by A. Giacomi
He nods, and I slip away again.
***
When I wake up again, I am lying on a cold white floor. I had been heavily sedated and clearly laying here for quite some time because I practically have to peel my face off the ground with all the drool pooled under me. My body feels contorted, like it can’t straighten out, like its origami or something. It was an odd sensation, but I would prefer it to being on that metal slab any day.
My surroundings are blurry, but I can make out some dark figures in front of me. I launch myself toward them only to find that I slam into a glass wall. My palms slam against the clear thick walls viciously. Where was the food I was promised? I throw my head back and roar like a wild animal. I could feel the Azrael Virus ready to attack, ready to take over.
As I stare at the blurry images before me, I could swear I see Dr. August, Agent Williams, my least favourite Doctor, and a few others standing and watching me. Why were they watching me?
A voice comes from behind me, “Eve?”
I jump to my feet and turn abruptly. The smell of food fills my nose. Agent Williams had kept his word. I race toward the voice and close my hands around the human’s neck. I inhale its scent as I squeeze. I feel myself changing, my jaw feels more limber, and my body seems stronger. The desperation makes my body quiver. I needed this.
As I am about to tear into this human’s face I hear a voice screaming behind me. It sounds like Dr. August. I turn toward the voice. There is a man slamming his fists on the thick wall of glass begging me to stop. Two other men hold him back again, and Agent Williams slams something upon his head, causing the man to crumple to the floor.
I let go of the human and race toward the large window. I need to know what’s going on, why did I need to stop? What was he trying to tell me? I spin around to find the human on the ground gasping for air. As far as I can tell it’s a man, he wiggles backward trying to distance himself from me. He feared me.
It wasn’t until he caught his breath and spoke that I understood who it was.
“Cam?” I scream.
My hunger was too strong to hold back for much longer. I hold myself back and try to remain on the other side of the room, which wasn’t really all that far, but every inch mattered. The virus worked like a magnet, pulling me, willing me toward my food source, but I fought it with all I had.
Instead, I decide to focus my attention on Agent Williams. “Williams, you sack of shit!” I scream. “You can’t do this and then expect me to help you. So help me god, if you make me kill him, you and everyone else in here are next. You’ll have to detach all my limbs to keep me from you and even then I will find a way to kill you. I will never rest until you suffer the worst end you couldn’t even possibly begin to imagine.”
I’m panting, but I mean every single word. I would rip them all apart if they made me do this. This would be their call now.
To my surprise, Agent Williams begins clapping. “Looks like you still remember my training. You’re quite good at holding yourself back. There’s no need to get all dramatic about it, but this was a test, and guess what, you passed.”
I want to go and hug Cam, but I know myself better and decide to stay back. He looks at me behind tortured eyes, what had they done to him? He didn’t seem quite right. I want to cry in his arms right now, but that had been taken from me, instead our reunion would be brief and terrifying. I refused to have it end this way.
“Cam, I love you,” I shout over to him. “They told me you were dead.” I sob as I continue to hug the white wall opposite from him.
“Well I’m not dead, not yet, and I love you too. Thank you for not eating me.”
That damn boy always knew how to make me smile; I chuckle through my tears and pray this wouldn’t be the last time that I hear his voice.
A door opens in the white wall, you wouldn’t even have noticed a door there, it was seamless to give the off this illusion of being trapped.
Through the door, a man in an orange jumpsuit is shoved into the room and then the doorway seals again. They knew better than to let me leave the room hungry. Hunger made me desperate and desperate people do foolish things.
The man looked about fifty, maybe a little older. He was built like a bodybuilder and had the eyes of a stone cold killer-for-hire. He was scum and I could smell it on him, his grin held this superior air to it, but he didn’t run at me or try to stop me when I tore into his very solid arm. The meat wasn’t very tender, but with it being my first meal in a few weeks, it tastes like an Angus steak to me. The large criminal did not budge, or scream as I tore flesh away from his arm. I had nearly gotten down to the bone and he was somehow still smiling and standing. I wondered if they had given him something to withstand the pain, which would be humane and highly unlikely for someone like Agent Williams. This man welcomed the attack as though he deserved this sort of punishment. How he had convinced himself of that I’ll never know. No one deserved this fate.
I push the man down so that I can tear into his gut and eat every morsel of his insides. Every piece that squished in my mouth I savored. My moans of delight seem to leave Cam feeling a little nauseated. I could see him gripping at his stomach, cowering in the corner, unable to look away. I felt badly doing this in front of him, but I was given no choice. I hear Cam gag and I pray he turned away because I was only getting started.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CAM
Once Eve had finished decorating the room with her meal, Agent Williams appears in the doorway. He calls a couple of guards to escort her away. She looks at me and gives a small grin, but they don’t allow her to approach me. I was just happy to see she was still sort of alive and I was even happier that I was still alive.
Agent Williams remains behind. He scowls at me and shakes his finger. “You’re never going to see her again. I can promise you that. You’ve completed your purpose here, and I thank you for your service, but under no circumstance will you ever leave this place alive. I’m keeping you here as insurance. If Eve steps out of line you’ll be the first person I torture.”
With that he turns to leave, without turning around again he utters one last thing, “She may love you now, but she loved me first…”
He let the words hang in the air like a threat. His voice shook and I’m not sure if it was from sorrow or anger.
I decide to remain silent.
When he is finally gone and I am alone again in my glass box, I reflect on his words. What had he meant by “completing my purpose?” What purpose could I possibly fulfill? I had been unconscious most of the time I had been here. They preferred to keep me sedated, and I hadn’t minded it either, it helped make the time pass. Being alone with my thoughts only made things more difficult.
What really didn’t help was the big mess they decided to leave in my cell. Eve’s meal was everywhere, not much of it was recognizable as a former man. It was going to start to smell soon, and I prayed they would move me or clean it up before that happened.
As I look at the mangled meat strewn about the room, I notice something shiny in the midst of it all. I glance around to make sure no one is watching and then I carefully examine the goop with my shoe. The shiny object almost looks like a long, fat bullet, far too big to be made for any gun. I just have to know what it is, but that means I need to touch this god awful mess. I determine that it’s worth it and then stick my fingers into the still warm organs. When I pull out the object, I discover that it’s a tiny knife. The criminal must have smuggled it in, I cringe at the thought of where he might have had to hide it. Best not to think about it, I tell myself as I dry heave a little.
I flip open the knife, it’s sharp and easy to conceal. I wouldn’t be able to hide it anywhere on myself, and I wouldn’t dare go to the lengths that this dead guy did just so I could have a weapon on me at all times. I look around the room for a hiding place. The plastic bench seems like the only good place for i
t. I quickly look under it and find a small crevice where the knife will fit perfectly. With the knife hidden away, I feel a lot better, a little safer, and one step closer to getting out of here.
***
A few days later, Dr. August finds a way to come and visit me. He still has a fair sized lump on his forehead from where Agent Williams thumped him with the base of his gun. He had saved my life, if he hadn’t screamed to Eve, she might not have put me down, and I might have been the puddle of mess that still remained on my cell floor.
“Oh goodness! They still have that mess in your cell? I will need to have a word with them. That’s just unacceptable! It’s unsanitary…”
“Dr. August, please don’t, you’ve done enough for me. I’m just glad they’ll allow you to visit me from time to time. It’s the only thing I look forward to, and if they take that away…well…” I don’t finish that sentence, I’m sure he doesn’t want to hear it.
Instead, he shrugs it off and changes the subject. “I’m not sure why they’ve allowed me clearance all of a sudden, but they’ve also been letting me in to see Eve.”
I jump up at that news, “That’s great! How is she?”
He smiles, “Same old Eve, just a bit weak still. She’s trying to eat more to build her strength. We haven’t spoken about her father’s death much. I’m not sure she’s fully accepted it yet…should she accept it? Is it true?”
I shrug. “I think so. They knocked me out before I could see what happened, but if he’s not here, then I guess he’s not anywhere.”
“Right, well…might be best to leave her alone with that one for now,” Dr. August says sounding deflated.
I nod, I wouldn’t want to dredge up the past either, it made it harder to focus on the present, and we really had to focus now.
Dr. August gives me a brief smile. “I’m very glad to see you’re alive my friend.” But his smile turns into a frown rather quickly with his next words, “Cam I have some not so good news, though. They’re putting Eve back to work I’m afraid.”
“As an agent?” I ask.
“Yes, once she’s cleared, they will be sending her back to Egypt. They want her to find a specimen and return it to the lab for further testing.”
“What kind of specimen, Doc?”
“The kind that bit her,” he says shaking his head. “They wanted to control this virus using the Eye of Ra, but it turns out they didn’t have it all figured out yet. Rumor has it that things have gotten out of control on the outside. The need to go back to the source of its power and retrieve one of its masters.”
Zombies, magic stones, mummies, this was all becoming too farfetched for my modern mind. It all sounded like a huge crock of mythology, but every time I turned around there was significant proof that it was true.
I slam my fists on the glass and startle Doctor August. “How did they even convince her to go? It’s dangerous out there! What if it’s all for nothing anyway? CSIS has fucked us all! They wanted to build a better army to protect our world? Look at it now! Eve tried to warn that bastard Williams about all this…now we’re just…fucked…fucking fucked.”
The cursing makes me feel little better, so I start hitting my head against the glass wall until Dr. August begs me to stop.
“Calm down…what you say is true. They had no idea the power they held, but I think they’re onto something. I’ve decided to go with them. It was the only way I could get Eve to agree. I know it’s dangerous, but we have to try. I can’t let all of humanity suffer for my sins, Cameron. This is my fault, I haven’t forgotten that. I will use what I know to save us…I have to.”
His words felt like a betrayal. How could he take Eve out there? My Eve. He was putting her in danger again, why did her safety always have to be sacrificed, couldn’t Williams go on his own to figure this shit out?
“Dr. August, I don’t think this is a good idea…”
He begins to walk away knowing that he will never have my approval.
“I’m sorry, Cam, but I have to try and save them. I can’t have this on my hands anymore.”
“Them? Who are ‘they’ exactly? Dr. August, what are you hiding from me? Who are they?” I scream after him as he disappears down the hall.
It seemed as though everyone was keeping secrets in this place except for me, I didn’t have any. Sitting in my big glass box reminded me that my days here would be secret-less. I was visible, I was bare.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
EVE
The trip back to Egypt leaves me uneasy. I didn’t want to go back, but Dr. August had convinced me that this was our way out of this mess. There would be answers there; there would hopefully be a cure.
I wanted him to be right; I needed him to be right.
As I board and scan the plane, I see Agent Williams in the corner on his laptop looking very serious. I would kill him soon, but before I could do that, I would need to gain his trust and I needed to be sure that Cam was somewhere safe, somewhere where Williams couldn’t use his life as a tradeoff for something.
As I approach Williams, I get an odd look from Dr. August, he shakes his head, but I ignore him and continue my advance. I sit directly across from Williams and wait for him to meet my gaze.
He looks up, almost surprised to see me. “Eve? Is there something I can help you with?”
You could hurry up and die, I think to myself, but I end up saying, “Yes…I need to apologize.”
This makes Agent Williams look even more confused, but he’s intrigued enough to shut his laptop and provide me with his full attention.
“Look I know you’re trying to fix this mess and I haven’t given you enough credit for that. I worked with you for nearly two years, and that’s long enough to know that you always had good intentions, even if you fucked up huge.” I gag on my politeness and had to at least add in an ounce of anger if I were to be believable.
Agent Williams cringes at my brutal honesty and then chuckles. “Does this mean we’re friends now?”
I shake my head, “Not on your un-life, but if we have to work together again, I would like it to be as pleasant and professional as possible.”
“I concur,” Agent Williams says in a pleasant tone. It had been a long time since I had heard that voice. Perhaps Marcus was still in there somewhere, the Marcus I thought I had fallen for. I feel my heart tighten a bit as I think of his absolute betrayal, it could have almost passed for a half-beat.
I shake his hand and give him a brief smile before returning to my seat. I ignore him for the rest of the flight but catch a quick grin from him here and there. The plan was working; thank god he was as pathetic as I had gathered.
***
When our plane touches down in Cairo, something begins to feel off. I look over at Agent Williams and see that he is experiencing something too. It was hard to describe, it felt magnetic, like a pulling of sorts. Something was calling to us. Whatever was waiting for us in Hierakonpolis knew we had arrived.
As we exit the plane it becomes apparent that Cairo had been evacuated. There is not a single person there to greet us.
A few soldiers in our crew disperse to collect vehicles and return in large military trucks. The soldiers seem a bit stunned by something but make no comment. We hop inside and are on our way within the hour.
As we near Hierakonpolis I begin to feel this itching under my skin. I glance over at Agent Williams to find him loosening his tie and rubbing his arms in an uncomfortable manner. The humans in the truck seem unphased. I quietly head over to sit beside Williams and whisper, “What’s happening to us?”
He shakes his head, “I don’t know.”
The fact that Agent Williams wasn’t pulling the strings on this worried me more. There was more to this than he had bargained for, he had unleashed something very powerful, and I could feel it crawling around inside me, trying to take ownership of me.
I pull myself up and peer out the windshield to find a man, or perhaps ‘being’ would be a more appropriate term, because whatever was standing in the road in front of us seemed like an entity rather than something solid. The dark figure moved like wind and sand, everything about him screamed evil.
“Um, Williams…what the fuck is that?” I say in a panicked voice.
He shakes his head looking absolutely terrified.
“Well, you’re just full of useful answers today,” I say with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
He glares at me. “Is this really the time, Eve?”
I quiet down as I watch the entity anxiously. He was waiting for something, but what?
The entity holds his finger toward the ground and then points toward our vehicle. I feel a sort of bubbling inside myself and lurch forward as my stomach aches. Agent Williams follows suit. The entity controls us now. I can hear his hiss of a voice in my ear as if he were right next to me or inside my head.
His voice says, “Kill.”
I hear the screams, but it’s as if I’m locked somewhere in my own consciousness and can’t escape. I know my body is doing something awful to all these people. I hear their blood sputtering and pouring. I’m killing them. His power surged through Agent Williams and I, and there was no way to stop it.
When Agent Williams and I snap out of it, we are in the middle of the road. Blood soaked and disoriented, we stumble around to find parts strewn everywhere. Our vehicle was empty and the dark figure was gone. Was this considered a sacrifice? Something to appease the gods? Although I was thinking this, it just seemed so far fetched.
Evil gods? Really?
I turn to view the vehicles that were behind us. I start racing toward the second vehicle and throw the door open, a few bodies fall out of the truck. I peer into the back of the vehicle, all dead. I slam the door and race toward the last vehicle where Dr. August was riding. I pray to find him alive and well, but this wasn’t looking good.
