“Take it away, doctor.” Leona had a seat on a long satin couch that some of her hired men pulled up for her. She folded her hands as if she was preparing for the premiere of an acclaimed blockbuster. Kingsley felt his spine tingle. He was fully in control and he reveled in it.
“Alright, I’ll need the three of you to wash him, change him into the scrub and lift him to the chair.” He directed traffic like a director of a movie set. His hands flew and his hair stood on end. There were butterflies in his stomach as he approached the IV lines. There on the table beside the machine was a vial of a crystal clear liquid.
“Drug facts?” Kingsley asked as if this were a routine question and raised an eyebrow, turning to face Leona. She was grinning ear to ear, teeth barred wolfishly. Harrison wasn’t hearing this conversation, as he had been placed in small compartment in one of the cabins, supposedly to prep him for part of this procedure.
“It is derived from the saliva glands of a small lizard species recently discovered in Australia. Its potency is to actually increase the brain activity intensively. It causes the brain to produce abnormally high levels of endorphins and oxytocin. The neurotransmitters enter into a euphoric state. That is when test subjects were observed to have experienced what could only be described as a “brain stimulus Supernova”. The neurons themselves chemically reacted with the extract and produced so much electrical discharge as to be 100% depleted of potency.” Leona laughed at the doctor’s expression.
“So you’re saying that the drug has been observed to transform his own biochemical process into an internal heroin lab? Certain endorphins have 12 times the effects of morphine.” He folded his arms. It was time to pull every card out of his huge mental medical catalog. Anything to impress her.
“Well, you are the M.D., not me. It’s why I hired you.” She was playing hard to get. He was certain of it.
“Well, it’s an extract and one not thoroughly tested. We might see any number of surprising things tonight.” Kingsley clapped his hands together. He was eager to watch Harrison die and hoped it would be showy. It was a vicarious revenge against all the people that had encroached upon him lately.
“Surprise me then, doctor.” Leona stretched her arm high above her head, sprawling elegantly on the couch like a model of a by-gone era.
They were in for a plethora of surprises, indeed, as Kingsley added some ingredients of his own into the chemical cocktail Leona had provided. It was Frankenstein in reverse. They sought to use the phenomenon of electrical genesis in brain activity to take the life and not give it. To make the death an enjoyable experience. It would naturally cause the highs that heroin and other opiates caused harmfully. It would take the stimulus to Nirvana and beyond so high that it would spend its full capacity and never come down. For the first time in history, a man of medicine would endeavor to make death a wonderful experience. A life to the fullest use of the chemical joy ride. A rapid-fire stimulation that faded away when there was no more fuel source like in a fireworks show.
As he worked on Harrison, it slowly dawned on him just how quickly he’d rushed into all this. He was even a bit surprised by his own amorality. As soon as the IV lines were attached to Harrison’s arms, he knew something was wrong.
“It tastes… It smells and tastes… like…mroses…” He looked at the doctor and his eyes suddenly glittered with darkness. Kingsley would be haunted by the look Harrison Kelley had given him for the rest of his life.
“You played me.” Somehow he knew that the chemical entering him signaled death. How he knew was a question none of the witnesses would ever be able to answer.
His eyes rolled in his head glistening like diamonds in their whites. They began to foam tears rapidly producing bubbles that floated down his cheeks like clouds.
He smiled. A glorified smile and his eyes rolled back in his head closing tight. Suddenly he was giggling like a small child. He went very limp as the euphoric stage began.
Like a rollercoaster, once he’d reached the pinnacle high, there was nowhere to go but down. An overload of endorphins will cause high anxiety, just like withdrawals from substance abuse. Harrison began to hyperventilate. He went into full-blown convulsions, tearing the arms off of his chair.
Harrison shrieked and cried. His monitors were blinking off the chart, increasingly faster.
Then something very strange happened. His heart monitor flat lined. He stopped breathing. His limbs went limp.
The monitor that diagrammed his brain activity did something different. It showed that the brain was flashing. There was a continuous embolism of electricity in certain lobes of his brain. These triggered flashes in the lateral segments of his spinal column.
“Okay, so two things could be happening here. Either your brand new tech is malfunctioning or…” Kingsley swallowed.
“Or what?” Leona stood up, jaw set. This was the beginning of a nightmare’s worst nightmare. Kingsley could feel it in his gut.
“Or his brain activity hasn’t actually ceased. At the same time, his brain isn’t actually functioning in the active sense either. The only way I can describe it from what I observe… Harrison Kelley’s brain is functioning in the passive voice. It’s not triggering functions to his vital organs and yet it’s still sending signals to the lateral section of his spine. It’s as though his brain is stuck. As if he is ‘freeze-locked’ in animation.”
They all stood staring at Harrison for a long moment. He didn’t move or breathe. His monitor was a complete flat-line for full on 15 minutes as they watched. It never again even threatened to show vital organ activity. The brain monitor still continued to flash as signals were sent to the limbic system and the lateral section of the spine. There was a sudden hot flash in the optical nerve receptors.
Harrison’s eyes flew open. They were milky and filled with terror.
He sat up and looked from one person to the next.
Leona took two fistfuls of her hair and shrieked in inhuman fury.
From the yacht’s railing, Jane Lewis had witnessed everything, peering through the port window she’s quietly crept over to.
“Oh my God!” She bit her knuckles to keep from shrieking. The terror made her stomach burn.
*****
Chapter 4
The dawn crept over the staircase of Dexter’s shambling old house. They sat at the card table by the landing, trying to shrug off the cold that sank into their veins. Jane stared off into space. Dexter kept clutching her hand and trying to jostle her out of catatonia.
“I know that it messes you up when you see somebody die like that, Jane.” Lindsey wanted to refute Jane’s version of the events in the New Orleans harbor. Pass it off as traumatized craziness.
A cold wind rattled the walls and windows of their apartment. Jane looked up. The dim light shaded her face, showing them how hollow she was inside. What she had seen had changed her forever.
“I know what I saw.” She was haggard. She was almost animal in her ferocious need to make sense of this situation.
Dexter’s teenage sister Ivy crowded close with the teapot she’d inherited from her biological grandmother when she’d been adopted from China. She poured them all a tiny cup and shuttered.
“It sounds absolutely crazy, but I believe you, Jane. I do a lot of medical research for Dex’s blog. I’ve actually heard theories of botched euthanasia. This could theoretically happen.” She sat the steaming teapot down in the center of the table and folded her arms.
“Theory just turned into reality before my eyes. He’s dead. Then he’s alive. Because he’s both. I don’t know. It’s impossible. It should be impossible. Only now it’s not.” Jane pressed her knuckles into her eyes and groaned.
“Well, whatever way it swings…Kingsley is the one who performed the operation. He’s guilty of murder…kinda. Which means we have what we need to bust him.” Dexter slapped his open palm down on the table. Jane gritted her teeth.
“Yes, but Harrison’s still… How do we bust Kingsley for murder if
Harrison is still… Then there’s his wife. She’s like a Mob Lord or something. Don’t ask me how it works. I really have no idea what’s going down here.” Jane stood up on quaking legs and began to pace the room.
“It was like pulling teeth getting you guys to take me seriously. Imagine going to the authorities with such an extreme story! This will have to go all the way to the Feds too, as Shreveport Police Department is practically in bed with Kingsley.” She chewed the ends of her fingers, fighting waves of nausea.
“Maybe we should contact a lawyer here in Louisiana first...” Lindsey began. She opened her mouth to say something else but then flinched like she’d been electrocuted. There was a sound like a dog’s scratching at their door.
Jane squared her shoulders. She tip-toed forward barely breathing. Her friends shrank against the walls, trying to bleed all the security from the shadows that they could.
The door swung open like it always did. Maybe it was only a dog. Or one of the trash cans knocked over in the wind, or—
Jane took a step back. Her eyes were wide. She lifted shaking hands.
Her friends couldn’t see out the door from where they cowered. Ivy peaked up from where she crouched under the table. She gasped and covered her mouth.
“Harrison?” Jane shook her head in disbelief.
Harrison Kelley stood there. He stood with perfect ease at her doorstep. His muscular atrophy had been reversed. Though once withered and decrepit, he had full biceps and triceps that were bulging through his clothes, much larger than they’d ever been in the healthy prime of his youth.
Jane didn’t know what to do. Harrison just stood with milky eyes, blinking at her incredulously. Jane thought how the hell had he found his way here? Had she ever told him about her personal life when he was at Caddo?
“Wanna come inside?” Jane stood aside beckoning him to come into the small kitchen and laundry room at the foot of the stairs.
Harrison stepped inside, head turned by the scent of the tea. His eyes glowed like lost meteorites in the dim light of the sun that streamed through the blinds. One by one, Jane’s friends came out of hiding.
“Hey, Harrison! It’s me, Dexter! Remember I was the guy who did your IVs when you were in Caddo Vitality Care.” Dexter chattered with no point to his words. His lips trembled and they all knew he was terrified to see the living dead man.
Harrison tilted his head to the side as if he could only process what he was seeing in small doses.
“Hey, Harrison? Just…just say something!” Lindsey began, shaking her head unable to endure this for much longer.
“Dude! Isn’t it obvious? Harrison can’t come to the phone right now.” Ivy laughed hysterically and took a step back.
“You guys know what we’re going to have to do.” Jane swallowed, hating herself for it.
“As medics, it’s our responsibility.” Lindsey nodded.
“Oh, so we’re going to like, examine him?” Dexter tripped like he was going to pass out and caught the table hard on his palms.
“Okay, Harrison. I just want you to come and have a seat. Promise this won’t hurt.” Jane reached out a hand and gingerly guided Harrison to the kitchen table.
They checked, double checked and triple checked. Harrison had no pulse. He showed no signs of respiration. For the most part, his skin was cold and covered in sweat. Yet his eyes were wide open and obviously followed lights and their conversation. He could hear them. He probably understood what they were saying as his eyes grew wide at some of the subject matter. It became quickly evident he wasn’t able to talk to them, or signal them in any way that their suspicions were factual.
He was completely capable of movement. In fact, he was overly limber and his reflexes were off the charts. They made a note of this. They made a note of everything.
“You were right.” Lindsey’s voice was almost inaudible as she admitted the truth.
“I was…” Jane tilted her head.
“Which can only mean one thing. He obviously can’t stick up for himself like this. But they’re not going to stop at anything until they’ve cleaned up their mess, right? It’s a world of wonders that he got away in the first place. So the question, ladies and gentleman, is what are we going to do about Billionaire Frankenstein?”
They all looked at each other. Suddenly they heard police sirens cut through the neighborhood’s usual din. Blue and red lights swept through the room.
“Get down! Get him down!” Jane motioned for everyone to follow her to the floor.
“Why?” Dexter shook his head as he hit his knees, with a protective arm thrown around Ivy.
“Don’t you get it? The police are doing a sweep of the neighborhood 15 minutes after the Walking Dead shows up here. Doesn’t that seem a little freaky to you? Like I don’t know, Kingsley’s working with Leona, and Kingsley’s bought off the police!”
Jane laid down flat peering up through the slits of the windows. She counted her drilling heart beats and hoped to God she had what it took to play hot potato with a zombie.
Chapter 5
The doctor woke up with his hands chained high above his head. He was hanging. There was no feeling in his face, save the vibrations of his eyes twitching sporadically.
Kingsley twisted back to look above himself. His wrists were lashed with barb wire to a fancy crystal chandelier in one of the yacht’s cabins. He knew this because directly behind him was a small circular window that showed a view of the sea.
He was reluctant to look down at himself. Something didn’t feel right with his body, but he couldn’t place what exactly it was.
“I consider myself to be a patient woman…” Leona’s shadow was in the room. Kingsley stretched himself out, trying to look down at her.
She was wearing a snow-white wedding gown that was sleek to her body like an evening dress. Her auburn hair was held back by her bridal veil. In her hands, she held a brass candlestick.
“I believe in the reward that comes with waiting. Which is how I’ve kept my garments white for so long…” She tilted her head to the side. Her teeth were bared like some ferocious night creature.
“I’m on the verge of sin. There will be no confessor for my crimes. The only witness will be my victim. These white garments are about to be drenched in red.” She swung the candlestick with brutal strength across Kingsley’s abdomen.
He looked down. Now he knew why he was numb and uncomfortable. His belly had been beaten to the point of contusions. With this strike, they burst and blood began to well up in great red droplets.
Leona closed her eyes and waited for the rain. Scarlet hit her face and streamed down her body, staining the ivory gown with streams of bold red.
She smiled and rubbed the blood in circular motions on her cheeks. She pierced her finger into Kingsley’s wound and caused a huge droplet to seep out. With a flourish, she plucked her finger free again and dribbled the blood on her tongue. Throwing back her head, she gargled it. Kingsley choked from pain and quaked, utterly appalled.
She spewed his own blood back on him, on his face and down his chest. With a toss of her head, she shrieked manically at him.
“Aha! It is a pleasant desolation to my body, just like fornication! I have committed a sin that is unpardonable in the eyes of my own righteousness. I trusted another with work that I should have done by hand. Why did it matter who administered the drug so long as it worked? Only I needed the insurance of a fall-guy in case everything went wrong. And it has gone wrong! You’re the one that will fall for it!” She howled at the ceiling. Her voice echoed off the chandelier and burned in his ears.
“I have my own brand of medicine, Dr. Kingsley. If you don’t like the thought of becoming my lab rat, then listen closely to what I’m about to say. You’re going to track down my husband. A zombie, even a very limber one as that, shouldn’t be able to get very far. Bring him back to my lab. You will make good use of your medical degree to reverse whatever it is exactly you have done.”
As she talke
d, she pulled out a curling iron from the bedside table’s drawer. Kingsley felt himself bristling. She plugged it into the wall and glared at him.
“Without trying to harm him in any way. He absolutely has to die. No questions there. But the way in which he dies is of critical importance. Try to understand this, tiny mind. If he dies in any way other than by the method I have devised, then my entire business deal is ruined!” She smiled suddenly, lips pursed compassionately like a mother examining a child’s scraped knee.
“This is going to hurt. Don’t feel obliged to hold still.” Leona viciously thrust the curling iron’s tip into Kingsley’s wounds to cauterize them. He smelled his flesh roasting and his whole body flared with horror. Suddenly sober, he was overwhelmed with the feeling that maybe making a deal with this woman hadn’t been such a wise idea.
She pulled a pistol from her bra and shot the razor wire lines that held him to the roof. He fell into her arms and she French-kissed him. Shivering, he remembered how only last night he’d lusted for her. Now he wanted to run like Hell itself was opening on him.
“Mm, if you’re a good boy and do what I’ve asked… I might do favors for you later. See, the obedient are rewarded and the rebellious roast in Hell… But I can make you a Heaven you’d be stupid to refuse. Or I can make you a Hell that makes your worst nightmares look like pleasant daydreams.” She beamed at him, caressing his face with shockingly gentle hands.
“Either way, Dr. Kingsley, you have let the Devil’s bride out of her cage. Don’t think for one second about double crossing me!” With that sentence, she slapped him until he spun in circles. He landed in Libby and Annie’s arms.
The Good Death Box Set: A Hard SciFi Science Fiction Series Page 3