The slap came across my face too quickly for me to register; my face was sideways before the pain caught up in my mind. Everything swung sideways as the concrete bit at my backside. I blinked once, then twice. Everything sped up, and the scream ripped through my lungs.
He hauled me up onto the table a moment later, the straps in place before I could fight him, and the deadened look in his eyes as he shoved a gag in my mouth felt familiar.
Shaw stepped back to his overwatch position as if he couldn’t be bothered to do anything else. Tears fell from my eyes as I blinked towards him; they always fell. No matter how much I wanted to stop crying, be stronger in the moment. It didn’t matter if I cried or if I screamed.
The door opened a moment later, and on slow, even steps Melody walked in, syringe in hand and a cold, vacant stare in her eyes. She didn’t glance towards Shaw; if anything, Melody was avoiding his gaze. I hissed when she injected me with the vile concoction, but they just stood back and waited.
Karter must have laughed when he gave those syringes to her because his little bag of tricks didn’t last long. The nail file ended up in the neck of a guard, and the one lasting taste of freedom I had was snuffed out when they dragged me back to this hellhole. He made good on his word, though he didn’t show up again. Whatever debt he had truly been paid the moment he walked out of those doors.
I felt my blood pumping harder and my heart slammed against my chest. There was no real reason for them to continue; if she couldn’t be bred in two months, it meant I was sterile. This seemed to be an attempt to please the dying bitch April. At least I did something right when I stabbed myself. All self-preservation went out the window, and I was ready to die; it was the fucking doctor who couldn’t let me die. Karter had been a source of both pain and gratitude. I wondered if he thought about the choices he made and if they haunted him like they haunted me.
I held my breath as Melody’s hand clasped around my cock; any other thoughts died. She stroked it once, maybe twice. I tried not to consider how fucking much I wanted any semblance of pleasure in this painful existence. My body is already ready to betray my fractured mind in a moment’s notice.
“Ready,” she murmured. I learned it wasn’t for me, it was for her, so I just stared ahead and waited. The cold gel came a moment later?—
“Get down!” Shaw yelled, and the whole table flipped sideways as smoke filled the room. Red clouded my vision as a pool of blood formed before my eyes. I blinked, trying to clear my eyes as I screamed into the gag.
Melody crouched beside me. A look of fear crossed her face as she covered my mouth with her hand to silence me further. She pulled a pocketknife from her robe; the tiny blade gleamed through the dust. Gunfire echoed through the hallway outside. Then, silenced a moment later.
I looked at Melody as it registered we were under attack; she took the blade and mouthed to be quiet. Her blade slipped under the binds and cut my legs free. Another set of boots echoed on the floor, coming closer than before. She’d just cut the second leg free when I saw Shaw’s shadow sneak towards the door.
Waiting was the worst part; as soon as she freed my right hand, I clutched her throat tightly. Panic reared in her eyes as another two gunshots echoed in the distance. The knife clattered to the ground as she pried at my hands. “P-please,” she pulled at my hands as she began to choke. Her face morphed into a bright red the longer I held on; her fingers searched for the knife, but it was out of her reach.
Melody’s eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted. I contemplated how her death would satisfy me. How much I would enjoy killing her for her lies, but a part of me couldn’t continue. I released my hold and let her clatter to the floor. I stretched the knife with my foot, pulling it to me as I cut free the rest of my binds.
Her limp body lay there so still; for a moment I thought I had actually killed her, but her pulse fluttered under my fingertips. She didn’t deserve the mercy, but as I crept towards the open door, I didn’t look back.
There was fighting and grunting in the left hallway as I continued on bare feet. Stepping over a dead guard who had died from a headshot, I paused and unlaced his boots, stripping him of his pants and pulling them on. It felt nice having a layer of protection against the snowy wind that filled the place. I contemplated running towards the hole in the wall, out onto the snowy ground, but there was one thing I had to do before I could.
The guard had a small blade secured to the pants, and I pulled it out, holding it close as I continued down the well-worn path. Three turns right and then left again, I was met with thelarge oak doors that housed the main house. The same kind of doors I had walked through willingly months ago.
My fingers shook as I gripped the blade tighter. The door opened on silent hinges as I walked down the hall. She sat there in her desk chair, looking neither surprised nor disappointed. A cigar perched on her lips as I came to face with April. She looked frail in the low lighting, almost elderly in the way that elderly people generally were. Harmless. It was all a lie, though.
“So you’ve finally decided to grow a set of balls.” She coughed, setting her cigar down.
I walked towards her, more determined than before, as the knife gleamed in the dim light.
“Why did you do it?” I asked as I was a foot away from her.
“In our line of work, we can’t afford to be soft. There’s no place for pussies…” she drew in a ragged breath, bent over, and began coughing again. Something flashed in the light, and I heard the click at the last second. The bullet grazed my upper arm, landing in the wood behind me. The look of shock that crossed her face was all she could manage as I stabbed her in the side of the neck.
Blood splattered across my face as I hissed, “I am nothing like you.”
I ripped the knife forward, further severing the front half of her head. Blood gurgled and gushed as her body slumped forward.
I stood there, breathing heavily; it was finally over. April is dead.
26
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET FIREFLY
December 13th
Knocking sounded across the door, and I pulled it open, eyeing him with suspicion. He didn’t bother to wait; he just stepped inside out of the frozen rain.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, pulling the sweater to shield from the cold that was seeping off him.
“Happy birthday,” Cole sheepishly said, looking around the house.
