Darkness.
Heavy.
Silent.
Emily felt as though she were floating in an endless void. Her body felt strangely light, yet her head was pounding as if someone had struck it with a hammer.
Slowly, she forced her eyes open.
The first thing she noticed was the light.
Bright.
Cold.
Blinding.
She blinked several times before her vision slowly adjusted.
White ceiling.
White walls.
White lights.
Everything was white.
Her heart skipped.
This place felt disturbingly familiar.
Emily tried to move but quickly realized something was wrong.
Her wrists were strapped to the sides of a narrow medical bed.
Her ankles were secured as well.
Panic rushed through her chest.
"What…?"
Her voice came out weak and dry.
Memories suddenly rushed back.
The mansion.
The attack.
Alexander shouting her name.
Then the cloth over her mouth.
Her breathing became uneven.
"No… no… no…"
A quiet mechanical sound echoed in the room.
The door slid open.
Emily's heart immediately began pounding harder.
Two guards walked inside first.
Both wore black uniforms and expressionless faces.
Then someone else entered behind them.
Dr. Adrian Voss.
He looked exactly the same as before—calm, confident, and disturbingly pleased.
"Well," he said softly, adjusting his glasses, "our sleeping beauty has finally awakened."
Emily's eyes burned with anger.
"Let me go."
Voss chuckled lightly.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible."
Emily struggled against the restraints.
"You're insane!"
Voss walked slowly toward her bed.
His footsteps echoed across the sterile floor.
"You know," he said thoughtfully, "you were always my most fascinating subject."
Emily glared at him.
"I'm not your subject."
Voss tilted his head.
"You were once."
Emily felt a chill run down her spine.
Her eyes scanned the room again.
Now that she looked closer—
She noticed the machines.
Monitors displaying brain activity.
Medical scanners.
Strange devices she didn't recognize.
Her stomach twisted.
"This place…"
Her voice trembled.
"I've been here before."
Voss smiled.
"Yes."
Emily's breathing became heavier.
"This is the laboratory."
Voss clasped his hands behind his back.
"The improved version, actually."
Fear crept into her chest.
"You rebuilt it."
"Of course," he replied calmly.
"After you destroyed the first one."
Emily froze.
Fragments of memory flashed violently in her mind.
Broken glass.
Alarms screaming.
Fire spreading across the laboratory.
People shouting.
And herself—
Standing in the center of it all.
Her voice shook.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone."
Voss watched her carefully.
"That's what makes your ability so dangerous."
Emily's eyes snapped toward him.
"My ability?"
"Yes."
He tapped the tablet he was holding.
"Your brain produces an abnormal level of neural energy."
Emily frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Voss's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"It means your mind can influence the physical world."
Emily remembered the chandelier shattering.
The mansion shaking.
Her hands began to tremble.
"You did this to me."
Voss shrugged.
"We enhanced what was already there."
Emily shook her head.
"You experimented on a child."
Voss didn't deny it.
"History will remember it as progress."
Anger surged through her.
"You're a monster."
For the first time, Voss's expression hardened slightly.
"Careful."
He leaned closer.
"You're alive today because of my work."
Emily glared at him.
"I would rather have died."
Voss straightened.
"That's unfortunate."
He pressed a button on his tablet.
Suddenly, one of the machines beside her began humming louder.
Emily's heart raced.
"What are you doing?"
"Continuing the experiment."
Her eyes widened.
"No!"
Voss's voice remained calm.
"I need to see how much your abilities have developed."
The machine released a faint electric pulse.
Emily gasped as a wave of pressure surged through her mind.
Her vision blurred.
The monitors began flashing rapidly.
Her brain activity spiked.
Voss watched the screen eagerly.
"Incredible…"
Emily clenched her fists.
Pain exploded inside her head.
But something else was happening too.
The metal tray beside the bed began shaking.
The glass container on the table trembled.
Crack.
The container shattered.
Voss smiled.
"Excellent."
Emily's anger burned hotter.
"You'll never control me!"
Voss leaned closer again.
"Oh Emily…"
His voice lowered.
"I don't need to control you."
He smiled darkly.
"I just need to push you."