Chapter 1: Escape

“Is she stable?”

Bright lights. Almost blue in color. Blurry.

“Her pulse is slowing down. Heart rate, too. She’s out of the critical stage.”

A satisfied, low rumble was emitted from his lips. “Good, good. And her brain?”

“The scan shows she’s constant. We gave her a shot of the sleep inducer to calm her down.”

The willowy and shadowed figure of an aged man leaned over the slow breathing body of a young girl.

“Neveah.”

Pale, bony fingers twitched in response.

Mr. Misawa smiled in approval. “Do a second stasis scan on her and follow it up with a mild sub-governor injection, then have someone escort her back to her room after she’s fully revived.”

The doctor in the room nodded. “Yes, sir.”

PROJECT X

Stormy, sapphire blue eyes opened, blinking gradually as they tried to adjust to the light.

Neveah licked her dry, chapped lips as she looked around the room through blurry eyes, slowly recognizing where she was. It was the examination room - frosty and barren. She laid on a cool, metal table, her arms splayed out in an eagle-like state and cuffed by metal cuffs. Her legs were in the same position.

A scuffle to the right jolted the girl and she glanced over. A guard stood in the corner, leaning back against the wall with his eyes closed.

Was he asleep? Why couldn’t she tell? How could she have not sensed him when she first awoke?

‘Of course,’ realization dawned on Neveah. ‘The sub-governor. Always the sub-governor.’

Despite that, she tried to reach out to him. Tried to provoke him somehow, send him a message, but it was useless. The sub-governor was in her, and had obviously taken effect.

Neveah studied him. He was new. She’d never seen him before. At least, not in all the years she’d been in this…place. He was young, too. Younger than the former guards whom often escorted her. If she had to guess, she would say he was no younger than her.

The guard’s brows were furrowed together, almost in concentration, though his eyes were clearly closed. And despite the fact that she’d been stabilized and injected with the governing treatment, she could still sense the strong focus from his body. There was an aura radiating from him that she couldn’t place. It felt almost like he was…boiling inside.

Retaliation.

That was the word.

His crossed arms looked tensed with pain. He was trying to control something inside of him - he was trying to control the retaliation.

He wanted revenge.

But why?

Possibly sensing the scrutiny, the guard calmly opened his eyes to meet Neveah’s. Surprise encompassed him and he jerked away from the wall.

“Jesus,” he wheezed, like he was out of breath, eyes broadened with obvious a bit of surprise. “How long have you been awake?”

Neveah suppressed the urge to smile, but didn’t answer back. The guards weren’t required to make small talk with her, so most of them - and by most, she meant all - chose not to.

This guard really was new, and so she assumed he was unfamiliar with the unspoken rule.

He walked over to her and pressed a few buttons on the touch screen monitor above her head.

A beeping sound could be heard, followed by the release of the cuffs around her wrists and ankles.

She was free.

But only in that moment.

Neveah rose gradually, her head still reeling and body still weak. She stood up, but before she knew it, her knees gave way.

The guard rushed to her. “Shit.”

Warm arms and gloved hands encircled her small frame, helping her to stand. She glanced up, her head falling just below his chin. He was gazing down at her, grey eyes smoldering. He looked so angry. Why was he angry? Was he mad she’d almost collapse? The guards she had before him usually brushed her weakness aside and threw her in a wheelchair. They never bothered to fret over her.

“You alright?” he asked, concern etched across his strong features.

She blinked, nodding slowly.

It was all about she could do. She couldn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say. Not a single person in the facility gave a damn enough to ask her how she was doing. They all based their conclusions on her tests. No one cared. And yet, here stood a young man, holding on to her like she could break any moment, asking her how she felt.

Lost in her thoughts, she barely noticed him scooping her legs underneath his arm, carrying her bridal style.

Neveah let out a small squeal of surprise.

The guard gave her a questioning look.

“I-I can walk,” she said softly.

He stared at her for a moment, a slow and small smirk appearing on his lips. “So she speaks.”

Neveah looked away, feeling the heat rush to her face. He let her down gently, still keeping both hands on her just in case.

“C’mon.”

He led her out the examination room and down the white washed hallway, hand clasping her elbow very lightly. Guards weren’t required to literally lead test subjects either. The guy seriously needed a handbook.

“Neveah.”

She looked up upon hearing her name, more than a bit shocked that he’d addressed her so informally.

“Your name is ‘heaven’ spelled backwards,” there was the smallest hint of amusement in his gaze. “Did you know that?”

She regarded him carefully before nodding slowly. Yes, she’d known. She’d known her whole life.

“Ironic, huh?” he muttered to himself.

Confusion encompassed Neveah.

Something felt…off.

Not wrong, but not right, either. He was different from everyone else. Though she had more than enough meds in her to control her mind, she could still sense a light buzz coming from him. She didn’t need her abilities to read what was going on behind his troubled eyes. The way he treated her, the way he behaved, his intentions were…genuine. He wasn’t looking to hurt her.

Her eyes skimmed his uniform. Black ensemble. Combat boots. Gloves. Bullet proof vest. A gun strapped to his side. And the trademark badge of the so called ‘research facility’. He looked the part, but he certainly didn’t act it.

Who was he?

Before she knew it, they arrived at her room.

He took out a ring of keys that was fastened to his belt loop and unlocked the door. “There you go.”

Neveah walked into her padded cell, still a bit wary.

The guard was about to close the door when he halted. “Neveah.”

She stopped and turned around, looking at him expectantly.

It was the second time he’d said her name. For some reason, she felt almost in safe hands when he called her.

He looked from side to side guardedly, as if making sure no one would catch him or interrupt him.

Holding her gaze steadily with his, he took a step forward, standing halfway through the doorframe and barely a foot apart from her.

“You should stay away from your window tonight,” he whispered cautiously. “Could be pretty windy.”

She looked at him, more confused than ever, but nodded anyway.

He smiled, brushing a strand of her hair aside, his gloved hands just barely touching the flesh of her face. And she could have sworn she felt a spark. An electric jolt through the leather - quick and hot.

“Good girl.”

With that, he left.

And all Neveah could do was stare at the door.

Something was going to happen. Something big. She could feel it as clear as the sub-governor running through her veins.

She only hoped it was good.

PROJECT X

The hum of a low alarm half a mile away snapped Neveah awake. Her sub-governor had worn off. And she could feel it. All of it. It was gone. The sub-governor was gone. Dormant in her system. Emotions ran through her, overwhelming her mind.

Panic, confusion, dread, anger, frustration. She clutched her head, wanting to scream. Everyone around her was running and shouting. But she knew they weren’t - not really, not yet. These were feelings from people who were far away from her. But she could feel them getting close. The footsteps. The anger. The cries. The desperation.

Voices whispered. They whispered so loudly.

“Subject 001.”

They were looking for her. She could feel it - hear it. And they sounded so angry. They wanted her. They wanted to keep her away from something. Something…they deemed as an enemy.

Enemy.

No.

She could sense this enemy, too. Not many. Not many at all. But it felt so…warm.

Tears began to spill from her eyes as she crawled off her bed and made her way to the corner of her room. She could sense the invaders, only they weren’t invaders. They were trying to get something back.

Her.

They wanted her, too.

But not to hurt.

They wanted her…to protect.

Oh, but they were desperate too.

Neveah wrenched her hair, her knees pulled tight against her chest, crying her heart out. She tried to put up walls. Tried to control it - to block it all.

‘So much. Make it stop; make it stop.’

All of a sudden, an unfamiliar feeling encompassed her. Light and amicable.

Neveah’s breathing slowed a bit as she used all her might to focus on the new, alien sentiment.

It was strong, and getting stronger. A clattering sound caused her to look up at the rattling bars that protected her window.

The guard’s voice echoed through her head. ‘…Stay away from your window tonight.’

She was away. She was on the opposite side of the room.

The rattling got louder, growing in intensity.

And for just a split second, she felt lifted. High. Buoyant. Like she was…flying.

Images of pure and angelic, white wings flooded her thoughts.

Neveah continued to stare at the rattling window, her face still tearstained. It was getting closer. Her breathing hitched, hands shaky and heart pounding a mile a minute. One hundred yards. Eighty. Seventy. Faster. Forty. Thirty. Twenty. Ten…

She gasped, nearly screaming as she jumped out of the way in the nick of time.

The bars that formally enclosed and framed her window were burnt, bent, and broken. All four of them laid mangled randomly around her room. The glass of the window was completely shattered, fallen into sharp and shattered pieces spread everywhere. The padded wall was in the same arrangement. It happened so quickly, she hadn’t even heard the sounds of a blast. But the evidence was there. Her window had completely exploded. And along with it, half her wall.

White feathers suddenly filled her view. She looked up from her crouched position, into the face of a young man with wings protruding from his back.

He looked like a fallen angel.

His electric blue eyes stared at her for an instant before his entire face broke into a soft and warm smile.

“Neveah.”

Her throat felt dry.

It wasn’t a question. He knew who she was. He was clam. Friendly. Nice. He had good intentions. She got that from him.

“I’m Elijah.”

Elijah. A prophet. A biblical name. She spared a glance at his wings. It suited him too perfectly.

He crouched down to her position until he was completely eye level with her.

“I’m here to take you away to some place safe,” he said. “And if you don’t trust me, you’re welcome to read my mind.”

Sincerity. He was being honest. She didn’t need to read his mind, her empathetic abilities were working on overdrive. All she felt from him was pure goodness.

He held out his hand to her. “So do you trust me?”

He knew.

He knew of her powers. He knew she trusted him. His thoughts all revolved around getting her out of the facility, and safely. But she could sense a bit of worry from him, too. Worry that he couldn’t make it happen. Concern that something might go wrong in the plan.

Plan.

What plan?

Neveah couldn’t delve any further, as much as she tried. His thoughts weren’t blocked, but she still couldn’t read him fully. It felt like something was holding her back. Something was limiting her.

She gave another look at his outreached hand, and placed her own in its cup without the slightest bit of hesitation.

And with his hand came her escape.

And her salvation.

(A/N) Sooo. How was it? Feedback would be lovely.