Do you feel that no matter what you do in life, something comes along and makes it worse? I feel that is my life. Something goes wrong every day, it would seem. Is it just bad luck, or do I have a talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time? When I was a kid, I decided to cut across the field to jump the fence to go looking for fossils when I was behind the school. It was recess, and I was a cloud that looked like a rabbit in the sky. The next thing I knew, I saw a shadow and held my hands out to catch it out of reflex, and when I opened them, I saw a ball in my hands. The next thing I knew, I was tackled to the ground. That was the end of recess as I was forced to play with them. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, but I could not do what I wanted. In a more recent event, I applied to a well-to-do college in engineering and infrastructure, but one of my references blindsided me, sabotaged my application and falsified my credentials, and brought me along with a full scholarship into the school that they had been hired at. Talk about selfish. I am a handful, he would always tell me that I didn't know my potential and so much more. I think he really wanted a student he know already to work as his lab assistant. It was shocking. I arrived with him at an unfamiliar school when we got off the city bus. I was about to turn around, but he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me along. He confessed to his scheme. He told me it would be a better place to learn, and I wouldn't have to take any more odd jobs and just work for him. He showed me that I was somehow locked in a binding contract for the next three years. I complained to him and the school, but none of them would habit. The magical contract would cause me continual pain as my mindset was determined to change schools or drop out. Although I am now trapped by the compulsory education system here, I was able to keep my distance from this newly appointed professor who was once my teacher. He tried to force me and then begged me to work with him, but I wouldn't have it. I am now a prisoner here, but at least I can still gain an education and will use this time to rack up transferable credits to go to that other school for engineering. I was now forced to look around this campus to do odd jobs to pay for food and living expenses. I swear this college campus is massive. I doubt the map is even accurate. Apparently, many different departments have made pocket dimensions attached to different corridors, classrooms, and so on to add illegal labs, gardens, buildings, basements, and many more things that I haven't even been to see yet. There were even roomers that one led to the bottom of an ocean on a different planet even. Now imagine how you try to navigate that when running around to class and you find the corridor on the left goes to three buildings over, but then on one the right goes the right way and is asked if I was the new woman's assistant trainer when the door I opened to class lead to their locker room and forced do that instead. Some of you guys reading this may think that it was a stroke of luck that someone left a space shift talisman to haze late students, but I am now getting more work on my plate having to help the girls here. This boils down to my becoming target practice as they learn to stun spells and slap the shy ones from some of the faces that I made when immobilized on my first day. The female teacher only smiled and nodded while I tried to explain or leave, but she told me to give up as she was able to talk to the other professor and got me transferred in. The only good thing was that she gave me odd extra jobs that paid. Speaking of such, she wanted me to help out with the science department a couple of months later since I was durable enough. It even paid better. I was mainly asked to try some performance-enhancing drugs and see what effects they had on me and a couple of the other students. The tests were mainly to see how our bodies reacted. They were possibly safe from tissue samples and animal testing. Apparently one of the new students' concoctions took down a bull for five days. Thankfully, none of the new students' works were being tested by us. Although I did blackout this one day and it led me to my current problem. I woke up in an incline chair, and a female student was looking at me from a distance, taking notes. She got up and called one over a beautiful Scientist. The other workers told me later that she was now a lead researcher who graduated from the program but decided to continue working within the school. I swear that when I saw her, my breath was taken away. They told me that I was purple in the face, and they had to forcibly make me breathe for two minutes with a pump till I was right in the head. All I remember was their surprised and red-flushed faces. She was so beautiful in that moment. I was like all I could see was her, and everything was hazy and out of focus. Was that love at first sight or my body breaking down from a side effect? They sent me to be looked over by the medical professor and students before being sent back to my dorm. I am thankful that they didn't cut me open. You would think that regulations would stop them, but most of the time, they use weird potions and spells to leave almost no evidence that anything happened, so no one would be the wiser. It has been a problem in the past and was only noticed when they were getting their physical and magical residue, leaving lines all over their body as if scars were really still there. Problems will be problems, but at least I still have my health. I decided that I would look for that woman again at the lab. I was told that she was fending off her other admirers with a scalpel and mystery liquid within beakers. Her assistant was armed with a broom. Somehow, I was able to get an appointment to see her after being beaten with the broom a couple of times. I was able to say my thanks for the other day. I talked to her and found out what she was researching here. She said that if I wanted to be her new rabbit, I could come by in the afternoon. I was walking around absentmindedly throughout the day and somehow got to all of my classes for the first time I've attended this school in the past four months. Maybe it was the power of love? So I thought at the time. Now, I will end this prelude to my travesty. It was late in the evening, and I was able to finally meet up with her and her assistant. I was able to see her again finally. She appeared to have a faint silver glow about her. Shaking myself to focus on the moment, I introduced myself to her and learned her name. "I am Steve Newhouse; it's nice to meet you again, " said Steve, rubbing the back of his head with a big goofy smile spreading wider. "Oh, sorry, I didn't get your name yet, Miss." "I didn't say, Mr. Rabbit. But if you help me and survive the ordeal, I will tell you my name. Deal?" "Uhh. Survive? From what I was told, we are testing the effects of a new elixir that should help with magical recovering potential," "In a way, yes, we are, but before that, can I get you to sign this new waiver before we start?" "Sure, I mean, everything done here at the College has always been on the up and up." "Yes, you are right." "So, where is the elixir? Do we need to go to a recording and analysis room before to scan and record the biometric data in real-time?" "You really are an old hand at this now. Look at your know-how." "No need to flatter me. So which way?" "We will be heading down two floors and head into the pocket dimension in storeroom 3B-2." "You know, these long corridors always make me think this is some maze." "That was the original thought behind it when the school we constructed to protect the students from invaders that may attack the school." "Really? That seems silly, but this school is old enough for that train of thought, I guess." "We are here." The door she opened revealed one of the standard testing sites. I wonder what it was doing down here. However, the scientists in this school were eccentrics like that. Her assistant was standing next to a table. "Miss, the pills and the elixir are ready for the subject to ingest," said the assistant girl. She seemed more relaxed and put together than the other times I met her. "Yes, Wendy, that will be all," said the woman. "Yes, ma'am," said Wendy. She steps aside and leads me to the table by the hand. "These three pills will be what you swallow to gain the desired affected abilities as you take the elixir along with it." "Sure can. Now? Do you have any of the equipment ready, first," questions Steve as he holds the pills and elixir as if he were taking a daily vitamin. "No, we will go behind the blast doors and safety glass first. Wendy." "Yes, Ma'am," said the assistant, leading the scientist away. I saw the lights flash on and off several times. I guessed that was the signal. I threw the pills in my mouth, drank the elixir in my mouth as a chaser, and waited to see what was going to happen. I didn't feel anything and was standing around for about five minutes. I thought it might have been one of those time delays. Strange was how they did nothing. Was it one of those placebo-effect tests? It happened before I could ask. "Aaaahhhhhhh, AHAHAHAHh, Aaaaaahhh!" I screamed and laughed in extreme pain. I rolled into a ball. My skin glowed red, sweat pooling off my body. The pain intensified until the scream became soundless. My skin was turning grey, hardening, then changing to black, growing soft. I refused to move. I was frozen in pain, but my mind was sharp, so every wave felt crisp and new. My jello-like skin vibrated, then melted like a black candle statue put in a lit brick oven. My mind was fading fast. Was I to die such a miserable death? As I became a puddle, all went black.
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