2

We were lined up in the middle of the room, facing the man named Vic. There were guards everywhere and people scattered around, dressed in white lab coats. The moment we entered, the answer I was searching for, became clear.

For the past nine days, I had raked my brain for a reason, questioning why I had been taken. With little knowledge of the situation and endless possibilities, I nearly went crazy trying to figure it out.

Now that I knew why, I felt no relief whatsoever. My attention went straight to the syringes filled with blue liquid and dread blossomed in my gut for what was to come.

A woman walked up next to Vic and he bowed low, in a respectful manner. This caught me by surprised, seeing someone as large as him acting submissive towards a petite Asian woman. With a slight wave of her hand, the room fell silent and Vic took a step back. He had been dismissed.

Her black hair was tightly slicked back into a bun and there wasn't a wrinkle to be seen on her pristine lab coat. From the proper way she dressed to the graceful movements she made, everything about her screamed composure.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Choi, head of Experiment EXO," she greeted warmly with a smile. "You may be wondering why you were chosen for this. Simply because it is your destiny. Fate and science have brought us here today and believe it or not, this is a moment that will go down in history. You boys are very special, very special indeed. Out of the 7 billion people in this world, only the nine of you carry the EXO gene, something I discovered by pure luck. You see a decade ago, I was just a doctor but one day a young boy came to my hospital and that changed everything."

Her eyes met mine and I realized she was talking about me. Even though I was shocked, I showed no reaction, trying to keep my expression neutral. I stared at her intently but I didn't recognize her at all. Was I too young to remember or had she changed entirely?

Finally, she looked away from me and continued, "the boy's mother explained that her son had been feeling faint so she thought there was a chance he had anemia like his father. I tested his blood and he didn't have anemia but to my surprise the results were outstanding, like nothing I'd ever seen before. My curiosity got the better of me and I became obsessed. I ran experiment after experiment on it and discovered unimaginable things. The nine of you are truly filled with limitless possibilities."

The look on her face was one of tremendous joy and that alone was scarier than all of the guards in the room. My instincts told me that this woman, albeit small, could inflict pain in the worst ways possible. Looking at the bigger picture, physical suffering was insignificant because no matter how many hits I took, my body would heal. But my mind wouldn't.

This entire situation was my fault, so in a way I deserved it. Everything they were going to do to us, was on me. If I hadn't gone to her hospital, she wouldn't have discovered this gene in the first place and the nine of us wouldn't be standing in this room today. We would be anywhere but here and most importantly, we would be safe. 

 Although, I was just a child, at eleven-years-old how was I supposed to know that I would be the cause of my own suffering. Also, it was my mother's decision to take me to the hospital, not mine. When you're a kid you do what your parents tell you to, so I had no choice in the matter. 

Every moment that brought us here today somehow didn't seem like a coincidence. Since if a slight change in the past were to occur, a completely different story would have been told. If I had gone to a different hospital or if another Doctor had been assigned to me, this could have been avoided entirely. 

There were too many what ifs but they were all useless. I knew one thing for sure and that was the past would never change. Right now, there was only the present and the future. However, both looked bleak. Leading up to this point, there had been too many variables that had fallen into place for the nine of us to be gathered. It made me think maybe Doctor Choi was right, maybe this was our fate. 

"I gave up my whole life for this project and you wouldn't believe the things I had to do to get here. Anyway, enough about that, it's all in the past now. Finally, I have the nine of you right where I want. So let's begin the experiment and see what you really are capable of," Doctor Choi concluded, keeping her gentle smile in place.

She was probably around thirty-five-years-old but even-so she was still very youthful. There were no wrinkles on her face and her skin was milky white. Some would even describe her as beautiful but I knew it was all a façade. Her beauty was a trick because lying underneath it I could tell was something ugly and evil.

Suddenly, someone lunged towards her whilst yelling in anger, "you have no right to do this!"

Vic stepped forward protectively and whipped out the baton from before. However, I realized it wasn't standard as electricity cackled from the weapon. He struck the attacker right in the stomach, making him crumble to the ground with a cry. Tremors ran through the boy's body and now that he was lying curled up on the ground, I could distinguish that it was Baekhyun.

After me, he had been the second taken. The two of us had spent the most time together and from what I could I tell, he was extremely bright. His personality was cheerful and funny which made him likeable. Even in this horrible situation, he had been able to make us laugh.

He wasn't always like that though. He was unexpectantly serious when he wanted to be and I could also tell that he was angry. His rage got in the way of logical thinking and it made him impulsive. I realized it the day we met, when the guards had come with food and he had rebelliously hurled it back at the cell door.

Nobody moved and the rest of us just stared as the scene unfolded. I was holding my breath waiting for reassurance that he was alright. Slowly Baekhyun tried to get up but his arms gave out from underneath him. Vic nudged his body with his foot like he was a piece of trash on the ground and I didn't want to watch anymore.

"Remember the rules? Respect and obey," he stated venomously.                                    

"Respect is earned," Baekhyun croaked. Even in his weak state he was still talking back. I didn't know whether it was admirable or just plain stupid. He added in a clearer voice, "plus why would I follow orders from a mutt like you?"

Rage flashed across Vic's face and he kicked him in the stomach so hard I was surprised I didn't hear the sound of bone cracking. An ear-piercing scream came out of Baekhyun but a moment later it was cut off by the current running through him. Vic had delivered another blow with the baton.

The look of pain on his face was too much to bare and I couldn't stand it. I had a strong urge to protect him because just standing by and watching was completely against my principles. Also, guilt weighed down on me, trying to swallow me whole as I thought: this was my doing.

On impulse I lunged forward just as Vic was about to strike again but he paused when saw me. I covered Baekhyun with my body in a defensive stance, not worrying about the consequences. An ache pierced my chest when I felt the electric vibrations from his trembling body. I shouted, "STOP! Just stop. Please, I beg of you."

I was ripped away from him by two guards, each holding me up on either side. I struggled against them, yelling at them to let me go, but it was no use. They were both nearly twice my size and since I've not had a proper meal in days, I was too weak.

Vic raised his hands and slowly clapped. Once. Twice. Three times.                                   

The sound was deafening to my ears and I prepared myself for pain.             

"How courageous of you. Now this is what I call real friendship," Vic mocked. He raised the baton towards me and I started fighting harder trying to escape the grip of the guards. "Well since you're offering to take the bullet for him, I'll make it count."

The pain was instant. I couldn't do anything but feel. My mind went blank and my body became limp as uncontrollable spasms rocked through me. I wanted to throw up but there was nothing in me, my stomach was empty. I could hear someone screaming in the background but as I became more alert, I realized it was me.

"Enough," a female voice ordered and I assumed it was Doctor Choi. The guards finally let go of me and I dropped to the ground with a thud. I stayed there unable to move, waiting for the pain to subside.                                                                                                   

At the snap of her fingers, I was being lifted from the floor. There was no fight left in me. I couldn't even feel the pain anymore as numbness spread through me. I was set down on something soft and I knew it had to be the hospital bed. The experiment was about to start.

They strapped me in with thick belts that were attached to bed, making sure all movement was restricted. I turned my head to the side to see the same was happening to all nine of us.

I knew there would be no point in resisting. There was no way I could break free from the restraints, especially in my exhausted state. I just laid there staring up at the ceiling, hoping for a miracle, hoping that someone would burst through the door and save us all. I prayed and begged, if there was a God or an Almighty being out there, now was the time to show up. 

But in the end, no one came to save us. We were on our own. It wasn't like in the books and movies where the good guys win, this was real life. This was our reality.

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