Chain Reaction 3.79: Fantasy World

Emily

     I spent a few days in the hospital. They pumped my stomach, and I woke to a worried Drake. Then I started crying. Then they told me I was pregnant. Drake somehow managed to keep them from committing me to the psychiatric ward, and now he claims I'm in his 'care.' Since I'm a suicide threat, he sticks to me like a barnacle.

     But today, I have to rush to the doctor. I don't allow Drake in the exam room, and I speak to the doc alone.

     My body is just not suited for pregnancy. I'm dead inside, so why should anything inside me live?

      Later, he corners me in the bedroom. "Emily, I'm scared to death. Tell me what the doctor said. Is everything okay?"

      "No," I answer with a dull expression. "Everything is not okay."

      His face pales. "What is it? Why won't you tell me? Emily..." He reaches for me, but I push his hands away. That makes him mad, but I don't care.

      "I've had a miscarriage, Drake. Your little plan failed."

     "My 'little plan'?" That pissed him off. "I don't call starting a family a 'little plan.'"

     "We're forty-six, Drake. I'm too old. Hasn't that occurred to you?"

     "Forty-six isn't too old. We'll just try again. How long did the doctor say we had to wait?"

     "Have you lost your mind?! You know, if you'd bothered to ask before all your raping, you'd have found out that being pregnant with Alaric almost killed me! I. Can't. Have. Babies, Drake!" I smirk. "Guess that option is out." The battle with Drake continues. My pride, thus far, has kept me from asking for any outside help. But I'm reaching that point where at least I recognize that it's pride that's doing it. Maybe stubbornness is also a factor, like how I stubbornly refuse to have a funeral for Alex. We attended a burial, but I still can't believe it.

      He glares at me. "The fault couldn't have been with you. Alaric was his son. Mine won't do that to you. What if it was the sleeping pills? It doesn't mean you can't have my child."

      "Get out of your dream world and face reality. It wasn't the pills, and even if I weren't too old, which I am, pregnancy and my body do not get along. Trying again could kill me."

      His lip curls, and he turns to leave the room.

     I keep going, being a smart-ass. "But hey! Maybe that's for the best! After all, the last time I tried to handle my death on my own, you intervened! Silly me! I'll get you to do it for me!"

     "Dammit! I told you to stop talking like that!" He stops and spins around before roughly grabbing my chin. "Don't you know how much it pains me to hear that? For plum's sake, Emily. I love you!"

     Even though he holds my mouth, I still talk. "I hate you. My own precious son hates me because of you. I can't even so much as look at my brother. Bella is afraid of me. My own mother hates me." I almost cry when I think about Alex, adding him to that list to say that he's gone, but I can't form the words. "I have no reason to live."

     "Yes you do. Because I need you to."

     "Maybe I'm already dead and in hell."

     He shoves me away. "There's no talking to you when you get like this." And he leaves the room.
-------------------------------------------

Alex

     They will never let me leave. Even if I should manage to escape, I've since discovered they have implanted something on the back of my neck. It looks like a tattoo, but one of the girls told me it contains a tracking device. To remove it would leave me paralyzed.

     Microchipped. Like a dog.

      I do the best I can. They remain 'pleased' with me. They feed me well, and I'd swear I feel younger. They won't even let me grow old, determined to keep me for as long as they need me.

     Then what? I've thought before that the only way out of here is death.

      I grow more and more depressed as the hopelessness takes over.

      Then one night, I refuse to perform. I want them to kill me. The poor girl I talk to has no idea what to do, so she sits on the sofa and waits for her time to be up. My superiors do not look happy with me now, but I don't care.

      The next night, the same thing happens. Then the next. And the next. I'm done with them.

      I stop eating. After a few days with no food, I get a special visitor.

      It's ADZ8350. "Mr. Goth, you are not well."
      "I want to die. Take me to the incinerator." Life without Emily has become unbearable. I heard about their incinerator from one of the girls.
      "No, we can't do that. You're far too valuable. We've decided to give you a change of scenery."

     "Why won't you just kill me and make way for someone else? If too many offspring have the same father, you're going to have to start worrying about inbreeding coefficients."
     "Precisely. Which is why you're being moved." She smiles brightly. "I have been given a promotion, and with it, I get to choose a mate. I choose you."
     "No. I'm already married."

     She leans in. She has a kind of pheromone swirling around her. I've seen them do it before. It doesn't matter. I'm too depressed.
     "Don't you want to get out of this box? You can come live with me in my quarters. Your work for the community has been good. Take the reward, Alex."
     I jump. That's the first time someone has called me Alex in... I don't know how long.
     "You'll feel better out of this environment."
     I start crying. "Let me die. Please, let me die."
     Of course, I don't get what I want.

     AD's (or Addie as she's decided I should call her) apartment is just another prison. I'm told if I cross the threshold, the marker on my neck will shock me. And she's getting very persistent.
     "Isn't this wonderful, Alex? It's your home."
     "No! It's not my home! My home has my loved ones in it. My home has a clear blue sky. Or rain. Or just plumbing clouds!" I breathe fast and watch her face fall. "And this little fantasy world of yours needs to stop, Addie! I'm not some little pet. I don't love you and never will. You're not my wife. Leave me be!"

      She starts crying. I didn't know they could do that. "I know you don't love me. I can't make you. But I couldn't let them terminate you. They gave you to me. I just want you to be happy here." She sniffs. "What do I have to do?"
      Then, she suddenly stands up straight and has an expression like she's got an idea. She spins, and I nearly pass out in shock.

     She smiles, and even her voice sounds different when she asks, "Is this a more pleasing visage?"