My eyes popped open and I was met with darkness. I reached up to rub my eyes to try and clear them but was met with the same darkness. I slowly sat up, the bed I was lying on making a creaking noise as I shifted to swing my legs over the edge. The room I was in was nearly pitch black. At least I assumed it was a room. I looked around but could see no shadow of a window or a shadow of anything, at first anyway. Then there was a coming from a small crack under the door in front of the bed I was just laying on. Giving the dark room a little bit of lighting. Casting shadows onto the edge of the bed I was on.

Standing up, I tried to walk quietly towards the door but the floor creaked and I froze, I watched as a shadow on the floor behind the door appeared before it was thrown open, blinding me with the sudden light.

“Ah, you are awake! Wonderful!” An enthusiastic voice greeted me as I blinked till I was able to see. It was hard to see her face, but she stood tall and thin build before me. Her body was a shadow silhouetted by the light of the hallway in the dark room.

“Who are you?” I asked, my throat felt dry and my voice came out sounding raspier than I expected.

“All in due time.” The female stated walking over towards me. I backed up on instinct only to be met with a soft laugh from her. “Do not worry I will not hurt you, come let us get you some water and food perhaps.” She reached out a shadowed hand and I stood there staring at it. “Come come now, child.” Her tone was starting to sound annoyed. “I have things to do and no time to waste.”

“I rather not,” I stated simply refusing to take her hand. “Where am I, and who are you? I refuse to leave with a simple stranger.” I stated pausing. “Or kidnapper,” I spoke aloud as I looked around the room, light cast in from the hallway to reveal not much to be desired. There was just simply a bed and a stand beside it, nothing else. Not even a blanket was on the bed, just a ruffled sheet.

“I said you will know in due time, now let’s go.” The woman refused to wait any longer, grabbed my hand, and began to drag me out of the room behind her. I tried to remove my hand from her grasp but it was strong, her fingers were thin but her grasp would not break. I even tried digging my heels into the wood, but I was dragged along, causing me to stubble into the hallway after her.

The blinding lights of the hallway had me blink even more, trying to get a grasp of my surroundings, except there was not much. The hallway was long with no decor. Long lights lined the ceilings, some blinking in and out leaving the hallway to have this eerie feeling. Multiple doors lined the hallway every few feet or so. Simple doors with no markings on them, simply white like everything else. 

As she pulled me along, I fell in pace behind her, scanning everything I could see and trying my best to commit it to memory, just in case I needed to think of a way to escape. We passed three people as we walked, each dressed head to toe in black and blue armor with helmets on that had smoky-looking plastic or glass that covered their faces, their faces unseen by the cover. They stood before certain doors, with guns held in their hands. I moved to walk a little faster so I stayed closer to the women dragging me down the hallway.

It was after we passed the third guard-looking person that I tuned my gaze to take in the women walking in front of me. She stood a little taller than myself, with gray hair pulled back into a sleek bun. Not a strand of hair was loose, her clothing was cleanly pressed and was a simple gray dress suit. The skirt was right above her knee and revealed the soft gray tights. The heels of her dark gray heels clacked as we walked. She wore no rings or jewelry that I could see from behind her.

“Where am I?” I asked after a few moments of walking, trying to get a grip on this place.

She stopped walking at the end of the hallway and hit a button on the wall, revealing sliding doors that slid into the wall and led me into an elevator. Turning to face me, she let go of my hand once inside. Her eyes were a dark gray like her clothing but sharp and cunning. “You will see.” She stated as she crossed her arms as the doors closed behind me. I spun around to face the doors, standing alongside her.

“You do not like answering questions do you?” I asked and she gave me a sharp side glare.

“And you ask too many questions.” She answered. My mouth popped open to say something only to fall closed.

“I’ve only asked three,” I mumbled.

“Three too many.” She responded and I just looked at her in disbelief and fell silent after that. Since I was not getting any answers to any questions, I knew I could figure them out if I stayed quiet and looked around and listened. Surely something will give me a clue.

After about two minutes, the elevator dinged before the doors slipped open to reveal a large open room. People were bustling about before us and below us, as the door had opened onto a ledge of sorts that overlooked what looked like a large air dock.

Desks upon desks of computers and people lined the floors below, the back half of the room had large machines and containers stacked towards the tall ceiling. A large circle-like gate stood in the middle of the room surrounded by rounded desks.

Chatter filled the area, but it wasn't an overwhelming amount of noise.

“Follow.” The woman stated, her tone sharp and demanding. I nodded and followed behind her as she led me down a narrow metal pathway that went over the middle half of the room. The circle-like gate below was empty but as we neared it, I nearly paused.

A familiar static energy danced on my arms. I began to rub my arms to rid them of the feeling without realizing I was doing so.

“I thought so.” The woman said before me, I had not realized we had stopped walking, My attention snapped from the gate to her before giving her a confused look. “I had a feeling you could sense the energy.” She stated before walking again.

“What do you mean?.”  I jogged to catch up to her. I wanted to look around more, but she turned to walk down another path and I made sure to stay beside her.

“Again with the questions.” She sounded annoyed.

“Well you are not giving any answers to anything, what else do you expect me to do.” I snapped slightly back getting annoyed,

“Stay silent and listen.” Her tone matched mine, just as annoyed but held authority.

“Why should I?” I snapped back.

“If you want to stay alive, you will.” She had stopped to face me as she said this, causing me to pause and take a reactive step back. “This place is dangerous. You should have been dead by now, or worse.” She said simply. “If you wish to continue living, shut up, and listen.” She turned to walk again.

I didn’t follow right away, I took a few seconds to debate what she said before taking a few quick steps to fall silently behind her. I followed her along as she walked along the metal pathways high above everyone else. I noticed some people would stop to watch us, some would look up at us, at me then whisper something before continuing with what they were doing. I tried to pay them little to no mind, but it was hard not to want to look around myself. I did notice a bunch of guards lined along the walls, guns in hand, as they watched everyone.

Staying silent I followed as she led me down a set of metal stairs to the concrete floor below. A group of people were gathered along a large desk, behind it were multiple large drawing boards with words and diagrams drawn upon them. I barely glanced them over, seeing a blueprint for the gate as one of the drawings before someone cleared their throat. I glanced overly my shoulder and saw a familiar face. The familiar scar and the hazel eyes.

“Kiera.” The woman said snapping my attention to her.

“Ye-yes?” I asked, wondering how the woman knew my name, my heart pounded quickly with anxiety as multiple eyes turned to face me.

“I was telling my fellow scientist here who you were.” The women stated and I nodded, taking a step beside her. Instead of staying behind her. 

“Oh, Sorry.” I gave a small nod, not wanting to appear rude for not paying attention. 

“Do you know why you are here?” A younger lady spoke, stepping out from behind the group of three male scientists who stood in front of us. She had bright red hair pulled back into a messy bun with loose curls bobbing down to her shoulders. Her eyes matched her hair, bright and fiery like her personality. She too wore a white lab coat as the men she stood beside. Her smile was bright and her face soft, she looked familiar, it took me a moment before shock overcame me. She saw that I recognized her and winked before placing a finger to her lips, telling me to not say anything.

This woman was Evelyn “Eve” Marlowe. She had been my best friend since childhood. We grew up and did everything together, she was also the maid of honor at my wedding. At nineteen she went missing after steeping into one of the portals. I had a feeling she did it on purpose, she was going through some dark times and had mentioned in our late-night talks, how much she wanted to just disappear, while others, like her parents, said it was an accident just like all the others who entered the portals unknowingly, but to finally see her here, alive and well! I was suddenly overcome with waves of emotion that I pushed aside. I couldn’t give away that I knew her right away.

I just shook my head. “I-Im not even sure where here is,” I admitted. Eve just nodded and looked at the older woman as she scribbled on a clipboard she was holding.

“Dr. Thorne, how would you like us to proceed?” Eve asked the woman who had just finished saying something to one of the males before her. He was the younger of the three, the other two with graying hair while he looked to be in his thirties. His eyes were a piercing bright blue and when he glanced my way, he smirked. The look sent shivers down my spine, a bad feeling from him came over me and I knew I would have to avoid him.

“I would like to run some tests.” Dr. Thorne said before looking at me. “Kiera, I want you to go over there.” She pointed to a set of cabinets. “Grab a lab coat and head over to the gate.” She explained before turning and heading for the gate, pausing a moment. “Vera.”

“Yes Ma’am!” Eve spoke up, standing straight with a smile, one I knew she plastered on when she was trying to be on her best behavior.

“Make sure Kiera gets to the gate.” Dr. Thorne said before finally walking off. Eve just nodded before she turned to me, her smile changing from a fake one to a happy one.

“Kiera, follow me!” Eve said all chipper-like as she led the way over to the cabinets along the wall. Tall metal cabinets and lockers lined the wall, she entered a code onto the keypad of one of the doors and it opened revealing folded lab coats. She pulled one out and handed it to me.

I took the coat and opened my mouth to say something but she shook her head. “Don’t say anything, it’s best to stay quiet.” She said in a warning whisper.

“All everyone here says is to be quiet.” I sighed as I slipped on the lab coat, Eve giggling behind me as I did.

“So… Vera?” I asked in a tone I'm sure she would understand my questioning.

“It’s my name here. I can’t have them knowing who I am.” Eve smiled as she bounced over to my side as I adjusted the lab coat.

“I missed you, you know,” I whispered so only she could hear.

“I missed you too,” Eve replied in kind before her demeanor changed. “We need to get going. “ Her gaze was somewhere else and lost some of the spark it had a moment before. Following her gaze, I could tell she was looking at the scared man, and I had to quickly look away when our eyes met. He seemed to be watching everything we were doing with a cold stare.

“He gives me the creeps,” Eve whispered as she started to walk away, all I could do was nod and follow along quietly. He didn’t give me the creeps, he stirred too many questions and other feelings I couldn't quite place. I knew I had to avoid him at all costs, but deep down I knew that was going to be impossible.