The Price of Power

Dr. Mad

    Over the course of the next few hours, the "doctor" continued to make his way around the room, taking everyone in turn. All were returned to the same room with the same tubing sticking out of them as the first girl, all unconscious. About half of the room had been taken by this point, the five closest to the door all lay motionlessly on their beds.

    It was at this halfway point that the first victim had finally woken up. She started turning, her cuffs catching her arms, as her eyes fluttered open. She lay shrouded in confusion at first, but as her eyes wandered down, assessing her situation, she began to panic. Her eyes grew wide, zeroed in on the tubing sticking out of her side. She began opening and closing her mouth, taking big gasps for breathe as though she were going to scream, but was completely unable to mutter a sound.

    The second the others were alerted to her wakefulness, everyone immediately jumped in on questioning her, "Hey, you! What's you name?"

    "Where did he take you?"

    She stared at her tubing a bit more before managing to pry her eyes away from it, her eyes scanning the group of those still awake before processing the questions. "I... um, Mayu..." she managed to sheepishly mutter, "I... I don't know. It looks like... like an abandoned hospital or something here." Her voice was fragile, every word unsure. Her eyes returned to the tubing on her side as she shifted, "The hall....it was really long. He took me to a room at the end of the hall. It had these two really bright lights focusing on the center of the room, and was full of different machinery. That's all I saw before he.... he stuck a needle in me. It all went dark after that..." Her voice trailed off at the end and her eyes glossed over. Her small frame shuddered lightly as she lost focus of everything around her.

    "A hospital? Does that mean he might actually be a real doctor then?" someone questioned, the faintest glimmer of hope showing in her soft voice.

    "Ha! Yeah, a crazy doctor, maybe," another chimed in, you could just about hear his eyes rolling.

    "What did he do to you? What does he want from us?"

    "I, I... I don't know!" Mayu started to break down into sobs, shuddering violently, "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" Her tears bounced across the room.

    Speaking up over her tears, a man called out, "Did he say anything?"

    "No," she said between sobs, shaking her head, "not a word."

    "For real? Nothing?"

    "He didn't even pay any attention to me at all. It was like he couldn't even hear me when I spoke."

    "Does it hurt? The tubes I mean..." a scared little voice piped up.

    "I, I..." she struggled for words, looking back down over herself. She squirmed a little, the look of discomfort washing over her face as she moved, she whimpered softly, "I feel... sore. Not painful, just.. really sore... and uncomfortable."

    "What are they for?"

    She burst into a bout of hysterical tears, the questions becoming far too much for her to bare any longer. Her body shook as as muttered over and over again through her sobs, "I don't know!" She she continued her chant, only broken by her gasps as she hyperventilated. All the questions ceased as a cold dread again creeped across the room.

After a while, a small voice carried across the room, fear encapsulating her wavering words, "I think one's a feeding tube."

    Outside of Mayu's continued sobs, the room sat in silence for a long while after that, t least until the doctor returned for another person. This time it was for the person on my left, Max. Everyone else seemed as though they had just given up talking to the doctor by this point. All the previous questions and pleas desperately shouted out had fallen on seemingly deaf ears and they resigned themselves to look on in mute horror as the doctor went to claim his next victim.

    As the doctor started to wheel him away, a big, stupid grin stretched across Max's face. Perhaps he had lost it, or maybe humor was just him coping mechanism. Regardless, shock crept across me as Max opened his mouth, joking around in the most casual tone possible.

    "What's up Dr. Mad? What's on the to-do list for me today?" he grinned up at him. The silence didn't deter him, at this point, it was just expected. "Planning on sticking some tubes up my butt?" he asked, nodding towards the last girl he returned to the room, "kinky stuff that, but you should really be buying me dinner first. Let's say a steak at a fancy restaurant?"

    The doctor pause a second at that, chuckled, then continued pushing him forward. A small gasp escaped my lips, as well. a few others in the room. I wasn't much, but that was the most human emotion we ha yet to see from him. I continued starring on in stunned silence as they disappeared through the doors and down the hall.

    Whispers spread across the room, utter surprise at Max's casual demeanor and ability to joke around in such a situation, as well as the fact that the doctor had even reacted. The display was on the tip of everyone's tongues as they delved back into conversation. The name Max had used when talking to the doctor, Dr. Mad, quickly became the doctors new nickname. Speculation about who he was and why he had taken us grew among us yet to be taken. It seemed only two people refrained from joining the conversation. There was Mayu, still whimpering in her corner of the room, curled up as much as her restraints and tubes allowed. Then there was me. Noting the order he had taken the rest, I knew I was next.

    My mind reeled. I could no longer focused on the whys and hows circulating the room. I could only focus on what would come next. I couldn't let myself be taken, that much I was sure of. After seeing how everyone came back, I was determined not to let that happen to me. I was terrified, not of the tubes, but of what ever was going to come next. Hadn't I been through enough recently? My whole world had been flipped upside down and shook around just a few weeks ago, and now? To be here? To be suffering through whatever fate awaited me here after already losing the most important thing in my life? It was all just too much. It was like one of those comic moments in a movie where someone calls out to the universe, cursing their situation while crying that it couldn't possibly get any worse. Then the universe would always answer the challenge by sending storm. This was my storm. The rain had already begun and I could hear the thunder on the horizon. I was afraid, though. Afraid that it wasn't just a storm, but a hurricane.

    I started twisting around in the bed, testing the full range of my motion as best I could. My arms were restricted by the cuffs, but my legs were free. I tried to twist my body off to one side so that I could swing my legs over the side, but the guardrails kept my feet from getting anywhere near the ground.

    "Andrea, what are you doing?" the guy to my right called out, noticing my erratic behaviour. Him and a few others had begun to watch me, looking at me as though I had gone crazy.

    "I'm going to kick him," I said defiantly, "the second he gets close, I'm going to kick him!"

    "And what do you plan to do after that?" he scoffed. A few soft giggles could be heard from the onlookers.

    "I'm going to kick him again." Someone burst into right out laughter at my terribly near-sighted plan, but I didn't care. I needed to do something, anything to fight back. I couldn't just let this be my new reality.

    "What's that going to accomplish?" he questioned, amused skepticism in his voice.

    "Does it matter at this point? At least I'm doing something" I glared at him, settling back into the bed for the moment.

    The now familiar clicks of the locks rung out, halting any further questions as the doors swung open. My head swung back to face Dr. Mad, fear and doubt covering my once determined face once again. The doctor came in, an unnerving smile spread across his face. He walked slowly through the room, as if to show off his latest work. Max lay unconscious on his bed, tubes hooked up to him just as like with the others, but his clothes had been replaced. A navy dress with a deep v-neck was stretched across his chest, bright red lipstick was smeared across his lips, and as he was wheeled back next to me, I could smell the faint floral smell of body spray sticking to him.

    Obviously amused by his own work, Dr. Mad grinned at me, I could feel him looking me over with his slimy eyes, "Let me guess, you would like the full romantic experience as well." His hallow chuckle haunted me.

    For a moment I remained stunned, all my thoughts grinding to a sudden halt as I stared at his attempt at a joke. It wasn't until he got much closer that I managed to snap out of my shock. Without a second thought, I began twisting my body. I kicked out as hard as I could, catching him off guard. My leg impacted with his neck, forcing him to stagger back, gasping for air. Before he could react or even wrap him mind around what had just happened, I kicked him again. This time my foot landed in the center of his chest and toppled him over, onto the floor. A small moan escaped his lips as he clutched his chest.

    A couple of excited cheers rose up around me, cheering me on in my endeavor. They might not of agreed with my plan, but they sure enjoyed watching our captor get what was coming to him.

    With the doctor now recovering on the floor, he lay just out of my reached. I tried to squirm and kick out once more, but my foot fell inches short of my target; I ultimately only managed to rock the gurney instead. As Dr. Mad recovered, he snarled, anger flashing across his eyes. Instead of getting up, he grabbed one of the wheels of the gurney and spun the bed around. As the bed move, I lost my balance in the middle of another futile kick, and rolled back onto my back. Dr. Mad was now at the head of the bed, looming right behind me. I tried to kick back, over my head, but it was hopeless. He managed to remain just out of the reach of all my continued efforts to get him. I writhed from side to side, fighting my cuffs, refusing to stop fighting back. He pulled a big needle from one of the pockets of his coat and snared at me,    "You'll pay for that," he spat venomously.

    He stabbed the needle into my arm, draining the clear fluid into me. I winced at the sudden sharp pain, giving a little shriek. The light began to fade quickly and I could feel all my strength escape me. My arms and legs grew heavy, and I didn't notice exactly when I stopped fighting. Within only a few seconds the world had faded away and I was plunged into darkness.