When Shadows Come to Light: EVIL

This is a series, so make sure you’ve read the previous ones first, in order for it to make sense.

When Shadows Come to Light: Missing

Cara woke up in a stark white room that smelled of chemicals. She was laying on a pristine white cot. Sitting up, she observed the room. Instead of a wall on the left side, there was a large glass window where people in lab coats were sitting on stools typing furiously on their computers. Where was she? She couldn’t remember anything and she had a pounding headache. 

A smiling woman with an earpiece walked up to the window and smiled. She pressed her hand on her earpiece and talked. Suddenly, a sickly sweet voice filtered into the room. “Hello, I am here to help you. You will have an appointment soon, and food will be brought in shortly.” “But where am I?” Cara asked. Noticing her moving lips, the lady said “I’m sorry dear, but this is a one way speaker, so I can’t hear you. See you soon!”

Five minutes later, someone in a white hazmat suit walked up and opened a slot in her window. “Here is your food.” they said gruffly. “This is all I get?” There was a tall glass full of a brown, mud like substance. “Yes. It contains all the nutrients you will need today. Drink it quickly, as you have an appointment in just five minutes.” With that, they left. Cara downed the drink, figuring that there was nothing else she could do. 

A man in a lab coat with the same earpiece as the previous lady walked up to the window. “Hello. I am Dr. Marc. I am here to answer any questions you have.” He motioned for his accomplice, who was wearing a hazmat suit, to step through the vacuum sealed door. The person in the hazmat suit proceeded to set up an audio system so Dr. Marc could hear her, and took her blood pressure, blood sample, and injected something into her. Cara could not protest, as she was too small to take on anyone. 

“Where am I and why do you want me?” Cara wondered. “Good questions.” Dr. Marc said with a chuckle. “I figured you’d ask that first. You, my dear, are at the headquarters of EVIL. Now don’t get worried, we aren’t actually evil, that’s just our acronym. It stands for Engineering of Virtual Intelligence and Learning. We want you because you were ours to begin with,” Dr. Marc said with a nefarious grin. “Now, I think that’s enough for today. I’m going to go to the lab, and you are going to rest. 

Cara realized that she was getting very tired. Sleep sounded very good just then. She lay down on the cot and fell asleep.

When Cara opened her eyes it was dark, and she heard whispers and snippets of a conversation. 

“We need to move fast,” an urgent voice said. 

“I can’t keep the alarm off for much longer.” a younger voice replied. 

Who were these people? They were dressed in black and were in the process of breaking into her room. Why didn’t they worry about hazmat suits like the other people did? Soon, several dark figures crept into her room and grabbed her. One put their hand over her mouth so she couldn’t speak.

“We’re rescuing you, okay, Cara?”

How did they know her name? Cara nodded anyway. It would be a relief not to have to drink another one of those putrid drinks. 

They snuck through a maze of hallways until they made it into a van waiting outside.

“Trust me, we’re here to help you. Just stay low and be very, very quiet.” A soothing voice told her. 

As soon as the van started moving, Cara heard a gunshot and a scream.