Something strange was going on. There was no doubt about it. Jake was confused and oblivious at the intent of the scientists that had been watching him all day.
Jake was handcuffed to a chair and some men and women in white coats drew some of his blood or asked him a million questions about himself. They would not allow him to ask about anything at all, they only wanted answers to some of his private information like name, age, allergies, diseases and so on. His natural confidence seemed buried beneath a layer of fear. Where was he? What did these people want?
Jake was not exactly a good role model. He wasn’t a bad person but somehow he got out of track due to some bad influences. He’d been stealing people’s wallets and other minor felonies for some years now. Everything had gone well until one of his victims caught him and the police arrested him. Although he was 16 he had already got quite some adventures with the police but still he had never faced anything like this or even heard about this procedure. Some unknown people came out of nowhere and brought him blindfolded to this building.
Jake was now anxiously waiting for what was coming next. It didn’t take long until the answer presented itself: a man came with a syringe. Jake thought they were going to take some of his blood again but he was mistaken as the syringe contained a clear liquid substance. Jake was petrified. What was that? What…? Why…? How…? Who…? A million questions came in a sudden but he felt a strange peace as the man injected the unknown content into his bloodstream without saying a single word. Jake fell asleep in seconds.
When he woke up again he found out he was laying on a bed. Not his own bed, though. He was certain that he was still in the strange building he had been brought and that it was just a different room. There were barely any lights or furniture. There were no more men and women in white coats around. He found out he was not handcuffed anymore but the biggest shock was to find other beds in the room: three other beds to be exact.
“Hey, are you up?” Called a voice. He could barely see with such a dim light but he found out it came from the second bed on the right. Those on the beds closest to him (left and right) seemed to still be asleep.
“Yeah, who are you?” Asked Jake. He immediately cleared his throat after talking. How long had he been sleeping?
The other boy stood closer to the edge of his bed and Jake could see his face. He was around his own age and had a buzz cut contrasting with Jake’s shoulder length curly black hair. The stranger’s face was better looking than Jake’s as he had pimples all across his face and the other guy had a clear skin.
“Name’s Ryan. What’s yours?”
“I’m Jake. Do you know what’s going on around here?”
“Hell if I know. I barely even remember how I got here.”
Suddenly the person who slept in the bed between Jake’s and Ryan’s beds woke up, looked around confused and immediately got out of bed.
“Hey man, don’t…” Ryan said but shut up as soon as the other boy fell on the floor. Jake tried to help him but found out what the problem was. He could barely feel his muscles. Those men had probably drugged them. The other boy eventually managed to get on top of his bed again. “Fuck…” he muttered.
“Are you alright?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, I… crap I can barely feel my body.” The boy answered.
Just like Ryan and Jake, the other boy was a teenager probably younger than them, around 14 or 15. He had a broken nose, some freckles and medium sized brown hair.
“Yeah, we’re all feeling like crap” Ryan said and Jake gave a small nod. “What’s your name? He’s Jake and I’m Ryan.”
The newly woken boy looked suspiciously at the other two boys. “The question is who the hell are you? Are you working with those people?” He angrily asked.
“Calm down, man. We have nothing to do with those guys. They kidnapped us and injected us with something.” Jake replied, trying to make the other boy calmer.
“How do I know you’re not lying?” The boy asked.
“Stop being retarded you fuck-face! Do we look like those dipshits?” Ryan shouted.
The fourth boy (on Jake’s left) woke up with all the shouting around him. He had black skin and had a cornrow hairstyle. He was probably the oldest of the group, around 17 or 18, as well as the tallest. He looked at the others still confused and sleepy. “What’s going on here?” He asked.
“Fucking great, a nigger. This can’t get any worse.” Ryan said.
“What the fuck are you calling me you piece of shit? You think you’re tough, bitch?”
Things were certainly getting even more complicated than before. There was no time to think, just act and thus Jake said with a roar “All of you shut the hell up!” At once the other boys looked at him. “Listen, I don’t know who you guys are or why we’re here but it seems to me that these people kidnapped us and injected us with something for a reason. They were testing us or doing some weird stuff, I don’t know, but it’s not really the time to argue amongst ourselves. We have to figure out what’s going on and why we’re here!” All became quiet until Jake broke the silence: “Let’s start with introductions: my name’s Jake.”
“Tony.” The black boy said.
“I’m Ryan.” The teenager said and then looked sideways at Tony.
“Fine, my name is Kevin.” The fourth element said.
“I see you’ve met each other.” A strange voice was heard. Then out of nowhere what they had thought was a wall was revealed to be a huge screen as it was suddenly turned on and a face of a middle aged man with thick glasses was seen. The four boys remained silent, still too shocked to react.
“As you may remember we’ve injected you with a potent compound. The exact nature and origin of this compound are irrelevant for you but you’ll find out the effects very soon, trust me. Each one of you is a delinquent, a burden to society. What I offer you is simple: a new opportunity, a new life. Tomorrow you’ll be sent to a new town. Each one of you will be adopted by a loving family. You will not be allowed to run away or hurt yourselves or others or communicating with your friends and/or family. I hope this is perfectly clear. If and when we believe you are rehabilitated you will be allowed to resume your normal lives without our intervention. That is all.” And the screen became black before any of the group could ask anything.
Confusion was stamped on all their faces but before any of their voices could be heard a strange cloud of gas came from above and the four boys drifted once again to sleep.