Efferent

Chapter 40

"What?" I asked, exasperated. "Stop changing your mind, James. Three seconds later, you are going to change your mind again and then later you want me to take the serum again. Make up your mind!" I said, wrinkling my nose.

"This is for real, Arydn." He said, his eyebrows furrowing. "I never changed my mind, anyways. It was just because-"

"You did!" I replied.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever." James huffed, then reached into his pocket to produce the serum. "Take it." He shoved it towards me, and I barely caught it in my hand after his brusque movement. "Take it."

"What is with the change of mind?" I asked, shoving the serum into my own pocket. "Is this just a way to get rid of me? That you changed your mind about us Efferent?" I narrowed my eyes, and he looked taken aback. But you never know, he could just be an exceptional actor.

"W-what? No. No!" He yelled. "No! What are you thinking?"

I crossed my arms. "Then what? Think about it, it does sound suspicious! What else am I supposed to think, with the government, Dr. Ross and others all hunting me down? I can not afford to make a silly mistake, after all, just one mistake can bring all of us down."

He sighed, rubbing his temple as his hand twitched. "Just take it! Please, I promise!" James looked up, and he looked near death with desperation. "Just take it!" He exclaimed, his voice laced with frustration. "Okay. If you do not, I will just shove it down your throat."

"No, I will not!" I protested, backing up.

His eyes flared. "Could you please take it?" James threw his hands up and ran towards me, then pushed me up onto the wall of the house. "Please, Ardyn, please! What can I do to for you drink it?" I shook my hand and pushed him, causing him to fall. "Please!" He begged, tackling me to the ground.

"No! Stop it, James!" I desperately looked around to find people, but they were all gone, probably in the house with Travis and Blaise. "Someone! Help!" I screamed, but James put a hand to my mouth and brought the Efference serum out of my pocket.

James then poured the contents of the bottle into my mouth, but I refused to swallow. "Swallow! Please!" He shouted, pulling on his hair. "Please!"

I got ready to spit it out, but he placed his hand onto my mouth, pressing my lips together so I could not open them. I glared at him but he gazed calmly back. My mouth started growing sore, and I had no choice but to swallow.

The world grew blurry again, but I did not sleep. I did feel dizzy and woozy, but I did not turn to to the sleep that should be happening. Sleepily, I followed a satisfied James back into the house. As soon as I stepped in, my eyelids began to close but I just would not sleep.

"Ardyn? Ardyn!" A voice called, slightly echoing in my head. Travis. He walked up to me and took my hand to lead me to an empty bedroom. "Ardyn? Are you okay?" I nodded but then I felt pain blossoming in my chest, traversing up to my arms and painfully stretching towards my head. I opened my mouth but instead of replying, I screamed.

"What is wrong?"A frenzied voice yelled, and footsteps echoed down the hallway and stopped when it reached the foot of my bed. "Ardyn? Travis, what is wrong? What happened?" It was definitely Blaise's voice, and I buried my head into the convienient pillow which lay at the foot of the bed.

"I do not know. James said that this might occur, but I am not sure why." Travis answered, and he rubbed my back soothingly. I just screamed again in reply, a headache forming as everything blended into one.

"But- what is wrong, Ardyn? What happened?" Blaise repeated.

"Ef-Efference serum." I choked out, yelling the last word as pain ricocheted through my body.

"What? The serum? But you are awake." Travis said as I looked up at him.

"Half." I muttered as the pain became unbearable.

"Half? Half of what?" Travis asked.

"Half of the serum, Travis. She only took half of the serum. That is why she is not sleeping right now. But she is screaming, she is experiencing pain, but that is part of the procedure." Blaise replied in a questioning tone.

The pain spread down to my legs and I whimpered. Travis squeezed my hand and I squeezed it back, probably crushing his fingers judging from the pained hiss he let out after. Then after maybe half an hour to a full hour of excruciating pain, everything stopped.

James strolled into the room, whistling a tune as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "I have just finished training the Afferent, and they are all doing well!" He exclaimed happily, and I shot him a death glare of mine. His smile faltered as he saw me, and then he backed up slowly. "I get that you are mad, but-"

I leapt towards him, pushing him backwards into the wall. "Do you realize that you may have just taken away all of my chances for ever becoming a full Efferent? Because it has to be a full dose. And we have no way of knowing exactly how much you had. So we can never give me the correct amount again."

His eyes widened.

Then a different scream came from down the hall. "Clark. He is awake." I muttered. "Perhaps we can try training him too, as we did with the Afferents?" I asked as a new idea came into my mind. They looked unsure. "At least I can try?"

James agreed first. "Maybe you can hold the key to that. After all, you met him first, right?" I nodded, and he clasped his hands together. "All right. Go in and see what you can do. He is still in his bindings, and here is the very last injected sedative I have. Only use it if you need to."

"We need to get more." Blaise cut in. "Without it, we cannot restrain Clark. He is a danger as of right now, and even if Ardyn breaks through with him, it would be good to have some on hand in case of any emergencies or accidents."

"Good idea." James said, his eyes raised towards the ceiling. "Perhaps we could dispatch a team of Afferent. There are a few that have developed their powers quite far already. The Afferents could go and steal a box of sedatives." He nodded again. "Let us do that."

He disappeared and I went to Clark's room, holding my breath as I walked in.