They Exist

Chapter One

I wake up to another ordinary day. Slap the alarm clock. Sleep. Slap the alarm clock. Sleep. Wake up to mom yelling to get up... Sleep. Wake up ten minutes before the bus comes. Get dressed, eat a granola bar, put on shoes and off I go. Same fucking routine every morning.

See, you'd think that riding the bus to school in the morning would suck, right? Wrong. Its surprisingly really chill and for forty five minutes I have peace and quiet. Its the perfect opportunity to gather your thoughts, catch up on sleep, or do last night's homework. I even do my make up on there, despite the bumpy ride. I don't wanna sound cheesy but its a great way to start the day.

As we near the school, I untangle my headphones from my long dark hair and straighten out my shorts. I thank the bus driver on the way out and he pulls away. I feel a sudden vibration in my pocket and I check my phone. It's Melanie, my best friend. The text reads, Vi!!! meet me at my locker, I have exiting news!!! I chuckle, I mean how many exclamation points does one person need in a single text message? Thats Mel for you, she's always excited and happy about something, been like that for the eleven years I've known her. But that's what I love about her, she always looks at the brighter side of life. Her appearance even matched her sunny disposition. She has perfect strawberry blond hair that formed soft curls which fell just below her shoulders, a lightly freckled face, a bright smile, and big blue eyes.

As I walk closer to my locker I can see Mel already bickering with our close friend Dylan. Dylan always had a knack for saying just the right thing to make anyone angry, even Melanie, who happens to be his favorite victim. He was smart, athletic, and competitive, which never really mixed well with his hot temper. He has dark blue eyes,curly brown hair, which he keeps short, for sports I guess, and was very fit, probably also for sports.

"Whatever Mel, go hug a tree." I hear Dylan comment, once again poking fun at our nature-loving friend. "Oh shut up, Dylan no one cares about your stupid love life." Melanie retorts.

"What did you do this time?" I ask as I approach the two. "Violet! Thank God you're here, please tell him that no one cares that he and Avery broke up again." said Mel. "Again?" I ask, "Dylan, you gotta stop getting back together with her, she's boring and kinda mean." "Yeah but she's hot.. and popular." Dylan argues. Mel scoffs and gives him a look to which he rolls his eyes. "Shit. There she goes now! I'll meet with you guys later at the meeting." He says running after the blonde.

I turn to Mel, "What meeting?" I ask. "Oh yeah, we have a mandatory school meeting after 4th period today, for I don't even know what." says Mel, "I think it has something to do with our food drive." "Oh alright," I reply as take out books from my locker. "Oh yeah, what was the news you were texting about earlier?" I ask. Melanie's eyes widen, "Ethan Delman moved around his schedule and now we have the first two periods with him!" 'Thats awesome." I say. Ethan was famous for his good looks almost as much as he was infamous for his "bad boy" charm. His dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and perfect smile basically had every girl pining for him. "C'mon lets go!" Mel says excitedly as the bell rings.



Thirty minutes into the class, almost nobody is paying attention to the video anymore. Most of the guys are sleeping and the girls are busy chatting to each other or staring at Ethan, who was preoccupied with talking to Avery and Mel. It was like the two were having a contest to see who could hold his attention the longest. I hope Mel's winning. And by the looks of Avery's apparent increase in annoyance and amount of cleavage she's showing, Mel is winning. I on the other hand have successfully filled up two pages of my notebook with drawings, I've always been naturally creative.

"Wow those are really good." I hear out of nowhere. I look up to see Brandon peering over my shoulder, observing my work. He has black hair, blue eyes and was hilarious. He always makes me laugh, and lately I've been starting to really like him. "Thanks," I say, " I'ts been another super productive history class." He smiles, "It's good to know we've chosen a quality school filled with prestigious professors." He says as he gestures to our history teacher, who is currently trying his best to stay awake with no avail. I laugh and we continue to talk until the bell rings. I'm almost out of the classroom when I hear, "Hey Vi!," calls Brandon. I turn around. "Yeah?" "Wanna go out with me sometime?" he asks with a smile. "I'd love to." I reply smiling. I give him my number and proceed to find Melanie in the halls.

I find her and Dylan walking to our second period class. "There you are," says Melanie, "Where've you been?" " Sorry, Brandon just asked me out." I say beaming. "Oh my God, thats great!" says Melanie, " Ethan was this close to asking me out until Dylan's stupid girlfriend interrupted him." Melanie continues, using air quotes around girlfriend. I laugh. "Shut up, Mel." Dylan retorts, promptly starting another one of their fights.

Chapter Two

Second, third, and fourth period float by and the schools gathering at our auditorium for that stupid meeting. As we're sitting on the old theater seats the principle clears her throat on stage and moves towards the microphone. "Good morning students.." She greets and proceeds to tell us news on our ongoing food drive. After about ten minutes into her report, the lights go out.
Some people around us scream, jokingly. "Please stay calm and remain at your seats." commands the principle, "We have sent Mr. Joseph to the electric--" She was suddenly cut off and then we hear her scream.

Panic quickly spreads along the seats but just as people were beginning to make a run for it, the lights flash back on.
We notice all the teachers have been tied up and were currently lying on the stage floor. Dylan, Mel, and I quickly exchange a look of fear as we begin to noticed that all the exits have been barricaded by what seems to be and army of some sort. About twenty men clad with black armor and armed with large guns where covering the exits and marching in-between then isle.

As our classmates begin to realize the danger in the situation, they begin to panic and scream. A frenzy was threading to form when all of a sudden we hear two gun shots fired. One of the men shot down a student trying to escape through the door. I couldn't tell who the student was but that caused everyone to realize that those guys weren't playing around.

"ATTENTION." Commands a booming voice on the microphone. The entire crowd grew silent as we all watched the man on the podium, anticipating his next sentence. The man looked about forty five and was wearing a blue button down shirt, neatly tucked in his black pleated pants. His greying hair was parted on one side and his eyes were covered by a pair of round glasses. He looked like a teacher, except for the fact that he was currently holding a gun with one hand. He was stroking his beard as he watched us squirm, excitement apparent in his eyes.

Standing at the podium the man continued, " Good morning students," he began, in clear mockery of our principle. " As you can see, we mean business and I would gladly appreciate it if you all would cooperate. So don't even think about calling the police, we've blocked out all signals and don't you dare start running, because we can and WILL shoot you down, just as we did your poor friend here," he said motioning to the girl lying in her own pool of blood. The audience watched as he paced around the stage. " I bet all of you are wondering what exactly are we doing here and what we want." he paused. "We'll I'll tell you." he said as he once again paced back and forth. " But first let me ask you a question...do you believe in monsters?" he asked the audience. No one dares to reply. He chuckles, " Of course you don't, you're all grown up now. You don't believe in the boogy man, you don't believe in the creatures that dwell under the cover of darkness."He pauses "We'll I'm here to prove you wrong, I'm here to show you that it's real, its possible, it's all possible." He proceeds to walk down the stage and in-between the isles. "You there," he points to Avery, "Does a pretty young lady, like yourself believe in werewolves?" he asks with a menacing smile. She hesitates to answer. "Do you?" he asks louder, frightening her. "..No." Avery replies timidly. He chuckles. "Thats what I thought." he says as he motions to one of his men. The soldier immediately grabs hold of Avery's wrist and begins to pull her on stage. The soldier held her in place as the man motions to the side of the stage. Two more soldiers appear pushing a large box shaped object hidden by a red satin cover. Avery's eyes widen in fear as the man begins to pull on the cover. Slowly, the man revealed what looked to be a large metal box with a small slit one side and a heavy lock on the side facing Avery and the man. A soldier then proceeded to hand the man the keys. "And now the moment you've been waiting for, my dear.." the man says as he unlocks the door.

Silence filled the room as the crowd watched the the cage door swing open with an eery creak. Avery begins looks into the box and begins to beg, "Please, please, please, no." The man ignores her and motions to the soldier carrying what appeared to be an electric prodder. The solder obeys and prods whatever's inside it with a powerful stab. We hear a loud howl of pain followed by a growl. The creature reveals itself as it moves out of its cage and towards Avery and the man who was currently holding her down. The creature resembled a wolf almost the size of a man. It was covered in a with thick black fur, its large green eyes filled with anger as it bared his sharp teeth, growling. Avery was screaming trying to escape the man that held her as he stood there smiling proudly. "This my friends, is one of my creations--" the creature snarled and attempted to pounce the man but was quickly halted by the metal leash that attached it to the cage. Avery let out a shrill scream as tears flowed from her brown eyes out of sheer terror. The man continued, " This creature you see before you is the real deal. It is a real werewolf,brought to you by I, Dr. Ryder." The entire crowd watched in suspense as he slowly brought the frantic Avery closer and closer to the growling wolf. "Do you believe, now?" Dr. Ryder whispers. Terrified and shaken, Avery nods. "Great!" Dr. Ryder exclaims, "Put him away, boys." he commands the soldiers who quickly prod the wolf back into the cage and whisk it out of sight. The Dr. finally lets Avery go and she falls to the floor before she quickly scrambles back to her seat.

Dr. Ryder begins to once again pace the stage. " As I was saying, boys and girls, monsters just like the one you've just seen, do in fact exist." he spoke, eyeing the crowd. "You see, I would know because I'm the one that creates them. Which brings me to the problem at hand. Now that show and tell is over, let me get down to business. You see, in order for me to create these monsters, I need volunteers . And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the exact purpose of my visit here." Dr. Ryder finished explaining. "So who wants to help?" he asked with a sickening smile. Everyone is silent.
"Thats what I thought." Dr. Ryder says with a cackle. "No matter, I'll just let my men choose." And with that, the Dr. leaves with half his army, the rest, however, begin to leave their posts and move between the isles.

Everyone must have taken this as an opportunity to escape because soon everyone has left their seat, running towards any of the exits forcing the army to begin using their weapons. Shots and screams was that all that could be heard within the frenzy.

"Melanie!" "Dylan!" I yell frantically, as the crowd pulls us apart. I shove my way past panicking students, as someone grabs my arm. I look over to see a soldier tightening his grip pulling me towards a cage already filled with 3 students. "Let go of me!" I scream while kicking frantically at his ribs. One more big kick aimed at his side, and his grip slips. I run as fast as I can in the other direction. "Let go of her, you stupid fuck!" I hear Dylan yell. I follow his voice to find that Melanie was being taken by one of the soldiers. I run towards them and quickly try to help Dylan attack the soldier. The soldier then pulls out a pistol and aims it directly at Melanies head. "You can either let me take her or watch her die, your choice." the soldiers tell us. We stop fighting. Just then a soldier come from behind Dylan and sticks a needle in his neck, giving him a shot of what I assumed was some sort of tranquilizer. "Dylan!" Melanie and I scream just as another soldier comes up behind me and holds me still. And then all of a sudden I feel I sting on my neck. Shit. I thought to myself as I feel my legs give out under me. "Vi! Violet!" was the last thing I hear as I could only watch another soldier do the same thing to Mel.

Chapter Three


I wake up with a terrible headache to find out two things: one, my hands are now bound with metal shackles and two, I'm sitting in a cage covered with a tarp on some sort of moving vehicle.
"Vi!" I hear Melanie say. I turn around to see her and dylan in the cage with me. I notice that Mel's face has a scratch along her cheek and that Dylan's right eye was bruised along with a couple of scrapes everywhere. "You guys are okay?' I ask, trying to blink away the grogginess. "Yeah for the most part." Dylan replies.

I stretch out my arms and my back. "Ahh." I wince from the sudden pain I feel along my left side. I lift up my shirt to find that there is a large bruise forming on my side. "Shit. What the hell did they do to us?" I ask. "We must have put up a good fight." Dylan partially jokes. "How long were we traveling?" I ask " I'm not really sure, Dylan and I were only awake for only about ten minutes before you." Mel replies. "Do we have any cell phones?" I ask, hopeful. Mel shook her head, "I left mine in my purse ...at school."she said. We look at Dylan. "Nah, I had mine in my pocket but those bastards probably took it." he replies. Shot down, we sat in silence as the desperation of our situation sunk in.

"Well our parents and the police are probably looking for us." Melanie said forcing a smile on her face. Dylan and I nodded. "It's not like they can just gun down a school and kidnap students without anyone noticing." I say. "Yeah, our stories are probably the top reports on all the news networks." Dylan adds. Just as we were starting to get hopeful, I suddenly feel my stomach drop as if we were on a roller coaster. Alarmed, our eyes meet each other and we simultaniously realize we were on a landing plane. "Fuck. If were on a plane, we could be any fucking anywhere!" Dylan fumed.

I listen to the wheels of the plane as they skid along the runway jumping every so often. We tense up as we hear the plane screech to a stop. I can hear my own heart beat as we wait silently in anticipation. We can hear muffled talking and the door on the plane open. "Ahh they're here." I hear Dr. Ryders familiar voice say. I listen to his footsteps as he approaches us. "Hmmm. I wonder how many we have here." Dr. Ryder inquired as he peeled back one corner of the tarp. He quickly eyes us and then puts the tarp back on. "Three, thats perfect. Put them with the other two." He directed.
"So they caught two others." Melanie denounced. " Guess so." replied Dylan. Melanie gasped as we felt our cage move. I'm assuming they moved us on a truck as shortly after we could feel we were on the move again. We were traveling for what felt like another hour, when we suddenly came to a stop. As soon as we stop, someone lifts the tarp and throws some sort of a gas bomb inside. We tried to cover our faces, but we had no choice but to breath it in. I see Mel hit the floor, knocked out, and Dylan still trying to fight it as my vision starts to fade.


Chapter Four

I wake up to find myself comfortable on a bed. Was that all just a dream? I sit up and look around. I am alone in a large, nicely furnished room, complete with: a large flatscreen tv, a radio, a fridge, and a table with two chairs. The place was beautiful, everything was white with purple accents. I look around and notice that there are three doors in the room. I open one and find that it's a bathroom. Everything in it was white except for the towels, toothbrush, and hairbrush, which were purple. I head towards the toilet as I remembered my full bladder. I walk to the sink to wash my hands and I notice that the chains left painful red marks on my wrists, I wince as I wash. I looked into the mirror in front of me. I looked like a mess. My dark hair was tangled, my eyeliner was everywhere and I had a slight bruise on my right cheek. So I wipe away the my smeared makeup and use the hairbrush to brush my hair. I felt a little better after that. I continue to explore, what I assumed to be my room, and opened another door. I had my own walk in closet complete with some clothes that were either purple, white, or black. Okay, I can see the pattern here, I think to myself sarcastically. I close the closet and walk over to the last door. I try to open it and realize that it's locked. Oh that's right I almost forgot I was kidnapped and being held prisoner. Which reminded me, where is Dylan and Mel? I look around to find that I had no windows and no way out. Damn.

Just as I began to pace the room, trying to figure out what to do next, the tv suddenly flips on. My attention is immediately fixed on the large head on the screen, It's Dr. Ryder. "Hello ladies and gentlemen. I do hope you all enjoy your new rooms, please make yourself at home, you're gonna be here for a while." he divulged as he smiled. "I understand you all are wondering what are we gonna do it you. I promise all the answers will come with time. So as long as you listen to me, you and the others are safe. Because if you cooperate with us, we'll return the favor. And if you don't, well...lets just say your life doesn't have to be this comfortable." Dr. Ryder warned. "And since you all have been good little boys and girls, I'll give you a treat." he said just before the screen turned off. Within a second, the screen turned back on with five different sections. I notice that I'm now on the screen in one of the sections. I look at the other sections and see Mel in a blue themed room and Dylan in a red themed room. I also notice that that the other screen was showing Ethan in a green themed room and Jessica Saller, another one of our classmates, in a yellow themed room. So Ethan and Jessica were the other ones that were captured, I observe. Soon the speakers click and I could hear everyone yelling. "Hey guys!" I hear Jessica say excitedly. We all wave and say hello. "So Jess and I weren't the only ones captured, huh?" Ethan inquired. "Nope." answers Dylan. "I'm glad you guys are okay!" exclaimed Mel. " Yeah and these rooms are pretty sweet." I admit. "Yeah, I know, I mean i have a gigantic pool in mine!" Mel shared. "Wait a pool?" Ethan asks, " I don't have a pool but I have a huge sky roof in the shape of a dome, I've got so much ceiling space, its not even funny." "Hold on thats not fair, I don't have any of those things" Dylan interjects, " I've only got a --" and then the scene turns black. I can only watch as Dr. Ryder's face comes back onscreen. "Time's up, kids. Well there you go, you're a'll safe and accounted for. Now get some rest, take a shower, and put on your new clothes, soldiers will be at your door ready to pick you up for dinner in about 2 hours. See you soon." Dr. Ryder finishes as the screen turns off.


.
I feel anxious but excited to know that we'll get to see each other again soon. I decide to take a shower and get ready. As I leave the shower I noticed the cabinet in the sink. I open it to find it contained some makeup. Wow, they thought of everything,I think as I apply eyeliner my dark eyes and swipe on some cherry chapstick. I walk to my closet and put on a generic purple shirt and black pants. I look to see that they only supplied me with one pair of shoes;black combat boots. So I put them on and decide to kill time with some tv. It only showed a couple of select channels, probably to keep our location hidden, or whatever.

After about thirty minutes of channel surfing I hear a knock on my door followed by some guy's voice, "Please place both of your hands at the designated spot on the wall opposing this door." he directed. I look around to find two hand shaped indents on the wall and placed both my hands inside them. After about 3 seconds, a small green light blinks on as I hear the metal door slide open. " Do not remove your hands or consequences will be dealt." he says. "Okay, you win." I say tell him flatly. I crane my head over my shoulder to look at the soldier assigned to me. He looks about our age and has thick blond hair that barely grazed his big green eyes. He was wearing a black shirt, black pants,black combat boot, and a gun strapped to his back. Why isn't he wearing the stuff the other soldiers wore I wondered. "Believe me, no one's winning." he said as he walked closer holding a pair of handcuffs. He is about to put them on when he sees the red marks around my wrist. He looks at me and then proceeds to carefully place the handcuffs around my wrists at they're loosest setting. I could probably try to squeeze my hands out of these, I thought but instead I thanked him, Its not like I could've gotten far before he shot me down anyways. He nods "..this way." he gestures as I walk besides him.

We walked down several hallways before we reached, what I assumed to be the dinning area. "I'm Violet by the way." I say as he swipes his card to open the door. "Kellan." he replied. " Thanks again, Kellan." I say just before the door opens, revealing the others all dressed in the colors they were assigned, sitting at a long dinner table. We greet each other excitedly before one of the soldiers tells us to take our seats. As soon as we all were seated, a door in the center of the room opens. Out comes Dr. Ryder wearing his blue button down shirt and a coat over it. He naturally takes the seat at the head of the table.

"Good evening everyone, glad to see you all. Now before we get the meeting started how about some dinner?" Dr. Ryder coaxed as the staff began placing food in front of everyone. "Oh that's right," the Dr. recalls, "Boys, the handcuffs." The soldiers then start to remove our cuffs. Kellan walks by and gently frees my wrist. I tell him thanks. "Alright now, lets eat." Says the Dr. Other than Dr. Ryder asking us questions about ourselves, the table ate in silence. By the time dessert was being served, Dr. Ryder must have taken the hint that his presence was making everyone feel uncomfortable because he soon announces that he will be back after dessert to let our group talk comfortably. Dr. Ryder then walks away,motioning for his soldiers to come follow as well. As the soldiers march by I notice Kellan watch our group as if he wanted to stay. He makes eye contact with me and I offer a small smile as he walks away.

As the mood quickly lightens, we begin to discuss regular things, anything to get our minds off what could happen to us. I smile as I notice Ethan and Mel continuously flirt. "If I'm gonna be stuck here for awhile, I'm stuck with you." I hear Ethan croon. Dylan squints his eyes and then rolls them. "Really?" he sarcastically asks me. I laugh. We continue to chat until we hear footsteps. Dr. Ryder once again makes his way to the head of the table.

"Alright everyone, it's time to get this meeting started." he announces. "As you all know, from my previous statement at the school, you guys are here to volunteer-" "Bullshit, we were kidnapped." Ethan interrupts. We look at each other wide-eyed at his audacity. Dr. Ryder scowls and then clears his throat, "As I was saying, you all are here to participate in my little experiment. Think of it as doing your part for the scientific society." he advised.
"And if we refuse?" inquires Ethan. "Easy. I'll feed you to the other experiments." Dr. Ryder replies bluntly. " Alright and now that we're all on the same page here, does anyone have any questions?" " So you're really going to turn us into monsters?" I ask. Dr. Ryder chuckles "Well its a little more complex than that, but basically yes." "But why?" Dylan asks. " Because the people in today's world are too close minded. They're unafraid of anything and think they know everything. We need to make them believe in the unreal, make them see, give them a reason to be afraid of the dark again." Dr. Ryder elaborated. Its only now that I begin to fully notice just how insane the Dr. really is. "Will it hurt?" Asks Melanie timidly. "Some experiments will only need a shot, others will require an entire operation but rest assured we have everything we need to keep your transformations comfortable." Dr. Ryder explained. "Do we get to pick what we'll become?" Asks Jessica. "Unfortunately not, my dear. The scientists here and I have already decided your futures but know we did it with your best interests in mind." Dr. Ryder clarified. "Okay, if that's all the questions, we're are done here. But one last thing, be sure to check out the information I will have laid out for you on your nightstand tomorrow. It will prepare you for the next day's activities." the doctor advised before he left. The soldiers then begin to handcuff and escort us back to our rooms.

"So how long have you been working for Dr. Ryder?" I ask Kellan as we're walking back to my room. "Basically all my life." He answers. "Thats gotta suck. Why do you do it? Is the pay really that good?" I joke. Kellan smirks and says "Nope. I just never had a choice." I feel sorry for him. "Looks like were kind of on the same boat, I guess." I remark as we reach my room. "Yeah I guess so." replies with a small smile as he uncuffs me once again. "..umm...Goodnight." he says as he turns to leave. "Goodnight, Kellan." I say in return. I smile as I make my way to my bed, its been a long day.


Chapter Five


I wake up to the smell of pancakes and blueberry syrup. I stretch and look over at my table to find breakfast and a note. Here's breakfast, didn't wanna wake you up. Also, here's the information the Dr. was talking about, read the semi legible note. I smile as I put it down. After I ate breakfast and took a shower, I started reading the paper from Dr. Ryder.

Good morning, Violet. Hope you had a nice night yesterday and are ready for today's plans.

In preparation for your transformation:
- you must not consume anymore food after breakfast. Water is fine.
- Along with fasting, you are required to take shots that Kellan will administer ever two hours. I must also warn you that these shots will make you feel tired and you might wanna consider staying close to your bed and avoiding any extend periods of physical activity.
-You are also not permitted to be outside and must remain indoors, preferably away from any windows as well.

Please follow these guidelines closely as they are there only for your own health and well being. Also note that the other's will have different rules designed specifically for them so avoid anybody else's advice and stick to these. Other than that, enjoy you're day.

Note: I have made somewhat of a community area for you and your comrades to enjoy each other's company, as I realize that it is an important factor for your proper psychological development but rest assured there are strict rules for this new area and any attempts to misuse this new freedom will quickly have this privelage taken away. Please contact your assigned soldier to escort you to the designated area.

-Dr. Ryder

I sit for a minute, letting this all sink in. Is this really happening? Is this lunatic actually going to operate on us? Am I going to die? I begin to think about my family and how much I'm going to miss them. "Coming in." I hear Kellan announce just as I'm feeling more upset. Well at least he's not making stand against the wall like last time., I think to myself as I hear the metal door slide open.

I stare at the floor as he walks in. "Hey," Kellan says, "Did you read the information?" I nod as I take a seat at the table. He follows me and takes a seat before he pulls the small case he was carrying up onto the table. I watch in silence as he opens the container and pulls out a syringe and a small bottle of clear liquid. I quickly look away. We sit without speaking for at least a minute. " Is he going to kill me?" I breath quietly, finally breaking the tension in the room. Kellan looks at me seriously before looking away at a wall. " It may not seem like it now but before all these 'experiments', the Doc was one of the most highly esteemed scientist of his time. He's the best at what he does." Kellan responded, giving me a small amount of hope. "Alright then...give it to me." I say with faux confidence, handing him my right arm. He nods as he begins to sanitize the needle and my arm with an alcohol swab. He sticks the needle in the bottle and draws most of the clear liquid. "Wanna count or something?" He asks. I appreciate the attempt at trying to make me more comfortable. I stare at his green eyes as I begin to count. " 1..2.." I squeeze out before I suddenly feel a sharp pain shoot down my arm. "..3." I finish weakly as I feel the thick liquid being forced through my veins. Kellan quickly removes the needle and applies a sterilized bandage on the puncture. " You alright?" he inquires as he puts everything back in the case. " I guess." I reply, not quite sure. "Alright, I'll see you in 2 hours." He says as he turns to leave. "Wait," I interrupt," can you take me to the new community center or whatever he called it?" I ask hopeful. "Sure, follow me." He instructs as he holds the door open for me. I quickly get up from the chair and suddenly feel light headed but shake off the feeling. "Thanks." I say as I head out.



b}Chapter Six



I follow Kellan to the main corridor, where I suddenly notice a new door. He places his hand on what I guess to be some type of sensor and the door slides open. We walk through another hallway where he once again opens another door. The door glides to the side, revealing the latest addtion to Dr. Ryder's facilities. There was an intricate patterned stone pavement laid upon the lush realistic grass leading to various areas of the grand room. The room looked like it spanned a mile in every direction including up. The room had an extremely high ceiling, which was actually a large glass dome peering into the vast blue sky and filling the room with beautiful natural lighting. Just about 6 feet underneath the ceiling stood the tallest tree. It was very large and sturdy with leave covered branches reaching out in all directions providing ample shade. Right beside the grand tree was a large, deep pool filled with crystal clear water gently flowing from the various "rivers" that lead to certain areas of the room. Next to the