Featherlight (3 page)

I was going to die. If I were kidnapped, I wouldn’t get my next chemo
treatments, which means that it would come back. Also, I’ve been exposed to so
many germs that were on these men. My immune system was weakened from the
chemo, so I would die soon from the infections. What a depressing realization.

The last thing I remembered was telling the woman to keep me safe. Or
perhaps I threatened to kill them all, because my brain wasn’t functioning
coherently at the time. Regardless, I hope she heard me.

Part III

Thoughts drifted through my head, and none of them made any sense. My
mind was an abstract mess, but I was pleased to just float along. As I began to
come back to the world, the memories sluggishly returned. The woods, the gun,
the strange men, the drugs. I moaned either in my mind or physically, I couldn’t
tell.

I did a quick assessment of my body. I was lying down on a bed. Everything
was in working order, as far as I knew. It felt like I had a slight fever, which
wasn’t surprising, considering all of the germs I had come into contact with
during my kidnapping.

A voice spoke near me, “She’s awake!”

At this, I cracked my eyes open just a tiny bit. Bright white lights
invaded my vision. I quickly shut them and recoiled. Wait. What was I doing?
Where was I? I should try to escape!

The rational part of my mind told me to wait, to see where I was and
what was happening. I couldn’t wait. I was in danger! My eyes snapped open, and
I tried to quickly sit up, but I couldn’t. Something was holding my chest
against the bed, and my arms were strapped down. I saw a woman standing near
me, and a man was walking in the door.

“Let me out of here!” I told the people who were just watching me
struggle.

Everything was white and plain like a hospital. An institution. A
cell. Even though it wasn’t a good idea, I began to panic. My voice was
scratchy and fearful. With my chest, legs, and hands strapped down, all I could
do was arch my back and fight against whatever was keeping me strapped against
the bed. Struggling against the restraints was not a good idea because it would
only add to the many bruises I probably already possessed.

The man’s eyes widened and the woman took a few steps back. I heard
groaning metal, but before I could entirely break through, my arm began to
tingle. When I glanced down, I saw a needle in my wrist. Thanks to my cancer, I
had grown to hate needles. Before I could think about what was going on, my
ears started ringing, and my vision went black.

||||

Happy thoughts weighed me down. I opened my eyes to see bright lights
and a large face looming over me. They must have given me something powerful,
because I felt
amazing.

“Hello!” I told the face with a smile.

Maybe I could try charming my way out of this place. My hands were
free, so I began slowly trying to sit up into a more comfortable position. The
room was quite bare, and it reminded me of living in a castle with princes and
elegant gowns. After surveying my surroundings, I turned to the man beside me.
He looked awfully familiar, kind and fatherly. Maybe he was the king in this
castle. I smiled slowly at my own joke. I’m so funny!

My head spun. Goodness, what was wrong with me? I knew enough to keep
my mouth shut and my thoughts inside my head to keep from sounding like a
complete moron.

While I was staring at the stranger, he asked me, “How are you
feeling?”

That voice! The stranger was Henry!

I answered him, “Wonderful! You aren’t a bad guy, are you?” I looked
up, waiting for him to respond.

“Of course not!” he told me. The corner of his mouth turned up, just a
tad.

“You are really tall,” I said slowly, while looking up at him and
trying to keep a smile off my face. So much for keeping my mouth shut.

I wanted to run away, which, after a moment of thought, sounded kind
of strange to me. What was going on with my head? Where were all these oddly
happy thoughts coming from? Henry’s jaw clenched as he took a deep breath. He
backed up until he hit the far wall with a thud. I was confused, hurt. The room
didn’t look quite like it belonged in a castle. I began to feel annoyed.

How dare they drug me! My thoughts cleared and I realized what had
happened. Drugged again. I felt my face warp in anger.

Fortunately, someone decided to walk in before I began another mental
breakdown. I turned my glare to the person who had just walked through the
door. I was assuming it was the doctor since he sported a white coat with
various medical instruments.

“I’m Adam Liwitz,” he told me as I sat scowling. He looked to be in
his mid-thirties, with fluffy white hair and a comical white mustache.

Adam looked at Henry accusingly and told him, “Her body breaks the sedatives
down when she gets emotionally unstable.”

I took a breath to tell him exactly what I thought about him saying I
was unstable when he turned back to me and said, “I’m here to help you.”

His voice held so much concern that I deflated on the spot, all anger
gone.

“I’m going to ask you a few questions and run some easy tests.” He
noticed my eyes narrow. “Nothing painful. I’m just to make sure you’re not
damaged in any way.”

I wanted answers. I needed to know what was happening. Why should I speak
to this man when he hasn’t proven himself trustworthy? Whose side is he on?

 “No. I have Acute Myeloid Leukemia, so I suggest you release me and
take me back home so that I don’t die,” I told him with as much dignity as a
person lying on a hospital bed could muster. “So here’s how this is going to
work. You’re going to answer any questions I have. If I like the answers I get,
then I’ll answer yours. After we are done, you will take me home.” I slowly
lifted my chin and glared at him.

Two months ago, I would have never been able to say that to someone. I
guess going through the chemo sessions helped me gain a spine, because if you
want to survive leukemia, then you had to get tough.

“Yes, Jacque. We are aware of your leukemia, and rest assured that we
are going to get you back to health. Help us help you by answering our
questions,” Adam said with a calm, comforting voice.

We had a stare down of sorts. This was a man who expected his orders
to be followed. Normally, I would have gone along with everything, since he was
a doctor and all. Adam knowing Henry made this a whole new ball game.

“Now, can you tell me your name?” He completely ignored me and asked
his stupid questions anyway.

“No,” I indignantly told him after spotting my glasses on the bedside
table. I thrust them on my head. I knew I was being childish, but it was hard
not to hate these people as my fever gave me a constant reminder of the
infections.

“Age?” He continued as if nothing was amiss.

“60,” I said this with no hesitation. Eh, I was only about 40 years
off. The doctor didn’t even look ruffled.

“Hometown?” He just kept at it.

“Don’t know,” I replied nonchalantly.

“Hmm,” Adam looked thoughtful for a minute. “Well, Jacqueline Winters,”
he said to prove he knew more about me than I knew about him. “It looks like
you have an extreme memory problem.”

He looked sincere. Smart-ass. Henry cleared his throat from the
corner.

We turned to him and he asked, “Do you think we could fill her in on
the basics, Adam? She was stolen from her home.” 

I almost snorted. That was an understatement. To be exact, they chased
me down, broke into my house, drugged me, and then drugged me
again…
enough said. I didn’t mention any of this though, seeing as how some of my
questions were about to be answered, thanks to Henry.

 Adam sighed. “Very well, where do you want me to begin?”

I decided to start from the beginning. “Why did they take me?” I then gestured
to Henry by the wall.

“They want to return you to your own,” he paused for a moment before
finishing, “family. More specifically, your kind.”

“Our kind? What does that make you?”

“Human.” My mouth formed an ‘o’ as I chewed this over. These people
were crazy. I decided to play along, even as my body began to voice its
complaints. I most definitely had an infection.

“And that makes me…?” I raised my eyebrows skeptically.

He leaned forward as he asked, “Do you believe in the supernatural?”

“The supernatural belong in books, in the imagination.” I insisted as
he shook his head.

“There are things out there, Jacque, that do not stay on the pages of
books. They do not exist only in the confines of one’s imagination. You are
living proof.”

I needed to get out of this place and get some fresh air. These people
were lunatics.

“Heartbeat is increasing.” Henry told Adam from the corner of the
room.

I wanted him to be quiet. How did he know? I shut my eyes tight. I was
not going to panic.

“What are you?” I breathed.

The question was meant to go to Henry, but the doctor answered, “Me?
Why, I’m human, child.  I guess you are human, too. Technically, you’re just
not all human.”

I stuck my head in my hands and the feel of my hairless head made me
realize that my hat had fallen off. At first I was embarrassed of my bald head,
but I soon forced the feeling away. Why should I care about my looked in front
of kidnappers?

Maybe if I didn’t see them they’d disappear. How was I going to get
out of this mess? I didn’t believe a word they said. Did I? I pulled my knees
up and mashed my face against my skin. With my arms wrapped around myself and
my face hidden, I could almost imagine I was somewhere else. A place where
things actually made sense. Bruises ran down the length of my arms, but I
refused to look at them. Just when my condition started getting better,
something like this had to happen.

“I’m here,” Crazy Adam continued after seeing that I was in no
condition to ask more questions, “because I am the head doctor.”

He made it sound important. I could have cared less.

“Huh?” I asked intelligently while looking up at him.
Time to stop
hiding, Jacque.
I told myself.
Time to toughen up and figure a way out
of this place.

“This medical center is one of two on Earth.” My eyebrows rose in
question and he said, “Think of it as a town or a base, if you will.”

“Mhmm.” Boy, my intelligent replies knew no end. But what else was
there to say? “You said earlier I wasn’t all human. What else do you
think
I am?”

 “We have reason to believe that
you are a folium.” He gave a
long pause. “Not a full one yet. That’s only after you go through the Change.”

Adam waited, watching my face for any signs of emotion. “The Change is
much like what a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly.”

I stayed silent, so he continued, “For a caterpillar to become a
butterfly, it changes inside a chrysalis. The cells rearrange while the
caterpillar is incased inside, and when it emerges, it is a butterfly. The folium
change works in the quite the same way, but you won’t grow a chrysalis.”

“So you’re telling me that I’m going to go through a cell change and
grow wings.”

“Well, yes, but-”

I interrupted, “Mhmm, okay. Thanks for the heads up.”

It would be best to get out of here as soon as possible. I stood up
from the bed and took several steps before noticing two things. First, the door
was blocked. Somehow, Henry had made it across the room faster than I could
blink. Second, my back felt stretched, pulled somehow. It felt like my body was
too big for my skin. I reached around to feel my back, and my fingers didn’t
feel smooth skin like they should. I felt a bulge on my lower back, like lumps.
Then I moved my hand up as far as it could go, and just felt more lumps. I
screamed.

I was a part of some crazy, wacky science experiment. The doc was
feeding me lies to see if I’d believe him. Oh boy, I’m gonna die. No, no, the
lumps were just some rare side-effect of the chemotherapy. That’s it. Getting
out of this place became even more imperative.

Backing up from Creepy Henry and the Insane Adam, I tried to plan my
next course of action. Make a run for the door and get in a fight with Henry? No.
He looked stronger than me, and I knew he was faster.

Didn’t Henry know the doctor? A plan formed in my mind, and I could
almost hear the light bulb over my head flick with power. Before I could talk
myself out of it, I lunged for the doctor, using a move from my self-defense
class. Henry figured out my plan and lunged for me. He was too late.

Suddenly, I had the doctor in a head-lock, cutting off just enough air
to keep him from passing out. I was weak from the chemo, but adrenaline gave me
much needed strength. Luckily, the doctor had never been in this kind of
situation, and he just sat there tugging at my bruised arm.

I began to edge against the wall, towards the door, staying away from Henry
the whole way. He turned and watched me as I slowly reached for the doorknob.
Why wasn’t he doing anything? Couldn't dwell on that now. I could almost taste
the freedom. I turned the knob and pushed the door open, then slowly took a
step backwards.