My breathing came in shallow ragged wheezes. The relentless fever continued to consume my body, as chills, alternating between wild hot flashes coursed through me. Even with my eyes closed, not having the energy to even flutter them open, I could feel the harsh scratchy sheets. They clung uncomfortably to my body, which was coated in sweat. But even then, I dared not move because the body aches were almost unbearable. Any sort of shift or movement made me whimper. Every muscle in my body ached. I still felt the after effects of torture. I still felt like my muscles were being shredded apart. 

My consciousness came and went, like the gentle lapping of waves on the shore. I wished my mind would just stay in the dark. I didn't hurt when I was unconscious. Physically anyways. When I fled into the darkness of my mind the night mares would come. I had no idea how long I drifted in and out of the darkness. 

I came back to the present again, and this time I knew there was a change. Even without opening my eyes I knew someone was inside my cell. I just whimpered. I tried staying conscious long enough to figure out what was going on. I tried listening to the noises around my cell. I hear the gentle tinkling of medical instruments, foot steps, the air conditioning turning on, blasting my already cold cell with freezing air, there was also the soft hum of whispered voices. 

I had been here for a month already. I had been the subject to Janson and his wild experiments and ideas for a full month. I knew Minho's cell was on my one side and Sonya was beside me on the other side. Our open cells were adjoining. I knew Jason and Aris were somewhere down this hall. But I never saw them. I heard Minho and Sonya the odd time, screaming in pain, or whimpering and crying later.  Our cells faced the same direction, a long white hall with bright florescent lights. Our cells, or as Janson and the doctors called them our rooms, faced a row of identical cells, I never saw anyone in the cell across from me. 

This last round had been the worst yet. Every day Janson would waltz into my cell and ask me the same question, just a different person's name or subject number. 

"Will you be taking Subject B3's testing today?" 
"Will you be taking Subject A7's testing today?"
"Will you be taking Subject A15's testing today?"
"Will you be taking Subject B1's testing today?" 

My answer is always the same. Yes. It would give one of them a break. I would take their punishment, because I was the reason they were here. I called WICKED. I deserved it. Jason would nod curtly and then the room would fill up with people in white and, masks covering their faces, and cold rubber medical gloves. 

This last time, I had taken Minho's "testing" it was just plain old torture, with a fancy word, and they had injected me with something new. Within a few hours after they left the fever started, accompanied with a wild pounding headache and itchy skin, like I had creepy crawling bugs under my skin and crawling around my brain. A few hours after that the body aches and the fever kept climbing. They brought food, and I was starving, I ate it so fast, like I was starving, but it came right back up a few minutes later. By midnight I couldn't move. The creepy crawling itchy feeling was gone. 

I lay in the sweat soaked bed, shaking  and shivering. All I wanted to do was have Minho's arms around me. The only thing my pain riddled mind wanted was his arms around me, a few hot salty tears leaked out. 

"Shhh. Jessie, it's okay." 

Minho. Minho's voice. Minho was here, I felt a hand gently feel my forehead. 

"It's gonna be alright. I'm here. You're going to be okay." 

My fever riddled brain eased. Minho was here. He would make everything better. I almost cried in relief. I felt a cool cloth on my forehead, which helped ease the pounding headache for a brief moment. I felt a brief moment of sweet reassurance that everything would be okay.  

But there was something that didn't sit right with me. The alarm in my mind was trying to go off. Something was off. My fever induced body started trembled. This wasn't right. Minho kept talking, but his voice didn't sound quite right. He kept calling me Jessie. He called me Jess. The hand that kept touching me was cool and clammy, not Minho's warm and callused hands. And then through the fever fog it hit me. My mind clicked into place.  It wasn't Minho's voice at all. It wasn't Minho.   My body flooded with panic. I was in no state to fight, or defend myself in any way. 

I forced my eyelids open, everything was fuzzy. My room was bright, blinding me with the harsh florescent lights. I could make out a person crouched by my bed. Dark hair, dressed in white, but my vision was fuzzy. All I managed was a whimper. And a few more tears. I wanted to scream, but my throat felt like sandpaper. I tried. I tried screaming. It was dry and raspy, and sent a wave of pain through me. The unknown voice continued to echo through the room, sending a shiver down my spine. A sudden hand came into contact with my side, which just sent a further wave of pain through my already aching body. 

"Shhh. Jessie. You're going to be alright." 

It sounded so much like Minho's voice. At least what I think his voice sounded like. I hadn't actually heard his voice other than his screams. Maybe it was Minho..? My disoriented state made me second guess myself. Maybe Minho was beside me. A sob left my sore dry throat, I just wanted to give up. I was so sore and tired and in so much pain. I felt a sharp pinch in my neck, making me flinch. 

"You'll be okay." 

The way Minho said it, made another shiver run down my spine. I was too disoriented to notice the danger alarm going off in my mind. A fresh wave of pain stabbed into my mind. It felt like my brain was splitting in half. My mind was being ripped apart, one small piece at a time. 

"You're being so good Jessie. You are giving us amazing results." Minho's voice whispered into my ear. "Remember...WICKED is good." 

A scream ripped from my already raw throat. Despite the pain in my muscles and body, my body thrashed as my mind was ripped apart. 

•×•

Minho: 
I lay on my bed. I was sore and exhausted but they had left me alone for today. I don't understand why every four days they left me alone. The first while I didn't question it, but then as I lay shivering and dazed on my bed, I heard the screaming from next door. The adjoining cell was always screaming. I never heard her pleading for them to stop, but the screaming was almost constant. 

I had finally got an answer, and I wished I hadn't asked. Jessie was next to me, and she was given the option every day if she would take our torture, or "testing" as Janson called it, and give us the break and she would have double. Her answer apparently was always yes. When asked why, she apparently never answered, just shook her head. This was all told to me by a nurse who seemed slightly nicer then the rest. I had no real reason to question it. I knew Jessie would absolutely take on double the pain if it meant someone else didn't have to endure it. I also heard her constant screams and crying. 

Today I hear different screams from her room, these were angry wild almost animalistic screams for a while, and then she had grown quiet. I had no idea what they were doing to her, and it made the panic and anxiety worse. I didn't know if she was hurt, sleeping, sick, dying, or dead. 

I rolled over, facing the cold white wall of my cell and closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep, escape this horrible living nightmare. After a while I just gave up, and stared blankly at the wall. Not caring what happened, whether I was awake or sleeping, my body was too tired, too sore to move. My mind was also exhausted, it felt weak and unstable. I felt like it had been poked and prodded, I had scenarios played out, always horrible awful ones. It was starting to become difficult to separate the real experiences and memories from the dreams and made up ones.

I must have fallen asleep at some point. I woke up fighting. I could feel the needle poking into my neck again. The serum they used to induce the memories and nightmares. 

"No! No no no! Please! Not again!" I cried, 

I flinched hard, when the sharp needle stabbed into my skin. Wincing, I rolled onto my back. There was nothing there. I was alone in my cell. It was dark, the florescent lights turned off. Did I just imagine being stabbed with a needle and serum? I tried pushing myself up onto my elbows, but I couldn't I was strapped down. My hands were strapped down, I felt the cold metal biting into my wrists. 

"No!" I whimpered. 

My breathing started coming short and shallow. I started feeling dizzy. My heart was slamming into my chest, and I felt hammers banging on the inside of my skull. My gasping becomes louder, and my lungs struggle to get the oxygen to my brain.  My gasping breaths become horrible wet hacking coughs; which didn't help the lack of air. And to utter horror, I could feel my throat becoming tight and a lump formed, my eyes burnt with the start of tears. Hot salty tears slid down my face. I tried calling for help. Anyone, I needed someone, anyone. I longed for Jessie. I needed her. She always made me feel safe, and at home, she made me feel like everything would be okay. I was absolutely terrified.  I knew I was alone. I was locked in a cell in the deepest part of WICKED. No one was coming. A wild terrified scream ripped through the quiet hall, piercing through my own panic and fear. The scream was raw and drawn out and full of fear. Jessie was screaming, and it was worse then any other scream I had heard yet. 

I lay tangled in the sheets, gasping for air, tears sliding down my face. I kept tugging on my shirt and clawing at my throat. Silently begging and hoping the tightness and unease in my chest goes away. 

It doesn't. It never does. It never would. 

•×•

Jessie:
I lay sobbing silently on my bed. I had no idea what was real anymore. Mino was here, telling me it would be okay. Yet then he was stabbing me with poison that made my mind split apart, and wild terrifying dreams. But then, while I lay on my bed, I head a faint scream from a different cell. The real Minho was in his cell, still being held by Janson. Still being used. As a horrible as it sounded...It was a comforting thought. He hadn't jabbed me with that needle. I clung to that thought as my mind drifted into the void of sleep. 

I was awoken by hands grabbing me and pulling me from my bed. I cried in pain. My body still ached and the pain was awful. I was still feverish. Two guards dressed in all black, with shinny helmets and dark visors held me tight. I could hardly stand on my shaky legs. They dragged me out of my cell and down the hall. I tried to look into the cells down the hall. I saw a lump of something in a bed, it might have been Sonya, but they dragged me down the hall faster then I could get a good look. 

I had no idea where we were going. I hadn't been out of my cell in the month I had been here. They hulled me down hall after hall. They pulled me into an elevator. One of them pushed a button and we went up a few levels. The door dinged open. It was another white hall. They pulled me down the hall, and stopped in front of a door. They swiped a card, and the light turned green, one of the guards pushed the door open, and shoved me inside. 

"You have 15 minutes." One of the guards said curtly.

The door clicked closed and I heard the lock engage again. Absolutely confused, I turned back towards the room. It was a bathroom. Nothing fancy, a toilet, sink, shower, and a change of clothes. Frowning, I had no idea what was going on. These weren't the prisoner clothes we were forced to wear, white cotton pants and shirt with WICKED stamped on the back. 

These looked similar to what I would normally wear, black pants, shirt and boots. But there was a shower with everything waiting. Despite my confusion, I wasn't going to waist an opertunity to shower. I hadn't had one in a long time. WICKED had stripped us down, made us shower and sprayed us with some kind of sanitizer, and then sent us into some kind of contamination centre. And then dragged us into our cells.

I turned the water on and stood in the warm water for a few minutes. It made my feverish body feel better. I slowly washed my hair and then my body. The soap was soft and bubbled up, it was like heaven. They also left a razer and shaving cream. I didn't question it, I used it. And stood in the warm water for as long as I dared.

With a sigh of resignation, I turned the water off and dried off. Now I turned to clothes. I frowned still confused. But I pulled on the clean underwear and bra and pants and shirt. Slowly I turned to the mirror. Wiping the steam away I looked at my reflection.

I flinched and looked away. My eyes were dead, I was pale, I lost all the sun from being in the Maze for three years, I was pale and had black bags under my eyes.

The door behind me clicked and the door opened. The guards were on each side waiting for me. There was nothing for me to do but to follow. I was too tired and sick to fight back. The guards grabbed my arms and steered me down the hall. Towards a set of huge skidding doors.

They stopped and then swiped their card the light went from red to green. And a computer voice spoke.

"Access granted."

The door slid open. I was completely caught off guard. There was a table and a chair. And cameras pointed at the table.

Janson stood in the middle of the room, arms folded and a smug smirk on his face.

"What the fuck are you planning RatMan?" I croaked.

"I'm glad you could join us Jessica. We have a different type of day planned for you. Please take a seat and we'll get started."

I opened my mouth to argue back but Janson pushed a button on some remote and a wall slid open revealing Minho strapped to some kind of chair bed, his mouth gagged.

"Minho!" I whispered, slapping my hands over my mouth.

"If you don't follow the instructions precisely, there will be consequences."

Tears prickled my eyes as I stared at Minho, drinking in his appearance. Trying to memorize everything.

"Now sit down, Jessica, and we will get started."

•×•

× Chapter 1...are we picking up
any kind of vibes yet? ×

× There will be a few different POV changes, I'll add the label when I do. ×