Shadows in the Night

Breath. Breath, I told myself. You’re jumping to conclusions. You’re wrong. It can’t be
possible. It wouldn’t make sense. Therefore, It’s not true. Breath. Don’t forget to breath. In
and out. Everything will be alright.

Except deep within me I couldn’t deny the truth. The truth shone like the morning sun,
bright and clear. Obvious to me now. But I should tell you a simple fact about the truth
though. It’s not always true, but it is sometimes. In this case it is most definitely true. The truth
isn’t pretty.

Jess had said that she had heard the human breathing in the cage across from the one
she was trapped in. What she didn’t realize was what I unfortunately thought. What if that
‘human’ in the cage wasn’t human at all. What if it was some sort of disfugured creature that
used to be human. What if, in not too long, we would look like that. Is that the man in Nikes
purpose? To analyze and observe us and operate on? I prayed the answer was no. With a
heck in front of no. He couldn’t mix and match and experiment on us. Why would he do that?

I had to calm down. What if the thing in the cage really was a human? If he or she was
just another victim like me and Jess. I had to find out.

“Psssst.” I spoke waiting for a response.

“Yeah?” Jess asked.

“Talk to it.” I told her.

“What?! The person in that cage? No way!” I knew she was worried but we had to ind
out what lay inside the cage.

“Jessie, come on. We have to know who’s in there.”

“What good will that do?” I heard the confusion set in her voice.

“It might help us see why we are here. What if that person in the cage isn’t human. What
if she or he’s been tam pored with?”

Her lack of a response lead me to believe she’d finally understood what I was going
with. Why I needed her to contact the person/thing in the cage.

“Okay.” Her voice shook with fear. “Hey!” I could tell she must have slid her hand
through the bars and shook the other cage. “Hey, are you awake?” She called again.

A moan escaped from the cage. Then, a sigh. The person was about to speak when
light came through the doors and blinded me.

The man in Nikes stormed in the room. He flipped on the light switch and I heard
Jessica attempt to muffle a gasp. I assumed she saw the face of the person/thing in the cage.

The man in Nikes came to my cage. He searched for a key inside his faded blue jeans.
He retrieved it and began to unlock my cage.
Make a run for it. I thought to myself. When the cage is open, bolt to the door. Escape.
Then come back for Jess. Get help. Go to the police.

The man in NIkes unlocked my cage and I darted out of that cage. But as I was leaving it
he grabbed me by the neck and flung me on the hard ground. I landed on my back. I tried to catch my breath.

“A little escape artist we have here.” His voice was erie and deep. One that made baby’s
cry.

I struggled to my feet but he pinned me to the cold floor. In his right hand was a shot
filled with blue liquid. I attempted to escape his grasp but failed. He took the shot and jabbed
it into the left side of neck. I felt my feet and hands go numb. He loosened his grip so I started
to force myself away from him. Shock filled his face until I felt myself collapse. Then a grin
replaced the surprise that had once consumed his evil face. My whole boy went numb. I had
a trouble breathing and my vision was blurring. Then, in a matter of seconds, everything
went black.