• I was in the windowless room again; Boomer on the other side talking in quick fits of slurs and giggles. He turned toward me crimson eyes wide with something I only saw in guys who had too much to drink. I pressed against the wall as he was suddenly in front of me. He waved the bear in my face. It was a panda with a small gun in its hand and a belt around his waist. I reached for it but Boomer pulled it away quickly, pressing his cold lips against mine. I pulled away.
    ‘Be a good girl,’ he whispered, hooking his cold fingers under my chin. He pulled my lips to his. I pulled back again and he hit the wall, leaving a dent were his fist connected. I gasped, looking at him. ‘Be good or you aren’t getting the bear.’
    ‘But I don’t want this,’ I whispered.
    He growled, throwing the bear across the room and throwing me on a bed. His hands held mine down as he turned into a lustful beast before my eyes. I screamed, thrashing about, but his lips cut off my air supply. I didn’t want it! I didn’t want any of it. I begged god for help. I begged anyone to help…
    There was a sudden flash of light and a loud crash. Boomer fell over, thriving in pain. I looked toward where the flash came from and gasped. The panda, once inanimate, was standing up around six feet tall, blaster in one furry paw while the other was outstretched towards me. I grabbed it thankfully.
    ‘Are you alright?’ he asked. I nodded, burying my face in his warm fur; being with him made me feel safe. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my forehead. He turned and pointed toward a door, outside it was a whole new world filled with color and more bears. ‘You’re safe with me, Discovery,’ he whispered. ‘You’ll always be safe with me.’
    As we left I heard Boomer on the floor, hissing like a snake. I walked out into the sunlight, happy to be free, but feeling a sudden weight on my shoulders. I reached for my neck, finding a cold chain collar. I tugged at it, trying to get it off. I looked at the bear in shock, but he didn’t seem to notice as he led me around the new world.
    ‘I’ll find you,’ Boomer hissed with a crooked smile as he hovered in the doorway. ‘Remember, you’re mine, forever.’

    My limbs were heavy, my body ached and my mind felt like it had just been thought a blender. My lungs felt like they were filled with water as I opened my eyes slowly. I gasped. Scratch that; I screamed. The reason my lungs felt heavy was because they were filled with liquid, Liquid Oxygen, to be precise.
    I pressed my hands against the side of the tank, making a fist and pounding on it. The liquid was warm, almost like a bath, it was uncomfortable to breath when you knew what it was.
    ‘Damn you,’ my mind screamed. I pressed my head against the tank, closing my eyes tightly. ‘Why couldn’t you pick someone else? Why couldn’t you be somewhere else? Why pick me? There’s nothing special about me! Why choice me? Why?’
    “Why pick me?” I screamed pounding the glass.
    “Well, it would be easier to explain if you weren’t in a tank, but I can do my best,” Boomer whispered. I looked up at him with fearful eyes. He stood in front of me with that cursed smile of his.
    My mind suddenly flashed to the dream I had. I didn’t want to be in the tank. My heart beat quickened. I pounded the glass, fearfully. I screamed again, knocking myself against it. I pressed my back to the other side and firmly placed my feet on it, trying to break it but finding my efforts useless.
    Boomer looked as if he was intrigued by how persistent I was. He waited until I calmed down to return to the mike he had talked into. “Do you want to know why I picked you?”
    I glowered at him. He gave a small laugh. “It wasn’t because of how you look, or because you were a straight A student, or because you are a doctor; it was because you were so innocent. I picked you because of your innocence, your age and your genes. You are truly something special. Every other woman I’ve experimented on had a little trouble getting used to the ‘drug’ I had given them.”
    “And what drug was that?” I asked in a hiss.
    “You’ll see with time,” he said with a smirk.
    I didn’t like how that sounded. I turned from him as quickly as the liquid would let me and sat there.
    “Do you have any other questions for me?” he asked.
    “How long am I going to be in here?” I asked.
    “Two weeks,” Boomer said slowly.
    I whirled around quickly, pressing my hands to the glass. He was serious and looked partially saddened. “Are you serious?” I wanted to scream but it came out in a whisper.
    “Unfortunately,” he sighed. He turned around quickly. “Well, I’ll leave you to your soak. I’ll see you soon.”
    “Wait!” I screamed. “You can’t leave me in here for two weeks! You can’t! What will I do! What was that drug you gave me? BOOMER!”

    I don’t know how many days passed, or if I was just imaging things and only hours went by, but I had given up. I had slept for some time, finding myself in a fetal position when I woke up. Liquid Oxygen was comfortable when sleeping.
    I remembered Butch pulling me out a few times, trying his hardest to feed me, but I refused to the point where he wanted to just shove the food down my throat. After that he would just toss me back in the tube like nothing happened. During my time in the tube I didn’t dream anything but things about the panda and his kindness. But after a few dreams they started turning dark. Boomer would be waiting in the shadows, always watching me and whispering on the wind.
    I gave a reluctant sigh, opening my eyes. Boomer was there, but upside down. Scratch that, I was upside down. I blinked once at him then turned away.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    “Nothing,” I whispered in a depressed tone.
    “Discovery,” he said with a frown. “Good girls don’t lie. What’s wrong?”
    I half turned toward him. “I give up.”
    His eyes widened in surprise and excitement. He turned around to the team that monitored me and repeated my words. They all cheered happily. He turned back with a smile. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear those words.”
    “How long have I been in this thing?” I asked.
    “Around a week and six days,” He said with a smile. My eyes widened, but it was too late. I had already given in. Why fight it now?
    “Can I get out now?” I asked.
    “No,” Boomer said. “Not until tomorrow. That’s when I’ll tell you what the drug was. But remember, you gave up, so there’s no turning back now.”
    The whole room cleared out. Boomer turned back and gave me a smile and a thumb up. I turned away from it, ashamed. What would my father think if he knew I gave in to such a man? What would anyone think?
    I began to cry softly, burying my face into my hands. Why had all of this happened to me? Were there more reasons Boomer chose me besides the ones he had given me? What was the drug he had given me? Why was it so important that I stayed in the tube for so long? I cried until I found myself in a dreamless sleep, and then, I woke a light tap on the glass.