Chapter 74 - A scent from the past

**Hopes pov**

As soon as the door closes the link to Callum is severed. Some type of material forms a barrier that my link cannot pass. I am on my own. We pass through a room with what sounds like different types of machinery, I see hoses and tubes on the ceiling and the tops of large metal liquid containers..a brewery? The smell reveals nothing, everything feels very sterile. I can tell a lot of people is in the building because they all stop what they are doing as we pass them. I am wheeled through a long corridor, all I can see are white walls and a white ceiling. Cameras are attached to every corner we round and every door we pass. No one says anything so all I hear is the rubber soles of shoes and the wheels of my bunk against the floor, probably painted concrete. They use access cards to open doors, with some they also enter a code. *“ Luna..remember the notes if you can.”* I know that all the numbers have different tones so remembering them might be useful if I ever manage to get out of here. It seems impossible for Callum to be able to get in here, the place is a high-tech fortress..at least I think so. We finally stop in a room and my bed is lifted into a vertical position. Apart from a couple of soldier-like guys, Mercedes was with us. The room I am in now is probably my new home. It is somewhat reminiscent of the cells on the upper level at home. There is a bed, a chair, an armchair, a table with a reading lamp, a toilet behind half a wall. Mercedes stands opposite me, with a nod she signals the men to draw their weapons, which they do, keeping them aimed at my head. She takes the familiar remote control out of her pocket and presses a button, the brace over my forehead and the one over my neck opens with a click. I feel Luna become alert and immediately begin to investigate the possibility of shifting. *“ Easy girl, I don’t want a bullet through my head.”* I roll my head from side to side, stretching my stiff muscles.
Mercedes bends down to a bag that is next to her on the floor. She picks up a wide metal collar and puts it on me. Considering how tight it is, I understand that I would suffocate if I tried to shift. She repeats the procedure with my wrists, adorning them with two wide bracelets. She pushes the button to make my bed go back to a horizontal position before open the tight metal over my chest and finally my ankles.
“ You can sit up now miss Hope.” Mercedes say with a formal voice. I slowly sit up and swing my legs over the edge of the bunk. I look at the two gorillas, they are still aiming at me with their guns. The guys are big, bigger that Callum and seem to be real drilled soldiers. I turn my eyes to Mercedes. She is as formal as ever, not a single emotion on her face.
“You will be free to move as you want in here. You will be served three meals a day. You will be brought to the showers once every other day. The collar and wristbands will prevent you from shifting. They also measure your pulse and, if necessary, they can give you electric shocks or sedatives. You still have the drip needles in your arms. To these you will be asked to connect bags that are delivered to you once a day.” She look at me as if she expects me to ask questions..but I don’t..I just need to play along for now, behave I guess. I stand up, and I notice how everyone gets tense with my movements. I move towards the armchair and sit down, legs crossed and hands clasped over my lap. Everyone relaxes a bit and I watch them as they leave the room, dragging my bunk bed with them.
I sit still for a few minutes, watching the room. Of course there is a camera above the door, and a speaker. There is now windows or mirrors or anything I can break and use as a weapon. The lamp is shrewd to the table so it cant be moved. I walk over to the bed and I am just about to lay down when I hear a hatch next to the door open. A tray is inserted before it is closed again. My food I guess. I have no appetite whatsoever but when I look closer at the tray and see the two empty bags I realize that I need to eat if I am to survive being repeatedly drained of blood. The food doesn’t look too bad. Rice, some kind of stew. a cup with juice, a bowl of fruit salad and four pills, probably vitamins and iron. I sigh, take the tray and return to the armchair. The cutlery is made of thin wood and feels rough in the mouth, not something that can be used to hurt someone. The plate, bowl and mug are made of paper..they seem to have thought of everything. I start eating, it was actually really good and I gave in to the hunger. I cant remember the last time I ate.
With my stomach full, I lean back in my chair and close my eyes. I’m picturing Callum, Anna and Thomas, each with a bowl of Rocky road, Cathy and Maya discussing the latest fashions, my mom and Zandra..Kevin and the warriors..Joe and the new group..I wonder how Kevin and Emma have been ..have they accepted each other? She has lived outside society for so long so I sincerely hope he treads carefully. I miss them all so much and I feel my heart ache and hear Luna whine in my head.
The speaker over the door beeps and brings me back to reality. Mr. Landrover’s voice is heard.
“Please connect the bags. When they are full, put them on the tray place it by the hatch.” I close my eyes again..trying to find my way back to the fantasies of everyone I love. Mr. Landrover can take his bags and shove them somewhere..It only takes a few seconds for the current to go through my body. Every muscle cramp and spasms and I fall to the floor writhing in pain..I cant wait to get my hands around that fuckers neck.
“ I really don’t like to repeat myself miss Hope…I will give you five minutes to recover then I expect you to do what is asked of you.” The speaker beeps again as he turns it off. I lay still, my breathing is fast and heavy..so..that is how that feels..* ”Luna, can you speed the heeling?”* I feel my body relax, my pulse and breathing returns to normal. *“How much of that can we take?..can we learn to parry the cramps with quick healing?”* I feel her warmth inside, the familiar Lunahug..so I take it as a yes. Good to know. I crawl back up in the chair and grab one of the bags. Its a five hundred milliliter bag witch means they want me to give them a liter a day. Crazy assholes..I won’t last long..
I connect the bags to the needles in my arms and watch as they start to fill. I lean back again, the room starts to feel cold and I’m getting tired..just a little more..the speaker beeps once again.
“ You can disconnect the bags.” Mercedes voice tell me. Did I doze of? The bags are already full. I remove them and put them on the tray as they asked me, leave it beside the hatch and walk over to the bed and lay down, eager to go to sleep.
“ Thank you miss Hope” Mr Landrover’s voice say. With my face buried in my pillow and half way to sleep, I raise my hand and give him the finger, expecting another wave of electricity..but I only hear him chuckle before he turns off the speaker. “ We need to find away to get out of here..they will kill us within a week if we don’t..” Luna whined a little and a few seconds later I hear four different notes in my head. She repeats them over and over. “Good girl” As sleep takes me I hear the door open far away and a low mumble of voices but I am to tired to care..a faint scent of cigars reach me and I feel like a little girl again, falling asleep in my fathers arms..