by Amy Cross
“I'm getting Katia out of here,” she whispered finally, before turning back to Schlesinger. “I'm not using her as bait!”
“It's a little too late for that change of heart,” Schlesinger replied. “Relax, nothing bad's going to happen to her. At least, that's what you kept telling me a few weeks ago, before you headed off to initiate the final stage of the plan. It's all working so far, isn't it? The cults are aware of this place now, they're on their way. The entity has noticed that, and it's coming too. Maybe we should get on with our work before the cults show up. After all, they're likely to be heavily armed. How much longer do you think we need, before the storm is directly above the telescope's receiver?”
“She's getting out of here,” Annie said firmly. “And so am I!”
“There are guards everywhere.”
“I don't care.”
“You should. They'll stop you. You gave them orders to stop you, in case you panicked at the last moment.”
“Maybe I'll stop them instead,” Annie replied. “I have my ways.”
“You made it so you can't run,” he explained. “You were worried that you'd back out, that you'd try to save Katia instead. The guards have strict instructions to stop you, and there's nothing you can do to hold them back.”
“Take me to the main door,” she replied, raising the letter-opener a little more. “Now!”
He shook his head.
“I'm not messing around!” she continued. “You're going to help us get out of here!”
“I already called for some guards,” he countered. “What are you going to do, threaten to knock everyone out? That's a neat trick, Annie, but we both know it'll leave you weakened. You'll be easy pickings after that. You know, I sure would like to cut into your brain some time. The way you can knock people out is very interesting. I know you developed the ability during some of your experiments here, but I'd like to see whether the actual architecture of your brain has changed at all.”
“There's no -”
Before she could finish, Annie heard a door opening nearby. Turning, she saw several armed guards stepping into the laboratory.
“Annie, I'm scared,” Katia whimpered, clutching Annie's hand tight. “I want to go!”
“We'll go,” Annie said, as she tried to figure out how they could escape. “Trust me.”
“Put the knife down and accept the inevitable,” Schlesinger muttered, as the guards edged closer. “Katia's not going anywhere until the plan has been completed.”
“Listen to the man,” Nurse Winter's voice hissed. “Damn it, Annie, you're being even more annoying than I expected.”
“Katia's leaving,” Annie said firmly. “We're going to -”
Before she could finish, Annie heard somebody rushing at her from behind. She turned and swung her fist, just managing to knock the first guard back, but then the second grabbed her from behind and slammed her head down hard against the nearest counter, knocking her out cold.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Annie, help me!”
Opening her eyes, Annie stared straight ahead for a moment before suddenly registering the sound of the voice she'd just heard. Startled, she turned to look, only to feel restraints holding her down. She tried to pull free, but she'd been strapped to a chair in the corner of the laboratory and a moment later she heard the same voice again:
“Annie! Help!”
Turning, Annie saw that Katia was being dragged toward an operating table at the far end of the room.
“No!” she gasped, pulling again on the restraints but still finding that she couldn't get free. “Leave her alone!”
A moment later one of the guards nudged her arm, and looked up to see his stern expression.
“You're lucky to be alive at all,” he sneered. “Schlesinger doesn't like unnecessary deaths.”
Somewhere far outside the room, thunder rumbled ominously.
“That's him,” Schlesinger said as he forced Katia onto a table and attached a cuff to her wrist. After a moment, he looked up. “The entity knows that we're almost ready, so he's gathering outside like a storm. I'm sorry, Annie, but I wasn't honest with you earlier. You told me to hide the truth from you.”
“What are you talking about?” Annie asked. “Why have you tied her up?”
“The other brains were simply used for experiments. You were worried that an ordinary brain would eventually decay, which might one day release the entity from the trap. I persuaded you that Katia's brain would be the most effective jail, and you reluctantly agreed. You did, however, tell me to restrain you before I reminded you of that part of the plan. You were worried that you might back out.”
“No!” Annie screamed. “I'd never do that!”
“Oh, but you did,” Nurse Winter told her, still echoing in Annie's mind. “This is the only solution, Annie. Katia's sacrifice will save the entire world.”
“Annie!” Katia screamed. “Help!”
“I'm coming!” Annie shouted, still struggling to get free from the chair. “Katia, hold on!”
“Kill them!” Katia yelled. “Annie, please, kill them and get me out of here!”
“No-one has to die!” Annie told her, shocked by the girl's callousness. “Schlesinger, I never would have agreed to let Katia die. No matter how long I spent planning for this night, I know that I'd never, ever have agreed to anything like this!”
“But you did,” Nurse Winter's voice purred in her mind. “Albeit after a lot of persuasion on my part. I knew you'd renege on this part of the plan, though. I'm so sorry, Annie, but we have to do this.”
Thunder rumbled above the building.
With the scalpel still in his left hand, Schlesinger stared down at Katia's back for a moment longer, before stepping around the side of the table and looking directly toward Annie.
“Katia's brain could last for a thousand years under the correct conditions,” he explained. “That would be a thousand years during which there'd be no danger of the entity ever escaping. We have to take this risk, Annie. And when it's all done, you'll have to accept that we made the right choice.”
“Don't let him hurt me!” Katia screamed.
Without replying, Schlesinger took a scalpel from a nearby trolley and then pulled down the back of Katia's tunic, before starting to move her hair from the back of her neck. And then, for a moment, he froze.
“Don't do this!” Annie snapped, with tears in her eyes. “You're going to regret this. You're murdering a child! Maybe all the other brains were donations, they came from people who were already dying. But Katia's just a little girl and you're going to murder her!”
Schlesinger didn't reply. Instead, he continued to stare down at the back of Katia's neck, as if at the final moment he was beginning to have second thoughts.
“There has to be another way!” Annie yelled, as Katia continued to struggle. “If we murder a child, we're no better than whatever evil we're trying to stop!”
“Should I shut her up?” one of the guards asked, while the other chuckled. “Say the word, and it'll be my pleasure.” He turned away from Schlesinger and grinned at Annie. “You've got a big mouth on you. You know that, right? You need to learn how to shut the fu-”
Suddenly Schlesinger grabbed him from behind and slashed the scalpel's blade across the guard's throat, cutting it open and sending blood spraying across the wall. Before the other guard could react, the doctor pulled the scalpel free and lunged forward, driving the blade straight into the second man's eye and then pushing him down, landing hard on top of him with a loud thud. Once off the floor, he pulled the scalpel out and then cut the man's throat open, before rolling away as the two men gasped for air and bled out across the tiles.
“What did you do that for?” Annie asked, horrified by the sight of the two guards clutching their throats as they died.
Muttering something under his breath, Schlesinger got to his feet and stumbled toward her. Using the bloodied scalpel, he cut the ties around Annie's wrists, allowing her to g
et up.
“We can go back to the original plan,” Annie told him. “Use the other brains!”
“I don't like this,” Nurse Winter's voice said in her mind. “Annie, something's wrong.”
Grabbing Annie's arm, Schlesinger pulled her out of the room and then slid the door shut.
Annie tried to pull the door open, only to find that it was locked. She opened the keypad, before turning to see that Schlesinger was already heading into one of the other rooms.
“What's the code?” she shouted, as thunder rumbled once more about the hospital. “I have to get her out of there!”
“How did that happen?” Schlesinger asked, as if something had shocked him to his core. “We were being used the whole time?”
“What's wrong?” Nurse Winter asked in Annie's mind. “Annie, make him tell you what's wrong!”
“We thought we had the perfect plan,” Schlesinger continued, taking a step back. “Someone else must have been one step ahead of us the whole time. All my work is going to be stolen and used for evil.”
“What are you talking about?” Annie asked. “We have to get Katia out of here!”
“I won't let them fall into anyone else's hands,” Schlesinger said, shaking his head as an expression of pure horror filled his features. “Before anyone else gets here, I have to save them!”
“What's the code for hte door?” Annie shouted. “I have to get to Katia!”
She waited, but Schelsinger disappeared through the farthest doorway.
“I need the code!” Annie yelled, rushing after him. “You can't stop now! We have to save Katia and get out of here!”
Reaching the doorway, she saw that she'd once again reached the narrow room lined with brains in jars. Schlesinger had stopped a few paces ahead and now stood with his back to Annie, while still clutching the bloodied scalpel in his right hand. The light was on again, but Schlesinger no longer seemed to care.
“We don't have time for this,” Annie stammered. “If you -”
“I was duped!” he grunted.
“What do you mean?”
He turned and glared at her.
“Was it you?” he asked. “Hell, would you even know? I saw it just then, when I was about to cut the girl open. How could I have been so stupid? How could any of us? I was about to cut her open and then she whispered something. As soon as I heard those words, somehow I knew. And then I...”
His voice trailed off.
“And then you what?” Annie asked. “And then you realized you couldn't actually kill a little girl in cold blood?”
“You don't have a clue,” he sneered. “You don't know what's going on here. I allowed myself to be fooled, but I won't let that happen again. I see it all now. My eyes are open, and I know exactly what's going on and who we're dealing with. We've lost. Don't you get it? We've lost and he's won, but there's still a chance if we destroy all the technology.”
“Let's get Katia out of there,” Annie said, “and then we can talk. We've come this far and -”
“Enough!” Schlesinger roared, suddenly grabbing one of the jars and pulling it from the shelf, sending it crashing to the floor where it shattered. The brain slopped out, sliding across the floor with the cortex extender still attached and the long black wires trailing in the greenish liquid. “I won't let them fall into somebody else's hands! I'd rather they all died!”
With a cry of anger, he grabbed another jar and threw it down, then another, and then he began pushing all the jars to the ground.
Startled, Annie stepped back as more and more brains were sent slithering across the broken glass. At the same time, she saw that some of the black wires were flicking and twitching as if they were alive, and a foul, stale chemical smell began to fill the air.
“Help me!” Schlesinger yelled. “I think I know who's out there, and I know what he'll do to these poor brains if he gets his hands on them! He'll torture them! Annie, help me destroy them before he can get his hands on them!”
“You didn't see who coming?” Annie asked.
“He must have been one step ahead of us the whole time,” Schlesinger continued breathlessly, while knocking more jars to the ground. “I knew all about his work, of course, but it never occurred to me that he could be involved in all of this! He'll do awful things to them. I have to kill them all before he gets his filthy hands on them. He'll torture them! I've seen the files from the camp. I know about the atrocities he committed, and I won't let him do the same to the people I saved. They've suffered enough already!”
With that, he grabbed the edge of a set of shelving and pulled the whole thing down. Scores of jars crashed to the floor, but at the last moment one of the supports broke and slammed against Schlesinger's back, sending him thudding down until he landed hard on his hands and knees amidst the brains and liquid and broken glass. As he fell, his glasses slipped away and hit the floor, shattering in the process.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Annie said, taking a step back. “Let's get Katia out of here and then -”
“Get her out of here?” he gasped, looking up at her. “Are you serious?”
“She doesn't deserve to be here,” Annie replied as thunder rumbled again. “She's already been through so much, and she's just a little girl.”
“Tell him to go to Hell,” Schlesinger replied, before looking down and watching as some of the trailing wires began to slither up onto his hands and toward his elbows. “They're dying, but in their final moments they don't want to be alone. They sense that I'm here. Maybe they know who I am. After all, I've been looking after them for so long.” He watched as one of the wires reached the side of his neck. “I'm here,” he continued, his voice sounding much softer now. “I'm going to save you from his experiments. I never should have let this happen, but I won't let you suffer.”
“What are you doing?” Annie asked. “What are they doing? We have to -”
Suddenly one of the wires snapped and wrapped itself against Schlesinger's neck, before tugging hard and pulling him down. A moment later another wire did the same thing, and Annie watched in horror as two of the brains dragged themselves toward the doctor's face.
“You don't have to be lonely now!” he screamed. “We'll all be together at the end! All our minds in -”
Before he could finish, one of the brains twisted around and dug the base of its cortex extender into Schlesinger's neck. A fraction of a second later, a second brain did the same thing, then a third and a fourth. More were trying to drag themselves toward him, and Annie could only watch in horror as blood began to pour from the doctor's mouth.
“I can feel them!” he gasped. “I can feel their minds in mine. I want them all! Bring them all to me! Hurry!”
He tried to get to his feet, with five of the brains already embedded in various parts of his neck. Slipping in the liquid, he steadied himself for a moment and then tried again to rise, still struggling.
“They love me!” he cried out, as more and more blood poured from his mouth and splattered against the floor. “They don't hate me at all! They love me, they want me to tell them everything will be alright! They're completely sane! They lasted so long and -”
He gasped, before slumping down against the floor as a couple more brains tried to find a space to insert their cortex extenders. Using their black wires like tendrils, they drew themselves closer to Schlesinger's neck and twisted around, but now there were too many of them. The tendrils continued to flick and twitch for a moment, before starting to fall still, and Annie began to realize that the brains – now that they were out of the jar – were quickly dying.
She watched the terrible scene for a moment longer, before stepping back and sliding the door shut. She didn't want to see so many deaths at once and – besides – she knew there was still someone she could save.
As thunder rumbled again overhead, she turned and hurried back to the door that led to the laboratory. She tried to slide the door open, but the keypad flashed red and she realized she'd n
ever get through without the right code. After trying to figure out what Doctor Schlesinger might have used, she tried typing in a few random combinations, only to get a flashing red light each time. Filled with increasing desperation, she tried over and over, all the while -
Suddenly the door slid open, and she turned to see Katia staring up at her from the other side.
“How did you get it open?” Annie gasped.
Thunder rumbled louder than ever.
“I don't like this,” Nurse Winter whispered in Annie's mind. “The plan's going wrong, and the entity's almost here. Annie, we need to get back to the office and figure out what's happening. I've got a horrible feeling we've been duped.”
“I saw the numbers the man typed earlier,” Katia explained. “I remembered them, and I used them to open the door. Did I do good?”
“Annie, be careful!” Nurse Winter hissed. “Whatever Schlesinger saw just now, it drove him out of his mind!”
“You did great,” Annie said, reaching down and picking Katia up before stepping back into the laboratory for a moment and looking around. The two guards were still dead on the floor, and after a moment Annie turned and saw her own reflection in a nearby mirror as she continued to hold the terrified little girl.
She didn't quite understand what was happening, but she knew she had to get Katia away from Eldion House, and then -
Suddenly she froze as she saw that the back of Katia's dress was still open. And running from the base of the girl's spine all the way up to the base of her neck, there was a faint but very visible scar.
“What is that?” Annie whispered, stepping closer to the mirror.
The scar was clearer now and – although it had obviously healed a long time ago – the tissue on either side had clearly once been carved open.
“Katia,” she said cautiously, “I need you to tell me what happened to your back.”
She waited, but Katia said nothing.
“Katia,” Annie said again, “this is important. I need you to tell me if anyone ever did anything to your back.”
She waited, and this time she heard Katia whisper something softly.
