Raven Miller Project

by Mary Ramsey

  I quickly got to my feet, adjusting my clothes. I managed to look up just in time to see Kent with his hands around Kai’s throat. But that was just to hold his victim in place as he sank his teeth into Kai’s neck like something out of a zombie movie.

  There was blood, so much blood. But my eyes went straight to the streaks of blue energy. I just knew it was the same energy I had seen on my own body, except Kai wasn’t giving it up willingly.

  With each mouthful of blood and shimmering energy, Kent was growing physically stronger. He could already sit up on his own. From his abnormally strong grip, I could see he had full use of his upper body. If that was the case, he was well on his way to getting out of the bed.

  Of course, life is never that clean. Just as we locked eyes, Kent gripped his chest, struggling for breath. He appeared to have hit his limit on the consumption of electric lifeforce.

  He released Kai, letting his body fall to the floor with a thud.

  I took a few steps closer to see if he was dead. He wasn’t.

  “Please, Mrs. Mercer, I’m so sorry!” Kai was shivering, crying. “My father is part of the cleaning crew. He helped me escape, told me where to find you.”

  “Your father?”

  “He’s not my biological father.” Kai turned his head as tears streamed down his face. These were tears of pain. The stitching in Kai’s back was coming apart.

  That was I noticed the strips. He was made of strips of flesh; layers upon layers of flesh in all possible states of decay. “Kai, can you get us out of here?”

  “On-only if he gives it back.” It was clear Kai apparently survived on the blue energy, the physical form of my husband’s life force, perhaps even his soul.

  Well, I, for one, was not about to let this fuck-boy clone devour my husband like a bag of popcorn. “Take it from me.”

  “No!” Kent shouted. He grimaced in pain as he used his arms to lift his unmoving legs. He was trying to get out of bed.

  I pulled my hand back, willing to let him take control of the situation.

  “Now, you freak,” Kent muttered. “Take back just enough to get us out of here.”

  In one swift motion, Kai grabbed my husband by the wrist and bit hard. with his metal teeth, it wasn’t difficult for him to draw a significant amount of blood.

  “Stop it!” I punched Kai in the face as hard as I could.

  He released my husband’s wrist and stood up. Kai walked with a limp but seemed to have enough energy to make it to the window. “I-I climbed the wall to get up here.”

  Looking down the wall I could see how that was possible. There appeared to be notches in the brick surface, making for an easy climb. Easy for someone with fully functioning limbs, anyway. “Kent, are you okay to climb?”

  Kent was out of bed, standing on his own. He locked eyes with me quickly, as if reading my mind. “I’ll jump if I need to.”

  Kai went down first. I went second while guiding Kent. No alarms sounded until we reached the bottom. We started to run, making our way through the farmlands and eventually the forest.

  I allowed Kai to lead the way. After all, we were in Germany. I knew nothing about the backroads. As night started to fall, we came across an unoccupied cabin. It had no electricity but plenty of candles and oil lamps. I just needed to make a fire.

  “I can make a fire,” Kai offered. “Go see if there’s any food or water.”

  Outside I could see there was a well. It actually contained clear water. I gave it a taste, and for whatever reason, it tasted like hospital water. It had that chemical, tap-water flavor. It was almost as if this was a setup. Still, I returned with a bucket filled with water. “We should probably still boil this.”

  Kai had started a fire with a piece of newspaper and a lighter that he had in his pocket.

  “That works. I found this.” He opened a cabinet to reveal glass jars filled with dry goods. “I think it’s flour and oats. But there’s not much else.”

  After a meal of porridge that tasted like wallpaper paste, we went to bed. I, of course, stayed with Kent. We were lucky the local weather seemed to be stuck in summer-mode, allowing us to sleep without keeping a fire going throughout the night. Maybe we could even find some clean clothes in this ‘magical’ cabin.

  Kent’s eyes were closed, and his breathing was so peacefully calm. I reached for his hand, wanting to hold it close to me while I slept. “I love you, Kenny.” Then I snuck a peek at Kai.

  He had his arms over his chest, pulling his legs into the fetal position as he rocked himself the way a stereotypical mentally unstable person would.

  I could hear him sobbing. Something about seeing him cry true tears touched my heart. Both men were weak yet strong, kind yet frightening; the whole situation was like a scale—each of their bodies held a portion of life energy.

  And somehow, I had some too. Was it genetic? Was I hurting the baby? Or was it mine to give as I pleased? I sat at Kai’s side, on the floor, stroking his back. “Did your father give you that lighter?”

  Kai nodded. “Will you hold me?” he asked in a soft, innocent whisper.

  I put my arms around him, resting my head on his back. “Tell me more about your father.”

  “I met him maybe a year ago, maybe two. After all my treatments and surgeries, I kind of lost my concept of time. I just know it felt like a long time, but I know logically that it wasn’t. I was getting pumped full of drugs via IV, all while being kept awake for days at a time; it was prepping my brain, like formatting a computer. But when they started the process of remodeling my jaw, I must have gone into shock. I awoke in a dark cell, freezing cold and left to die. And I would have, if not for Father.”

  “Does he go by any other name?”

  “Not that I know of. I told me to refer to him as Father and he would call me Son.” Kai wiped tears from his eyes. “He would bring me food and water, encouraged me to continue my training. He knew if I worked hard, I could prove to my superiors that I was strong, worthy.”

  “Worthy of receiving Kent’s harvested parts?”

  “Worthy of being made whole again.” Kai flicked the lighter, holding the flame to his palm. “Through the process, I got really sick; developing cancer antibodies is a real bitch. Father gave me this lighter to divert my pain. The more I burn myself, the less pain I feel. It puts me in control.” Kai closed the lighter and turned to me. “My father told me you were kind. You would care for me like a mother.”

  “A mother?”

  “I’m not a clone. I know I was a child, I lived in an orphanage in Russia or someplace like that.” Kai wiped tears from his eyes. “I-I can barely remember.”

  “But you can remember?”

  “I know what I lost, what I never had, and what got replaced.”

  “What about his face? Did you always look like him?”

  “When I was thirteen, the people in charge of me, they broke my jaw, fractured my skull and rebuilt certain parts with metal implants.

  “Were your eyes always blue?”

  Kai nodded. “My eyes are my own.” He closed his eyes, sobbing even harder. “Or maybe they were my mother’s eyes.”

  I fell asleep holding Kai’s back. It felt right; I was where I needed to be.

  “What the fuck, Mom!” said a female voice in a deep, breathy whisper. “Why is he still alive?”

  “Kai is an innocent victim.”

  “An innocent victim?” The woman moved closer, bathing her face in the moonlight. It was Becca; she was older, maybe in her thirties, wearing camo-gear and a pack. She reached her arm back and pulled out a live rabbit. It was a calm creature, like someone’s pet. “Sometimes innocent victims need to die so others can live.” She snapped the rabbit’s neck with her bare hands. “For tomorrow’s breakfast.”

  I awoke to the morning sun and one very dead rabbit. Maybe the alt/future me was some kind of outdoors chick who could field strip a wild hare. But the current me threw the dead animal in the outside bin. As my husband and ‘new friend
’ slept, I gathered supplies. There were some suitcases and packs that I filled with dry goods and other small containers that we could use for water on our journey. I also found some clothes. Although the sun dress fit a little too loose, the men’s size t-shirt and jeans seemed useable. Our group would look more like tourists and less like three patients who’d escaped a military hospital.

  But back to the dead rabbit. I thought it was following us.

  We had to navigate our way south, on foot. Not even knowing if we would be safe. Kent could read in over a dozen languages and even spoke a little German, Russian, and French. Of course, that meant Kai could as well. So I left it up to them to read street signs and other directions.

  But every once in a while, out of the corner of my eye, I would see a distinctly bright white creature. It was the size of a wild hare but with the coloring of a pet bunny, like something that a parent would buy for their child from the local Petco. Even in the daylight, I could see it staring me down with its red eyes and crooked glare.

  “What are you looking at?” Kai asked as we traversed a field of dry grass.

  “Nothing.”

  “So you weren’t looking at the giant ghost-rabbit?” Kai replied as he started to walk faster. “I’m going to scout out ahead.”

  “What?” I turned to him just in time to trip on a rock, falling hard on my side.

  My husband lifted me in his arms. “Are you ok?”

  I tried to answer, but I could only cry. I wasn’t in a terrible amount of pain, but the stress combined with pregnancy hormones had driven me to my breaking point.

  Kai groaned as he turned around twenty feet ahead. “We need to keep moving.”

  “Going where?” I asked, my voice breaking with tears. “I’m pregnant, my leg hurts, I need to rest!” Mainly, I was goddamn exhausted from walking the entire length of Germany.

  Kai trudged on, disappearing into the dense, shadowy forest.

  “Well, fuck you!” I screamed. “We’ll be just fine without you!”

  Kent held me against his chest, rocking my body like I was a crying child. “You need to calm down, Barbie-girl. Kai’s an asshole, but he had a point; we can’t stay in one place for too long. Getting found by the police isn’t going to help anything.”

  I knew he was right; we had no passports, identification or anything. At the very least, I would get separated from my husband. Worst case, the local authorities would run our fingerprints, find out who we were. I had no idea how much time had passed since we left the hospital in Landstuhl. We would walk until we encountered food or water, and only then would we sleep. My belly felt larger, heavier. How far along was I? Would my baby even survive?

  Kent was attempting to stand. By the position of his hands, I could tell he was going to try to carry me like a bride. “Kent, don’t!”

  “Ah, shit,” he groaned as he fell to his knees. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s fine. I’m okay to walk,” I said, putting his arm around my shoulder. We would need to share our weight, our pain. Both of us limping, we made our way to a nearby area of dense trees.

  We found a place to sit where the branches were so dark, it felt like the sun had already set. I was grateful for the chance to take a break. But without the light, it was also unbearably cold. “This could not get any worse.” I closed my eyes when suddenly I felt the barrel of a gun pressed against my neck.

  I heard the sound of handcuffs and several men speaking German, French, and English. Something, something, “American Military—” Something, something, “—raised reward—dead or alive.” These people weren’t police; they were bounty hunters.

  “But what about—?” One man with a German accent motioned to my stomach. “She is pregnant?”

  Another man laughed. Something, something, “—medical experiment, harvest the little abomination.”

  A different man put me in handcuffs and leg cuffs before putting an opaque black plastic bag over my head. It was just loose enough to allow me to breathe, but if I tried to scream, I could easily cut off my air supply. My chest heaved as I cried hard, panic-stricken tears. I could hear laughter, more words in a foreign tongue. I tried to make out words, trying to convince myself that they weren’t going to kill me. My body tensed, awaiting the inevitable. All I could do was pray that it would end quickly. But no one came.

  I heard grunts, cursing, crying, screaming. It all ended with a single gunshot. And then the world went silent. I felt hands on my back, working their way down my arms. “Please don’t, oh, God, please don’t. My baby, please, don’t hurt my baby.”

  The handcuffs were unlocked, followed by the leg cuffs. The first thing I did with my newly freed hands was to tear off the plastic bag. Blinking my eyes, my vision cleared. There was blood, so much blood. Kai was wielding a massive weapon that appeared to be covered in hamburger meat. He hacked at the bodies, which were no longer struggling. By the time he was finished, I could no longer tell how many bodies there had been.

  Choking back vomit, I looked around for Kent. Much to my surprise, it appeared that Kai had freed him first. My husband was gathering weapons and other supplies from the chunks of what had used to be bodies.

  “You came back, Kai,” I said out loud.

  Kai dropped his blade. I had not noticed it before, but it looked like nothing more than a large chunk of scrap metal. “You’re all I know, all I have. I want to be with you, even if I’m just a third wheel.”

  Kent patted Kai on the back. “I can’t say I’m happy you’re here, but you did save my wife and child, and for that, I am forever grateful.”

  “Well, at least now we have a vehicle,” Kai said, twirling a set of keys. “And plenty of meat.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Please tell me you’re referring to their supplies.”

  “You wouldn’t eat someone who tried to kill you?” Kai asked with a smirk.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  Kai leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I’d eat you, Barbie-girl. I think you’d be delicious.” He tossed me a wallet, shirt, and pants.

  I watched as Kai took off his blood-stained shirt. He splashed a small amount of water over his face. With the blood wiped from his eyes and cheeks, he looked presentable, even normal. Kai turned his back to me as he pulled his long hair into a ponytail. My blood ran cold.

  On his back was a massive rabbit tattoo that had not been there before. He flexed his shoulder, reaching into the vehicle. “Score!” Kai pulled out a clean leather jacket covered in colorful patches.

  Kent put his arm around my shoulder, guiding me to the vehicle. “We need to move quickly.”

  Instead of taking me around the carnage, we walked a diagonal line straight through the center, allowing me to take in the full extent of what we had done. I closed my eyes, burying my face. When we reached the dark-green, military-style truck, I took a seat in the back and promptly vomited out the door with such force I nearly fell.

  “Let’s roll!” Kai shouted.

  I heard him slam the driver’s-side door as we sped off. After a few seconds, Kent released his grip, allowing me to sit up. I turned back to see a massive ball of flames.

  Kent held my hand. “With any luck, the police will think we’re among the bodies.”

  I forced myself to nod. “Yeah... um... sounds good.”

  We drove into Switzerland without incident. But according to Kai, our goal was still France. “France is a hub for illegal immigrants, all the people trying to get into the UK. No one will notice us.”

  His reasoning seemed a little too simplistic, but I was in no position to argue. We drove in the direction of Lyon until we found an open pasture to stop in for the night.

  “I’m going to grab stuff to start a fire,” Kai said, jumping out of the truck. “You and Kent should sleep against the side of the truck.”

  “To avoid being seen by anyone on the road,” I replied. “Sounds good.”

  “There should be some extra clothes in the back if you’re cold.�
��

  “Kai?” I reached for his hand as he left. “Thank you.” Kent and I made a bed using two duffel bags filled with leaves and spare clothing. The final result was surprisingly comfortable. We cuddled close under the light of the moon. It wasn’t uncomfortably cold.

  Wrapped in my husband’s arms, I felt a calm, soothing sense of peace. Even if someone was to come put a bullet in our heads, at least we would be together.

  I closed my eyes to sleep. After a moment of quiet darkness, I felt a strong warmth, followed by the sound of a crackling fire. “Kai?”

  A young female chuckled, then sighed. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “Becca?” I set up, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

  My daughter was sitting on a rock, looking at me over the light of a campfire. She looked like a teenage version of myself but wearing camo gear. “He’s going to force you to eat human flesh.” She blinked her eyes like a doll, letting them sparkle with innocence as she spoke.

  “If you can’t help me, leave me alone!” I screamed.

  The fire rippled, causing her image to distort. “Oh, I’ll help you alright.”

  I awoke to the spark hitting my arm and Kent coughing in my face. I quickly sat up. The fire was real, but Becca as gone. Why was there a fire?

  I had no time to think about that, as Kent’s eyes were glazed over. He couldn’t breathe.

  I turned him on his side to clear his airway.

  “Give him the last of the water,” Kai said. He was tending to a small fire while wrapping what appeared to be meat in pieces of foil.

  “Is it in the truck?”

  “Yeah, I’ll just use the fire to boil more.”

  “Thanks,” I said quietly. My eyes were stuck on Kai’s project. “So, what are you making?”

  “Supper.”

  “Ok.” I retrieved the canteen along with a bowl. I planned to pour out a small amount of water and attempt to get my husband to sip without choking. I worked quickly.

  As soon as Kent took a few sips, he was able to breathe easier. “What’s he cooking?”

  Kai had placed the foil packet in the fire, and it smelled horrible.

  “Supper, I guess.”

  “Do you feel like vomiting?”