As I woke I slowly started to recall the nightmare-like events that happened before I was drugged…

The paper had my name on it…

I screamed until I couldn’t speak any more…

I opened my eyes and looked around; I wasn’t in the same room. I had bandages on my arms and stitches across my cheek. I was lying on a soft bed with pearl white linen blankets and blood stains on my pillow.

“Hello?” I called, my voice was groggy and it was hard to speak.

A woman in old fashioned nurse attire came into the room, “Hello, do you remember who you are?”

I looked at her, her hair was short and light brown, her appearance looked normal. Except her eyes, they were glazed over and emotionless.

“I’m Nikiya.”

“No dear, you’re Z97-04.”

I looked at her, I didn’t get it. Why did she think I was some type of code and not a person? “I’m Nikiya, not that.”

She pulled out some type of walkie- talkie and spoke into it, “She seems to remember her birth name. She remembers her old life. Send one of the Asyn down here. Room 345.”

“My old life… this is my life! I am not new now! What’s going on?” I didn’t mean to scream, it just happened… I was scared.

A woman ran in, she was the woman that was with me when I was drugged. She held my hand and crooned me to sleep. Why was she here… I looked at her then the nurse. The nurse’s eyes suddenly shot up and her glazed eyes suddenly turned white and she spoke in a robotic voice and left the room.

The woman walked to my bed side and lifted my head, dried blood from the side of my face stuck to the pillow, “They didn’t clean you well, Nikiya.”

I nodded, “That’s my name. Why was she calling me that code?”

The lady looked at me, her eyes were ice blue, “She thought you were a Nix, she didn’t know you were Em’Asyn.”

“What are those?”

“Nikiya, you are not supposed to be with the normal humans because you’re not. You are of a higher race, we are called the Asyn. Since you are only a child and yet to learn many things you are Em’Asyn, you have yet to learn much.”

I felt my stomach flip and I leaned forward to vomit. It burned, my throat was dry and my tears rolled down my cheeks. I didn’t remember eating anything in days, I couldn’t remember how many days I was even here since I had been in between torturing conscious and drugged asleep. I knew that if they planned to keep me like this they’d need to drug me immediately after I stopped vomiting. I looked up at the lady and she stared down at me, expressionless.

“I’m sorry,” I choked out the words.

“You needn’t be. I’ll send a nurse in.”

She turned to leave and I yelled, “Wait, what’s your name?”

“You will call me by the respectful name. Since you are my apprentice, you shall address me by Kyl. Failure to do so will result in a painful punishment. I’ll see you in a later time, Kemya’Asyn.” She turned and left me alone. I pushed the soiled s*** off of me and stood, my vision wavered but I was determined to get out of here.

I walked out of the room and looked around, it was almost like a normal hospital, but the nurses and doctors all had that glazed look in their eyes, they seemed all to notice me when I spoke. The nurse who came to me when I woke hurried to my side and lowered her head.

“I’m hungry, where’s the cafeteria?” I lowered my head to look at her.

She looked up and her face looked terrified, “I’m sorry, Asyn. I was uninformed of your rank in our land. I have also not seen you here ever before. Please have mercy upon my mistakes and imperfections and allow me to make up for them.”

I sighed; I didn’t like having this power. The power of people fearing me, “Stand, you will not call me Asyn.”

“Shall I call you Kemya or ma’am?”

“Ma’am.”

As she showed me the way to the cafeteria, about everyone who saw us bowed their head. The nurse said it was a blessing to be in the presence of a member of Asyn; but as I looked at the people I knew they weren’t happy to see me. They were fearful, terrified to make eye contact. Even the nurse averted her eyes when she looked at me. I would never be able to be this thing, a feared human among people who thought of themselves as a lower mongrel… I dreamed of escape, I ate the food I was offered but had to fight to get it down my throat and to stay there. It hurt, everything hurt.

I sighed and whispered to the nurse, “I’d like to go back to my room.”

“Yes, ma’am.”