up my backpack. I rummaged through it in search of my water bottle but instead came across my picture; the torn one of the beautiful girl. I sat there in the woods and stared at the picture just trying to remember who she was. A tear started to run down my face because I knew I would never remember, no matter how hard I tried. I realized that I would never get the chance to have a normal life considering that just when I thought I had gotten away from the government, they had found me. What struck me even harder though was that they would continue to do this to people. More and more people would have their memories taken as well as their chance at a normal life. The government needs to be stopped, and I am the only one that can save those people. Well, if I plan to go shut down this program I’m going to need as much rest as I can get. It’s still bright outside but I lay down next to the rock on the plush grass anyway and drift off into sleep.
I stand up and look around. I’m standing on a hill and the wind is blowing the grass so elegantly. Everything looks perfect and it all feels so peaceful. I turn around and see a girl standing there. I look closely and realize she’s the girl from my picture. She looks at me with a sad face but doesn’t move. I take a step towards her and she cries out, “Jaxon! You need to help me! We need you to save us! You’re the only one…” Tears poured down her face and my vision goes black.
I sit up trying to process what had just happened. Then, all of a sudden a pair of headlights is pointed directly towards me and the car just barely misses me. I frantically look around only to find that I’m sitting on the shoulder of a road. Right after the experiment I would end up sleep walking to various places, and I guess with everything that has been going on I slept walked again. The hardest part had always been figuring out where I had ended up. Off in the distance I saw an old road sign. As I walked over to it I started to read it; it read “Government Facility, Do Not Enter”. I knew exactly where I was and I needed a plan. I moved from the shoulder of the road back into the foliage and continued walking down the road towards the facility. I am much stronger now than I was when I escaped meaning it should be easier, but their security is probably stronger and more intense now. In most movies they go through air vents so maybe that would work. I look up from the foliage and notice that there are only a few feet remaining between me and the wall of the building; I had gone under the fence without even acknowledging it. I got out from the plants and jumped up to put my back flat against the wall. Staying undetected would be the hardest part. I scooted across the side of the building until I came across a large square air conditioning vent. I pried off the door and crawled in. There was just enough space for me to be on my hands and knees without my head rubbing against the ceiling. I continued down the vent cautiously and slowly making sure I didn’t make any sound. The ventilation in this facility ran through the walls and was close to the floor instead of the ones put in the ceilings, which meant I wouldn’t be falling through into a random room at any time. I crawled past multiple vent openings but they all lead to empty hallways. Finally I came across the one I needed. This vent opening would lead me straight to the operation room and from there I could go directly to the hallway where they keep their subjects. I leaned my face up against the vent to listen and look for any signs of people. When the coast seemed clear I put my feet against the vent and kicked it right out of the wall and crawled out. I stood up and brushed off my clothes as quickly as I could and made my way to the operation door right across the hall. I peeked in through the small glass opening on the door. There was the girl from my picture. She was strapped down on the surgical table with a single tube running into her arm. She was breathing but barely conscious. I didn’t see anyone else in the room with her though, not even a security officer. I wiggled the doorknob to see if it was locked, but to my surprise it wasn’t. I slowly opened the door and ran up to the side of this girl. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw me and began to whisper,
“I knew you would come for me.”
I don’t know why but I felt a deep connection to her and I knew I had to get her out of there as soon as I could. I made my way around the table unstrapping and unhooking everything tying her down. As I made my way to the tube in her arm a nurse walked into the room. She stared at me with wide eyes and ran out of the room yelling for security. I didn’t have much time left so I ripped the tube out of her arm and helped her get off of the table. She tried walking on her own and nearly fell so I take to take her arm and put it over my shoulder. We walked as fast as we could out of the room and into the hallway where the vent was. I pushed her in before me and told her to crawl forward. Then I crawled in behind her and closed the vent behind me. We crawled for a few minutes but then she stopped.
“Why did you stop?” I asked.
“I needed a break,” she said breathing heavily. I knew we didn’t have much time, but I needed answers.
“How do you know me?” I asked, as she looked at me puzzled.
“What do you mean? You don’t know me? You don’t remember?” She asked in confusion.
“They took my memories when they began the experiments. The farthest thing back that I can recall is the ambush,” I told her as I pulled out the picture of her from my backpack. “But I’ve had this torn photo with me and I also saw you in a dream I had.”
She looked at with big eyes of sorrow. “I’m your twin sister,” she said as she pulled out a folded photo from her pocket. As she unfolded it I could tell that it was the other half of the picture; the half with me in it. She took the torn photo from my hand and put it next to the one she had and fitted them together perfectly. It was a picture of the two of us and we looked like we were only ten years old. Before I could ask her anything else I heard thumping sounds coming from behind us in the vent.
“We need to go,” I told her as I helped her get moving again. She was crawling as fast as she could and I was following right behind her, but the thumping was getting closer. I could see the sunlight coming from the vent in front of us, which meant we were almost out, but the thumping was louder than it had ever been. She went up and pushed the vent open with ease and helped me out of the hole. I quickly pointed to the foliage and the road so she started to limp over. Before I could run to her side and help her I heard gunshots again. Then I was on the ground. I reached down to my stomach and a pool of blood quickly filled my hand. Without moving from the open fire I yelled out to her, “keep going and don’t stop until you’re safe!” I could see her from the tall grass and I could tell she didn’t want to leave me. The gunfire continued and once again my vision went black and I was trapped with nothing but my thoughts in the darkness of my mind.