Tao woke up drained and fuzzy-brained again, not entirely sure what was going on and he had trouble focusing on what was right in front of him. He took a few moments just lying down to wake up more and remember what had happened yesterday- or at least the last time he was awake. He had no concept of how long he had been here, hours, days....weeks? He bit his lip, willing himself not to cry.

After the first video, they had come at him with a syringe. What if it was some strange chemical thing? What if it had a weird effect on his body? He'd struggled, and fought against them, and they'd had to call other people in to hold him down. He remembered shouting a lot, and then somebody had covered his mouth. This did nothing to stop him from yelling, though, and trying to fight them off, despite his legs being pinned down.

Cold hands rolled up one of his sleeves, and they'd push the needle in, making him scream louder, and he'd managed to kick one leg free. He'd felt a satisfying squish under the sole of his foot as he made contact with someone’s stomach, but this success was short-lived, because after that there were more hands binding him to the mattress. 

By then his eyes were going out of focus, and he was losing control of his limbs; each jerk weaker and weaker, until his eyes were shut, and his thoughts halting entirely. Then nothing.

He lay still, once fully conscious, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He knew they were watching him, somehow. His face hurt and his arm was sore. Heck, his whole body ached. He shifted slightly, opening his eyelids just a sliver, testing out the rest of his body, but luckily there didn't seem to be any more major damage.

He didn’t move for ages, just breathing. He thought about his friends. And Sehun. He didn't let himself cry, as that might bring that lady back in to see what was going on.

After a length of time that he had no way of measuring (but it certainly felt like a long time), the door opened with the slightest sound. He scrambled upright, ready to try and defend himself, but it was just that strange woman with the facemask again, and the guy with the camera followed her in. This meant more flashcards, right? He scowled at her, not wanting to let her within a foot of him. The cameraman set up his tripod, pointing it at him, but didn’t switch it on.

“You’re going to be more…co-operative, this time, right?” she lilted, menacingly, like a child posessed by a demon in a horror film. It made him shiver,

“Because, if you don’t, we will have to take certain measures. I'm sure you know what I mean,”

He hugged his knees, and turned his face away from her, didn't trust her not to do something if he took his eyes off her for a moment. She was completely unpredictable. She slid a hand into the pocket of her coat, and pulled out the hilt of another syringe, but the fluid in this one wasn’t the same; the last one had been clear, this one was cloudy white.

Tao didn’t feel like risking his life. He looked up to show that he was willing to read off more flashcards, but there didn’t seem to be any in the room.

“We don’t need you to say anything. I think your face says enough.” Her scary eye smile was back. Tao touched his cheek, wondering what she meant by her last comment, then gasping when his fingers touch his swollen, tender face.

He watched her, waiting for her to do something, heart pounding through his ribcage.

Nothing happens for a while, until suddenly she jerked her hand up- the one with the needle in. Tao cringed away from her, cowering into the wall and crying out, but nothing came after that. He peeked out from under his arm, only to see her looking at him disdainfully. 

“Thanks, Craig, that’ll be enough,” she dismissed the cameraman, and he left promptly.

They sit in silence for a moment, and he's mentally begging her to just leave.

But it was like she knew, and took a sick pleasure in his fear. All he could hear was the pounding of his heart, and he was beginning to get dizzy. Then his stomach growled audibly, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten in over a day.

She giggled.

Then she clapped her hands, and brought out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it,

“Bring up some food Matt, the subject seems hungry,” and waited for a static-y affirmative. Tao really wanted food but he wasn't sure if he could trust anything they gave him. It had been ok last time, but after what they had done to him he had doubts that they weren't going to try something strange, lace his meal with some kind of experimental drug. God knew what she would do; she seemed crazy.

A minute or so later he heard footsteps in the hallway, and a young man holding a tray of vegetables and mashed potato came in. The bizzare and creepy woman took it from him, dismissing him with an imperious wave of her hand. The man glanced up at him, an indecipherable look in his eye, but then immediately left. Tao hoped he felt bad.

She placed the tray delicately on the edge of his bed and followed after the man, giving him what she probably thought was a friendly wave.

Tao hated her. He'd never hated anyone before, but he was sure.

He stared at the vegetables. They didn't even look the slightest bit appetising, even though he was starving. From his curled up position in the corner, he regretfully pushed the tray away.

But then his stomach growled again, feeling like it was rolling around inside him, and he really didn’t want to die of starvation. He tentatively picked up a raw carrot,  since and bit the end off. It didn't taste quite right, he realised, while chewing, but he swallowed anyway, and finished the remainder of it despite being suspiscious. It wasn't until the second carrot that he realised these must’ve somehow been drugged; he was having difficulty thinking straight, remembering why he was here, and his fingers weren't working well.

What surprised him though, because the drugs certainly didn’t, was his reaction. He didn’t feel overly upset, just disappointed, his last thought is ‘not again’.

He even kept eating the vegetables, because he thought maybe it'd be better to be asleep than awake. At least when unconscious he didn’t notice time passing. This assumption was the last thing he thought before succumbing to the darkness again again.

--

In his dream there was Sehun, standing on the other side of a broad glass window. He was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't hear him; the glass was obstructing his voice. Tao banged on the window, trying to get through but it wouldn’t budge, and he obviously set off some kind of alarm by trying to break it, a high stuttering sound and whirling flashing red lights encompasing him, surrounding him and Sehun, spinning around them until he felt sick.

Sehun’s frantic face faded as he came to, but the annoying sound didn’t. He groaned, and rubbed his head into the hard mattress beneath him, trying to block out the noise, whatever it was, but to no avail. Turning to the side, he peeked out from behind his arm, and squinted at the bright lights. As the room came into view, he could see a flashing light coming from the gap under the door. That meant there had to be some kind of emergency, right? But nobody was running around, which set him on edge. Something was going on, but he couldn't figure out what. Also it smelled weird; it was no longer the harsh clinical, chemical odour anymore, it smelled like….smoke?

Holy crap, they’d left him to burn! He staggered off the bed, swaying precariously, and hammered on the door yelling for help, even though he know nobody was going to come for him. Knowing this, feeling so alone and helpless, he collapsed to the ground, starting to really cry for the first time, sobbing into his hands.

Was he really going to die? He didn’t know how big this place was, so he had no idea how long it would take for the fire to reach him. Surely someone would call for a fire engine?

He crawled away from the door, and sat in the middle of the floor, hyperventillating. Was there something he could do? Could he get out? He looked around but there was nothing, the door was locked tight, the ceiling didn't look breakable and there were no windows save for the glass. He was stuck there, and he was going to burn to death. He'd heard that burning was one of the most painful ways to die, could that be true?

“Tao!” The first time he heard his name being called out, he ignored it; it was probably his mind playing cruel tricks on him, or a leftover of his dream. But then he heard it again, and he realised it was real, not a dream. He scrambled back to the door and begin pounding on it, screaming “Sehun! In here!” 

Even over the sound of the alarm he could hear him getting closer,

“Tao?" Sehun sounded as frantic as Tao felt, "I’m going to get you out, ok? Move away, please, I don’t want you to get hurt,” He stepped away hastily, then shouted,

“Do it!”

The door shuddered violently after Sehun attacked it. Tao moved further away, so as not to get squashed. Sehun tried again, but it refused to work.

“I can’t- it’s a bolt lock, it won’t-” He stuttered,

“Try the mirror?” He interrupted him, hoping that that would be easier to break that the door.

“What?”

“The window- next to the door? Try that.” It didn't work either, the whole thing vibrated, but didn’t shatter.

“Why do they even have a room like this anyway?!” Sehun was getting hysterical, pounding futilely on the glass. It hurt that Sehun could probably see him, but all Tao was able to see was his ugly reflection, skin mottled purple and blue and swollen.

“Sehun!” He called, trying to distract him a little, or maybe calm him down somehow, if he could, “what’s going on? Why is there an alarm?”

He chuckled grimly, “that was probably Jongin. We told him not to use fireworks, but you know him; never listens. And we’re here to rescue you, except that’s not going so well, is it?”

“Jongin?” Tao was surprised,

“Yeah, I enlisted his help. And your sister’s. Even told them about me. Xiao-Xing hates me now, by the way. I mean, more than before." He paused for a moment, "I just wish I could get you out,” He choked on his words, and, sobbing, kicked the wall again and again, even though it did nothing to help the situation.

“Where is she then? My sister?” He asked him, “is she ok?”

“Yeah, I think so. She went with Jongin, to save him from himself. The idiot,”

"I hope they're ok," Tao mumbled, eyes prickling again. It was stupid, but he felt guilty for putting eveyone through this, not least himself.

“Stand closer to the mirror,” Sehun demanded, so Tao stepped forward,. He placed his hand on the one-way glass. He knew Sehun had put his hand over his from the other side even though he couldn’t see it. He let himself cry a little more.

is tao gonna be stuck there till death? find of in the next installment of ....chemistry!

im sorry ok but... pls comment. or subscribe. ty