Echoes by Marissa Lete (best books for students to read txt) 📕

I don’t know what to think.

I sigh. I need everything to make sense, maybe, but right now I have a bigger problem: I need to escape. I glance around the room, trying to think of a plan. I can’t open the door, but someone will have to come back eventually to give me food and water. At least I hope they will.

There aren’t any windows, and the only thing that could potentially be used as a weapon is the stack of blankets. But I’m still handcuffed, so even a knife won’t do any good.

Before I can come up with a solid plan, the door swings open. I quickly back as far into the corner of the room as I can get. The silver-haired woman steps in and Dave follows suit rolling a stainless steel cart. On it are various medical supplies—syringes, gauze, needles. My stomach drops.

“Well, Laura, I’m so glad we’ve finally made your acquaintance,” the woman says as she steps forward. She pulls a pair of latex gloves off the cart, then starts slapping them on.

“Who are you?” I demand.

“I know you’re probably very, very confused right now,” she says. Dave stops the cart at the side of the room, then closes the door.

“What do you want from me?” I try to sound brave even though I’m shaking. Dave steps in my direction, his mouth set in a thin, almost bored line.

The woman keeps talking as Dave reaches for me. “Though it’s not my fault that you’re so lost right now,” she says. I duck, throwing all of my weight toward Dave’s knees. “The situation definitely could have been handled better. It was some poor, hasty decision making that caused this whole mess if you ask me.” I collide with Dave’s legs, but he doesn’t even move a muscle. Instead, he catches my arm, yanking me up with ease. I struggle, but with my hands still cuffed, there isn’t much I can do.

“Anyway, I know you don’t understand, but I’m excited to have you here. You might actually play a huge role in solving this issue,” the woman continues as Dave drags me over to the exam chair, forcing me onto it. I struggle futilely while he straps my feet to the legs of the chair, uncuffs my hands, and does the same with my arms. “Now it’s just going to be a little pinch, at first,” the woman says, and I watch as she grabs a syringe off the cart, connects a needle to it, then taps the air bubbles out.

“What is that?” I panic. “Please don’t do this.” The woman gives me a small look of pity, then comes closer, ignoring my plea. She grabs a sanitizing wipe and attempts to rub a patch of my arm, but I struggle, moving as much of my body as I possibly can away from her. I knock her arm backward, causing her to drop the wipe on the floor. A beat later, her hand closes around my throat.

She leans close, her cold fingers sending chills across my skin. “I can make this hurt a lot worse if you don’t stop,” she sneers, tightening her grip just enough to cut off the air flowing into my lungs.

I try to meet her gaze in defiance, but the sudden lack of oxygen causes tears to spring into my eyes. The woman smiles, satisfied, and releases her grip. I cough.

“I’m glad you understand,” she says, then grabs a new wipe from off the cart and rubs a small circle on my left arm. “I’m Alice, by the way,” she tells me, her eyes connecting with mine just as she plunges the needle into my arm.

“What was that?” I ask after she slides the needle out, my heart racing. Alice goes over to the cart, sets down the used needle, then grabs a fresh one. When she comes back over to me, she ties a band around my upper arm tightly. “What is going on?” I ask her, but it’s as if I’m talking to echoes. She ignores me, sticking a second needle into my arm and drawing a small vial of blood. She holds it up in front of her eye, tapping it.

“That should be plenty. Dave, you can let her go now,” I hear Alice say, but it sounds far away. And her mouth doesn’t move. A second later, she looks over to Dave. “That should be plenty. Dave, you can let her go now,” she says. I stare blankly at her, a strange sensation coming over me like I’m about to be nauseous.

Then there’s the sound of footsteps moving, a few seconds before Dave actually starts moving to release me.

“What did you do?” I hear my voice mumble. It sounds like an echo, just like Alice’s voice a few seconds ago. But I’ve said nothing.

“What did you do?” I ask as Dave unties me from the chair. Suddenly, the room is filled with echoes. Doubles, then triples of sounds echoing back to me, moments before they happen in the present. I hear Alice rolling the cart out of the room with Dave’s footsteps just behind her. Faintly, then a little louder a second later, then I watch it happen, making the sound in the present.

“Wait!” I hear an echo of myself call, once, then twice. Then I call, “Wait!”

Alice pauses, peering at me through the doorway as I hear an echo of myself say, “What is happening to me?”

“What is happening to me?” I ask, a deep ache forming behind my eyes.

Alice’s eyebrows lift in curiosity. Her echo says, “I guess we’re going to find out,” then she smiles and says the exact same thing. I hear the door slamming shut a second before Dave grabs it and slams it shut.

I sit there in the chair, frozen.