Erasing Insanity - Prologue

Prologue

Stirring dizzily, Melissa Barkson lifted her head groggily. She shouldn’t feel this, this pounding at the back of her skull. The last thing she could remember was drinking the wine that Jack had given her. And then….and then nothing. She couldnt remember. She must have blacked out. But why?

Was it the wine? But Jack had given it to her…he wouldn’t have put a sedative in it would he? He had told her that he loved her…she had been ready to tell him she was pregnant

Melissa stared at her husband in disbelief and had a quick glance at her surroundings. She was in Jacks lab at work, the one that he had so proudly displayed to her when he’d gotten his job as a researcher into finding cures for insanity. Shelves and cupboards neatly filled with  beakers, vials, bunsens. Sitting at his computer, looking perfectly at ease with the situation, was Jack. 
 
She was chained unceremoniously to a comfortable chair, wearing handcuffs fluffy and rimmed with cotton so as not to damage her wrists. The chains were just loose enough for her to breathe comfortably, and if she closed her eyes, she could just maybe lead herself to believe that she was sitting in her office, having a moment of peace. But when she struggled, she found herself unable to move. Bound.

“Jack, what’s going on? Is this some stupid game you’re playing again? Because after last time~”
“
“Melly!” Jack swivelled around in his chair, his eyes lit up and a creepily happy smile on his face. Melissa frowned; he almost never smiled, his research went badly so he had an almost permanently sullen expression. Even now she spotted the ghost of frown lines on his forehead.

“Is something wrong Jack? Youre not acting like yourself” Confused, she peered at him.

“I wish I felt like this all the time Melly, it’s absolutely brilliantinoussness! Is this how it feels to be high? Maybe I should invest in some weed”

“Jack…”

“Melly there was a break! A break in my studies! I’ve found the cure to insanity!” He gripped her arms excitedly, digging his fingernails through the flimsy material of her blouse. She suddenly wished she wore jumpers more often.

“Jack, that’s lovely and everything, but it doesn’t explain why I’m tied to a chair”

“Oh” his expression dimmed, and she saw faint traces of regret enter his eyes “Youre going to be my first subject”

“…What?” Melissa stared at him blankly, not comprehending.

“I’m going to inject you with a non-lethal dose of Rasbicious, a drug that was banned by the government because it had a side effect of putting people into a comatose state, or as some like to call it, “Vegetable brain land”. Then I’ll make some modifications to your brain, so that you snap back into your physical being as you were before. So if this works correctly, then youll be completely fine, nothing to worry about love”

Melissa could only stare at him for a few seconds, and then started to frantically strain against her bindings “Jack! What do you think you’re doing?! Let me out of here! Take your experiments to somebody who’s already a vegetable! Don’t do this to me!”

He regarded her sadly “I thought you were different. None of the others wanted to do it either, but you…You weren’t like them. I thought that you’d understand”

Nobody heard her bloodcurdling shreik as he stabbed a needle filled with rasbicious into her neck, or her low moan as he pushed down the plunger.