Project Cleopatra

Chapter 16:

I awoke screaming, or at least I tried to scream but my throat was so hoarse that nothing came out. I groaned. My mouth was dry and my limbs felt as if they had been replaced by wet sawdust.

It felt like my entire body had pins and needles as the stale taste in my mouth nearly caused me to gag.

How long had I been gone?

Slowly, I cracked open my crusty eyes and blinked against the blinding fluorescent lights.

That's when reality hit home.

I was back. I was in my body.

Groaning in pain, I sat up and looked down at my ashy skin. My head felt like it was made out of lead. I couldn't think straight.

Apparently, time travelling required your body to be taken care of while you were away and I hoped the team had something to keep their bodies– Marcus! Oh god.

He'd been there longer than me. I could only imagine what state he was in. I swung my legs off the table I was laying on, ready to make a move, but my entire body cramped up and I collapsed against the cold floor. I glanced up, vision swimming, and for a second I thought I was hallucinating when I saw Marcus's naked body in a tank of liquid.

He looked so peaceful.

That's when I shivered, becoming aware of my own half-nakedness. What was going on?! I felt panic raise the bile at the back of my throat until I realized there was another empty tank next to Marcus. Was that for me?

God, I needed to pee. I looked at an empty container at the foot of the table I was on and then back at the tank. I cursed. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I'll spare you the details.

When I was done I felt my legs slowly regain their feeling and made another attempt at getting up. I grabbed onto the steel table which didn't help much against my clammy palm.

Blinking back the tears forming in my eyes, I took in the room. It seemed like it would be part of a lab facility and I figured that the machine was nearby. All I had to do was get to Gaius or anybody for that matter.

I glanced over at the desk in the corner of the room. There was a lab coat on the chair. I slipped back down to the concrete floor and crawled my way over not trusting my legs to carry my weight just yet.

As I put the coat on, I noticed a half-eaten sandwich on the desk and my stomach clenched in hunger to the point I felt nauseous. I looked back at Marcus wondering how he was doing but noticed there were pipes connected to him, possibly giving him what he needed. I looked down at myself again and shivered.

Had Octavian stripped me?

I shook the thought out of my head as I wobbled to the door.

Shocker. It was locked. I desperately tried to pry it open but resorted to banging on the door as my voice slowly returned. It was still raspy but I was able to call out for help.

Within seconds, the door flew open, knocking me back on my ass from the impact. Octavian stared down at me in shock.

"How the fu–"

Realising it was him, I quickly pushed myself up and ran to tackle him to the ground but in my weakened state, he managed to dodge me. He grabbed my arm, dragged me back into the room, and swung the door shut behind him. This was his office! How had no one known what he'd done?

What if they did and nobody was going to stop him?

He pushed me back and I stumbled, my back hitting the steel table.

"You," he sneered. "How did you get back?"

I kept my mouth shut, trying to think of a plan but before I could Octavian's hand wrapped around my neck as the other held my face. His fingers dug into my skin causing my eyes to sting from the tears forming.