Enhancement

I keep my eyelids locked shut. The back of my neck is still warm from the strange spot on the back of my neck... It's all just so strange. My fingers yearn to rub that area on my neck and figure out how hot it really is. But I don't dare to move. I'm still and silent and shutting my eyes out from whatever lies outside them.

I need to regroup and think this all through before blinking my eyes open. I feel my throat trying to close up in panic. I swallow to clear it away.

Okay, so what exactly happened? Stephen and I were in the Equinox's version of the Project, first cuffed to the wall and then to some pole or stake. The deadly cold voice overhead called us traitors and beat us. I surrendered to them, but they let Stephen go, not me.

Not me. Where's the logic behind it? I wrack my brain but I can't think of a reason.

Then what happened? I take a second to pick up my train of thought. Stephen blabbed out some crap about wanting a normal life, and I agreed because in all honestly, everyone wants to be normal. I surrendered again, but then Stephen said... it doesn't work like... that...

Fucking Hybriad, I think to myself. That devil of a man. He's telling me there's no way out of his deranged plans for me. But he won't win. It might take decades, but his control will break eventually.

It's all so clear to me now, even the decisions I made in that stupid Equinox illusion. I must try to live a normal life like the illusion-created "Stephen" said he wants, but I'm with Pod 14 and all their followers. I can't forget about Tanner and Peyton. Them and Liad weren't an illusion; they're real.

And reality is so much better than an Equinox lie.

That wasn't Stephen in those Equinoxes. My dad didn't die, and neither did I. For all I know, Hybriad isn't even coming after me. It's all a lie, or at least it could be. None of it is truly real.

I could be safe, just like Stephen. The Equinox could be messing with us for a good scare, that's all. We can blend in with the other inductees and find a way back to the real world.

There's one more detail to clear up, which is the odd warmth in the back of my neck. I focus on the feeling.

Then it all clicks. It's originating from the device injected into me, back when I first began the Equinox in my glass box. The Screeners injected it into everyone's necks. I though it only created illusions. Maybe it does more than that.

The buzzing warmth continues. It's comforting, but I feel a twinge of uneasiness along with its dim fire. The Screeners' beatings triggered the heat and the fire, along with the Equinox version of Stephen watching me get tortured alive.

Whatever the device does, it probably won't disappear when I wake up out of the induced dreams. It's coming with me to reality.

Internally, I cross my fingers. I better open my eyes now. Hopefully there's not another task or illusion awaiting me. Maybe this one time things will be bearable instead of completely ballistic.

Okay, this is it. I'm going to open my eyes on the count of three. One... Two... Three...

I spring my eyes open. Within my view is Nicolette's empty black platform. The glass boxes next to her are all bare of inductees, the exact way we left it.

My box turns red all of a sudden, meaning I didn't pass my Equinox. I'm not loyal, of course I'm not.

I'm tempted to roll my eyes, but I resist. I regain my senses and turn my head towards Stephen's box.

The same red color tints his glass, making it slightly less transparent. I catch sight of his sweet features.

My neck pulses with heat, and I buckled with random fear. My feet lead me off the pedestal, my back hitting the wall. Breath catching in my throat, my heart rate soars.

What the heck? I'm afraid of Stephen. He looks the same, if not better than when I first met him. My brain longs to join with him in safety and kiss his lips, but the rest of me doesn't agree.

My body is crippled with fear. I feel myself panting, and my eyebrows crinkle together in terror of violence. Some voice deep within me convinces my subconscious that Stephen wants to kill me.

The device in my neck grows hotter as I hyperventilate. I'm so scared but I'm not at the same time. I'm really not but I have zero control over the terror my body reflects. The beating of my heart pounds and pounds. What's going on with me?

I watch Stephen watching me in total confusion. He bangs on his glass, thinking I've been hurt or scarred. I feel tears form in my eyes as I scream like the world is ending. All I want is to cry in his arms yet I'm so terrified of him. The more he fights for me, the more I sob and sink to my feet. I'm going to be sick.

The glass suddenly turns green, as does Stephen's at the exact same moment. The back of my neck heats and cools like a flashing warning.

"Congratulations, inductees. You've been declared as stable citizens. Thank you for your cooperation in completing this Equinox. Now return to your apartments and prepare for the Equinox banquet like the rest of the inductees."

My throat threatens to gag me in illogical fear. The elevator open swiftly, and I charge for it. I dive into the small space, exhaling in relief when my body hits the floor. The doors close around me, trapping me in and Stephen out. I'm safe from that dreadful monster.

"No, wait!" I gasp out loud. I run right into the door and bang my fist furiously on the dense metal. It's the device, the Equinox's stupid technology implanted beneath my skin. It's what they want. They want me to fear Stephen. They know it's what I never wanted. They used my weakness against me. They win, and I lose. They will trick Stephen into thinking I'm scared of him, stealing my truest friend away from me.

I pound and pound, but the elevator doors won't budge. I frantically search the elevator cab for a panel, a hologram, something for me to open the doors with. There's nothing except four blank walls.

I kick the door, growling in my rage. My eyes water, ready to boil over. I'm losing everything in the blink of an eye. No more Stephen for me.

-- -- -- -- --

not sure if "no more stephen" was the winner, but it certainly is the most interesting. all you sadistic peeps out there are probably happy right now.

but there's so much more for the next chapters. y'all better stick around :)

Question: Choose an option: fight back, cue the next, or bear the loss.

((PS: normally i don't override your responses for end-of-chapter questions, but i couldn't resist just this once. you just got hybriad-ed! [because hybriad is evil and does twisted stuff like that. get it? yeah, i'm not that funny] ))