Son of Lazarus

Chapter 11: The Incident

October 31st, 2040
11:59 p.m.

   Everything was so much clearer now. I listened to the shadows as they spoke to me about the doctors. Secrets were revealed and a vast majority of them made me laugh. This was it. I had finally lost myself to the insanity that had been circling my mind like a vulture. My laughter bounced around the room and floated out through the small crack where the door would often split to open. Fear was abstract to me now; I no longer felt it nor knew what it was supposed to be.
   Lily still visited on occasion, though they were short and only happened if she wasn't being carved by the Butcher's knife. I started talking to myself, holding conversations with the voices inside my head. We were trying to figure out how to get me, Lily, and every other Variant out of this wretched place.
   So far, we couldn't think of anything concrete and so I would do what every other Variant was forced to do: submit. Everyone here would die soon anyway, except those like me.

   The door to my room spiraled away from the door, pulling me from my plotting and making me look up. A Whitecoat stood in the doorway, clipboard in hand. I could feel my jaw hardening at the sight of him but curiosity bubbled into my chest.
   I didn't care what he wanted. Soon enough, these crack-headed excuses for doctors would die and I would make certain they would.
   "All right," the man said, a sigh backing his words. He acted like he didn't even want to be here, standing at my door. His eyes weren't even looking at me but instead were staring at his clipboard. My blood began to sing inside my veins and my muscles were tensed, ready to spring onto him.
   I would have, too, if I had a proper weapon to use. So for now, I was forced to bide my time. I learned to be patient during my time here, so I could wait. I couldn't afford to raise suspicion yet.
   "Come with me," he said. "Looks like they're ready for your final test."
   A scoff rose out of my throat before I could stop it. 'Testing' is what they called their experiments. I pictured all the syringes filled with every color under the rainbow that had been injected into my veins, all the scars my body now bore from the Butcher's torturous blade.
   They weren't meant to help; they were meant to discover what a Variant was capable of. And the Butcher...his job was to see if any of us Variants had regenerative abilities. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep the image of Lily's beautiful face, or her body, laying bare on the cold, metal table getting carved up.

   She didn't have regenerative abilities and I knew she didn't. This was part of the reason why we had to get out. I couldn't stand seeing the fresh scars running across her body, crisscrossing old ones. It was too much to bear. I especially hated how the Butcher got enjoyment out of hurting her.
   So I made a promise to myself that I would get her out. "Come on," I heard the Whitecoat say and brought my eyes up to stare at him. "Don't make me come in there."
   I could hear the teasing jibe in his throat. Instead of responding to it, I stared back at him with hungry eyes. If I focused hard enough, I could taste this place's downfall. It was so tantalizingly close now.
   I rose from my spot on the bed slowly and began to walk toward the man. I stopped halfway across the room, a sick, twisted smile beginning to spread across my face. My breath gave way to a harsh, dark cackle. I wanted nothing more than to kill this man. He was close enough.
   I recoiled violently when he reached a hand out to touch me, my face twisting in disgust. A scowl came across my face and it took every ounce of my being not to fall upon him like a rabid animal. "Right this way," he said, starting down the corridor that led passed the double doors and into the back of the building.
   I followed him down the path I had taken before. It had become routine. With every step taking me closer to the portion of this place I hated the most, my muscles began to tense up. It was where the Regeneration experiment took place.