The man behind the phantoms

The path to the unknown

It's been a few weeks, and I'm finally out of the hospital. I'm so glad to be out, I hate hospitals, the noise, the smell, and don't even get me started on the food. There was nothing the doctors could do, Wes finally convinced them to let me leave. After many meetings and reports showing that syntec can help me more than the hospital, they finally let me leave.Wes came to help me pack up my stuff and sign some forms. As we were walking out of the hospital, I noticed I had gotten a new car.

"A mercury mountaineer?" I looked at him

"Yeah, I thought it would be a nice change. It's a great car, and it's cheap. So I was going to talk to you about making it the company car as we have to always have move equipment from site to site. This will just make it a bit easier, but we can talk about that more another time. " He gets in the car and places my bags on the back seat.

" Okay, sounds like a good idea," I say as I get into the car.

We drive straight to the office as there are a few things that I have to pick up. As we pull up, I see Deb waiting outside with a big smile on her face. Despite our differences, she has been great the past few weeks. She has kept me updated on experiments and the serum. She visited me a lot while I was in hospital, which was nice.

"Well, at least the building is still standing." I laugh a little.

" That's true, there is still a lot of damage from the fire but renovations are ongoing" he turns to me " Leave your bags in the car I'll drive you home, you shouldn't drive for a while"

"Oh god, are you going to start treating me like I'm about to break at a touch?" I eye roll as I get out of the car

" Nel, I'm just looking out for you. You need to be careful. " He got out of the car

"If you say so," I smile, and I walk over to Deb. " Good afternoon Deb, what are you doing out here?"

"Good afternoon, nelson. Good to see you too." She smiles." I thought I would greet you." she took the bag off wes. They smile at each other.

"Well, that was very nice of you, How has everything been going here? Because this one" points at wes "won't tell me anything while I was in the hospital. "

"Excuse me, I didn't want you stressing while you were in the hospital. Sorry for caring about you, " he laughed

I chuckle a little

"Well, nelson, you will be happy to know we have moved production of the serum to location number 2. So, hopefully, nothing like this happens again. We are still investigating what happened." She smiles softly

" That is all good to hear, Have you heard much about benjamin?"

Both wes and Deb look at each other. Wes looks at me. " Nel, he is not in a good way. the serum effects have started to show, and they are more extreme than we have seen in others. "

I sigh. "Oh god, why wasn't i told sooner? I need to see him." Pushing past wes and Deb. Wes grabs my shoulder. I turn to look at him. I can see the pain in his eyes
"You weren't told because we wanted you to focus on recovering and not to get stressed. Nelson, you shouldn't go. He has changed"

I take wes's hand off my shoulder and look into his eyes. "I don't care. This is my company, he is my employee, it's my serum that is inside of him. I'm going to see him. "

Deb puts her hand on wes's check and turns his face to look at him . " You can't stop him. He needs to see him." She turns to me to look at me. " Just be careful, benjamin is not the same man he was. The serum has nearly completely taken over him."

Wes turns to me. "Benjamin is a different man. The guy you used to know has gone."

I turn to Deb. "Take me to him, please."

She takes me to a far building on site, I remember the building from years ago. We used it for experiments. I didn't think we still did. She walks over to the doors and pulls out a key. When did we lock building, and why does she have a key and i don't? She opens the doors and walks in. I follow close behind her. The hallways are dark with only the glow of a few small lights. I hear screaming coming from the rooms we pass.

" Deb, what is this building used for? Why have i not known or seen what is going on in here? " I look at her with some concerns.

" we use this building for the most extreme cases. Like Benjamin. I will warn you he is not the same man." She dodges half the question. but we keep moving. The building goes silent. The only noise I can hear is the clicking on Deb's shoes.

We go to the end of the hallway and enter a lift. It was a silent ride to the right floor. The doors open to a very bright room. I scan the room quickly. There is a mixture of lab equipment and medical equipment. I don't even want to question why they are in here. There is a hospital bed in the corner. I slowly walk over. I noticed Benjamin's arms and legs were strapped down to the bed. I sharply turn to Deb. " Is that's really necessary? This is benjamin. He won't hurt anyone."

She sighs. " he has, and he will. We have done that for our safety and his. Don't worry, we won't do anything to harm him. "
I look around, and then my eyes sharply turn to his face. Well, what is left of his face
I look at Deb. "What is that on his face?" She turns away. I walk over to take a closer look. It looks like a mask coving his nose and mouth. But I have never seen this kinda of mask before. Wes. He made this. I look back over to Deb with a stern look. No emotions but anger

"I'm in control now. I want you and Wes to have no part in Benjamin's recovery. "
She looks taken back by what I have said. "Nelson, I can't let that happen. Wes and I know what we are doing. You need to trust us." She walks over to me  and looks at Benjamin. "He is not good. The glass from the serum containers hit his lungs. The doctors were able to repair his lungs, but the serum has taken over. The mask wes has made helps him breathe. He will never be able to live without the serum." She looks back up at me." Nelson, you know you blame yourself for the accident, but you can't. No one is to blame"

"I won't say this again. I am now in control of this. I want you and wes to step aside. I want all the files on benjamin past and present. I want that key to this building. You to more the other patients to location 3. They are your only priority. I want no questions and no fighting from you or wes. "

" Wes will never agree to this. He is also in charge of this company." She stares at me.
" Then he better start acting like it. He will agree to it. He has no choice. This is my decision and mine alone." I walk over to her and hold out my hand,"the key"

She hesitates before putting her hand inside her pocket and pulling out the key. Before giving me the key, she looks at me in the eyes . " Nelson, please think about the company and don't make any stupid mistakes." she places the key into my hand.

Over the next few weeks, wes completely avoided me. He doesn't come to the meeting i attend. Any messages i have for him have to go through his assistant.  I spent days and days with Benjamin.  He woke up the other day, and he was and still is in complete shock, but he trusts the work i am doing. All the files on benjamin were left on my desk one morning with a note saying,

I hope you make the right decisions - D