His Experiment [FIRST EDIT]

Alone

Chapter 18

I regretted letting the words leave my mouth. Both pair of eyes were still on me, waiting for an explanation of sorts. But I just bowed my head, expecting to receive a blow for my inexcusable actions. It was almost comical how submissive I acted even though there were no lab coats nearby. In my mind the second I made a mistake, a lab coat would pop up and punish me because I had failed to say or do the right thing.

Yet the continuous silence in the building told me that a lab coat wouldn't appear anytime soon. It told me I was alone in the situation and no one would punish me. It also told me to stay close to the door in case I had to run away from their penetrating looks.

"Bringing a human with us would only slow us down," I started, my words hesitant and slow, sounding almost like a question. I watched them carefully, my body coiled in preparation, my eyes darting to the door once more.

Varian seemed shocked still, not expecting my outburst. If only he knew I was as shocked as him. It was an unexpected outburst, one that might stir more trouble than I wanted.

But his friend, Diana, was tinted a tangible red with fury. "A human? Just because Varian was captured by that place," she started, spitting out the word 'place' like it was poison and I flinched, "doesn't make him a freak like you. He's just as human as I am." By the end she was yelling, her face resembling the face of the snarling dogs at the Lab.

I paused, considering my words before replying. "Varian isn't human anymore." She just laughed humorlessly while Varian looked confused. I glanced at him, his blue eyes making me feel at ease unlike Diana's stormy ones which made me want to sink my head in submission.

"The Red Virus affected you and your DNA." I recited, remembering how He'd told me. "The vital things that made you human and mortal were stripped away from the strands and replaced with something stronger, more powerful." I stopped there, knowing Varian wouldn't understand the rest. He was from the Outside making his vocabulary more compressed than the vocabulary I'd grown up around in the Lab.

He stared at me, disbelief tinting his eyes, but it was horror that colored them. What reason did I have to lie to him? His mind was searching for a plausible answer and finding none. But Diana wasn't as believing as Varian.

Her mouth twisted itself into a grimace, either with disgust at me or Varian. When the words spat themselves out her mouth I found my answer. "It's sick that you actually believe the lies coming out of your mouth. Do you really-"

"Enough!"

Our eyes glanced at Varian, his outburst unexpected. He sighed, running a hand roughly through his hair, showing his irritation at the situation. I looked down, knowing I was a piece of the reason for it.

"Arguing isn't helping-" He started but his human friend interrupted, doing something I would never be caught doing.

"Are you actually listening to her?" Diana asked, her natural green eyes widening to their fullest extent. "She's just another one of the Lab's rats! You know better than to believe a single word she says. It's all words they taught her, words she repeated and got straight from them," she finished, her eyes ending the statement powerfully as they landed on me. She reminded me of the very reason I despised humans.

Humans were narrow-minded creatures with only one view in mind: helping themselves, no matter the cost. If Varian listened to Diana she would come along and feed him a string of horrendous lies about the Lab and me. What I was afraid of was him believing it.

Why trust the Lab experiment over someone you've known for a majority of your life? I wouldn't trust me either. If Varian listened to her I would find myself waking up alone on the cold, harsh ground or not waking up at all.

"Diana, it isn't-" He paused, seeming at loss for words. He tried again. "It's not like-" but just ended up stumbling over his own words again. He sighed, running his hand through his hair once again.

"What?" Diana asked, irritation flirting through her voice. She didn't seem to like the way Varian was speaking.

Unlike Diana, I remained quiet, letting Varian finish.

"It isn't like you think." He finished before frowning, not pleased with the wording. But he wasn't the only one because a set of green eyes swirled with fire.

"Are you defending the Lab?" She snapped before biting her tongue to keep her from saying more. But I didn't understand why. She'd already spoken out against him, so what difference would it make to continue on?

"No, the Lab is a sick, twisted place," Varian spat with so much venom that I flinched. I wished he could understand the Lab the way I did, not understand it as a place of darkness.

"But?" Diana pressed, neither of them noticing my flinch. They were too busy yelling and fighting. This conversation was escalating and soon they would be yelling, becoming much too loud.

Varian glanced back at me, his eyes meeting mine and I dropped them instinctively to the ground. I could hear Varian's sigh and Diana's scoff, but I didn't dare look back up when their attention was on me.

"She may be valuable to them, but they've lied to her too Diana. They've kept her caged just like I was and they abused her." He stopped, his stance coiling as he finished, something in his sentence bothering him.

"But she's still a risk. How do you know she won't snap under all the pressure and go running back to the Lab? How do you know when she's there she won't give them your location to get back on their good side?" Diana questioned, her eyes searing through me. I knew if I glanced up, I'd see the fire swirling inside them, wanting to burn me.

"How do I know the second I turn my back you won't kill her?" Varian questioned back. I blinked, glancing up at him hesitantly, but his back was turned to me.

"Why should it matter? You can't possibly care for her." Diana stated, seeming sure of herself. But when Varian's eyes glanced in my direction, her own eyes widened with disbelief and disgust.

"You realize she's practically incapable of feeling for anything except a scientist, right? Do you not grasp that she's an experiment? Or do you not grasp the fact that she's the most important experiment in the country?" Diana ranted. I blinked, once again not understanding the importance or relevance of their conversation.

"I'll think about it, okay?" Varian snapped back and my eyes fell to the ground so they couldn't see the hurt and fear running wildly in them.

He was going to tell her she could join us. He was going to say yes. The human didn't even deny the thoughts of eliminating me. Yet, Varian was still considering letting her come. Does that mean Varian has been waiting for an opportunity to get rid of me?

I didn't realize I had started running away until I heard a distant, vaguely familiar voice calling my name. But I didn't answer it. I ran faster and faster until I stumbled, hitting the ground harshly. Instead of feeling pain like He told me I was supposed to, I only felt numb inside and out.

That's when I realized I was lost.

I looked around skittishly, my eyes landing on an 'alley'. An alley would be safer than sitting here, out in the open all alone right? When Varian and I stayed in alleys no one ever bothered us. When we saw the occasional human, they would tip-toe closer to us, take a look at Varian's cold eyes and dart away.

Once I was in the alley I huddled against the wall, drawing my knees up to my chest and laying my head there. I then realized I was shaking, but not from the cold. I was shaking because I was scared.

I had never been truly alone in my existence. In the Lab there were lab coats all around me, examining me. And He was always there, watching me with affection and a shiny glint in His eyes. In the Outside, Varian was there for me, taking care of me and not expecting anything in return. I was still questioning why he didn't leave me, and why he didn't disappear the second I turned away.

My thoughts were interrupted by a scuttling noise. I pressed my back against the wall as if I would blend in with it if I was close enough. I watched, staring at the strange boy who stood where I had stumbled a minute ago.

His clothes were tattered, which seemed to be what was accepted in the Outside. His eyes were moving back and forth crazily as he clutched something to his chest and the smile on his face held excitement and greed. I stiffened as he eyes found the alley I was huddled in and met my own.

But before anything could happen, he whirled around and froze. The smile was lost and replaced with a knowing look of fear. He hadn't been able to hear the person running behind him, managing to finally catch up, like I had.

"H-h-here! Take it!" The boy stuttered as a much bigger boy came closer to him. But the bigger boy didn't seem interested in taking anything as he slowly dragged a tool of some kind on the ground, creating an eerie noise.

Something inside me bubbled up and I suddenly wanted to leave. I wanted to go back to where Varian was and plead that he didn't let Diana kill me. It seemed anything was better at this moment than watching the suspenseful scene unfold in front of me.

"That's not how it goes out here, runt. You take something and get caught, I get my supplies back along with the pleasure of taking your life," the older boy growled. I could feel the emotions drowning out of my body, letting me detach myself.

"I'm sorry. J-just let me go!" The smaller boy pleaded, but the older boy didn't hesitate in letting the tool whine in the air before silencing itself as it met the smaller boy. I blinked, realizing what was happening. The smaller boy was getting punished.

I thought the bigger boy would leave, but he kept swinging the tool, unfazed by the boy's cries and pleas. The smaller boy was no longer getting punished; he was being terminated. I kept watching with emotionless, unblinking eyes until the bigger boy grunted as he threw all his weight into swinging the tool once more and letting it fall to the ground with a clanging. He snatched something from the boy's body, but not before I saw it.

It was a tin of beans.

The boy lying lifeless on the ground had been killed for a mere tin of beans. I quickly looked away, placing my forehead on my knees and squeezing my eyes shut. If I closed them tightly enough I wouldn't be alone. If I closed them tightly enough I would find myself in my too-white room with Him smiling at me, waiting to start another day. If I closed them tightly enough I would find out this was all false.

But I could still feel the rough bumps of the ground, not the smooth shine of the floor at the Lab. I could still feel the wind which had gone from whispering to howling, not the conditioned air in my room. Most of all, I was still alone.

I sat there for some time until I was sure I couldn't feel anything towards the corpse on the ground. I stood up finally, noting it was darker now. I blinked upon seeing the corpse, but remained detached as I walked away.

I didn't keep track of how long I walked, but focused on retracing my steps. I could feel a wave of relief and sudden exhaustion when I saw a familiar abandoned building. I paused, listening only to be met with notes of silence, before entering.

I saw Varian on the floor, a blanket carelessly throw over him. My eyes flickered to his neck, which had been swept clean of his shocker. His face was filled without emotion, giving him an innocent look. I started to walk closer, but paused when I realized Diana was there.

Her eyes flickered when they met mine before filling with disgust. I lowered my own, not wanting to cause conflict. I could hear her mumble something incoherent under her breath, before seeing her shake her head and walk off. I stood there, waiting for her to come back and yell at me, or kill me with a tool similar to the bigger boy's. But she never came back so I directed my attention back to Varian.

I found myself yawning, another wave of exhaustion hitting me powerfully. I crawled next to Varian, pressing close enough to him to feel his radiating body heat. I promised I would only lie next to him until I felt warm, but my eyes fluttered against their will and I drifted off right after mumbling, "Goodnight Varian."