My neck pulses. With each new pump of blood a throb of pain echoes throughout my neck muscles. I heave in a breath of stale, artificial air and squeeze my eyes against the pain.
Where is Sam...?
My wrists burn against the thick chains wrapped around them to keep them still. I'm sitting in a very hard chair. It's cold. It's so fucking cold. A burst of white moisture whirls around my face with every breath.
Where is Sam...?
Sam's gone.
Where is he?
Don't you remember? He turned into one of them. He's probably here. Watching you.
No. That wasn't Sam. He's not one of them.
You saw him change yourself.
No.
That was Sam in your kitchen, and that was Sam with his hands wrapped around your neck.
No...
Sam wants to kill you!!
No!
***
(Sam's POV)
I've been sitting here in this cold room for two hours. In those two hours I have only realized two things.
One: I am a prisoner.
Two: I am not strong enough to break the bonds that keep me.
If this were a normal cell I could have pried open the bars with my bare hands. If these were normal chains around my wrists I could have snapped them easily. So why can't I do it now?
Oh right.
It's their chains. Their bars.
And that is why I am completely and utterly fucked. A single bead of sweat makes it's way from my forehead to my chin. How can I be sweating when this room is like ice? When the bead drops, it smears a red mark on my jeans. The sweat drop isn't liquid from the pores in my head. It's blood. That brings me back to the time I got the wound...
Eneile sashays across the kitchen with two glasses in hand. One is empty, the other is half full with orange juice. She dumps the orange juice into the sink and I stand a few feet behind her, mesmerized as I watch her stare into the sink for a long time, glaring at the orange juice swirling inside it. From the posture of her shoulders, the way they are hunched close to her, Eneile's fingers gripping the counter for support... I know she's worrying about her friend.
"Hey--" I put a hand on her shoulder. Her delicate little shoulder. She flinches at my touch and the glass falls into the sink. "Are you okay?"
Eneile quickly wipes her eyes before twisting around to face me. God, I hate to see her cry. Her eyes are red and puffy, the brown orbs inside them are wet and sad.
"Better than ever," she replies, sniffling, and slides past me. "Make yourself at home, I'm going to use the bathroom."
All I can do is nod in approval and sit down at the maple table in her kitchen. I know she doesn't live alone. Where is her sister? Annie... I think that's her name. Eneile mentioned her last night. I roll up the sleeves of my sweater and stare past the curtains of the window to look outside. It's a nice day. Eneile's soft patter of footsteps penetrates my hearing. My eyes flicker in her direction just fast enough to see the curve of her back disappearing into a hallway. A sigh escapes.
If I had been smart enough to realize Eneile needed my help this morning... I could have saved her friend. And now the poor kid is in the hospital and it's my fault.
Fuck!
Why didn't I realize how dangerous it is for her to be left alone?
You don't want to scare her.
I don't scare her...
Remember the look she gave you in the woods? When you lost control... when your eyes looked like they bled. The red inside them frightened her to death.
How could I forget? I won't lose control again. Not when she's around.
You know it's getting worse and worse.
I will control myself. For her. I-
A crunching noise interrupts. From where? The front door. It's unlocked. The knob turns. The door opens. They're here. Shit. They're here. I am out of that chair faster than the time it would take you to blink. I'm ready to fight them. Then I realize I don't have my team. I can't fight without them. They will overpower me. I'm--
just one man. I don't have enough strength to kill even one.
I'm about to disappear, to escape capture, torture, death, when I hear the squeak from a faucet. The steady water flow of a shower... Eneile's in here. She has know idea they're here. They will kill her before she even sees what's going on. One of them appears in the door frame, dark and prepared. It's movements are quick, I can't keep up with him. His cold scaly hand is around my mouth, the other wraps itself around my wrists like a vice. A second slithers in. It approaches me. I hear a deep chuckle rumble in it's throat before I see myself appear before my eyes. It has transformed. To look like me. I see my own hand reach up to wrap around my neck, hitting pressure points I didn't even know I had. The other hand glides over my face to clench it, hard. It slides a razor sharp nail over my forehead, splitting the skin open and causing a red curtain to fall across my eyes.
I pass out.
I let them take Eneile, dammit. And they did it using my body. She must think I betrayed her. Maybe she thinks I was one of them all along, just playing with her for their own sick enjoyment. If they so much as leave a mark on her I swear to God I'll--
What? You'll what?
"I'LL FUCKING RIP THEM APART!"
"We are watching. Do not speak ill." I hear over an intercom set into the wall to the left. I've been in here for three hours and I didn't even know they had a camera on me.
"Oh yeah? Well fucking shit. I'm fucking sorry your slimy ass doesn't fucking like my speaking ill towards you."
No reply leaks from the intercom but I know I pissed them off.
"Where's Eneile?"
"I am not authorized to give that information." Their slimy, unearthly voice sets my teeth on edge.
"I want to see her."
"..." A faint buzz rumbles in the intercom, the sound of a dead line.
"I want to see her..." I whisper, leaning my head down. "I want... to see her."
If I had been smart enough to realize Eneile needed my help this morning... I could have saved her friend. And now the poor kid is in the hospital and it's my fault.
Fuck!
Why didn't I realize how dangerous it is for her to be left alone?
You don't want to scare her.
I don't scare her...
Remember the look she gave you in the woods? When you lost control... when your eyes looked like they bled. The red inside them frightened her to death.
How could I forget? I won't lose control again. Not when she's around.
You know it's getting worse and worse.
I will control myself. For her. I-
A crunching noise interrupts. From where? The front door. It's unlocked. The knob turns. The door opens. They're here. Shit. They're here. I am out of that chair faster than the time it would take you to blink. I'm ready to fight them. Then I realize I don't have my team. I can't fight without them. They will overpower me. I'm--
just one man. I don't have enough strength to kill even one.
I'm about to disappear, to escape capture, torture, death, when I hear the squeak from a faucet. The steady water flow of a shower... Eneile's in here. She has know idea they're here. They will kill her before she even sees what's going on. One of them appears in the door frame, dark and prepared. It's movements are quick, I can't keep up with him. His cold scaly hand is around my mouth, the other wraps itself around my wrists like a vice. A second slithers in. It approaches me. I hear a deep chuckle rumble in it's throat before I see myself appear before my eyes. It has transformed. To look like me. I see my own hand reach up to wrap around my neck, hitting pressure points I didn't even know I had. The other hand glides over my face to clench it, hard. It slides a razor sharp nail over my forehead, splitting the skin open and causing a red curtain to fall across my eyes.
I pass out.
I let them take Eneile, dammit. And they did it using my body. She must think I betrayed her. Maybe she thinks I was one of them all along, just playing with her for their own sick enjoyment. If they so much as leave a mark on her I swear to God I'll--
What? You'll what?
"I'LL FUCKING RIP THEM APART!"
"We are watching. Do not speak ill." I hear over an intercom set into the wall to the left. I've been in here for three hours and I didn't even know they had a camera on me.
"Oh yeah? Well fucking shit. I'm fucking sorry your slimy ass doesn't fucking like my speaking ill towards you."
No reply leaks from the intercom but I know I pissed them off.
"Where's Eneile?"
"I am not authorized to give that information." Their slimy, unearthly voice sets my teeth on edge.
"I want to see her."
"..." A faint buzz rumbles in the intercom, the sound of a dead line.
"I want to see her..." I whisper, leaning my head down. "I want... to see her."
***
(Eneile's POV)
It took me five minutes to spot the camera in the corner of the room. It's black lens keeps a tight eye on me. Even though I've tried to break them, the chains around my wrists won't budge. My shoulders are getting tired from the strain. In that five minutes of being in that cold, dark room I've realized three things.
One: I am a prisoner.
Two: I cannot break these chains.
Three: I'm eventually going to lose my cool and piss them off.
You're still not sure about Sam?
Correct.
So you're saying he is one of them, but he isn't. How logical.
I never said he was both. I said he... isn't either of them.
My converse tap a beat of impatience against the concrete floor. I haven't mumbled a word in the five minutes I've been conscious. That means (hopefully) they don't know what I'm thinking. But it would be nice to hear the sound of some voice. Any voice. The camera zooms in on me, spying. They're probably in a back room, watching my emotions on a screen somewhere. I decide to make my face a blank slate, giving them nothing. The camera slowly recedes into it's former position. A smirk reaches my lips and I know I'm beating them.
"..." I hear a faint buzz of reception coming from a speaker next to the camera. My face perks up and I stare at it for a long time, waiting for a voice. The static picks up and then one of their voices pulls through. It's slick and deadly and I shiver, but it's not from the cold air.
"Your aunt is Jeane Taylor, yes?"
I blanch. "Why are you asking about my aunt?" Sweet, sweet Aunt Jeane? What does she have to do with this? The one relative in Alaska that I loved to be around? She gave me my phone for my birthday a couple years ago, with the gemstones already glued to the top. What do they want with my aunt?
"That is irrelevant. But you are related by blood, yes?"
"Yes..."
"..." The line is dead. I sit in uncomfortable silence for what feels like eternity. It would be so nice just to zone out but my mind is clouded with thought. Where is Sam? What do they want with my aunt? How do they know about her? They must be looking at my family history. What else do they know about me?
But one question sticks in my mind.
"Is my aunt really who I think she is?" I ask.
"No." They reply, and the line goes dead again.
Suddenly it hits me like freight train. She gave me the power. Jeane...
Gave me the gene.
End of Chapter Ten Part Two.
"Your aunt is Jeane Taylor, yes?"
I blanch. "Why are you asking about my aunt?" Sweet, sweet Aunt Jeane? What does she have to do with this? The one relative in Alaska that I loved to be around? She gave me my phone for my birthday a couple years ago, with the gemstones already glued to the top. What do they want with my aunt?
"That is irrelevant. But you are related by blood, yes?"
"Yes..."
"..." The line is dead. I sit in uncomfortable silence for what feels like eternity. It would be so nice just to zone out but my mind is clouded with thought. Where is Sam? What do they want with my aunt? How do they know about her? They must be looking at my family history. What else do they know about me?
But one question sticks in my mind.
"Is my aunt really who I think she is?" I ask.
"No." They reply, and the line goes dead again.
Suddenly it hits me like freight train. She gave me the power. Jeane...
Gave me the gene.
End of Chapter Ten Part Two.
No comments:
Post a Comment