Natalie’s eyes blinked open. For a moment she thought she was just waking up in the morning, then everything came back in a rush, volleyball, and the sandman, and getting beaten up. At least she wasn’t sore, since the sand wasn’t hard enough to leave so much as a bruise. Her vision cleared, and she saw a warehouse full of boxes and strange electronics. Computers filled the wall closest to her, but beyond them it was too dark to see. She got shakily to her feet, and then she saw the glass. She was standing in some kind of cell with a clear door. Concrete walled her in on either side. Natalie sat back down on the cold cement floor. Obviously that sandman had been sent to capture her, but why? What made her so different from everyone else on the beach that had made the creature go after her, and her alone?
Movement in the darkened end of the warehouse caught her eye. Something was coming her way. A bizarre figure emerged from the gloom; some sort of red alien with two huge eyes, a smile stretching all the way across its face, two short arms, and a mass of quivering red tentacled bunched up underneath it that allowed it to slide along the floor. Natalie blinked at it. What is that? she thought. The creature slid in front of the computers and started them up. She saw four monitors with pictures of kids, their families and a map with black dots on it. One of the photos was her school picture from last year. The other screen showed a face. The creature seemed to be talking to it, but just as the face itself was blurred, she couldn’t quite make out what was being said. No doubt she wouldn’t have been able to understand it anyways. She examined the door. Maybe there was a weak point on the hinges or something. She got up and hit one as an experiment. The only result was a clang that sounded around the room. Well, that didn’t work. She stepped back as the alien’s head turned towards her and it started sliding in her direction.
“Don’t bother,” it said, its voice sounding surprisingly human. “These are built with the latest technology in containment, using advancements the likes of which the Earth has never seen.”
“What do you want?” She backed away from the thing on the other side of the glass. The alien stared at her without blinking.
“Only your cooperation in a small experiment.”
“I think I’d rather not.” Natalie's heart pounded in her chest and she struggled to control her rising panic. You’ll never get out of this if you start freaking out.
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in the matter. Your cooperation is requested, but not required.” The alien studied her, making Natalie’s breath catch in her throat. “Not this one-I’m set up for the energy subject.” It slipped along the floor out of Natalie’s field of vision, then reappeared dragging a black-haired girl towards a door in the far wall. Natalie sat on the ground, watching the closed door. After a few minutes, screams filled the empty space. Natalie put her hands over her ears, her elbows resting on her bent knees. Don’t think about her. Don’t think about yourself. Think about escaping. You’ve got to get out of here, somehow.
Natalie watched as the alien returned, the unconscious body of the girl wrapped in a tentacle. It returned to Natalie’s cell and opened the door a little. Natalie fought the grip of the tentacle that closed around her arms and waist to no avail. Cold, helpless fear replaced panic as she was carried into the little room. There was a complex array of alien machines and equipment positioned around an operation chair. The alien strapped Natalie’s arms and feet down in the chair and picked up a pair of tubes, which it proceeded to insert into each shoulder. Natalie yelped as the needles went into her veins. Something cold invaded her body, making her limbs numb and heavy. Then the alien switched on the machines, and all she could feel was pain. Her own screaming drowned everything out until she passed out.
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