|
Post by Kelathi on Mar 2, 2019 22:04:59 GMT
“Okay.” Amelia agreed, clearly happy to let Jesse take the lead on this one, although she was relieved to find that they would be on the move again so quickly. She had an awful feeling they were being followed, which she stocked down to general paranoia, it was, after all, a feeling that plagued her often. And yet, this time it felt… stronger, somehow? A feeling of dread that settled in the pit of her stomach, only easing when they were back in the truck, pulling away and back on the road.
She was able to distract herself for a while by looking about their surroundings. It was such a direct contrast to the built-up areas she had spent her life in, and she welcomed it gladly. The rugged mountains were beautiful, wild but seemingly offering a sense of security that could never be afforded her in the city. A thought seemed to come to her then, one she seemed eager to voice. “Jesse, do you think that…”
A pause.
Upon glancing over, it would be clear that Amelia had paled. She was staring at the wing mirror on her side, where a car seemed to have popped into existence behind them. At first, she couldn’t be sure why she found it suspicious. It was just a car, and they had seen many on their way. Who was to say that this particular one was definitely following?
It was because she found, with a start, that she could recognise the face of the person driving it.
It was one of her guards. Or at least, he had been, until she had escaped.
|
|
|
Post by Red Irish Dragon on Mar 3, 2019 0:08:47 GMT
Jesse drove them back out to the road, beginning to shift his attention on remembering the roads to Jimmy’s other little hideouts rather than focusing on the traffic around them. At least he was consistent in one factor; Jimmy hated cities. Ironic that he was part of a gang, preferring to live like an old-fashioned hermit, but he was only ever on the edge of one. It kept them from having to travel in densely populated areas, with more of a chance of being snuck up on.
Which was apparently a stupid rationale, as Amelia proved. She had begun to ask him something when she suddenly went pale, Jesse glancing over into the mirror she was staring at and seeing the car behind them. Her fear kept him from questioning, going straight into defensive driving.
“Hang on,” he said almost distractedly, speeding up and trying to get back to normal streets. The more cars, the more likely they’d be followed… but it also meant the easier they’d be able to lose their pursuer. A double-edged sword in either direction.
As they came around a narrow bend, wide enough for only two careful cars at a time, however, they suddenly were faced with the broad side of another vehicle. Jesse wrenched the wheel hard as soon as he saw the car, managing to clear the barrier before it blocked them off with only a long, sharp scrape on the side of the truck. This meant suddenly rushing down the hill the barrier was supposed to protect traffic from, crashing through brush and over rocks as they went down. Jesse was cursing from the moment they nearly hit the barrier, not so much worried about the vehicle as he was furious with himself. He should have just taken them down into the hideaway… or left Amelia there to throw these people off the scent. They were too desperate, and too well organized to be who they claimed… had he led Amelia right back to them after all?
Finally, they came to the edge of the hillside and the machine groaned with effort as it began speeding alongside the creek, still bouncing about as their options remained literally narrow. As they made ground again, Jesse’s cursing subsided… but was replaced quickly as they bounced into a ditch, and stalled. “No, no, no, no… come on, come on please,” he began to plead, shifting gears and hitting the gas. The machine merely rocked with the effort, spinning its wheels in the mud and unable to move. “Amelia, I’m sorry,” he finally said, still trying hard to get the truck to move. “I am so sorry, I shouldn’t have kept looking, I should have…”
He was interrupted by something breaking the window of the truck, letting out a sound of surprise and pain as his hand clapped to his neck. Jesse pulled out the dart long enough to see it, but as he recognized it, it took effect, his eyes half rolling up as he tried to keep his eyes open but failed, falling into the steering wheel of the truck.
|
|
|
Post by Kelathi on Apr 2, 2019 23:21:57 GMT
As they crashed to a stop, Amelia blacked out for a second. A moment of blissful peace before the world went to shit. When she regained consciousness, she looked around blearily for a moment, before her eyes widened and she frantically reached for her seat-belt lock, pressing the button and freeing herself. Jesse’s voice came to her through the pounding in her ears. They needed to get out of here. “It’s okay, Jesse, just leave it, we have to…” the sound of smashing glass made her near-jump out of her skin, but it was Jesse’s cry of pain that chilled her blood.
“Jesse!” the shriek left her lips as Amelia immediately reached for him, stopping him from falling into the steering wheel and pulling him towards her as if that might save him from being hit again. The way he limply fell against her only panicked her more, but a frantic look about showed that he hadn’t, as she had thought at first, been taken out by a bullet. No bloom of blood from the side of his neck or face, but he was unconscious.
She was fearful, of course, if the pounding in her chest was anything to go by. But as her eyes searched for the perpetrator of the dart, the overwhelming feeling that overcame her then was not fear, but… anger. The emotion ran through her veins like electricity, and as she set her sights on the man that had fired the dart, gun still raised… the tips of her fingers began to tingle as her growl became a shout. “Go… away!”
The last thing she remembered before she blacked out was the shudder of the entire car as the energy speared out from her and into all directions.
***
The taste of metal. She’d bitten her tongue. It was a familiar action that only served to spark memories, none of which were welcome. Bright white lights caused her eyelids to flutter, and then squint once opened. Everything was blurred and much too bright. She closed her eyes again and emitted a low groan, her head feeling as if it had been stuffed with cotton-wool. “J… Jesse?” she found herself asking, hoarsely, as she slowly came to, turning her head to the side and attempting to open her eyes again. It looked like a hospital room, sterile and cold, a doctor’s paraphernalia littering the counter that she could see, the walls a piercing white. Then, it all came back to her. The short but steep trip down the hill, Jesse slumping forwards…
“Jesse?!” She called out then, and was alarmed to find that she couldn’t move her arms or legs, as they were strapped to the table she was lying on. The panic welled up inside of her, her breath hitching in her distress. No… she couldn’t be back. She couldn’t. Her mind couldn’t even comprehend the possibility. And where was Jesse? She began to struggle more fervently, arching her back in her attempt to break free from her bonds. But she was weakened, her movements sluggish. She realised then she recognised this feeling, like her limbs were full of lead. She had been drugged in this way before, always after she had had what… ‘He’… had referred to as an ‘incident’, or ‘tantrum’. It was supposed to calm her, but it did nothing to calm her racing heart or the mounting panic.
|
|
|
Post by Red Irish Dragon on Apr 3, 2019 1:31:40 GMT
“Ah, welcome home.”
The voice spoke lightly, congenially, but there was a coldness behind it, a lack of warmth that could only come from one source. His words were meant to calm, as were the drugs, but he was so detached from viewing the subject as a human it was difficult to hear anything but that distance. Entering through the door, he closed it behind him with its sanitized click, his lab coat spotless even as he read off the clipboard he carried, his smile just as cold as his voice had been as he finally looked back to Amelia.
“Well. I hope you got that nervous energy out of your system,” he began, dismissing her escape with a mere wave. “You’re back where you belong, safe and unharmed. It’s a miracle, really, given how long you’ve been running from us. We only want what’s best for you.”
He hesitated at Amelia’s question regarding Jesse, the fallen smile easily sliding back onto his lips. “Ah, he’s perfectly fine,” he replied smoothly, tapping his pen against the clipboard. “In fact, your finding him was of benefit to our organization. You see, we know that people like you tend to be drawn toward one another, and given your trust in him… well, we looked into his background, his family history and so on. Turns out, he’s like you. Potentially.” He began to circle the table Amelia was strapped to, reading the clipboard and subtly revealing that it wasn’t her information that was on it.
“He’s in fact the son of our first subject… the whole reason our organization was started. Lucien Winters was a sick man… very ill, so he sought help. We were able to convince him to let us examine him, and we eventually discovered that he had… unique abilities, components in his DNA that made him… not fully human.” Inhuman was clearly the word he wanted to use, as if those abilities made him less rather than more. It was a mindset that clearly applied to Amelia as well. “Our organization was built up around studying these abilities of his. But a few years later, he became… unstable. He… left us, nearly destroyed everything in his wake, in spite of everything we had done for him. Haven’t heard anything of him since.”
The tone he gained as he recalled the “ingratitude” of Lucien Winters by escaping, a word he couldn’t bring himself to use as it suggested that they were keeping prisoners rather than subjects, was telling. The note in his voice was sour, and quickly soothed by the next words, chilling as they were.
“But… if his son’s similar enough, as his appearance and his DNA seem to suggest, we can continue the study. Perhaps even find Lucien and bring him back here, where it is safe. All he needs is some… encouragement.”
Another tap of his pen on the clipboard, the smug, assured tone confident of the success in essentially recreating their lost subject through his son… and the satisfaction of imagining the recapture of one who had apparently successfully escaped them.
---
Everything ached.
It wasn’t like the kind of ache he was used to, sore muscles from being battered or thrown. Every inch of him ached, his skin felt like it was throbbing. It was this sensation of lingering, dull pain that finally brought him round, brow creasing as his eyes blinked open against the bright lights, needing several long moments to focus his gaze and determine where he was.
All he could see was he was in a room, sterile white walls and bright lights, like a hospital room. An operating room, more precisely… the comparison did nothing to settle his fears as he came to. What had happened? Why was he in a hospital room? Memories of the race away in the truck, the near crash before spiraling down the hillside, becoming stuck in the mud along the creek… “Amelia?” he finally breathed, weakly, recalling her concern, her words of comfort and of urgency… she was there with him, in the truck. Where was she now?
Jesse was able to turn his head and look to the sides of the table he was on, but his body felt like it was made of lead and he couldn’t move. He could see, however, the IV that was in his arm, an unknown liquid being pumped into him. Somehow, he doubted it was a mere saline solution that was being dripped in the hanging bag. “Am… Amelia?” he forced himself to call out louder, his head throbbing at the effort, his throat dry. It was so hot in the room… why was it so hot?
|
|