2037
I open my eyes slowly, blinking rapidly at the intrusive light that floods my eyes. It does nothing to calm the raging agony that pounds through my skull and I squeeze my eyes back shut, moaning hoarsely. I try to ease the pain by massaging my temples, only to find out I can’t move my hands.
Annoyed, I open my eyes again, trying to sit upright.
After several failed attempts, I lay back down, discouraged. The room is completely bare, except for me and the table I’m lying on. It’s fairly cold, and I shiver as I look at the reason I can’t move my hands. Restraints. The type they put on you when you’re a danger to yourself and others. I don’t remember being a danger to anyone though and pull at the restraints in a flash of anger, almost feeling my wrists snap from the force.
“Hey!” I yell. My voice sounds foreign, even to me, which is not that big of a deal if you consider it has sounded messed up for years now. This time it doesn’t just sound messed up though, it sounds completely different and I abruptly snap my mouth shut in shock. A further inspection confirms my fear: my entire body seems foreign.
Breathing heavily, I feel the panic spread from my stomach, to the rest of my body, my heart hammering dangerously fast in my throat.
“Hey!” I yell again, squirming and kicking as I try to break loose, “Help! Help me!”
“Shh! Jesus!” A voice behind me hushes and I strain to catch a glimpse of the man creeping up to me and the table. “You gotta be quiet, Thom! They can’t know I’m in here, or that I woke you up!”
He comes to stand next to the table, putting his hands on his hips with a concerned expression on his face. Although I can’t really place him, he looks awfully familiar.
“Do I know you?” I question, scrutinizing the man next to me up and down.
“That depends, Thom,” he replies. Now that I come to think of it, he sounds familiar too.
“Did you just call me Thom?” I ask with a frown. My middle name is Thomas, but nobody has ever gotten it in their minds to call me that, let alone Thom.
“Yeah… but that’s not your name, is it?” he hesitates, raking a hand through his short, grey hair. Although I’m lying down, I can tell he’s pretty tall and I can’t shake the feeling I’m supposed to know him as his blue eyes bore into mine. If I had to guess, I’d say he was somewhere in his late fifties.
I slowly shake my head, not daring to look away from his intense gaze.
“B-Brian?” he tries, uncertainly.
I nod, startled as he suddenly jumps up, his hand flying to cover his mouth.
“Oh my God! It is you! I mean, they said… they weren’t sure if… Oh. My. God!”
I narrow my eyes, not making any sense of his rushed words, “Could you please tell me what’s happening here? Who the hell are you?”
“Nick Carter, nice to meet you,” the man reaches out his hand to shake mine, suddenly a mile wide grin on his face.
“You must be joking,” I reply sceptically.
“I wish I was,” he comments, his smile slowly fading.
“God, Bri, it’s so good to see you, it’s been so long!”
“What are you talking about, I saw Nick yesterday!” I yell, angrily pulling at the restraints. The man towering above me frowns, leaning in closer.
“What’s the last thing you remember, Brian?” he asks softly, his face a mask of concern and so much like Nick’s now.
It’s making me fairly uncomfortable and I stammer, “I- I dunno, I mean, it’s kind of fuzzy. I think I was watching a basketball game with Baylee,” I supply, looking at him questioningly.
He clenches his jaw, a look of sorrow crossing over his face, “How old are you?”
“I’m 39,” I answer, not understanding.
He swallows, nodding slowly. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say there were tears in his eyes, “Damn it…” he mutters, turning away.
“What’s happening to me?” I question, uncomfortably aware of how pathetic it sounds, but needing to know nonetheless, “Where am I? Why are you so old?”
“It’s – it’s a long story,” the man hesitates.
“Well, tough,” I state and would have crossed my arms if I could.
“You’re in a facility we call ‘Plainsworth’, you’ve been here for six weeks,” he speaks soft, slowly, “They- the others- wanted to keep you asleep until we had found a solution, but I- I guess I’m just too damn curious, I needed to know for sure. It- it’s 2037, Bri…”
If they could, my eyebrows would have shot through the roof at his last comment, “Okay, that’s funny. You- you’re funny. Who did that make-up? Sheila? She’s better than I imagined,” I comment weakly with a nervous laugh, “Joke’s over Nicky, let’s get out of here.”
“Damn it, Brian, you don’t understand!” He suddenly explodes and I scramble back on my table at his anger, “everything’s messed up! It’s all my fault! I-I should have trusted the right person…”
“Can you untie me n-?”
“Mister Carter, what do you think you’re doing down there?” a voice suddenly booms through the room and we both look up in shock. Through the glass, I can vaguely distinguish a female figure standing in a room higher up than ours, her eyes boring into Nick’s mercilessly.
“Dr Marquer!” Nick stammers helplessly, “I- I just…”
“You knew your orders, Mr Carter, you were to contact the captive in no way. You have ignored direct orders, Mr Carter. Unless you want to end up like him, you are required to come up for interrogation.”
“I- I’m sorry,” Nick mutters dejectedly, hanging his head.
I watch breathlessly as Dr Marquer nods sternly.
“Nick?” I question, my voice small.
He ignores me, his gaze still trained on the window above us, “What are you going to do to him now?” He questions, his expression unreadable.
“It’s best for everybody if we put him under again,” Marquer’s voice drifts through the speaker. My head snaps up to the window now as well, then I turn towards Nick, a pleading look in my eyes.
“Nick? What does she mean? What are they gonna-?”
Nick shakes his head, tears brimming his eyes, “I’m sorry, Brian, I’m so sorry I fucked up! I’ll come back and save you, alright? I promise! I'll come back for you.”
“Mr Carter!” the lady in the room above us warns, “Step away from the captive.”
Nick nods quickly, slowly backing away, “I promise,” he whispers.
“No! Don’t leave me here!” I scream, trashing wildly on the table, “Don’t you dare leaving me here! D-don’t… I- … what-?”
I blink, trying to bring the sudden blurry images that swim around me back into focus. My body relaxes before my mind does and the last thing I hear before I fall into a dreamless, long sleep is Nick’s sorrow-filled voice.
“I’m sorry.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
well, this... seems random. But remember, that's probably how it seems for the main character in this chapter as well
