21
Brandon and Sasha did what Jimmy asked them to do and took the eight guards to the cages. When they finished locking them inside them, they also found what Ross was trying to hide. In the same room several bodies where there spread out along the counters. They looked so badly mangled that they couldn’t even tell what they were. Were they walkers, or human? Were they alive before they were cut apart? They didn’t know but seeing them made them angry. They also felt fear because of it. How could anyone do that to people? How could they torture them so much like that? Human, walker, or whatever they were, how could anyone do such a thing? It sickened them completely.
Finished, they rejoined Robert and Jimmy in Rachel’s old lab.
“You son of a bitch.” Sasha stated her feelings first, coming inside and stopping by Jimmy’s right. “How could you do that to someone?”
Ross sat on a stool on the other side of one of the four counters on the other side from Jimmy, and hearing what he did, he bowed his head towards the floor. “I didn’t have the choice.” He did feel shame for what they forced him to do. He was human after all. He did have feelings. He did have something, and he hated them for what they made him do. Again, he didn’t have the choice.
Jimmy watched her and Brandon as they both joined them. “How bad was it?”
“They mutilated those people Jimmy. It was horrible.” Brandon lowered his head, trying hard to keep his rage contained. It took a lot for him to do. If he kept his head down, he felt that he could.
Jimmy listened and turned back to Ross. “What were you trying to do exactly?” He leaned up against the counter.
Ross kept his eyes down as all of them focused their attentions onto him. “As I told you already Mister Walls, they were trying to find a way to stop their weaknesses from harming them. They forced us to try and find a way.”
“Why?” Sasha continued. “Why? What reason could they possibly have to do that?”
“They tried to find the way before this, but it failed. We failed in finding the cures.”
“You’re talking about me, aren’t you?” Jimmy straightened up some, but kept his eyes focused. He had to pay attention. He had to hear everything.
Hearing him, Ross brought his eyes back up. “You mean Collins right?” His eyes locked onto Jimmy’s forceful stare.
“I am Collins.” Jimmy forced the point.
Confusion crossed Ross’ eyes.
Jimmy saw it. “I am Collins. I am Jimmy. I’m both of them.” He felt the need to explain, so he did his best.
Ross had trouble in understanding him, so he turned back to everything else he knew instead. “When Collins came to me I thought that he was what we were looking for. I never knew about the others until later. Apparently they were also looking for him. They worked with us.”
“Devish?” Robert chimed in.
Ross looked at him next. “I didn’t know of him until after that night, here in the labs. That night you changed Mister Walls. That night you killed all of those people. That night you escaped. After that night he came here and changed everything forever.” He motioned to Jimmy with a nod.
Jimmy bowed his head. He felt ashamed for what happened. He never forgot it. He never stopped feeling for those he killed. No matter what they did to him, they didn’t deserve it, and that, he forever did know.
Ross almost felt his pain, but he didn’t understand it either. He was an animal after all. Killing was in his nature. Why fight it? Why stop what you are?”
Robert wanted to hear more. “What happened Ross? How did it start?”
Ross shook his head, trying to get himself to focus. Afterwards, he began. “We were looking for a cure for human illness. We were studying a way to end pain. When Collins came everything changed.”
Jimmy nodded. “I—uh Collins—came to you, I know this, but I also knew what else happened. I need to know everything else.”
Ross dropped his eyes again, thinking, taking everything he heard in. “You are Collins?” he had to ask. Too much felt confusing about it.
Jimmy nodded. “I am. I absorbed, or whatever you want to call it, Collins after he bit me. That makes me him.”
Hearing him brought Ross’ eyes back up. He nodded. Trying to understand everything at once seemed pointless so he stayed with the story that he had to tell. “You are right. He came to me looking for a way to help humanity. He wanted to use his healing abilities to help people. He thought that if he could he would be able to redeem himself for something that he did many years ago. He didn’t tell me what that was, but I didn’t care. I just cared about finding the cure. I just cared about what I wanted and nothing else mattered.”
Jimmy could see a tears roll from his right eye. Seeing it he had to blink some himself. It appears that the good Richard Ross has feelings after all. He nodded and continued listening.
“After that night, the night that I learned about you, they came to me. They were funding my little study for all of those years. They took control of everything after that night.” He looked down and then up again. “They no longer trusted what we were doing. They no longer trusted us to do it alone.”
Jimmy could see the tear dry up again. It dried so fast. “They funded you.” He nodded. “So they wanted the cure too.” He looked to Robert and then looked back to Ross again. “They told you about what they needed?”
Ross nodded. “They told me what they were looking for and what they wanted me to find. It wasn’t a cure for human illness but for what they really wanted. They wanted a cure for silver and gold. Apparently it can hurt them. They wanted me to find a way to stop it.”
“How close did you get?” Robert asked.
Ross shook his head. “Apparently I failed with Collins. His cells were still vulnerable to silver. It was only later when they told me why.”
“What did they tell you?” Jimmy asked. Deep inside, he already knew why. Collins wasn’t the real Kalima. He lacked the true essence of what the black wolf was.
“They acknowledged that he wasn’t the one, so they fixed it to bring the right one here.” He looked straight to Jimmy’s eyes. “They needed you Mister Walls.”
“Me?” Jimmy met his stare. “They forced me to come to you.”
Ross nodded. “I didn’t know it at the time but apparently they already knew where to find you. They built this place here, in Redford Forge, to be close to you. They did all of this to get you here.”
Brandon now came in. “I told Jimmy about the job with the company that sent him here. I did that.”
Ross bowed his head again. “They had years to find a way. They are involved in everything. I wouldn’t even doubt it if they control the place where you worked. They control everything.”
Robert nodded. “That’s true. All of the clans have people inside every facet of the human world. They have their fingers into everything. It wouldn’t take much to lean on someone to do something that they wanted them to do. They have their ways.”
They each looked at him and turned.
Jimmy was the first to turn back to Ross. “So their plan was to get me back with Kalima. They wanted us back together again.” He thought out loud. Suddenly, everything began to make sense, but one thing always haunted him from the very beginning, so he went with that next. “Did you know about Gary?” he had to ask that burden.
Ross shook his head. “I didn’t, no, at least not at first.” He paused but only briefly. “They did though. They found him in New York City, wandering the streets, searching for the one that caused his pain. I heard them say that was how they found out about the wolf still being alive. They also said that they soon discovered that he wasn’t the one they were looking for either, and that’s when they found Collins. They learned about what he was looking for and fixed that too—somehow.”
Jimmy thought about Kenny again. He told me about Ross. He led me to him. Did he do that on purpose? Was he helping them to find me? Doubt for his dead friend was now weighing heavily on his mind.
&nb
sp; “Did you know about Rachel too?” Robert now had to come in. So far, everything he heard sounded hard to believe, but with years of playing a game carefully, he figured that they could do it. They had the time.
Ross turned to him slowly. “Like everything else, I didn’t know about her until they forced me to help them find her. How she found me, I don’t know.”
Robert looked back to Jimmy.
Jimmy thought about what to ask next, before continuing further. “So what are their plans now? Did they tell you anything about them too?”
Ross turned to him and shook his head. “No. They only told me what I needed to know. All that I did need was that you were the one they were looking for from the very beginning. You were the real wolf.”
Jimmy nodded and bowed his head. They wanted to bring me together with the wolf again, but for what? What reason did they have for doing that? It doesn’t make sense. If they wanted my gifts, then why not just take them? What’s with all of the scheming? Why do all of these intricate plans? Nothing makes any sense at all.
“So you know where they are now? Where did they take Rachel?” Robert now asked, surprised somewhat that he asked the question. Apparently Rachel was on his mind more than he thought.
Ross nodded. “They took her to some place on Long Island. I’m not sure where exactly. They never told me.”
Jimmy and Robert both turned to each other at the same time. They then looked back to Ross.
Robert, after listening to everything, now knew that he had to switch back to what they had to do next. They had to get back to his original plans. “Jimmy, we have to get to the elders. We have to tell them about all of this. He’s planning something major and he’s been planning it for years. He’s ahead of all of us on this. We need their help.”
Jimmy nodded. He still had a lot more that he wanted to know, but now knew that it wasn’t going to come from Ross. Robert was right. He now had to follow his lead and make it to these elders and get their help. “You’re right. We have to get to the city.” He looked to him and then back to Ross again. “And you’re coming with us.”
Ross lifted his eyes. “What? You told me that we had a deal. I told you what you needed.” Ross stood up from the stool.
Jimmy looked at everyone in turn and then back to Ross again. “If you stay here without us they’ll come for you. We won’t be here to protect you.”
Ross shook his head. “They will know that I helped you.”
“Exactly.” Jimmy leaned in again to the counter top. “That’s why you’re coming with us. If you stay here, they will kill you for telling us what you just did. In fact…” He looked over to Robert and then back to Ross again. “…Devish probably already knows that you did.”
Robert nodded.
Ross saw him do it. “Fine. When are we leaving?” He looked at everyone, not sure what he was going to do. He had no idea what was going to happened and he hated this.
Jimmy took a deep breath. When he finished it, he began. “We’re leaving right now. We have to get down there before tomorrow night.” He looked to Robert and turned to Sasha. “I’ll take Robert. You take Ross.”
Ross listened to him and blinked hard. “What do you mean that you’ll take me?” He suddenly began to worry again. He didn’t know what he was saying and feared the possibilities of it.
Jimmy turned back to him. “There’s only one way to get to the city in time. We’re going to have to carry you.”
Ross shook his head and looked confused all over again. “What’s wrong with a car?”
Brandon laughed, and answered the question for all of them. “The car is in the lobby.” He looked at everyone with a smile. “I’m not sure that it would make the trip.”
Jimmy smiled with that one.
Ross still wasn’t convinced. “How are you going to carry me?”
Jimmy watched him and then looked back to Sasha. “To do it, we’re going to have to move fast. There’s only one way that we can do that.” He gave her a wink.
Sasha smiled and looked to Ross.
From there, he could see her eyes flare with a deep colored yellow that seemed to sparkle from within. He then watched her white skin turn black and watched as black fur oozed out from all over her body. He watched her change with a wonder that only it could ever cause him. He felt absolutely blown away. It was truly a magnificent thing to see.
Jimmy took off his shirt, watched Sasha change, looked at Ross’ face as she did it, and then looked back to Brandon. “You’re going to have to head out in front of us. Keep your eyes open for us as we go.”
Brandon gave him a deep and hearty smile. “Absolutely dude, I can do it.”
Jimmy handed Robert his shirt. He looked back to Ross with his eyes now glowing with the yellow of the wolf.
Ross watched him change, feeling the magnificence of watching it all over again.
22
He walked into the room, headed straight to the steel table in the center of it, climbed onto it, and laid down. The coolness of its surface raced through him like bolts of lightning, but he enjoyed the feeling. He looked up and watched Vincent come into the room. The doctor that had been helping him recover for so many years now came in with him.
Vincent stayed at the door, as the doctor moved towards Devish and the table.
Three others were also there, with two men standing at the head of the table and a lone woman standing at the feet. Each of them readied themselves for what they now had to watch.
The doctor came up to the table and looked down to his master with a solemn stare. “Are you sure my lord that you wish to do this? If I cannot find all of the pieces in time, I may have to stop before something happens to you.”
Devish turned his head from his doctor and looked up to the ceiling. Three bright and round lights welcomed his eyes. “I no longer have the chance to wait my dear doctor. I must finish this. You may proceed when you wish.”
The doctor, he went by no other name, looked back to his lord Vincent.
Vincent nodded for him to continue, but said nothing.
The doctor turned back, realizing that he had no other choice in the matter, so he looked to the two men standing at the head of the table. “Wrap his arms and hold him tightly. Whatever you do, do not let him move.”
The two men looked at each other only briefly and then looked at their own hands. They watched Devish raise his arms over his head, so they took his hands by the wrists and quickly took shiny gold metal bracelets and wrapped them around the wrists.
Instantly, a burning sensation raced through Devish’s arms, as a smoky mist came from his wrists. He moaned a soft bellow but kept it soft. He fought the pain. He fought the burning and in doing so, the metal already started doing their job. He suddenly felt his arms grow weak. He couldn’t move them. They held him firmly down.
With his arms wrapped with the gold, the two men took his arms and pressed them to the table using their own bodies for strength.
When they finished their tasks, the doctor looked to the woman at his feet. “Wrap his legs.”
The woman complied, took his ankles, moved them together to each other, and likewise wrapped them with gold metal bands.
Again the burning feeling raced through his legs and flowed up to his knees. Again he moaned, but yet again, they did what they were supposed to do, and his legs locked into place.
Seeing him ready, the doctor looked down to a wheeled tray that sat next to the table , found what he needed, and lifted the blade. He brought it over his master and took a deep lungful of air before he began.
Vincent left the door and walked to the end of the table. Although he hated watching his master receive pain, this time, he needed to see it happen. He wasn’t sure if it was because of what could happen if they failed, or maybe it was because of something else, but he did want to see it. He had to see it. He had to experience the pain with him.
The doctor used the blade and cut a long deep gash through his master’s chest, moving down
from the nape of his neck, down between his breasts and towards his navel. Blood instantly flowed from the wound, oozing down on both sides of Devish’s stomach. Not cutting deep enough, the doctor cut again, this time down until he hit the sternum.
This time Devish screamed with an utmost agony that blasted the air of the room. The feeling flew in every direction as it raced through his entire body and brought tears to his eyes.
Seeing the bone, the doctor brought the blade back to the tray and reached for the next instrument that he needed and took ahold of the saw.
He brought the saw down over the sternum, blade first, and turned it on.
The sound might have been worse for all of those who were listening but for Devish, it felt incredibly terrible. He could feel each pointed blade slice through his bone. He could even feel chards of his own bone as they flung across his lungs. With it all, he screamed a roaring bellow of air. His voice only added to the squealing of the blade.
Cutting down the entire length of the bone, the doctor finished when he saw it sheered in two. With it, he returned the saw to the table and grabbed the spreader, a devise that had two clamps separated by a turn screw, and returned it to his master’s chest. He placed both clamps in between the bone and finished with this, he turned the screw.
Again Devish bellowed, at first it sounded like a scream, but soon it turned into a roar. He struggled, but with the gold holding his limbs, he still couldn’t move. He only managed the roar. He could only manage the pain.
The doctor spread the bone until he could see the heart beating clearly beneath the bone. He bent in, getting closer, and reached inside his chest and took the heart with his right hand. He moved it softly about an inch to the left. At the bottom of the beating red mass, he could see a splinter, so he reached in with his left hand and using his index finger and thumb, grabbed it tightly, and pulled it from the heart.
Again Devish roared a deep flush of terror that echoed around the room. This one grew deeper than the others had, as he felt his heart skip a heavy and solid beat. He then felt weakness creep through his lungs, and the feeling made it hard for him to breathe. His mind also seemed to go numb. His mind began to fade. His eyes seemed to go blind.
A Werewolf's Saga Books 4, 5, & 6 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 2) Page 32
