by Eve Langlais
“My dad and I have a strange relationship. As to friend,”—she shrugged—“you’d only be partially right. I have acquaintances. I’m not a person who gets along with too many folks. Kind of like you. I read your file. No real family to speak of. Dad took off when you were young. Your mom got remarried when you were a teen. Came to visit you once in the hospital, and that was to sign you over to the Chimaeram Clinic. Your friends were mostly the online variety.”
His lips stiffened into flat lines. “Calling me a loser?”
“Just saying you and I are more alike than you think.”
“Not even close. You get to walk out that door any time you want.”
“What if you could, too?”
There was the dangling carrot. He didn’t grab it. “We both know that won’t happen.”
“Not with that attitude it won’t.”
“Not ever. Those running the joint won’t want me spilling any secrets.”
“True.” She didn’t deny it. “That’s the price to pay for our second life. But there’s another reason to keep your mouth shut. Do you know what the real world does to people who claim they’re monsters?”
He’d seen enough movies and played enough video games to answer this one. “Yeah, I know. Padded cell and pudding with no spoon. Except I can actually show them I’m not crazy.”
She laughed. “I wasn’t talking about a mental institute. There’s more than one kind of cell. And if you think Chimaeram is mean, you should see what the government likes to do.” She whistled. “They make my dad look like a Good Samaritan.”
The point she made reminded him of the science fiction movies he loved to watch. The reality of what his world could be if he ever did speak. “Thanks for pointing out my life is fucked.”
“Only if you’re a rat. So don’t be a rat.”
He rolled his eyes. “Tell that to Chimera and your dad. Who knows what they’ve injected me with.”
The poor jest made her smile. “They must have used something whiny because you have a serious case of the woe-is-me. You should be happy they intervened. You almost became body parts for the highest bidder.”
“Meaning?”
“If we hadn’t come along, your mother was planning to sell off your organs. Adrian happened to catch her just in time and made a better offer.”
It shouldn’t have surprised him to hear, and yet it still hurt. “I don’t believe you.” Surely his mother wouldn’t do that to him? Wouldn’t someone have told him?
“Don’t believe. I don’t care. You have the right to shove your head up your ass. I’ve heard the tapes. I read your file. I know all about you, kitty.”
“Then you know I was a loser.” His high school picture with his Coke-bottle glasses and shit haircut said it all. He didn’t go much further than grade twelve, dropping out of college. Marcus was a nobody, working a nothing job, with no girlfriend, no life when the accident happened.
“You were uninspired,” Jayda corrected. “You hadn’t achieved your full potential.”
At the claim, he chuckled. “You’re right. I hadn’t turned into a blood-thirsty monster.”
“You forgot the cute part.”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Sorry would you prefer banging? Handsome?” She arched her brow in between asking. “Take a look in a mirror. You’re a hottie now.”
The claim took him by surprise, mostly because no woman had ever said those words to him.
Ever.
Not even close.
Which was why he didn’t believe it now. “You’re saying that to butter me up.”
“If I wanted to butter you up, kitty, I’d be stroking you until you purred.”
He asked, just because he must have misunderstood. “You think I’m attractive?”
“Physically, but don’t worry, mentally, you’re still a dork. Play your cards right and you’ll be back to playing games online in no time. Hitting ComicCon dressed as one those guards in the white uniforms who can’t shoot for shit.”
“Stormtroopers,” he murmured. “How do you know all this?”
“I told you. I studied you. Your grocery order, delivered at home, with way too many processed foods. The fact you watched documentaries. You didn’t vote because you didn’t like the candidates. Prefer crunchy peanut butter. And you tuck it to the left.”
“There’s no way you know that,” he blustered, reeling from the fact she knew him all too well.
“It’s not hard to figure out. Only had to look at a few pictures. For a scrawny puss, you were packing.”
“Were?” He arched a brow and thought it interesting that she turned her gaze away from him.
“Haven’t been able to tell if it’s grown with the rest of you.”
“In the pursuit of science, by all means, have a peek.” He knew he had nothing to be ashamed of down there.
She changed the subject instead. “On another topic, I want to say congrats on not killing anyone yesterday.”
“Only because you stopped me.”
“P-p-please.” She rolled the p. “Given your level of hostility, you were being downright gentle.”
“I’m pretty sure the guard I tried to choke would disagree.”
She waved a hand. “Wade? He was a bit of a douchebag, and it was perfectly understandable, given your jealousy.”
“I was not jealous,” he lied.
“So you wouldn’t freak out at all if I said I went to see Wade afterwards and gave him a blow job in apology.”
Marcus didn’t realize he’d punched the concrete wall until the pain radiated from his fist. He sucked the bleeding knuckles and refused to look at her.
“Just so you know, I didn’t actually do that, so no need to kill Wade next time you see him.”
“Maybe I’ll just kill him for being a twat,” he grumbled.
“I don’t think too many would blame you. But even given his epic douchebaggery, you didn’t immediately snap his neck.”
Because Marcus enjoyed watching the light slowly fade from his eyes. “I attacked the guards that came after.”
“Again, not killing any.”
“You did see me toss one into the wall, right?”
“Toss, yes. Twisted his neck? No. Nor did you tear into anyone.”
The observation brought a frown. “But I could have.” He’d done it before.
As if she read his mind, Jayda said, “I watched the video of your escape.”
“Don’t you mean Chimera’s release program?” Unable to hide the disgust he’d not seen through it. He’d known it seemed too easy, the power failure that last only seconds, long enough to shove the door of his cage open.
“Adrian has ideas about treatment that don’t always mesh with the doctors. Sometimes, he has to manipulate events to prove theories.”
“And what did releasing a bunch of monsters prove?”
Rather than reply, she posed a question of her own. “Did you know of all the projects that escaped during that time, there’s only one that hasn’t come back? Maybe you’ve seen her. Female. Petite. Tanned skin, dark hair.”
“I know who she is. She’s dead.” Or no longer able to walk on land. Last time he’d seen Matterra, tentacles had sprouted from all over her body and she’d jumped into a river in the mountains, never to be seen again. As to the others, Jayda was correct. One by one, they slipped away from the strange pack they’d formed during their escape. He’d assumed they’d gone their own ways.
“Odd thing that, all of you returning. Don’t you think? No one can figure it out. It’s why my dad had one of you autopsied.”
“Only one? I find that hard to believe given how many have been killed to keep the clinic’s secret.”
“How many would you kill if you thought it would hand you your freedom?” she countered.
“Not the same.”
“You’re right. It’s not. In life, we tend to treat our own lives as the least important of all. What I’m trying to do, though, is point o
ut that sometimes you do what you have to.”
“Which is why your dad has guys autopsied to figure out where the science went wrong.” Said sarcastically and yet she nodded.
“He does, but if it makes your queasy mind feel better, he only had one executed. Dude went over the edge. Took out a guard by ripping into his jugular and eating him. Couldn’t feed him regular carbs after that.”
“So he was murdered in the name of science.”
“Around here, the correct term is donated his life.” Her smile was cold. “They took him apart and examined every bit. Did that to the ones they caught in the woods, too. Do you know what they discovered from all the bodies they examined?”
Despite himself, curiosity stirred. “What?”
She shrugged. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Every single one of the projects who returned had no reason to come back. Not a physical one that we could locate. And trust me, they tried. I’ve seen the reports. They compared everything, even the contents of their bowels.”
“You said some were caught. Did you ask them?”
“Not me. My dad tried. So did Adrian and Sphinx and a few others. It didn’t pan out. Thing is you’re the first one that’s actually been capable of real speech. So let me ask you, why did you come back?”
How to explain something he still didn’t grasp. He bared his teeth in a savage smile and said, “Revenge!”
“I’m sure that played part of it. Yet, again, I’ve seen the footage. You watched the place for over a week. Never attacked anyone. Hid when the guards went looking in the woods.”
“I was biding my time.” Waiting for something. Someone…A glance at her should have resulted in a glare, but he could only admire the casual ease she displayed talking with him.
How long since he’d had such an open conversation with anyone? He’d spent most of his time since waking from the coma angry. Ranting. Not listening or wanting to listen.
Until Jayda.
“Let’s backtrack a bit. After your escape, what did you do? Did you ever try and leave the forest or mountains?”
“No.” He ran, and for a while, he wasn’t aware of much.
“Did you find anyone?”
“Not a single soul.” The one road he ran across panicked him and sent him fleeing deeper into the woods.
“How did you survive?
By being the monster they made him into. He didn’t want to explain his shame. Of how he lived literally like an animal. But again, she knew.
Understood because she claimed to be a monster, too.
“Let me guess. You hunted, hid, and rested. Until you were called to return.”
Her use of the word call brought a frown. “What do you mean?”
“Did you ever hear a voice? Someone telling you to come back?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?” she insisted.
“No voices. I’m not crazy.” Spoken harshly. Then remorse set in, so he softly admitted, “It was an urge at first.”
“An urge to do what?”
His shoulders rolled, and he couldn’t look at her as he tried to recapture the feeling so he could explain it. “At first it was like a fond memory. It keeps playing over and over, lulling you into remembering the good, not the bad. It has you longing, and you think, I should go back for a visit.”
“But you didn’t immediately heed the call,” she prodded.
A shake of his head sent golden locks flying. More hair than he’d ever had in his life and the gold not because of any chemicals. “I tried to ignore it. Because I knew it was crazy. I didn’t want to come back.” He looked around at the concrete walls.
“Do you think they’ve created some kind of signal to call the patients back?” she asked.
He frowned. “Is it possible?” Canines had the ability to hear on wavelengths humans couldn’t.
“If they did, then why do they keep scratching their heads? No.” She rolled to her back and stared at his ceiling. “I think it’s something else.”
“Masochism?” he offered. Only partly jesting. He knew what the clinic would do to him, and yet the need became all-consuming. He returned, and no surprise, look where he ended up.
“I don’t think you’re a guy who’s into pain for shits and giggles.” She turned to look at him, head propped on an arm. “But I do believe you were lonely.”
“The quiet was nice. Now, I can’t have an hour myself without someone interrupting and blabbing.”
“Is this your way of saying you need me to leave so you can use the washroom? I did wake you up. You probably have to pee.”
Heat pulled at his cheeks. “No!” Which was a lie. He had to go something fierce; however, while he might have been pissing in a cave a week ago, for some reason, talking bodily functions with Jayda was just wrong.
“So you did have an erection,” she exclaimed.
His cheeks caught fire. “No.”
“Then you have to pee.”
He saw the trap and glared. “Go away.”
“Okay. But I’ll be back in like fifteen minutes. With breakfast. So, if you gotta go, go. Here. To help you out.” She rolled off the bed and tossed something at the camera, which stuck.
He blinked as she waved before walking out the door.
Remembering her threat about returning, he took a minute to quickly take care of his business, especially since the glob she’d placed over the camera began to slide down. The sink had running water, lukewarm, but welcome. He splashed it on his face, rinsing himself even though he didn’t appear dirty. He wore clean scrubs, different ones than before. His hair was washed and brushed, which meant they’d groomed him while he slept. Moved his room, too.
A glance at the bed showed no restraints. No weapons either. The entire room appeared almost made of a seamless mass. The walls, ceiling, and floor of poured concrete. The lights overhead high enough he couldn’t reach them if he jumped. The camera was embedded into the wall, the red eye showing again since the wad of slime hit the floor. She’d come prepared.
Prepared for what?
Jayda had him all turned around. Her attitude with him so different from everyone else. For one, she spoke to him as if he were normal.
And he reacted to her as if he stood a chance. It was an attraction that would go nowhere. He shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that, for all her flirting, Jayda worked for the clinic. Everything she did probably benefitted her father.
He had to resist.
Had to say… “Is that waffles?” His eyes lit up as she entered the room balancing a tray. It never even occurred to him to rush her, throw her to the ground, and leap over her in a mad dash through the door for freedom.
“With whipped cream.”
And strawberries, plus a pitcher of real maple syrup.
He’d escape later. Marcus suddenly found his appetite. Snaring the tray, he set it on the solid concrete table and dug in with more appetite than he’d had…since before his accident.
“Aha. I knew it,” she crowed, sitting across from him.
“Knew what?” he asked in between shoveling food and guzzling the orange juice.
“Those idiots were feeding you bran and prune juice, weren’t they?” She slapped her thigh.
His lips quirked. “No. They even offered me bacon.”
“Which you refused. So why you eating now, kitty?”
As if she didn’t know. “Maybe I’m finally hungry again.” Which was the truth. After starving for so long and losing all interest in food, suddenly things tempted again. He savored the sweetness melting on his tongue.
“Next time I’ll bring extra whip cream.” She lounged against the wall with a pleased smile on her lips.
“You keep assuming a next time.”
“Yup. Because, let’s be honest, you’re not going anywhere yet. Which means you and I are gonna become friends.”
“Friends don’t lock each other up.”
“They do if they have a safe word.” She winked before shoving herself from the
wall. “Now that you’re done stuffing your face, I wanna go back over what you were saying before. About how you were drawn here. I don’t suppose you remember any weird dreams around that time?”
“I don’t dream.” Not humanly anyway. He did often get the impression he was running. Running so fast, and sometimes roaring. Then he’d wake up, his heart pounding, his hair bristling all over his body. “Nor do I get visions. I don’t hear a heavenly voice. My return here is nothing but a stupid lapse of judgement because, apparently, I am more masochistic than I realized.”
“Nothing wrong with a bit of pain during pleasure.” She winked before pivoting so that she could pace. “Where would you go if you could escape again?”
“Why bother? You said it yourself; I’ll probably end up coming back.”
“Not all the projects do. Luke disappeared months ago and has yet to return.”
Even Marcus had heard of Luke, the very first wounded soldier to get treatment, if you didn’t count Chimera himself. “I thought he was locked up and considered crazy.”
“Turns out all he needed was the right nurse to snap him out of it.”
“How did she treat him?” he asked, curious despite himself.
“She didn’t. Not with drugs or anything, at least, unless you count her lubricating his dick with her honey.”
“His nurse had sex with him! But he was her patient.” The idea shocked.
“Anywhere else their relationship would have gotten shut down. But Adrian and my daddy, they believe in love.”
He snorted. “More like they want to see if their cure leads to viable babies.”
“That too.” She didn’t even deny it.
“So what’s the theory with Luke? That sex fixed him?” What a fascinating concept.
“Would have to be some magical pussy.”
“I think I should try.” She whirled at his words, and on an impulse, he said, “Think that hot night nurse would have sex with me?”
If he’d hoped for a jealous explosion, he was disappointed. “Sorry, kitty, but she just got put onto a new rotation. But I’m sure we can find someone for you.”
She didn’t offer herself. Surely, he wasn’t disappointed. “I’m just kidding. I don’t want someone taking care of me.” Mostly because he feared the beast would become too tempted. The meat sacks smelled so yummy. Jayda smelled even more delicious than them. He clenched his fists and regained control before she noticed anything untoward.