Free Betrothed Episode One by Odette C. Bell

every
time it grew, so too did the pain behind my left eye.
    Soon it
didn’t feel like I was in control anymore.
    I wasn’t
hatching a plan; my brain was.
    And
finally, after about a week of being locked up and studied, my
opportunity came.
    A doctor
came in to do a scan, and he dragged a heavy looking device with
him that hovered off the ground a few centimeters on blue glowing
hover pads.
    The pain
behind my left eye exploded. It was excruciating. I jerked my head
to the side and clamped a hand over my face.
    Far from
looking concerned, the doctor looked elated. The emotion didn’t
last long, but long enough for me to see it flickering in his three
alien eyes.
    He took
a step back, bringing up his wrist and playing with a holographic
implant as he sent some kind of message.
    A
message he didn’t get to finish.
    I did
something.
    I swear
I saw myself doing it before I did it. It was just like the strange
vision I’d had when I’d helped Captain Fargo catch the
Borgolian.
    I
reached over, my fingers as quick as darting insects. I grabbed
something behind the device, and started manipulating
it.
    The
doctor jerked his head around, all three of his eyes pulling wide
open with fear.
    Before
he could say or do anything, the device gave a sharp beep then sent
an electric pulse shooting towards the doctor.
    He
jolted backwards, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he fell
to his knees then hit the ground.
    I sat
there for a few seconds and shook. All over. Like I was
convulsing.
    Then I
pushed myself up and off my bed.
    I stood
over the doctor, staring down at him as I pressed a sweaty hand
against my mouth.
    I saw
myself turn and head towards the door.
    I
honestly saw myself do it before I did it.
    It was
like some kind of dream playing in my mind, and all I had to do was
follow in its footsteps.
    So I
did.
    Before I
made it out of the door, however, I saw myself lean down and pluck
something from the device.
    I had no
idea what it was, but I pocketed it in my simple white tunic, then
I walked out.
    Fortunately there were no security guards out in the
corridor, and there was no one to stop me as I turned around and
keyed something into a panel by the wall. With a whisper quiet
hiss, the door closed and then disappeared into the
wall.
    I took
several staggered steps back, my eyes opened wide as I surveyed the
corridor.
    I was
free.
    After a
week of being trapped in that cell, I was free.
    Though
not completely.
    I still
had to break out of this building, wherever it was.
    I pushed
off down the corridor, my breath a hard lump in my chest and my
heart beating like a drum.
    Though I
was terrified, that didn't stop me from running down the corridor,
pausing at a junction, then picking a left turn and rushing off
again.
    My
terror didn't stop me, because something else was in
control.
    The
compulsion.
    Though I
couldn't really say it was in control; I could stop myself and
ignore it at any moment. But it was still there. A vision playing
in my mind over and over again like a set of instructions for me to
follow.
    It was
crazy. Insane.
    And yet
it helped me select the right corridors. As I ran along, though I
could hear other people in the building, they never came my
way.
    I never
encountered security checkpoints either.
    Soon I
found myself in front of a great big door with several panels
beside it.
    It
looked secure, like the kind of door you had to keep out an enemy
or the cold vacuum of space.
    I
hesitated for a brief moment, the pain behind my left eye becoming
excruciating.
    It was
like an explosion going off in my brain.
    I had to
dig my teeth hard into my lips not to scream.
    Seconds
later I saw myself reaching out and typing something hurriedly into
the panel.
    With a
jolt, I moved forward and followed my vision. I could barely
control my fingers, and they twitched and shivered as if I was
trying to hold a live wire.
    Nerves
pumped through me, and yet after several seconds of manipulating
that panel, the door