Electric Heart (Coriolanus Snow)

5

A few weeks had passed since Lucien Davenport had fallen ill, and he still showed no signs of getting better.

His fever was at an all time high, although he still refused to receive medication, and Sally had tried every bribe, but the doctors wouldn't budge without a signature.

The only thing she had to look forward to was school, which was strange for the first time in a while.

Dr. Gaul had taken an interest in her skills with science, and invited her to meet up before class once a week.

Her first meeting would be today. Sally was nervous, but it wasn't anything a few mints couldn't fix.
She knew there was no way she would be excused if she was late, so Sally ensured she was standing outside of Dr. Gaul's laboratory an hour before their meeting.

It was early, and Sally hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep. Her eye bags were prominent and her hair was frizzing. She felt herself yawning and her eyes watered.

"Tired are we?" The long drawn out voice of Dr. Gaul frightened her, prompting Sally to jump from her position leaning against the wall, and fix her collar.

Gaul laughed, but it was the unsettling kind, more like a cackle.

"I know the feeling all too well." She said. Sally tried to smile, but she couldn't allow herself to look into Gaul's eyes for too long. They were eery and snake-like. One was blue and the other was a dark brown. Sally wondered if the blue was an artificial contact color, but she didn't dare to ask any questions.

"Follow me." Said Gaul, before opening the double doors into her lab, and walking ahead. Sally hesitantly followed, worried that it might be a laid out trap.

"This is my laboratory. A lot of students don't make it inside. You did." Gaul turned as she walked, giving a thought-out wink.

Sally smiled in return.

"You're a bit shy aren't you?" She asked, dusting off her expressive Zebra print coat.

"I wouldn't say that I'm shy." Sally replied, too quietly to make her point convincing.

Gaul laughed. "That's quite alright." Something about her tone made Sally feel like it wasn't. "I used to be quite shy myself, in my school years. I didn't have many friends-attachments-they hold you back from your full potential."

She was rounding a table which was stacked with cages of rats. Some were already dead. She ran her fingers along the cages and looked at Sally yet again.
"Would you agree with me Miss Davenport?"

Sally wasn't sure what to say, and although she didn't have any friends, she felt that attachments to people would not hold her back. She felt for her father, and if anything, her love for him pushed her to be better.

"I'm sorry Dr. but no." Sally said.

Despite the disagreement, Gaul smiled from ear to ear. "Something that you'll come to learn about me Miss Davenport, is that I love honesty. But I've also come to notice that you don't have many- attachments - around the academy, so in what way would you disagree?"

"Me and my father, we've been through everything together. Our relationship is stronger than most. He's never held me back."

Gaul nodded. "One day he might."

Sally felt her jaw clench but said nothing, and gestured to the cages.

"Ah- this was a failed experiment, one to my liking though. The rats had video transmitters in their chest, which were mostly used during the war. They would video tape evidence of treason, and were programmed to send it to their masters. It was also a tool that could've been used against us."

Sally looked curiously at the rats, feelings a send of remorse as her eyes passed the ones that were dead and rotting in their cages.

"I have a new experiment, one I'm trying to figure out on my own." Dr. Gaul walked past the cages and to a large metal tank. As Sally followed, Gaul gestured for her to open it.

Sally did as she was told, and held back a gasp as she saw what was inside. At least hundreds of snakes writhing around each other. Sally was afraid of snakes. She was afraid of a lot of things, but snakes were at the top of the list.

"You fear them?" Gaul asked.

Sally didn't reply. She didn't want to lie.

"Fear is impossible not to have Miss Davenport, but you can use it to your advantage. Being afraid shouldn't make you a fearful person. Feelings are not who we are, they pass through us. All are gone eventually."

Sally looked Dr Gaul in the eyes for the first time since she's been inside the room. She looked back into the tank and realized that the snakes were an unusual color. They were an assortment of different colors, almost like a dimly lit rainbow.

"Why the color?" Sally asked.

"I want you to figure it out for yourself. Next week I'm going to ask you about the color. I want you to give me an answer."

Sally nodded, already dreading the coming weeks' meeting. She feared for what would happen if she was wrong. Sally wouldn't put torture or murder past Gaul, and definitely not human experimentation.

The thought made shivers run down her spine and goosebumps make their way to the surface of her skin. Dr. Gaul excused her to leave and she did, trying to walk at a normal pace so she could seem composed. Once the door to the laboratory closed, Sally finally was able to breathe. She hadn't realized how tightly she'd been holding her breath.

She rounded the corner and ran directly into a very tall, very hard figure. Sally stumbled backwards and looked up, a bit taken aback. She was face to face with an annoyed looking Coriolanus Snow. He sighed. "You should really watch where you're going Davenport."

She gritted her teeth. "Thanks. I will next time."
Sally walked past him, but he suddenly had a strong motivation to talk to her.

"Wait. You came from Dr. Gauls laboratory. What were you doing in there?" He asked.

"It's not really any of your business." Sally wasn't mean, just simply tired and in need of nap.

"Is she making you her aid or something? Gaul's never had an aide before. Or is she giving you extra lessons?"

Sally could hear the entitlement in his voice. He couldn't fathom that Gaul would choose someone so undeserving, something from the districts, over him. The high and mighty Coriolanus Snow.

"Her door's unlocked. Why don't you go talk to her."

Sally moved past him again, rounding another corner and praying that he would leave it alone and mind his own business for once in his life. She was blessed, because no one spoke to her for the rest of the day. Even Sejanus seemed distracted with talking to Coriolanus.

Sally didn't mind, she needed time to think. The snakes had to mean something, although she didn't have a clue as to what.

Gaul had given her a riddle, one that she had no idea of the meaning. But Sally didn't have a choice but to find out.