It had been a vision. One that had put him directly into the hands of the doctors. No, Eitan had been right. He was not in good shape.
“So… my back?” There was no way they didn’t know. If they’d removed the torso, his secret would have been glaringly obvious.
“You mean your bones? Intriguing development. A dangerous one. Very, very dangerous. To you. You might be interested in knowing that you are not the only one in these rooms that has unexplainable bones on their back.”
What rooms was Eitan referring to? He looked around again. The room was small and the only object that appeared to be in it was the bed he was in. “Where am I?”
“The Peep Hall.”
That was not good news. He tried to be grateful that he was alive, considering his deception, but he wasn’t sure his current location lent itself to gratefulness.
His brain snagged on the last of Eitan’s words. Not the only one? What was he talking about? Alric had spent countless hours searching for anyone else like him, any hint that he was not the only one. He had found nothing.
“This is quite the dilemma for me, Alric. You and that little girl are obviously special. I believe that God is calling me to do something for both of you. What, I don’t know yet. I fear that when I do, it may mean my own end. What I would like to know is, do you know why you possess these bones?”
Alric shook his head. “There’s a girl? With five bones on her back?”
Eitan shook his head. “Not five. Seven. She has three pairs of bones that mirror each other, and one long bone like you do, except her long bone is along the bottom of her back, rather than the center.”
Seven? What did that mean? Eitan had called her a little girl. “How old is she?” Maybe he had a sister he didn’t know about. He was an orphan. He wouldn’t have any way of knowing, but that at least, provided an explanation. It was possible that his mother had gone on to have more children.
“She is five.”
That was even more confusing. God had given him his bones. Why would a girl of five need proof of God’s existence? Especially in such a way.
“I can see by your confusion that you have no answers for me. However, from preliminary tests, your bones possess the same characteristics as hers do. They are floating, not attached to any other bones. Same one-inch height and one-inch width in regards to the rise beneath the skin, despite the different formation. She is much smaller than you are, of course.”
Leaning over again, Eitan brought his face within inches of Alric’s. “You are a scientist Alric, and for that reason, I have convinced them that you hold some value as of now. Until I can figure out what God wants me to do here, that is your playing card. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Alric said clearly. He understood that Eitan was keeping him alive. For reasons unknown.
Chapter Nine
Exhausted, Alric took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He lacked energy, felt lethargic and was having a hard time focusing.
Worse, he still felt overwhelmed from the vision. He felt agitated and apprehensive, like he was being pursued. His soul was not quiet.
The moment he had crossed over into Xis territory that morning, he had felt a variation in the air, a murkiness that seemed to cling to him and he could not shake off.
He found himself shifting over into prayer constantly, needing the comfort of expressing his feelings in some way.
Shoving his glasses back into place, Alric leaned over his keyboard and re-focused. With the vitamin surge a viable product, he was creating theorems for ideas that he felt he could bring to conception and work on while he bided his time waiting to bring the vitamin surge to its official fruition.
His heart wasn’t in it. Today, Xis was a black hole that he wanted desperately to run from.
Behind him, two quick beeps alerted him that someone waited outside the door and wanted his attention. Quickly tapping a few keys to shut down the secure links he used for working out new ideas, Alric rose to press the release to allow entry.
He was not expecting Yaro. Really, he’d had very little association with the man, and even those had been devoid of any communication between them for the most part.
“Yaro. Is there something I can do for you?”
Yaro stepped in and glanced around. “Came to see if it was one of your samples that killed Omar.”
Alric had been stepping back toward his computer, thinking that if he made it seem like he was busy, Yaro would make the visit quick. Pausing, it took a moment for the words to process. Omar was dead? His samples? Spinning back around, he regarded the man. “What do you mean? Omar is dead? When? How?”
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Yaro peered over his glasses at Alric. “Yesterday. They are saying he handled a substance improperly.”
Yaro’s presence in his lab was odd, and Alric thought quickly. It could mean he was being warned, or set up. He didn’t know Yaro well enough to know where his intentions might lie. “So why do you think it may have been one of my samples?”
Wandering toward one of the long counters, Yaro peered into an incubator. “You are aware that Omar was more interested in heading up one of the labs rather than observing what happened inside of them?”
Alric knew that was not true. Omar had loved being the reaper of death. “Which has what to do with me? Or my samples?” Alric pressed.
“You’re valuable.”
The meaning behind the words was undetectable. Alric was aggravated with the Assistant Lab Director’s partial answers. “Will you just come out with what you came to say so we can both get back to work?”
Alric hated wasting his time. The beat of urgency he always felt made him feel like he was trying to stay ahead of time itself.
Yaro turned slowly, his eyes scanning the wall, pausing. Alric shifted his own gaze in the same direction and realized Yaro was staring straight into a camera. His nerves twisted. He was very mindful of the cameras when he worked, knowing he was always being watched.
Throwing up a prayer for protection against whatever was happening, or about to happen, he regarded Yaro, still waiting on an explanation.
“Are you warning me?” he prompted.
Yaro’s eyes snapped to his, and he shifted his body away from the camera. Alric contemplated whether he should point out the best spot to stand for effective shielding, and quickly decided not to. He hadn’t known about Omar, but he worried now that his own life was suddenly in a precarious balance that he needed to stabilize.
He needed to know if he could trust the man that stood before him. His paranoia was an unreliable emotion. It was the heart he needed to know.
Within him, he felt a fluttering answer, a feeling of lightness that began in his chest and whispered to spread through him, and there, standing behind Yaro, three angelic beings appeared, tall, powerful, and intimidating.
Blinking in shock, Alric’s mouth parted. He trembled, unsure whether he should bow or rein in his response to seem unaffected.
The angels’ faces were shrouded with light and he could not make out features. As though they knew he questioned their presence in regards to Yaro, one placed a hand upon Yaro’s shoulder, and Alric knew that he could trust the man.
His understanding must have been all they were waiting for, because as soon as that revelation took hold, the angels were gone.
Alric moved to the center counter, one and a half feet from the right edge, and leaned over it to reach into a cubby for some paperwork. “Yaro,” he murmured quietly. “They can see us but they cannot hear us. Stand right next to me. Tell me what you need to say and then go, before they start to question your intentions here.”
Shuffling papers, he separated one and placed it on the counter, moving it to his left as though Yaro had asked to see it. It wasn’t unusual for a director to ask for an update on progress.
Yaro stood beside him and picked up the paper, pretending to read. “A lot of scientists in this lab want you dead. You have produced two of the most important
products in the last decade, and a rumor is going around that Omar stole a sample and it killed him.”
Alric crossed his arms and scowled at Yaro. It was better for anyone viewing the scene to think he was upset with Yaro. Making friends wasn’t a goal in the laboratory. “My inventions are claimed by Afion, and my samples wouldn’t kill anyone.”
Yaro dropped the paper. “Just be careful.”
“Why are you warning me?”
God had confirmed that he could trust the man, but that didn’t mean Yaro knew he could be trusted in return.
“I have my reasons.”
Alric maintained his stance as he watched the man go, shuffling papers as though he were annoyed by the visit. He was feeling very uneasy. His lab was usually the one place he could go and allow his focus to block out everything else. But Yaro’s cryptic warning, Omar’s death, the visions, his thoughts about Afion, all of it, were contributing to a growing sense of foreboding that his life was about to change dramatically. He did not think it would be for the better.
And the appearance of the angels around Yaro? Why had he seen them? Had he been wrong to think he could trust Yaro because of their presence? Awe pulsed through him as he remembered the size and strength and power that had embodied their forms. The sheen of light that had clung to them.
Wandering back to his chair, Alric sat slowly, making no move to go back to his work. He felt like something trembled inside of him, waiting for him to grasp onto whatever it was, but his sense of the magnitude of it frightened him.
What was he missing? He had seen Yaro countless times before and had never seen a thing on him, or around him. Was it possible that a man in Xis could serve God? As far as Alric was concerned, Afion could be Satan himself.
Guilt crept in. Alric tapped through security to bring up the document he needed to update before delivery to Eitan.
He was no better than Yaro. He was working for the same man. Praying and believing didn’t cleanse him of the evil around him.
His physical world felt relatively safe and familiar, despite his surroundings. The supernatural world that continued to invade his life frightened him; it contained angels and demons, death and destruction. His chest expanded as he breathed in deeply, anxiety exploding like fireworks within him.
It was easier not to hear the still, small voice that whispered. Easier to focus on the task he had chosen. Alric shoved away the quaking call that was grasping at him.
Clicking the scientific formula on his screen, he began the updates he wanted to make to the document. Science made sense. When his focus was there, he felt in control.
He had science. Many more vials of the vitamin surge had followed the others already extracted. This was his life. It had to be enough.
Chapter Ten
Eitan read the decree for the fifth time, scowling. It didn’t matter how many times he read it, nothing would change. He would still have to follow the order.
More lives, more blood on his hands. That would be the result of his obedience. Omar would’ve been thrilled to be the one to bring them to their end, but ultimately, the fate of the lives he handed over was still on him.
Pressing a button, he asked for his Producer. Lazar Karp was a sociopath who did the bidding of Xis for payment. He produced what was needed and then went back to his hole.
Lazar was not a welcome distraction when he arrived. Eitan preferred the constant flow of media he handled and the mountain of other problems that awaited his attention.
“I need test subjects,” Eitan stated as soon as the door closed behind Lazar. The man didn’t speak unless he had to. Never smiled. Just stood ramrod straight, like a soldier. “Three, at this time. Two men, one woman. Nationality makes no difference. They must be young, strong, physically healthy. Deliver them to Analytics.”
Lazar bowed slightly and let himself out. No time frame was needed. The subjects would be delivered within days.
That was done. Now, he needed to visit Alric and complete the rest of the command. Samples of the vitamin surge. Afion didn’t care in the least if the invention was currently viable. He was impatient. Unfortunately, this meant that whatever stage Alric was currently in, he would be judged on that, and if negative results occurred, the danger hovering around the scientist would increase.
If the results were positive… Well, unless he had something else to bargain with, he would become dispensable.
Chapter Eleven
Alric tugged at his lab coat, straightening it over his fleshy middle as he allowed Eitan access into the laboratory. Walking right behind Eitan was an angel. A huge one. It barely fit inside the space, its head at times meshing translucently with the ceiling tiles. Giant wings curved above its shoulders and then arched down to the floor along its body.
As he gaped at it, the bones on his back heated, and Alric tugged at his collar and shoved his hair back. Sweat pooled beneath the fake torso.
Power flowed from the being and Alric grasped a corner of a table. His knees shook. Should he bow? He wanted to cry, sob at the ebb of emotion leaking out of his soul. Laugh. Sing.
“Alric? Are you well?”
Alric tried to regain control, but failed. He could not look away from the angel. It was so beautiful. Majestic. Like a morning sky filled with color and clouds. The wings were the most exquisite thing he had ever seen in his life.
“Alric?”
He implored the angel with his eyes, unable to form the prayer he needed to protect himself. Realization was instant. He didn’t need to protect himself from Eitan. The angel was proof of that.
Blinking as clarity surged through him, his mouth dropped open. Was it really that simple? The sight of an angel or a demon telling him exactly who he could trust?
He tore his gaze from the presence behind Eitan and focused. “Uh, is there something..?” He swallowed, words catching in his dry throat. He looked around for a water. Cleared his throat. “Eitan, what can I do for you?”
Eitan was studying him with slightly narrowed eyes. “Is there something wrong with my appearance?”
Alric had no intention of explaining the angel. It didn’t even make sense. Eitan was Afion’s minion. Alric knew that he had allowed horrible things to happen. Eitan stood loyally by Afion’s side and aided him as needed. How could it be possible that he was followed by such a powerful symbol of God’s sovereignty?
Unless… he shifted his eyes back to the angel, breathing in awe at the beauty of it. He saw none of the darkness he sought. He didn’t feel the same mixture of pain and despair he felt at the sight of the demons that surrounded Afion.
Could a fallen angel present itself in such a way?
Confused, Alric backed away from both, angling his body, needing space to breathe and think.
“Are you not well?” Eitan’s voice was firm, but there was a touch of genuine concern in it.
Alric took a few moments to breathe deeply before he turned to face the man. “What can I do for you?” he managed as calmly as possible.
“I need samples.”
This was unexpected. Alric sent weekly reports to Eitan. Eitan would know the formula wasn’t close to development, that it was still unstable.
“Afion has commanded a dozen vials to be sent to Analytics within twenty-four hours. Now would be better.”
Alric protested, citing the reasons why it wasn’t feasible. But he knew before he spoke that it didn’t matter. Inwardly, he scrambled for a solution. He couldn’t very well send the completed formula. And re-creating the samples to be in the same stage as the last reports he had sent was not a momentary process. He would need the entire time frame given.
“I’ve just… tested the samples I had on hand,” he stuttered, refraining from pressing a hand to his lurching stomach. “I will get the requested amount to the Analytics Department as soon as I can.”
Alric wasn’t sure how Eitan would take his denial of ‘now.’
He watched Eitan pivot and move further into the room, eyes scanning the clu
ttered counters. He paused, turning partially and glancing up toward a corner of the lab before peering back at Alric. “From this point on, you are aware that you need to be very careful?”
Looking down, Alric stared at the black spot on the tile floor just under Eitan’s feet. He had spilled acid there deliberately years back. It was one of the spots in the room where none of the cameras gave a good view. The other was at the counter where he kept his paperwork and had last spoken to Yaro.
Snapping his eyes back to Eitan, he felt his heartbeat kick up. The man knew where he stood. He was being warned again. From another unexpected source.
“I’ll produce the samples,” he promised.
With a nod, Eitan left the lab. Alric struggled to process the last few minutes. It might not have been a warning. It could have been a threat. The angel could have been a presentation of something it was not.
He would have to produce the samples. Not handing them over immediately could already have flagged him as insubordinate.
Moving to one of the cold storage units, Alric removed a sample. He had safeguards, base samples that he kept so he could modify any of them to mimic the stage he needed. He just needed time.
Placing the dozen requested into a test tube rack, Alric set them on a clear section of counter and brought over his data screen to find the file he needed that would enable him to alter the vials’ contents.
Even at the stage Afion was demanding, they wouldn’t harm anyone. They just wouldn’t do anything. He had no doubt that they were being requested for testing, if they were being sent to Analytics.
The results Afion was obviously hoping for wouldn’t happen. A spike in metabolic function would occur for a short time, but no benefits would be gained from it. Simple blood tests would reveal the lack of completion.
If the subject expected to gain something from it, the placebo effect might occur, but the results would still be inconclusive.
Either way, it seemed he had twenty-four hours to create a Plan B in case his time at Xis was done. Because if Afion anticipated gaining what he wanted and didn’t get it, the outcome could mean Alric’s time was up.
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