Sweat was streaming down my face as I ran down the field with cheers pouring down from all sides. The fans were cheering and screaming, “Rylee, Rylee!” I was so close to the end zone, just a few more feet and I would be the first female to score a touchdown in the big leagues. Suddenly the ground began to shake and I almost lost my footing. The shaking got harder and the grass in the end zone began to expand. Not today, please not today, I thought. I was so close to achieving my dreams and this dumb earthquake was going to ruin it all. But it wasn’t an earthquake, the ground in front of me began to crumble and I stumbled backwards. I peered down into the gaping hole and saw nothing, why would there be a hole if there was nothing there, I wondered to myself. The air around me began to chill and I felt shivers run down my spine. I had felt this feeling before, in my old neighborhood. Whenever I would walk past the old haunted house I would get chills and I felt like there was someone watching me. As I tried to guess what it was, something cold filled my body and the world dissolved around me.

When I came back to reality, I wasn’t even on the football field, in fact I didn’t know where I was or what had happened. How did I get here, and what had happened? I heard a door creak open from the far side of the room and saw an old man enter the room. I was laying down on the only bed in the room and from instinct, I tried to get up and offer the old man a spot, but when I tried to sit up I couldn’t. I looked down and found my legs where they always were, but for some reason, they wouldn’t obey me when I tried to move.

The old man walked over to me and started poking and prodding. I tried to push him away but my arms wouldn’t listen either. I started to realize that this probably wasn’t one of the nice old men like the ones in my neighborhood, this man might be evil. The old man must’ve noticed me trying to move and stood back. He clapped his hands and a cushioned chair appeared behind him. He sat down, “So, how do you feel?”

“Who are you?” I asked the old man, ignoring his question.

The man glared at me, “I asked you a question first, now answer it you ungrateful brat.”

I tried to think of a comeback but I was at a loss so I gave up and answered his question, “I’m feeling terrible thanks to you, you lazy sack of rotten potatoes.”

“Now answer my question you ungrateful swine, who are you?” I spat at the old man.

The old man just chuckled and stood up, “You think you can tell me what to do? See this remote, one push of this big red button would knock you out long enough to let a small cut make you bleed out and die. So would you like to rethink what you just said to me?”

I tried to think of something to say but the old man beat me to it, “Sorry, but you’re out of time.”

He pushed the button and I fell into blackness.

When I awoke, I felt that same tingling rush that I had back on the football field.

“Hey, what did you do to me?!” I yelled into the empty space above me.

I heard a chair creak and the old man was staring down at me.

“Finally you’re awake, we can now start the experiment.” The old man told me. He motioned for me to follow him and I began to sit up.

“Ah, I almost forgot something, the drug.” He said going to the back of the room to retrieve whatever the drug was.

He came back with a needle that was filled with a greenish liquid. He grabbed my arm and began to bring the needle down to it. I tried to pull away but surprisingly the old man had an iron grip. He stabbed the needle into my arm and injected its fluids into my bloodstream.

“There, now follow me.” He said with a sly grin on his face.

I slid off the bed I was laying on and began to follow him. The world began to tilt around me and my vision blurred. I tried to steady myself but my knees buckled. When I hit the floor something unexpected happened, I heard something shatter but it wasn’t my leg, it was something in my head. A burst of pain rocketed forward and erupted throughout my entire body and I began convulsing on the floor.

“Could this day get any worse?” I thought out loud.

“Yes it could, now get up or I’ll drag you.” The old man commanded me.

I tried to get up but pain exploded in my skull and I collapsed to the floor once again. I heard the old man mutter as he began dragging me across the floor. Every single one of his footsteps sent a spike of pain through my body and soon I grew numb to it.

After what felt like hours, we arrived at a door labeled “Test Room One” the old man opened the door and dragged me inside. Inside the room was a crowd of people of all ages, but one thing I realized was that there were no children or old people like the old man that brought me here.

The old man picked me up and dropped me on a chair, “This person has been chosen to receive the cure that could save everyone. But in order to unlock it, you must travel to the laboratory in Florida.”

Many of the people had looks of surprise and some began shouting at the old man.

“The more you yell at me, the more times I will punch the cure.” The old man said raising a fist above my head.

The room went deadly silent.

“Every trip, stumble, fall, or injury will crack another part of the cure inside of her. If it all cracks, then you cannot be saved at all.” The old man said.

My eyes widened in shock, I had the cure in my head? What kind of world is this? I tried to speak but all that came out was a groan.

“Oh yes, you may only speak if someone asks you a question, and then you may only give an answer to that question.” The old man told me, a grin spreading across his face.

He pushed a button and a passageway opened up, “This is the way you must travel to Florida, but first let me give you some hints. Hint one;

This girl will save you all, but be careful she mustn't fall

One wrong step and you will fail, leaving the world to crumble and frail.

Hint two, every night of every day, part of the cure will crack so don’t take too long.”

The old man left the room and I was left with a crowd of people depending on me for a cure. I tried to sit up but a woman gently pushed me back down, her fingers like feathers on my skin. I realized that I must be very weak if that’s all it took to push me down. Two men brought out a wheelchair and walked over to me. They both lifted me with delicate motions and very, very gently placed me in the chair. I realized what they were doing, they didn’t want to crack the cure and damage me. They must’ve hidden the wheelchair so the old man couldn’t find it.

One of the women started pushing my chair towards the passageway and I realized that there was no turning back now. I tried to speak up to tell them how grateful I was to be with such kind people when I remembered that I couldn’t speak unless someone asked me a question.

One of the younger women came up to me, “Are you comfortable?”

I nodded in response not wanting to find out if talking would come at a price. We continued down the long and narrow path of the passageway to Florida. We stopped twice to eat but I just wasn’t hungry and couldn’t stomach anything. In the morning I lay awake in my sleeping bag awaiting the exploding pain that would soon appear in my head. All of a sudden, pain exploded throughout my body and I was paralyzed with fear. I woke the people around me with my screams of pain and the thrashing of my body. The pain continued for several minutes until finally it stopped leaving a dull ache in my head.

This continued for several days as we got closer and closer to Florida. I had begun to feel strange and when I looked down at my legs I gasped. They had disappeared, but they were still there when I touched them. When I looked around, nobody had even noticed and I realized I would disappear without them even noticing. Someone walked over to me with a bottle of water and looked right at my legs. They didn’t even realize that they were gone! I guessed that they would only know when I had disappeared after I was fully gone. Days passed and I continued to disappear but luckily we had reached the laboratory and got closer to it day by day. I felt weak and stupid as part of the cure broke each day and damaged part of my head. I realized that I would die if they didn’t get the cure and began to fear for my life.

After three more precious days, we reached the laboratory and camped in front of it for the night. I was almost fully gone with just my head left visible. Tomorrow, I would be fully gone and finally someone would notice, or at least I hoped they would. In the morning, I went through the daily ritual of paralyzation of pain exploding in my skull. We walked into the lab and found only one hallway with doors along the side. We tried every door and found that they were all locked. I felt a tingling rush and knew that I was going to disappear forever. I tried to call out and warn them but no one had asked me a question. We hit a bump as we entered the hallway and because I was so light now, I flew out and landed on the ground. More parts of the cure cracked and I saw the people stop. They couldn’t see me and I was too weak to move. But I could move, and I felt stronger.

Suddenly, a cold chill passed through the air and I knew what it was. It was the ghost that had brought me down here in the first place. I began to run and found a mirror on the floor. I picked it up and I remembered something that mirrors could do. They could trap ghosts forever if you broke it after. I turned around to face the ghost but it was gone. I suddenly felt a cold tingle race through my spine and I whipped around. The ghost was standing there holding a knife to someone’s throat.

“If you use the mirror, I’ll kill this woman.” the ghost rasped.

I glared at the ghost and it just smiled, “Come with me”

I followed the ghost through a door at the end of the hallway. It was a room filled with chemicals. I recognized one of them. It would cure all sickness with a single drop, I had learned that in science. The ghost must have seen me looking at it and grabbed my arm. I tried to yank away but he was too strong. He flung me in the air and slammed me to the ground. I heard the bones in my leg shatter and emptied my stomach onto the floor. I tried to stand up but it hurt to much and I almost blacked out. I struggled to stay conscious and braced myself on a table. I slowly limped forward dragging my injured leg behind me. I was almost to the medicine that would cure me, almost there just a few more feet. Then the ghost got me. My limbs spasmed on the floor and I felt the ghost yank my mind apart leaving no clear thought.

“No matter what you do, I’ll always be a hero.” I rasped, and grabbed the medicine from the table. I drank it all without thinking and I felt amazing. The medicine flowed to my brain and made me stronger, a lot stronger. I closed my eyes and imagined the cure in my hand. When I opened my eyes the cure was in my hands. I threw it on the ground and it filled the entire room and out the door. I tried to smile but I fell unconscious again.

I awoke on my bed in my room wondering if that was all just a dream. But then I saw the cast on my leg and knew it wasn’t. It was all real and I had saved the human race. I wanted to celebrate but I was too tired and eventually fell asleep.

I awoke on my bed feeling weak and tired. I couldn’t believe I was finally home. As I sat up I knew something was wrong and looked around. This was not my room, it was a random bedroom. Instead of the carpet that had been on my room’s floor, there was a single rug, and the rest was floorboards. The only thing in the room was the bed, a bathroom and a dresser. I started to slide off the bed, but a voice from the speaker on the ceiling stopped me.

“I see you’ve seen your surroundings and are hopefully comfortable with them. I know you haven’t been here very long, but we must talk. Meet me outside of your door.”

The speaker clicked off and I felt lightheaded. If this wasn’t my house, then where was I? Who was the person over the speaker. My heart was pounding as I slid all the way off the bed. I walked to the door and slowly cracked it open, inch by inch. When the door was fully open, nothing was there. I realized too late what was happening, it was the ghost! I tried to close the door, but I only got it two inches before the ghost once again possessed my body. Instead of a seizure, I felt the ghost take control of my mind, he started forcing me to walk forward against my will. We walked down countless hallways and I soon lost track of where we were and tried to think of something else. So far my life was crap, I hadn’t made a touchdown, I  got heavily drugged and a cure was placed in my mind. I had become invisible and no one really noticed, and now I was possessed by the ghost that had started this all.

When I came back to reality, we had arrived at a steel door, and my possessed hand was opening it. Inside the room was a desk and two chairs. The ghost made me sit in the chair in front of the desk, and I felt him leave my body. The ghost took on the form of a man and sat in the chair behind the desk.

“I brought you here so I could tell you my story and so you could know why I did this to you.” He said. “Please give me your hands and we can begin.”

I thought about it for a moment and decided to do it, it’s not like my life could be any worse. I handed the ghost my rough, scarred hands and he took them. His hands were cold, and I felt him begin to push images into my mind. I closed my eyes and let them envelop me.

I was standing off to the side and the ghost was standing in front of a hospital. The ghost wasn’t even a ghost back then, he was human. A door man opened the door and he walked into the hospital. The memory pulled me along with it and soon I was standing in a room as the ghost stood over a bed with a woman in it. I saw her arms and they were disappearing fast. I realized that this was the ghost’s mother and she had what I had.

I heard the ghost speak to me inside my mind, “The “drug” I injected you with wasn’t a drug at all. You were immune to the disease so when it went into your bloodstream, you blood mixed with the disease and it created the cure. I had to put it in your head otherwise it would be contaminated. It made you very weak because your body was working so hard to fight it off. My mother had this same disease but she wasn’t immune, she died because of it so I decided to do something about it.”

I was pulled into another memory, in this one we were in a lab filled with vials, test rooms and other things. The ghost was mixing chemicals and apparently trying to make a cure. I saw him groan in frustration and throw the vials down on the ground. A green chemical like the one they injected into me splashed into his mouth. His eyes widened in shock as I realized what happened. That green chemical was the disease and he wasn’t immune. More of the chemical was splattered all over his clothes and he quickly began to disappear. That was how he became a ghost, when he was trying to make a cure. The memory began to fade and I realized why he did it. He didn’t just want to stop the disease, he wanted to save everybody from having the same fate as his mom. I opened my eyes and noticed that my cheeks were wet, I must’ve been crying. I looked up at the ghost and his face was solemn, “Now do you know why I did that to you?”

I nodded, to afraid to speak.

We sat in silence for awhile until I finally gathered up the courage to speak, “How do I know that you’re actually telling the truth, how did you know I was immune to the disease?”

The ghost looked up at me, “I know about everyone, that’s part of the disease, you see what people are thinking and you find out everything about them. You are Rylee Donner, plays as a quarterback in the big leagues, loves animals and her family, favorite color is purple, favorite food is anything your mom makes, you are a straight A student, you never give up and you always try your best. You live in Washington on Plumburry street at the blue house on the end, address is, 4673 plumburry street, washington. You don’t have a phone and don’t want one and you are kind to all.”

I stared at the ghost in shock, how did he know about me? Was he telling the truth about the disease? I searched his face for any trace of a lie but all I could see was the pained expression on his face.

“You may go back to the room, I’ll have lunch delivered to your room.” The ghost said.

“Wait, can you at least tell me your name?” I asked quickly.

The ghost sighed, “My name is Sam, Samuel Parker.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, Samuel Parker was my neighbor, we used to be best friends when I was younger. I felt Sam’s cold hard gaze staring at me as I stood up from the chair. I didn’t know how I was supposed to get back to the room.

“Follow the blue arrows to your room.” Sam said as if he could read my mind.

I opened the door and followed the arrows. After awhile I began to sprint faster and faster, I wanted to get out of here and go back home. I wanted to know where I was and if my family was safe from the disease.

I reached my room and looked around for an exit from the building. I spotted one at the end of the hallway. I dashed towards it and reached for the handle. I yanked on it expecting it to open, but a huge electric pulse hammered through my body and I flew back a few feet from the impact of it. The air got knocked out of me as I landed roughly on the floor. I struggled to pull air into my lungs as I thought about what just happened. Was I really trapped here, would I ever be let out?

When I was finally able to breathe I sat up and made sure nothing was broken. I decided I was fine and shakily stood up from the cold floor. I slowly walked back to my room and went in. A tray of food was already waiting for me as I collapsed on the bed. It smelled heavenly and I just couldn’t wait anymore. I grabbed the tray and brought it over to my bed. On the tray was a peanut butter sandwich, apple slices, carrot sticks and a carton of milk. Either this was a coincidence or Sam really did know me. My mom always made me this lunch, it was my favorite. I gulped down the meal in less than five minutes and immediately regretted it. I felt sick and my head felt funny. A thought came into my head, what if it wasn’t the food that was making me feel sick, what if Sam had put something into the food and that’s what was making me feel so weak.

I tried to sit up but my arms wouldn’t support my weight. My heart started to pound as I continued to try and get up. I couldn’t get up, nor call for help. I was completely immobilized. If Sam could do this to me, then he could do anything! What if he could make me un-immune to the disease and I turned into a ghost too! I held back a scream and tried over and over again to push myself up. Finally after about twenty minutes of failed attempts, I gave up, it was useless. I closed my eyes and soon sleep overcome me. I awoke feeling strange, I couldn’t remember where I was, or my name. What had happened to me, how had I gotten here? Was this my house, were my parents here?

The door to the room opened and Sam entered the room. His expression showed sadness and pain. He handed me a piece of paper and told me to read it. It read:

“Your name is Rylee Donner, you are immune to the disease and was an experiment to see if you could save the world, you did and now everyone is safe. Your favorite color is purple, you have a mom and a dad, you lived in washington on plumburry street, 4673 plumburry street, washington. Your favorite food is whatever your mom makes. You are now in a lab in Florida after what happened during the experiment. If you read this sentence your memories will return: Samuel Parker.”

I read through the letter twice and stared at it as if it carried some strange disease. Suddenly my memories came rushing back to me and I dropped the letter in horror, “What did you do to me?” I asked Sam as I stared at my hands.

“I was hoping we could avoid this, but I guess not. You might want to take a seat, it’s a long story.” Sam said, motioning towards the bed.

Sam offered me his hands and I knew what to do, I placed my hands in his and I felt the tingling sensation of Sam entering my mind.

I was on a lab table, unconscious from drugs. Sam was standing over me with a clipboard, taking notes.

Sam moved over to one of the counters covered in vials. He started mixing the different chemicals together and smiled like he had finally figured something out. He poured the new chemical in a syringe.

“I hope this works, if so I’ll save this poor girl from this awful disease.” Memory Sam said.

He grabbed my limp arm and began injecting the fluid into my body. I saw myself begin to stir as the drugs wore off and Sam left the room.

The memory faded and I opened my eyes, my face a picture of surprise.

“I wasn’t always immune to the disease?” I asked quietly.

“No, I made you immune and put the rest of the chemical into your brain to see if it actually worked. When it did, I knew I’d have to run some more tests to see if the cure was strong enough. So, I hid the disease in your lunch to see how your body would react. The only symptom was memory loss, and that was easily curable. So since that worked, I can now release the cure to the rest of the world.” Sam explained as if he had practiced this many times.

I didn’t do anything but stare at the gray sheets of the bed. I wasn’t always immune? I could’ve died, or worse, I could’ve been cursed like Sam was. I looked up and saw Sam staring at me.

“Are you going to be alright?” He asked, a concerned expression on his face.

“Yeah, just thinking about what could’ve happened to me.” I said, feeling dazed.

I looked up and Sam quickly looked away.

“Come with me, I’ll take you to another room.” He told me, rising from the lumpy mattress.

I stood up and began following Sam out of the room. We passed through many hallways and through many security rooms.

“I have to make sure this building stays disease free and safe from people who would most likely steal the cure for themselves.” Sam explained to me as we passed through another security room.

I nodded and stared at the many pieces of equipment throughout the room. There was blood test machines, metal detectors, a brain scanner, and a locked door.

We finally arrived at the room Sam had been talking about.

“After you milady.” Sam said holding the door open for me.

I went inside and the door slammed shut and locked behind me. I whipped around and tried to open the door. When it didn’t open I began to pound on the door.

“Let me out. Sam what are you doing, let me out!” I shouted, while I continued to bang on the steel, bullet proof door.

Sam’s voice came through a speaker on the wall, “I’m sorry it had to be this way, but I can’t do it any other way.”

The speaker clicked off and I was left alone in the room. I decided to explore my surroundings and see what was in this room. The room had a bedroom, a bathroom, kitchen, and a living room with lots of entertainment objects. I sat down on the living room couch and began to asses the situation. So far I was stuck in a room with no possible way to get out, unless I looked harder. I began searching for any vents big enough that I could crawl through. I finally found one in the bathroom inconveniently placed on the ceiling. I stood on the toilet lid and tried to reach the vent. I was so close, just a few more inches and I would be able to reach it and climb through.

I searched through the mini apartment for something else I could stand on. Strangely I found a pedestal in the bedroom, and I dragged it into the bathroom. I climbed up and it was tall enough. I ripped of the vent and threw it onto the floor. I placed my hands on the vent walls and began pulling myself up. Luckily I was in a good enough physical condition that I made it into the vent. The vent had a very low roof so I had to crawl through. I passed through many passageways as I tried to find an exit.

Suddenly I bumped into something hard, it was a door! I tested it and found that it was unlocked. The roof got higher the farther in I went and soon I could easily stand up.

At the end of the hallway there was a strange glowing space the size of a door. I put my hand through it and a cold sensation filled my body. I knew what this was, this was a transfer.  A transfer carried you throughout the world until you reached the transfer waiting on the other side. So if I walked through this portal, I would end up out of the building, or at least somewhere out of the vent.

I slowly carefully walked through the transfer. When I came through the other side I was in a completely different area. I looked around and found a note lying on the desk in the room. I picked it up and read it:

“Dear Riley, you have passed all the trials and have made it to the real world. You have been in a coma this entire time, struggling through the disease that almost killed you. Others had the same trials but sadly you are the only one who made it through. You are now cured and immune to the disease. I’m glad that you made it through, and hope you can forgive me. You are now free to go back to your normal life. Both of your parents are still alive and waiting outside this room. I congratulate you on your success and wish you a happy life.”

-a friend, Samuel Parker

I stared at the note in my hands. I had been in a coma this entire time? How did I survive when so many others didn’t. I shook those thoughts from my head. My parents were just outside this door! I ran to the door of the room and yanked it open. My parents quickly looked up and they ran towards me. They embraced me with a giant hug. I squeezed them as tightly as I could. I was finally free and cured, and I was with my family again. I wanted to stay this way forever, so I squeezed them tighter and smiled.

The End