My day started the way it usually does. I woke an hour earlier than Trevor, showered, and dressed before he rolled out of bed. I headed down stairs to make his breakfast. He liked to have his coffee and breakfast waiting for him when he came down stairs.
I was standing at the stove finishing up his bacon when the sound of my sister’s voice greeted me.
“Morning, Morg!” Monroe gave me a hug from behind before she sat down at the kitchen island. She grabbed one of the sliced fruits I placed in a bowl for Trevor’s breakfast.
“Monroe. Wwwwwwwwhat are you dddddddoing up this early?”
Unfortunately, the large house my grandparents’ purchased for me, was in the same gated community as my childhood home, only five houses down to be precise. It wasn’t uncommon for Monroe to come over for a random visit. So common, that I just gave her a key.
“Ugh, I had to get away. Already Mother was on my case about that Benjamin guy from last night. I swear she’s like a dog with a bone every time some rich asshole comes sniffing around me.”
I giggled. She was absolutely right about Mother. If Monroe even mentioned a guy, my mother had to know who he was, what he did for a living, and his political views.
“She’s just so aggressive about this marriage thing.” Monroe sighed. “I wish I was more like you. You don’t fight back or give them problems like me. You’re the good child.”
I had to stop what I was doing to turn and look at her. Is she kidding? She wants to be like me? I have to conform to our parents’ demands, because if not, they would have probably abandoned me on someone’s doorstep years ago. I didn’t have the option of being defiant. Their love for me was based on how easy I am to control--unlike Monroe, who is allowed to get away with way more than I ever could.
“I told mother that I was ready to start a career,” she admitted quietly.
After graduating high school, my sister pleaded with my parents to allow her a year off from school, of course, they allowed it. That year turned into five. In those five years, Monroe had announced many career goals, none of which she stuck to. My sister, despite her good heart, really didn’t want much out of life. She enjoyed traveling, shopping, and partying. The first two my parents were ok with, it’s the last one that caused problems for them, and since they pay the bills for Monroe’s fun lifestyle, she was often required to do things my parents’ way.
“Wwwwwwwww….wwwwwwhat’s the….”
“….The career?” Monroe said finishing my sentence.
I tucked my frown behind my smile as I plated the rest of Trevor’s breakfast.
“Modeling. Think about it, Morg, I would be a perfect model. I get to travel all around the world, and I literally get to play in clothes. Who wouldn’t want that?”
She’s right; she would be a perfect model, on the surface. I didn’t mention that modeling is also a job and not always fun. You have to actually work and show up for things. Neither of which Monroe was good at.
“And wwwwwwwwwhat did Mother say?” I already knew the answer to this question.
“Monroe Chanel Cambridge,” Monroe started, and I laughed at her perfect imitation of Mother’s voice. She even had the hand gestures down correctly. “You shouldn’t be worried about a career. At your age, you should be more concerned with marrying well and finding a husband to take care of you. Having a career is foolish and unnecessary. Even your sister knows that.”
I cringed at those last words. Not only were they false, but they’re a reminder of what all I gave up. All I ever wanted to do was be a teacher. I got the passion from my grandmother that was raised by a teacher. She talked so much about her mother that it inspired my love for education. Unlike my sister, I couldn’t wait to go off to college. I graduated with a degree in Education, and I was working before I met Trevor, but after we were married, Mother and Trevor were both adamant that I give up my career and work on being a perfect wife and future mom, so I resigned at my dream job, and became a full-time wife. I know more than Monroe how important it is to do what you love, so I never tell her how silly or flaky her career goals are.
“Why ddddddddddon’t you just do it? Mmmmmmmmove away and bbbbbe a model.”
Monroe sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Because it takes money, Morgan, and I don’t have any just lying around. It could take years for me to start making the type of money that will sustain me out on my own, and although I look good in many things, I can’t really pull off the homeless look well.”
If I thought for a second that Monroe was actually serious about this new path she was on, I would fund her dream. However, I know my sister. In a month, she would want to be an actress or a professional belly dancer. The moment she figured out her true passion, I would support her in any way she needed. It’s not like I don’t have the funds to do it.
My grandparents, Harold and Linda Cambridge, only had one child. Mother was so possessive of Monroe that she hardly ever let her out of her sight, so it was usually just me hanging out with my grandparents. We formed a tight bond. My grandpa died three months before my wedding, and my grandmother died six months after. Those were the hardest days of my life. To have the two most important people to you die so close together. It took a lot from me. Grandpa’s death was expected. We knew he was sick for a while, and I spent many days and nights by his sick bed. Grandma’s heart attack on the other hand, came out of nowhere. After their passing, the family found out that they left everything to me. No one, not even my father knows just how much my grandparents left me. They’ve all asked, but I refuse to tell. They assume it’s a lot. They have no idea.
My grandparents were wealthy, not rich. My mother likes to say there is a difference between rich and wealthy. Celebrities are rich, they make enough money to keep themselves happy and maybe their children and grandchildren with the right investments. However, wealth is much different. Wealth can be passed down for generations and generations. I’m sure that if I were to liquidate all my assets, I could grace the cover of Forbes magazine. I have no use for that much money. I continue to donate to my grandpa’s favorite charities, and I support a few of my own. Other than that, the money just sits in the bank. Hopefully, I’ll have kids to leave it to one day.
“Yyyyyyyyyou never knnnnnnow, Roe. Maybe Mmmmmmmmother will change her mind.”
Monroe threw her head back, and we both laughed at the absurdity of that thought.
“I thought I heard your beautiful voice. How’s my gorgeous sister-in-law this morning?” Trevor appeared at the door of the kitchen.
He looked immaculate in his light gray suit and cranberry colored tie. I’ve always thought Trevor was handsome. The day he approached me at my favorite coffee shop, I thought he was talking to the person behind me. He has a flawless smooth caramel complexion with hazel eyes and long lashes. His goatee perfectly outlined his full lips and diamond shaped face. Women stopped and stared whenever we went out together. On the outside, Trevor was the perfect guy.
Trevor planted a kiss on Monroe’s forehead. I turned away when he lingered longer than what was considered comfortable.
“What brings you over this early in the morning?” He walked over to me and reached behind me for his favorite coffee mug.
No morning kiss for me. I wasn’t expecting it anyway.
“I had to get away from Mother.” Monroe chuckled, popping another piece of fruit in her mouth. “One day, I’m going to win the lottery and run away from that woman.”
“I would have thought she was in a good mood this morning after you spent so much time with Benjamin last night.” Even the next day, Trevor was still bitter about that.
“Don’t get me started on that creep.” She rolled her eyes. “No, Mother and I got into an argument this morning because I actually want a career. I don’t want to just be a wife.”
I didn’t show that her unintentional words hurt me.
“Well, what’s holding you back?” He was so absorbed into her story that he missed his mouth and got coffee on his necktie. “Shit! Damnit, Morgan, why the hell you make this coffee so hot?”
I didn’t argue that if he wasn’t so wrapped up in my sister he would have been paying attention and never missed his mouth. Instead, I just grabbed a hand towel off the counter and wet it under the faucet. I went to rub the stain out of his tie, but he snatched the towel from me. I immediately stepped away from him. Trevor would never hit me in front of Monroe. He wouldn’t want her to see him as a wife beating asshole. He liked my sister to think he was a supportive, loving husband.
Trevor rubbed feverishly at the spot on his tie. The coffee stain darkened before disappearing.
Monroe, always oblivious to the outside world, continued with her problems.
“I want to move to New York and become a model. Mother and father both say they aren’t giving me money to support my foolish dreams, and I can’t move to New York without money. Maybe I’ll find me an old sugar daddy like Aunt Maxine,” she said defeated.
I fought down the giggle. Now I know she’s just reaching for ideas.
“You would never have to do that; your sister and I would help,” Trevor answered for me.
“We would?” I questioned.
I made sure that when I got married, my money was mine alone. Trevor and I have a joint bank account, but I only deposit money into that account once a month as needed from my trust fund account.
“Of course. You have all that money from your grandparents, you might as well do something with it. You damn sure don’t share it with me.” His hazel eyes looked to me with so much contempt.
I may be weak and quiet, but I wasn’t dumb. I made sure that Trevor signed a prenup. I also made sure that if anything happened to me, other than my life insurance, Trevor got nothing. He wasn’t the only one that wasn’t going to benefit from my death.
When I didn’t readily volunteer my check book, my sister chimed back in.
“I don’t want Morgan’s money. Our grandparents left that to her. No, I told you, the lottery is my way out.”
The tension in the room only died down slightly as Trevor looked at his watch.
“I have to go. I have an early meeting.” He walked passed the breakfast I made and picked up his suitcase. “It will be a late night at the office. Don’t wait up for me.” He didn’t even look up at me as he told the lie that I didn’t need.
“Bye, Trevor!” Monroe sang towards him as she slid his plate in front of her.
He stopped in the doorway and turned to look at her. “Goodbye, sweet sister-in-law.” He glanced back at me with a frown and then walked out of the kitchen and towards the garage.
Monroe and I heard the door leading to the garage slam.
Monroe turned back to me. “Someone is in his feelings this morning.”
Under my breath I mumbled, “Every morning,” but to Monroe, I just smiled and turned towards the stove to fix my plate. Trevor didn’t like to eat with me in the morning, so I had to wait until he finished to sit and eat
“If you want, big sister…” she said stuffing her face with bacon. “We can always hide his body, and Thelma and Louise this bitch.” I burst into laughter.
This was why I loved Monroe. She was self-absorbed, but if you needed her, she would always come through.
***
Monroe stayed only for another thirty minutes before she got up to leave.
“Alright, sissy! I have to go. I have a date tonight,” she said heading towards the door.
“You’re ggggggggetting ready ttttttttthis early?”
She chuckled. “This beauty takes time.” She gave me a wink before slipping around the corner and out the front door.
I stood at the sink still chuckling at my sister while I cleaned the breakfast dishes. I did feel bad for Monroe. She didn’t know what she wanted to do, but she did know that she wanted to get out of my parents’ house and possibly start to make her own decisions. I couldn’t blame her for that. Maybe I’d surprise her and give her the money to move to New York after all.
I heard the front door open, the chime of the alarm system alerting me of someone’s entrance.
“Mmmmmmmmmmonroe, did yyyyyyyyyyou forget ssssssssomething?” I called out.
My voice was met by silence. I turned off the water at the faucet. My thoughts immediately turned to caution. I turned around just in time to see two large men enter my kitchen. My heart started to beat rapidly in my chest.
“Don’t make this hard,” one of the men warned.
I dashed to the left trying to get to the back door. Despite their large stature, they were fast. I was lifted off my feet and pressed tightly to one of the men’s chest. I fought and squirmed in his arms.
“You’re a slippery little thing. They’re going to have a blast breaking you in.”
I had no idea who he was referring to, and I didn’t want to find out.
I threw my head back and connected with his face. I heard the crunch of bones right before I was hit with a blinding pain in the back of my head. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I did more damage to his face or my head. The man cursed and dropped me. It took a minute for me to get my bearings. The pain in the back of my head was extreme. I crawled on the floor trying to get away from my attackers. Someone grabbed my ankle and started pulling me back. I grabbed at everything I could to stop them from taking me. My life isn’t perfect. I cry more times than I smile, but I didn’t want it to end like this. With a last ditch effort, I kicked my feet out and connected with something solid. The man cried out, but I didn’t take the time to see what I hit. I quickly got to my feet and made a mad dash for the front door. I heard the two men fumbling behind me. I picked up my pace. If I could get out the front door, I knew I’d be able to find safety. There was always someone walking around our neighborhood. My hand touched the door knob, home sweet home. I swung the door open and came face to face with another intruder. This one bigger than the other two. He stepped towards me, and I stepped back. I heard the other two guys behind me now.
“You boys almost let this one get away,” the larger burly man said in a deep voice.
The guy with the busted nose grabbed me by the shoulder, spun me around, and backhanded me so hard I fell to the floor.
“Fucking bitch busted my nose.”
The big guy chuckled.
“It’s not funny!” Broken nose shouted. “I hope that lab really does put the work in on you.”
“Just relax.” Burly guy stepped up to me.
I cowered at the sight of him. He pulled out a needle, and I again started to fight. He easily overpowered me. I felt the sharp prick of the needle and the cold chill of the medicine as it went through my veins. My limbs instantly went heavy, and I started to feel sleepy.
Soon as my eyes closed, I heard the big guy say, “Another one down, and this one was supposed to be an easy catch.”
Darkness took over me.
When I woke, I had no idea where I was or how much time had passed. My eye lids felt like there were heavy weights weighing them down. When I finally got them to peel open, I quickly shut them again. The glaring, bright lights seared my retinas. It took a few more minutes for me to be able to open my eyes again. I tried to take in all my senses. The room smelled like how I imagined the inside of a Purell bottle would smell. From the strong antiseptic smell, and the continuous beeping sound, I assumed I was in a hospital or someplace hospital related. The plain white walls surrounding me and the expensive machines further gave me the hospital vibe. However, the thick black straps holding me down to the table suggested something worse. The sound of footsteps entering the room got my attention. A woman in pink scrubs and a severe low bun checked one of the monitors in the room.
“Good evening, Mrs. Downs?” she said with her back to me.
How did she even know I was awake?
The woman turned to me, and her blue eyes softened. It wasn’t a real softening; it was practiced. She wanted to look caring and sympathetic, but I imagine she doesn’t really care. Why else would she be in this room with me?
“Wwwwwwh….” I don’t know if I’m stuttering because of nerves or the subzero temperature in this room, but I closed my eyes, breathed, and tried again. “Wwwwwwhere am I?”
She smiled, this time, it was a genuine smile.
“You’re at Vita Labs headquarters, far away from Texas, but don’t worry, you won’t be here long.”
Vita labs? As in the pharmaceutical company ran by Benjamin Parks? Why the hell am I in his lab? It reminded me of the comment the busted nose guy made. I really hope I wasn’t here so they could do some kind of crazy science experiments on me. I’d seen those documentaries about people that were given foreign diseases just so they could be studied.
“Wwwwwhy?”
She turned back to the many monitors, pressing buttons and adding things to the tablet in her hand.
“You’re doing a service for your country.” She looked over her shoulder and gave another one of her fake reassuring smiles before turning back to the monitor. “Your vitals look really great, Morgan. Your paper work suggests that you’re relatively healthy. That’s a good thing.” Another over the shoulder fake smile. “Hopefully, it stays that way, and you won’t have to be here with us long. Of course, we have to flush that birth control out of your system first, but it will only take a few days. You’re looking at maybe two or three months with us. That’s if we don’t find any hidden issues.” She gave me a cunning wink and another practiced smile.
The door to the room I was in opened again, and a large man wearing pale green scrubs walked in with a wheel chair.
The female looked up at him, and they exchanged a conversation filled look.
She tucked her tablet under her arm as she turned back to me. “Looks like they’re ready for you.”
My heart started to beat faster as the wheel chair was rolled over to me. Both the male and female came to the table I was strapped to and started to loosen my ties. It was then I realized just how tight the thick bands were against my skin. Once I was free, the male lifted me from the table and deposited me in the wheel chair. My body felt heavy, unnaturally so. I could barely lift my arms.
“It’s the medicine.” The female pointed to the IV line in my arm. I didn’t realize it was there. “It makes you feel groggy, but trust me, you should be glad it’s there. The medicine they give you to flush the birth control out of your system has a severe side effect, which is one of the reasons we can’t get it approved by the FDA.” She frowned as she announced this. “Test subjects say it feels like someone is boiling their ovaries.”
My eyes widened at her confession. I couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like to be one of those test subjects. Realization hit me: That must be why I’m here. They’re going to test unapproved medicine on me.
The female nurse and the male orderly led me out of the room and down long hallways that all resembled each other. At one point, we did get on an elevator, but I would never be able to find my way out of this place. One all white hall way led to another exactly the same. It was like a maze down here. The only thing that broke up the monotony of the hall, were the glass windowed rooms that house different laboratories. Men and women in white lab coats stood behind chemistry sets and computer monitors. One glass room had cages full of small rodents and reptiles. This place was exactly how I envisioned a secret lab would look.
Finally, we went through a silver door with a computer panel on the outside wall. The nurse went to the door and keyed in a set of numbers. The door swooshed open and inside was what looked like a sterile operating room. I started to panic again. I tried to make my feet move, to at least step down so I could stand from this wheel chair, but nothing was working. My body wasn’t listening to me.
“Aye, Proctor. You brought in our last patient of the day,” a middle-aged man said as he approached us with a smile. He was short for a male with receding hair and black, square framed glasses. He also had an accent that my brain was too foggy to place right now.
“Yes, Dr. Foster. She’s ready to go.” The nurse I now know as Proctor handed over the tablet she’d been putting information in. Dr. Foster looked over the tablet for a moment, before looking back up at me.
“Well, Morgan, I guess I should properly introduce myself since I will be doing most of your procedures.”
“Wwwwwhat proccccccccedures?”
Dr. Foster looked down at his chart once again, scrolling the pages. “Funny, it doesn’t mention your speech impediment in your files.” He looked back at me and smiled. “But that’s ok. We mainly focus on mental issues, health issues, and anything physical. Those are the types of problems that don’t breed well.”
Breed well! Did he just say breed well? What in the world is going on here?
“Ah,” Dr. Foster said with a smile. “I know that look. You’re wondering why I’m talking about breeding. Well see…” He came around to face me bending down to my level. He spoke, and immediately the smell of coffee hit my nostrils. “You have been selected for a very important project, Mrs. Downs. Your government needs you, well more so your uterus.” He stood up straight and walked over to a large metal sink where he started to wash his hands.
I was surrounded by three new nurses that made quick work of getting me out of the wheel chair and onto a hospital bed.
“We take our job serious, Morgan.” Dr. Foster continued to speak as the nurses’ undressed me and placed me in a hospital gown. “……. To ensure strong soldiers, we need healthy mothers.”
He left the sink and headed back towards me. A nurse wearing a surgical hair net held open a blue, disposable gown. Dr. Foster slipped his hands into the suit and turned back to face me as the nurse tied him off. Another nurse held out gloves that he slid his hands into.
“First, we will insert a very small device into your uterus. This device is very important. It helps us manage your ovulation and also keeps track of your pregnancy.”
I had a natural love for kids. My sister used to tease me and say that I must have obtained all the maternal instincts my mother lacked. I wanted to be a mother, but not like this, not in a lab being injected with some random man’s sperm, then ripped away from the life I brought into the world. The need to cry burned my eyes. I squeezed them shut, swallowing the lump in my throat, then I let the tears spill down my cheeks.
“Don’t worry, Morgan. The procedure isn’t painful.” Dr. Foster gave me a smile.
These people are crazy.
One of the nurses helped me to lie back. I closed my eyes and sent up a silent prayer. I prayed that someone would find me and get me out of here.