"I have seafoam in my veins, I understand the language of waves."
― Le Testament d'Orphée
That night, it should have been like the rest. The office was suppose to be bubbling with life, chatter filtering through the white, pristine halls, and a regular check up on the patients before going home to the comforts of bed. However, it was silent; a bone chilling peace that crept between every crevice and made you constantly glance over your shoulder. The lights were out, or more over they had been shut down. Nora glanced over to her lamp, flicking the glass bulb with her nail. "The generators should be kicking in", she thought. But there was no coughing purr of the power being spurred back to life, only the greeting creak of the building. She pushed back her chair and stood up, eyes blinking tiredly to a half written report of her subject. Dead; her first project and it had to be dumped down the body chute. "It was its own damn fault for struggling so much. How could I have kept the needle straight if all it could do was jerk around?" she muttered darkly.
Brushing off her lab coat, Nora huffed with a certain arrogance only the extravagant could muster. She was the prized pupil of her graduating class and had been personally asked by a lead scientist in the government's labs to work for them. Of course, she agreed but she came to realize that her expertise would be tested greatly. Everyday a few new subjects would be settled in and a dozen more thrown out to be burned. It was the dutiful arrangement in the labs and no one even batted an eye. Yet, Nora was infuriated at her failure and disgusted with the feeble nature of her expired testee. It had been female, documented at the age of 16 years and recently thrown into the streets by its adopted parents. Green eyes and short black hair. It would have been beautiful when grown if it hadn't screamed and twisted itself to be stabbed in the throat. Stupid little thing, it had been hard to explain to the higher ups that it had been an accident.
Nora grabbed her coat and flung it over her arm while she sought out her keys only to find them buried under a pile of paperwork. With a muttered curse, she opened her office door only to be knocked into by a small nurse. The small woman blushed, blotches of red forming over healthy, round cheeks. "I'm sorry ma'am. Some of the doctors can't get into the patient's ward and have asked for assistance." She looked to Nora, a hopeful stare that prayed the doctor would go in her stead. Nora rather, flicked her wrist telling the nurse to go on her way. She had no intention to stay any longer than needed. Her mind was set on a warm bath and an empty sleep. The small woman scuttled off, dejected and bitter while Nora nudged over her keys and continued down the hall.
"You have been trapped in the inescapable net of ruin by your own want of sense."
-Aeschylus
Being run by fear and acting on impulse, Ronan had jumped at the chance of a possible escape. As one doctor opened up the barred door, for one last check up, Ronan jumped from his bed and charged at the young man. It wasn't a thought out escape plan, or even a decision he had made. It was just a spur of the moment act. The doctor's head collided with the wall, knocking him out cold. Ronan stood back to see what he had done. He didn't even have much time to figure out what to do next, because the cracking noise must of caught the attention of one of the guards. A big, burly man barged in to see the doctor in a small pool of blood, and Ronan standing over him in shock. The guard went for his weapon, but Ronan leaped for it too. He didn't really have any strength compared to the man, because the guard had knocked his elbow into Ronan's nose. But with all the adrenaline pulsing through his body, Ronan didn't even feel the immediate pain. Once he got a grip on the pistol, he pulled the trigger, right into the guard's leg, giving him the opportunity to escape. A gunshot must of alerted somebody, because an alarm was ringing through the building. "Fuck." Ronan quickly got to his feet properly and got out of the cell.
A year ago, Ronan probably would of broken down into tears after seeing he had just potentially killed two men. But then again, Ronan was a completely different person. A year ago, he was a simple human being. Hell, telling him he was going to become a shark mutant who could shape-shift into a sea creature at the touch of water would of sounded great. Ronan would of equated that to a superhero. In reality, Ronan was no superhero. There was nothing super, or heroic about the mutantcy. Ronan was a monster.
If only Ronan knew the blueprints of the building, he was running as fast as he could down never-ending hallways. Blood dripped down his nose onto his bare, pale chest. His feet were bare and the white trousers he was wearing blended in with his skin. His hand held the pistol tightly, unable to hear the sound of his own feet. Before he could stop himself, around the corner he ran straight into a woman. It knocked him back and forced him to stay still for a moment. He looked the woman up and down, before recognizing her occupation. A doctor could get him out of here. Ronan gripped the pistol with two hands and pointed it straight at the woman, "You get me out of this building or I shoot you right here right now." Ronan's voice was shaky, "Trust me, I have nothing to loose." Ronan really didn't, he'd shoot ten more doctors until one helped him out. He'd rather not, so hopefully the woman would help him out. His hands were shaking and tears were prepared to fall from his eyes, but Ronan stood tall in hope to look intimidating.[/fieldbox]
The alarm blared and she halted. That wasn't suppose to happen, the alarm never went off. Yet, that wasn't what bothered her. She clutched her keys tightly, a flash of remembrance dancing forth into consciousness. On her first day here after a long day of explanations, questions, and tours, all the rookies had been grouped together and given the basic rules under emergency. 1.) Don't leave the building. 2.) Stay in your offices and lock the doors 3.) Wait until an authorized official has cleared the area before leaving your offices. 4.) All staff will be held until fully questioned and the problem has been analyzed, solved, and stored for later use. Nora was not looking to be held back and kept until the wee hours of the next morning just so that she and the co-workers here would be questioned with nonsensical fluff. Someone probably just spilled something in the lab and caused the alarms to go haywire. However, she was hesitant. Rules were rules whether she liked it or not. She pondered it for a moment and thought, "Screw it" and took off down the hall.
Nora kept her head down, files neatly tucked under her arm for her to look when she arrived home. But she was knocked back, again. The folders fell, scattering all over the floor. "Fuckity, fuck, fuck!" she hissed and dropped to the ground as she picked up all her hard work. "Who the fucking hell do --!!"
Nora bit her tongue restraining the exhausted tirade that punched and kicked to be let out. "You get me out of this building or I shoot you right here right now." For a moment, Nora grew from irritated to puzzled. That was a strange request. She looked up, wondering if someone was playing a game with her but she sucked in a shocked air of breath at what she saw. Instinct was to run or even curl up into a ball like a child, wishing for the monster under the bed to go away. However, this wasn't a bouncing imagination of a sleep deprived youth. This was real. Nora held a a prolonged stare with the man before her and held up her hands slowly. Crimson dripped down his lips and chin, splattering to the clean checkered floors and his voice shook, in deranged anger or fear, she couldn't tell. "Trust me, I have nothing to loose." Her eyes narrowed as her eyes flickered from the pistol and the patient. "Well, I have something to loose here, buddy. So who do you think has the better motivation?" Nora wanted to bite out her smartass remark but knew better.
She nodded, standing slowly to her feet without a single word. Nora hoped for the guards to rush in and tackle the man, hell, she wouldn't care if she had to go through a whole week of detainment, she just didn't want to be pushed around like this. But no such thing happened as she finally got up and began walking. "Just get him off your back, Nora. That's all you have to do." Yet, here's the funny thing. After realizing who and what she was dealing with and staring down the barrel of a pistol, she then took off running. It was as if human nature had been delayed for those few short minutes. She had a feeling he would follow, he didn't have much of a choice. She ran down the halls, twisting down the corners as her heart sped in a frantic beat. Why wasn't anyone coming to her rescue? This was the reason for security wasn't it?! But what did it matter, she spotted the doors to an back alley exist and felt a sudden gush of relief. This would be over and then she could go home. She slammed into the doors, pushing them open into the a cold night breeze.
"There. You're out. Now put down the gun and let me go home."
Ronan couldn't believe this was happening. He couldn't process it all properly, his mind was being fueled with adrenaline which told him to just go with it. The woman looked scared, but probably nothing compared to his face. He licked his lips nervously to taste blood. He had totally forgotten he had probably had his nose broken and was bleeding profoundly. Ronan wanted to wipe it away and cry over the pain, but he didn't want to falter from the stance he had with the gun. "Hurry." Was all he could say. His voice was still shaking, but showed weakness. Ronan had to clear his throat to deepen his voice, stopping himself from sounding so terrified.
The alarm was still loud, if the woman said something Ronan didn't hear it. She nodded before taking off. Hopefully, she wasn't trying to escape, because Ronan was pretty quick on his feet. As she ran, Ronan quickly followed, tailing the down the corridors, twists and turns. He continued to do so until she stopped, so Ronan did too. As she opened the door, Ronan pushed her outside and slammed the door closed with his back. It took him a moment to realize where he was. The outdoors. Ronan looked up to see stars, his lungs filling with fresh air. He took a breath in, taking a moment to take it all in. But now wasn't the time to get emotional. As he was told to put down the gun, he did the opposite. He pointed it at her again and looked at her hand.
"You've got a car... Take me to it.." Ronan shook, the adrenaline was dying out and the pain in his face was becoming noticeable, "Now!" He shouted, the gun in his hand pointed at her head. There was no point trying to make a run for it if the government had cars. This woman was going to help him, he had no other choice. Ronan wasn't sure if he was going to kill her when they got to the car or not, but now he was recognizing the situation, Ronan didn't think he could deal with doing that.
"This kid has got to be insane", she thought, flinching as the gun faced her. Yet, she stood still as he yelled, this fear turning into a growing aggravation. Looking to her side, she wondered if she could run. They were surrounded by trees that towered like giants and it was completely pitch black, only the dim light of twinkling stars glowing. It could be easy, well, if he was a normal human. She didn't know what this experiment was or what he could do, and that alone killed any plan of action. "Don't get any of your fucking blood on my seats. It's brand new", she mumbled under her breath. It was almost laughable that she was worrying over her car rather than her own life, but dammit it coats her over two hundred grand and she had the right to complain! Turning away from him, she jogged behind the building, every rasping breath or snapping branch enough to send her heart onto the forest floor.
"This was not suppose to be what it was like. I was going to be on the highway and on my way home. Not being held hostage by some nut job!" She glanced over her shoulder, wishing for anything to give her a clear chance grab the gun and toss it away, however it was too dark and she couldn't risk getting shot for a stupid move. As the car came in view, wheels muddied with dirt and pebbles, she twisted around and threw her keys at him. "It's the silver on on the far left. You got your car and you can leave." Her words came out so calm, even she was surprised. "I don't want any trouble alright", she said softly as she backed away from him. Darting eyes and the tensing of her body spoke clearly of her intentions, she was about to bolt.
