Dead Awakenings by Rebekah R. Ganiere Page A

at the hospital coming toward her with the syringe caused her to gasp and back away. “Uh, that’s OK.” She stared at the syringe in his hand. “I’ll deal with it.”
    Aron stopped moving, stuffed the needle into his pocket and held his hands up in surrender, a warm smile on his face.
    Needles were so not her thing. Her instincts told her that there was a good reason she didn’t like them.
    “I’ll have Luca take you to your room and we can come get you in a bit.” Nate flipped open his cell phone and punched in a number. Nate glanced her way, and he gave her a tight smile. After a minute he clicked the phone shut. “Aron will go with you while I go get things started.” Nate and Aron exchanged a glance. But then just as quick, Aron had on his big reassuring smile. He escorted her out of the hospital wing and back to her room.
     

Chapter Eleven
     
    Evaine sat on the edge of her bed, scratching the never-ending itch on her hands and arms. She’d slept for so long. Bombarded by images, she tried to make sense of her dreams. The impressions slipped by so fast, she was unable to grasp any particular one long enough to understand what she saw. She sighed and rubbed her hands over her face. How long had it been since she’d showered? She stripped off her clothes and went into the bathroom. Someone had stocked her shower with all the luxury bath stuff she hadn’t been able to afford before. She lingered under the warm water. She would never have allowed herself to stay in the shower that long when she had to pay her own water bill.
    Opening the wardrobe she was surprised to find a pair of yoga pants and a pink T-shirt. She pulled them on, sat back on her bed and waited.
    After biting her nails down to nubs the camera in the corner moved. A few minutes later a young man knocked and walked in. It was Ronan, the computer kid. His build was slight and his white hair hung in a long, shaggy, surfer cut. He wore a jeans with a polo shirt. He looked much younger than the rest as well. All gangly arms and legs. Her gut clenched—he never would grow into them now.
    “Hey.” He entered. “Sorry to make you wait. We’ve been a little preoccupied. Luca has been checkin’ on you since you got here, but he had to run out tonight, so we’re gonna wait till tomorrow to start with your testing. Are you hungry?”
    “How long have I been here?”
    “Well, let’s see. There’s today and yesterday and you slept four days. You were awake for two days, and we picked you up the day before. So about a week and a half. Maybe a little more, give or take.”
    The thought of eating made her shiver. They ate animal parts, but would she go crazy like last time?
    Walking to the door he punched the code. “We’ll be removing the lock from your door after the testing. Provided there aren’t any problems.”
    She followed him out the door. “What kind of problems could there be?”
    One of the Forgotten screamed. Evaine covered her ears to block out the shrill cries. The gigantic lump in the cell across from hers was sitting on his bed staring at the wall. He was enormous with skin like gray coal cinders and stark white short hair. Ronan strode out of earshot of the screams, and she quickly followed.
    “Well, there are a few things that can arise from the testing,” Ronan continued. “You could get violent, have super powers that we don’t know about, go crazy and start killing people.” He shrugged. “Typical stuff.”
    “Thanks. I feel so reassured now.”
    He laughed. “Don’t worry.” He smiled and a dimple appeared on his left cheek.
    She smiled back. She liked his sweet smile.
    They had made it to the secret wall. He punched the code, and they stepped through into the study. As the door opened she heard voices. Two men were in the kitchen. She remembered them as having been patrolling the grounds when she came in. They stopped talking and turned as she and Ronan entered.
    “This is Evaine,” Ronan said. “She’s