The Final Lullaby
The room
The room stood eerily quiet. The only sound disturbing the peace was the rhythmic breathing of the young girl as she lay in the hospital bed. She slept peacefully; her eyes only moving whilst in REM. For now her fears had been laid to rest.
The hospital room was like all the others in that particular hospital: covered in layers of dirt, paint peeling off the walls, random objects over turned on the floor, broken window panes, and long, jagged gashes covering the remainder of the wallpaper from patients before. The girl seemed just as broken as the room.
She lay curled up on the bed in the fetal position, her long brunette locks tangled from her distraught sleep. She had been at the mercy of the scientists for days now and they had finally allowed her just one night of peace. She had been clothed in a white two piece set that had soiled days before, but they hadn’t allowed her to change. Her fingers twitched in pain in her sleep. Even in her dream world, she was still tormented by those vicious, cruel monsters that called their selves men. The only thing that adorned her wrists was a bracelet with her name, age, and experiment number on it.
Phoenix “Star” Pellegrino
Age: 17
Number: 00375477
She scratched subconsciously at the irritated place on her wrist and sniffed, the only telltale signs that she was about to awake. There were no working cameras in her room, but if she left the room, the scientists would be notified almost immediately due to the strangeness of her abilities. Slowly opening her eyes, Star yawned and stretched her arms out and above her head, but immediately put them back as she remembered where she was.
Her eyes widening in panic, Star sat upright and pushed her body into the furthest corner of the bed and cradled her knees to her chest. Her breathing became raspy and thick as her fear took over. Star closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing because she knew what was coming next. Becoming stock-still, Star ran her hands over the texture of the bed; feeling the hardened texture of the old, forgotten spring mattress and visualizing what the sheets would have felt like if they had been crisp, cool, and fresh. A red hue tinted her hands and beneath her fingers was the crisp, cool, fresh feeling of a new sheet.
Keeping her eyes closed, Star tried so very hard to keep the paralyzing fear from over taking, but to no avail. The panic and fear of being in that room again came back ten- fold. It seemed the only way to keep the fear at bay was to concentrate on what her hands were doing. But, that was a dangerous thing to do. They were always so pesky about wanting her to show them her powers. They always wanted something from her: more knowledge of her power, her blood, and hair follicle samples were just some of the things they asked from her. In turn, they gave her agonizing nightmares, followed by days of tests and being caged like a beast.
Cowering in the corner of the bed, Star elicited several whimpers and clawed at her arms with her lengthened nails. They wouldn't allow her to do anything with her hands while they were in the room with her, just in case she used her powers against them. Breathing in deeply, Star got up off of the bed and made her way cautiously to the door. Her eyes on ears on high alert. The fear of the place making every little thing that much more frightening to Star. She shakily reached her hand towards the doorknob and was about to turn it when a high pitched alarm began wailing throughout the room.
Star screamed out and fell to the floor, her hands covering her ears as best as they could. She continued screaming and writhing on the floor until the door was opened. Then her screams were cut off as the sedative that was injected into her began to take effect.
The hospital room was like all the others in that particular hospital: covered in layers of dirt, paint peeling off the walls, random objects over turned on the floor, broken window panes, and long, jagged gashes covering the remainder of the wallpaper from patients before. The girl seemed just as broken as the room.
She lay curled up on the bed in the fetal position, her long brunette locks tangled from her distraught sleep. She had been at the mercy of the scientists for days now and they had finally allowed her just one night of peace. She had been clothed in a white two piece set that had soiled days before, but they hadn’t allowed her to change. Her fingers twitched in pain in her sleep. Even in her dream world, she was still tormented by those vicious, cruel monsters that called their selves men. The only thing that adorned her wrists was a bracelet with her name, age, and experiment number on it.
Phoenix “Star” Pellegrino
Age: 17
Number: 00375477
She scratched subconsciously at the irritated place on her wrist and sniffed, the only telltale signs that she was about to awake. There were no working cameras in her room, but if she left the room, the scientists would be notified almost immediately due to the strangeness of her abilities. Slowly opening her eyes, Star yawned and stretched her arms out and above her head, but immediately put them back as she remembered where she was.
Her eyes widening in panic, Star sat upright and pushed her body into the furthest corner of the bed and cradled her knees to her chest. Her breathing became raspy and thick as her fear took over. Star closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing because she knew what was coming next. Becoming stock-still, Star ran her hands over the texture of the bed; feeling the hardened texture of the old, forgotten spring mattress and visualizing what the sheets would have felt like if they had been crisp, cool, and fresh. A red hue tinted her hands and beneath her fingers was the crisp, cool, fresh feeling of a new sheet.
Keeping her eyes closed, Star tried so very hard to keep the paralyzing fear from over taking, but to no avail. The panic and fear of being in that room again came back ten- fold. It seemed the only way to keep the fear at bay was to concentrate on what her hands were doing. But, that was a dangerous thing to do. They were always so pesky about wanting her to show them her powers. They always wanted something from her: more knowledge of her power, her blood, and hair follicle samples were just some of the things they asked from her. In turn, they gave her agonizing nightmares, followed by days of tests and being caged like a beast.
Cowering in the corner of the bed, Star elicited several whimpers and clawed at her arms with her lengthened nails. They wouldn't allow her to do anything with her hands while they were in the room with her, just in case she used her powers against them. Breathing in deeply, Star got up off of the bed and made her way cautiously to the door. Her eyes on ears on high alert. The fear of the place making every little thing that much more frightening to Star. She shakily reached her hand towards the doorknob and was about to turn it when a high pitched alarm began wailing throughout the room.
Star screamed out and fell to the floor, her hands covering her ears as best as they could. She continued screaming and writhing on the floor until the door was opened. Then her screams were cut off as the sedative that was injected into her began to take effect.