Eyera (The Eyera Series Book 1) Read online

  Lieutenant Larcival crunches towards and eyes me up, the guards make sure I am looking at him.

  “I see we have you instead. I had a feeling it would be you,” he says.

  He walks closer, extending his hand underneath my chin lifting it up, dangerously bitter.

  “Interfering with guard’s legal obligations, tsk … tsk … tsk …” he says.

  He towers back up and looks at the guards.

  “You’re bleeding,” he says with no expression, making the guard move anxiously.

  “She put up a fight, lieutenant,” he says.

  Lieutenant Larcival puts on a jarring face and walks to my side, hands behind his back.

  “I show you what happens when people interfere.”

  The two Eyera guards push me forward, but I get stopped as painful hands clasps around my arm, Lieutenant Larcival looks down.

  “And attack my men,” he says maliciously.

  He yanks my arm and let’s go.

  The guards push me in front of Lieutenant Larcival, I feel his serrated stare burn in the back of my head. I look around seeing trees scattered around the building with boulders and fake grass. I see the hills that I have seen far in the distance are closer here, though they still reach far and wide. My boots draw close to the white doors and they automatically open prompting me to enter. My boots hit the crisp pearl floor, the walls are painted white and its super clean. I notice a black desk in the middle with a woman who looks like she’s in her thirties, sitting on a silver revolving chair typing. Her hazel eyes are concentrating on the sleek computer screen, pupils dilating as she gets further into typing. The way this room is designed is very odd, four large circular windows placed on each wall and square lights are fitted on the ceiling. The guards stop at her desk, three pens lined orderly on top of a notebook, stacks of black folders sit on her right side. Lieutenant Larcival clears his throat and the woman stops typing. Her eyebrows curve up and eyes linger on me, she rolls them and stands up. Her black dress trailing to her neck and down to her knees, hugging her hips tightly, her pulsing red lips part as she sighs. Her heels click idyllically in a soft rhythm and her long sombre hair bounces off her shoulders. She stops at a set of doors, only this time these doors do not open. She pulls out a transparent card, her name appears in bold letters ‘Kristal’ I can’t work out the letters underneath as they are too small. Kristal puts her card in the reader and it beeps, within seconds the doors clank and splits open, tucking themselves into the placid walls. The guards shove me forward and panic builds up as the doors seal shut. They propel me down the long wide corridor, the whiteness vanishes and is replaced by light blue illuminations. A long silver vent travels through the corridor like a snake; it smells of bleach like someone has cleaned. Lieutenant Larcival has studied my every move, what my weakness is, trying to find what would make me break, and he knows it’s my family. At the end of the corridor, three people stand. Two men and a woman in the middle who is prominent. Her blonde hair is tied tightly in a bun and she wears a long white lab coat, the men wear light blue uniforms. Her heels maker her much taller than she already is, her face is sharp and narrow and she wears a blue buttoned-up shirt leaving the first two unbuttoned, her black skirt hangs above her knees the same colour as her glasses, blood-stained lips stand out on her white skin, she’s not old, maybe the same age as my mother. She stands fiercely, arms crossed over her chest, I know who she is. Miss Katherine Bennett. Personally, I think she is worse than the Director.

  I get closer to her and hear the word run. I don’t think, not one bit. I pull away from the guards, the female guard tries to grab me but I manoeuvre, she throws a punch but I duck and ram my shoulders into her at the wall. I swing my leg up high hitting the other guard in his face but it only makes him stumble. Linxston watches in shock behind a red-faced lieutenant. I’m about to run down the corridor but stop dead in my tracks, feet glued to the floor. I know I won’t be able to take down Lieutenant Larcival, how can I fight him? Lieutenant Larcival is in a ready position. I come back to my senses, there’s no point in running, they’ll catch me within seconds. What I did is reckless, thoughtless and stupid, stupid enough to get myself killed. Both guards recover quickly, they smash their clubs across my head and proceed to hit me in the stomach, and then a final hit on my back. Miss Katherine Bennett’s hips sway from side to side, staring like a hawk.

  “You did not run,” she says curiously as this is the first time someone had any sense in not running.

  The guards lift me onto my feet, and I finally meet her.

  “I wouldn’t have gotten far,” I respond dryly as I look at the men behind her, in their belt a gun hanging with a needle sticking out of it, she looks at where my eyes dart to and then faces back again with an eerie smile.

  “Hmm … smart, no one ever notices,” she says coldly not amused. Miss Katherine Bennett tilts her head up at Lieutenant Larcival, and he stomps bringing my arms backwards. I wince in pain. Lieutenant Larcival grabs my cuffs and squashes my wrists tighter, forcing my hands together with an excruciating pain followed.

  “Take her to Dr Liza,” Miss Katherine Bennett orders.

  She walks off with the two specialists attached to the hip.

  “And make sure she doesn’t escape, again,” she says seeming bored.

  Lieutenant Larcival glances over his shoulders till Miss Katherine Bennett is out of earshot, he grabs me by the collar.

  “You pull another stunt like that, and I will put a bullet in your goddam head,” he says spitting in my face.

  He stomps forward with the guards dragging me down the corridor, entering through the double doors into a massive room, where Eyera guards are shouting at children to keep the place spotless. They all wear white matching the floors, all of them looking terrified and tired. Some children and teenagers carry boxes to the table where they organise clothes, fabrics, food and water into the boxes ready to be taken outside. The children and teens’ heads all snap to my direction, but the guards scold them for staring and they get back to work, not one batting an eye. I look up to see guards and specialists looking out of the window above us, three pillars accompany the weight. I look outside of a long glass window to see a train, it’s the train that comes to Elspeth City, children on the platform with buckets of soapy water scrubbing the surface. Eyera guards come off the train with people in cuffs all of them scared and covered in dry blood like myself, they move in a line slowly, and a little girl falls on the slippery station and comes crashing to the floor. Officer Slevic gets out of the train and walks to the girl, he pulls her up and I wait for him to hit her, but he doesn’t, he shoves her forward. Officer Slevic turns, looking inside, and our eyes meet for the first time, he adjusts his blazer and hat and walks off. The guards push me forward and I get to the end staring at an elevator, Lieutenant Larcival pushes the button and it flickers red, and we wait for a few seconds for the doors to open. Chrome infuses and buttons sparkle, thirty-two white buttons glare and four gold lights shine on top, it’s warm too. Lieutenant Larcival pushes level nine, and the elevator goes up smoothly. I glance up to see the maintenance hatch slightly open, sparks bouncing off the shaft and a camera is hidden in the left corner with a small red light flashing. I stare at the camera intensely. The elevator slows down, and a green light flashes above and the doors open up. The corridor is different, apart from it being spotless, Eyera sure loves this place to be spick-and-span. A boy and girl fix their eyes on me as they scrub the floor, both flinch as Lieutenant Larcival walks by. The corridor smells weird, sterile and has a plastic touch. A loud scream echoes through the corridor followed by sounds of trays crashing on the floor. I manage to get a quick glance at the open doors that file down, children and teenagers strapped to the bed with Eyera doctors in blue scrubs looming over with a knife. I watch the doctor play with the knife on his fingertips, he then stabs it into the boy’s chest, and he screams. He screams for them to stop but they continue, another doctor holds his head. His chest is rising qu
ickly, and he whispers to himself. I stop, about to be sick, disturbed what they are doing to these kids. This is insane; this isn’t human. The guards move further down, more rooms are filled with Eyera doctors doing surgery, God knows what else to the children. Is this what they are going to do to me? My punishment for defiance. I cry silently. My legs betray me and turn to jelly, I’m about to faint. Lieutenant Larcival stops at a blue door, and I read the words ‘Dr Phaedra Liza’ in silver letters.

  CHAPTER twenty-two

  Dr Phaedra Liza smiles as I enter. She stands from her chair holding a clipboard. There are two pens that sit in her blue doctors coat, and her face is soft and so is her caramel skin too. Her long wavy and shiny brown hair graces over her face, and spills onto her chest

  I have been ordered to sit on the blue bed with white paper on top it, cuffed to the railing. Stacks of paper, notes and a computer sits on a silver desk. Pictures of the human body are plastered over the walls but there is one particular picture that stands out, a human brain with a needle piercing through the eye and into the brain. The look and thought makes me nauseous.

  “Dr Liza, this is the girl,” he says.

  Lieutenant Larcival leans closer to Dr Liza and whispers but fails to do so.

  “Be careful of this one.”

  He leaves staring at me with pure hate. I sit in silence watching Dr Liza take her seat typing on her computer, my body shakes as I think what she’s going to do to me. How do these people sleep at night? I know I need to be strong right now, but it’s hard.

  My ears itch from the faint screams that lie in the other rooms, I try my best to block them out but I can’t, it’s haunting. Dr Liza swings her revolving chair around; her brown eyes locking with mine.

  “Hello Acelyn, I’m Dr Phaedra Liza, but you can call me Phaedra, all the children do,” she says warmly.

  “Alright, shall we get started.”

  This makes me squirm. Dr Liza touches me slightly, and I go stiff. She pulls up my sleeves revealing my bare bruised arms. She dampens the cotton ball and gently strokes it on my arm, then she picks up a needle on the tray that sat on her desk, and I begin to panic never experiencing an injection before. She brings it closer, and I shuffle away wriggling my wrist from the cuff.

  “I’m not going to hurt you, I just need your blood that’s it. I promise,” she says trying to calm me down.

  I look into her reassuring eyes and at the needle and gulp down hard. I don’t like the idea of something piercing my skin. I let her proceed, I think of something to distract myself as she puts the large needle into my vein and draws blood out.

  “See it wasn’t that bad,” she says.

  She’s right, it wasn’t that bad at all, it was nothing.

  “Hold this please.” She puts the cotton ball over the blood, I hold it tightly, and she puts two tapes down to keep the cotton ball in place.

  “I’m not here to hurt you, I look after my patients,” she says.

  I look at her sceptical, unsure of what she can do. She is just saying that so I will trust her, but that is not going to work on me. Dr Liza touches my right hand slightly, and I bite my tongue hard as the pain stretches. I watch her as she pulls a drawer open, rattling contents. She pulls out a silver key and unlocks my cuff. I hold my wrist underneath my shirt applying pressure.

  “May I?” she asks.

  I don’t say anything but glare at her.

  “I know, I know. You don’t trust me, and I understand that Acelyn, but I need to check it, to make sure your wrist is not infected,” she says.

  I remove my hand from my shirt placing my other hand on my wrists stroking it, I bring it closer to let her look. She wets another cotton ball and cleans up the blood with a painful liquid, that makes me hiss. She wraps my wound with a bandage carefully taking her time.

  “Much better.” She smiles rubbing my wrists gently.

  I hear more screams, and Dr Liza closes her eyes. I see that it pains her, but she brushes it off quickly.

  “How are you feeling now?” she says trying to distract herself.

  I give her silence, and she shakes her head entirely understanding.

  “You are brave Acelyn, protecting your brother, fighting for what is right,” she says as she seen a little hope inside of me. I am confused why she is saying that. Fighting for what is right, she is an Eyera doctor, she is a part of the problem. Dr Liza finishes the last touches on my arms and pulls my sleeve down. Why is she being nice to me like Linxston. Surely this has to be a sick game Eyera likes to play.

  “Most of us here heard,” she says.

  “We were very shocked, no one has ever interfered with Eyera guards like that.”

  “That doesn’t make me brave,” I say, sore.

  “It does, you don’t see it yet. I like your ribbon,” she says.

  I look down at my right leg seeing the blue ribbon covered in blood.

  The door busts open two Eyera guards stop on either side of the door. Dr Liza stands up quickly as Lieutenant Larcival walks in. I get up from the bed, and he looks at Dr Liza unpleasantly.

  “You took off her cuffs?” he bellows.

  “Yes, I needed to treat her,” she responds blankly.

  “This girl could have attacked you,” he says.

  “I am fully aware Lieutenant, but I can handle myself.”

  He cocks his jaw and crushes cuffs over me again. Dr Liza looks like she is about to say something, but he shoots her down with one look. Lieutenant Larcival walks me out of the room, and only the girl is present in the corridor, she scrubs the blood that drips down the walls with tears stained on her cheeks. She pins herself to the wall staying clear of Lieutenant Larcival.

  “You’re going to love your new home,” he chuckles as he presses the elevator button.

  He pushes level four, and the elevator goes down and stops, I wait for a few seconds and the doors open. Lieutenant Larcival escorts me down, the fluorescent lights barely flickering. I get to an iron bar gate, and Lieutenant Larcival pulls out a card and puts it lightly near the door and it clanks open. The guards push me to the other side of the barbaric hall, cells on my left and right are filled with scared children and teenagers. They wear the same clothing as the kids I saw before. They come to their cells staring at the window, all eyes on me, their faces similar to each other. They have seen things they wish they could un-see. They all wince as Lieutenant Larcival walks past, he smiles at them pitilessly and brings his club out from his belt and whacks their cells, making them cower. He begins to roar with laughter enjoying every moment, enjoying the power he has over them. Lieutenant Larcival stops with a wicked smile pasted on his face.

  “This is what you are going to be like, and I cannot wait for that, enjoy your stay,” he says maliciously as he takes off my cuff.

  The guards open up the door of the cell, and I feel a heavy hand on my back sending me flying to the floor, I thud hard, scraping my knee.

  “Home sweet home,” he laughs.

  I hear the large grey door slam shut, followed by the sound of the door locking away my existence. I hear faint footsteps of the free people vestige further down the corridor, three walls surrounds me. A small metal round bowl is embedded on the wall, a small sink is bolted next to it. A granite grey basic bed rested in the corner, who knew they were capable of generosity. I take a seat on the bed, springs poke through the rugged mattress. I sway my fingers over the worn out quilt with holes built in, the bed doesn’t bother me at all. I have, well had one at home. Home. I miss home so much, I miss my father, I miss my mother, and I miss Hadrian even though I have only been gone for a couple of hours, I think? But I miss them so much. I don’t know if I’m ever getting back home, not knowing if I will ever see them again and it hurts me not knowing. I let a tear fall and writhe onto my lip dripping on the sage floor. I lift my body on the bed, curling my knees up to my stomach. I close my sore eyes to drift off but no matter how hard I try, my eyes automatically open, waiting for the nightmares that live i
n Eyera.

  CHAPTER twenty-three

  I’ve been in the same position for some time focussing on the ceiling, hands resting by my side and my legs crossed.

  I wonder how Hunter is, does he know what happened? Of course, he does, everyone in Elspeth and the four section know. I wonder how Hunter is taking this. And my family too, I am praying so hard that Eyera left them alone, but I know they won’t. I hope Father got Hadrian out of the city in time and straight back to Mother, I need to know that all of them are safe, my father is strong he will know what to do, he must.

  A beep buzzes alerting me on my feet fast like a cheetah. The door opens and a guard stands with his hands resting on his belt.

  “Out!” he orders.

  I stay in position, and he steps forward making me step backwards, my back hits the wall, and I remain pinned. I’m not ready to be taken, not now. Are they going to kill me?

  “I’m going to ask you one more time, out now!” he yells making me shudder.

  The guard waits for me to move but I keep my feet planted strongly, he stomps over and yanks my arm and hurls me out. I feel thick cold shackles around my ankles. He orders me to stand and I oblige, tired being thrown everywhere. I look around seeing four people in shackles in regular clothes like mine, looking confused. The guard puts cuffs on my wrist connecting with the others. The shackles whack together as the guard in front orders us to move. We move slowly, hunching down like circus animals. People in their cells look at us with pity probably remembering their first time. The guards take us through the iron bars, we turn left and then a sharp right into silver doors to an empty room. Our shoes slap against the marble flooring and our shackles echoes around the room. The room is naked and smells of fresh paint and disinfectant.

  “Stand by the wall,” the guard instructs.