Present day….
Unexpectedly, the following morning Nate was the one to be disturbed from his pleasant slumber, not realizing the space beside him was empty and the warmth of a certain beauty was missing, until he felt an irritating object poking at his nose, jaws and even his closed eye lids.
“Hmm… M, what are you doing?” The boy subconsciously grumbled in a low husky voice, wondering what on earth she was up to, literally poking around his face.
“You look so sweet when you’re not awake, pretend I’m not here.” Marcel continued to hover at the side of his bed, resting one elbow on the mattress with her chin in her palms and her knees bent on the carpeted floors below, while her free hand stubbornly traced the outline of his near perfect facial features.
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“This has nothing to do with Marcel, stop looking for a reason to blame her.” Nate instinctively defended. In other matters he could reluctantly ignore their accusations knowing that the girl was capable of handling the issue on her own, but having a strange premonition that things were about to get a lot more complicated if his previous intuition was correct, for the sake of protecting her from the possible storm to come; he desperately wanted to deflect any sort of blame towards her… surely rumors must be spreading like wildfire. “Open your eyes, or are you blind? This place use to be packed with customers, but since the jinx got here, it’s completely empty.”Sarah stretched out her hands in the open space as if presenting evidence to support her claims. “That’s bull… umm… ri
“Wait a minute, this director… Victory what’s his name, he had already told you about your father… then what about aunt Ruby? We only know that she’s missing, how could he announce her death when she wasn’t anywhere near Acre Hills?” Nate openly questioned. “This is sheer bullshit; he stood there lying through his teeth when I asked if my mom came to visit; if she was there then he must know where both my parents are.” “Ha! Stop pretending, you two obviously planned the entire thing.” Sarah refused to believe a single word, in fact like most of the villagers she instantly accepted what was heard and retold by others… why? because of what happened in the past. It was all somehow connected to that one person. “I don’t care if you believe me or not, but the director is lying, I know he is.” Marcel swallowed the bitterness at the back
“Is this about what happened the last time I was there? because if it is…” “No M, it’s hard to explain, but umm… well I wasn’t the one that packed your belongings, I brought it back to my place after I found it stacked together at the bottom of the stairs.” “I don’t understand, does that mean someone else was in the house?” Marcel frowned in confusion waiting for a response as the car drove closer and closer to the familiar vicinity. “That’s the thing, none of the neighbors I asked saw anyone coming in or out of there and the weirdest part is… it wasn’t just your stuff, the rest of the house was completely cleared out.” “What the hell! That’s crazy! Were they all suffering from temporary blindness? How c
“Okay, now what the hell is this? I can’t believe he would stoop so low, that idiot!” Marcel vented out loud standing with her back to the closed doors she had just entered moments ago, grumpily taking out the boy’s phone from her jeans, prepared to dial his land line number, but suddenly stopped realizing that a single call might be enough to make him rush on over before she could even issue a complain. “Humph! I should have seen through his lies, there’s no way someone would steal a bunch of old furniture and ornaments, no wonder the neighbors didn’t see anything… because there wasn’t anything ‘to’ see.” The girl shook her head in disappointment wondering why Nate would try to deceive her, clearly the house wasn’t empty… everything was exactly the way it was before.
“Calm down Marcel, I need you to stay focus… listen to my voice.” Mike reassured her, understanding that for any normal human being, seeing such a next to impossible occurrence of having a deceased loved one appear even in a foggy state, it would be both incredibly painful and frightening all at once. “Why… how… what… this is just insane! I’m going crazy…” The girl yet again anxiously shook her head, not realizing that her limbs had actually moved despite being numb… but unfortunately stumbled backwards onto the wooden floors. “Be careful!” The ghostly figure excitedly hovered closer, worry evident in his static tone. “M… Mike…” Marcel held her raging chest murmuring lowly as she found the strength to stare directly at the m
“No, that just doesn’t make any sense. Why would the director go to such lengths to destroy your family? Spreading lies is one thing… but to use some weird gas which may or may not exist… I find it hard to believe.” “Grandpa! Mike said it had something to do with him. Then there was the doctor’s report and the mention of the whole bizarre experiment. I think it’s all linked to what’s happening now.” Marcel paced back and forth across the room trying to connect the dots. “Alright, wait a second… let me see if I get right. Michael Rayburn, your grandfather; we know that he was at Acre Hills apparently admitted for mental instability at a time when he had supposedly died from heart attack. No one in your family had ever said anything about this yet his file was there, could it be that th
Like any other level-minded individual, Nate obviously found most of what she was saying to be quite outrageous yet as with the past, it didn’t stop him from going to the ends of the earth in supporting her theory. If she believed all this was true, then he would try his best to help her find the answers she needed. “So what now? What are we going to do about aunty Betty? I’m sure those nosy neighbors are keeping tabs on me to see if I’ll get rid of you too… humph! they definitely saw you bringing me back here.” “Hmm, everyone at the diner is going to know by tomorrow… or by the end of the day.” Nate sighed wearily at the thought of them being under twenty-four hour surveillance in their own town. “At times like this I’m glad this crappy place doesn’t take gossips a
Although they were both anxious for answers, at this very moment it was still rather useless to take action, the most they could do was speculate and plan out their next move in solving the mystery. So running around in the open was absolutely not such a good idea when logically they were mere young adults battling against the heartless enemy. Marcel obediently stayed at the boy’s residence jotting down her conclusion and reviewing them, convincing herself that this was real… all the recent irrational, crazy things in her life was actually happening. Nate did as he said, driving back to the diner hoping that Betty was calm enough to be reasoned with, thinking that since he had managed to persuade her for a chance in the beginning then maybe he could do the same once more, now that she wouldn’t be influenced or provoked by the reminders of gossiping empl
An unknown amount of time later… “Ahh! My head… what the f*** just happened to me?” Victor gasped for breath in a daze as if emerging from a suffocating nightmare… coughing several times as he struggled to lift his weak limbs off the titled office floors trying to ease the unbearable pain hammering away at his very bones… his heavy eyes lids almost sealing shut… squinting with thin layers of dried blood trailing along his haggard face, his dark orbs desperate for the sight of light and the call of reality… red droplets of stains on his once white lab coat further adding disgust to the monster’s miserable state. Just a while ago he was no doubt on the verge of going mad with power, determined to kill any and every one standing in his way. But now… was he being forced into accepting defeat without having the slightest idea who his true rival was all along? “The question is not… what ‘has’… but what ‘will’… happen to you.” A strange voice echoed around him, yet almost
“The Depository? But Master she’s our first test subject for the luminary drug trial and the host carrying the antigen to suppress the side effects; we might still need her to keep the others alive.” One of the doctors anxiously expressed his concerns hearing Victor’s command and seeing the girl being placed on another available wheeled bed ready to be taken to her death. “We have the old man and enough patients in the building to form my army; once the process is completed I’ll move ahead as planned.” His brief statement no doubt made those assisting him quite stunned and lost for words as it instantly occurred to them that their leader was perhaps now seeking a different course of action… one contradicting their original beliefs. “What about the villagers… our family…
“No! Don’t touch me! Stay away from me you monster!” Marcel defensively screamed, frantically retreating a few steps, bumping into nearby carts and patients’ bed dreadful of the outcome awaiting them all. Indeed, reality had proven to be far more terrifying than expectations and ones’ own imagination. Maybe she too had underestimated the situation; there was no time to reason, reduce the impact or to create another distraction… it was happening right now whether or not they were truly prepared for the consequences. “Get her!” Victor demanded sullenly, standing in place watching her squirm about in obvious protest, yet he was in no mood to relish the scene… his tolerance was already worn thin. “Leave me alone!” The girl struggled in anxiousness as a guard quickly grabbed hold of her han
“Hey! Be careful… don’t hurt her.” Nate angrily fought to break free from the guards hold as the men rushed forward almost immediately after noticing them a few steps ahead. Though they were ready to put an end to all this… to finally confront the vindictive doctor, that didn’t necessarily mean that they would allow themselves to be harassed without putting up a fight… well, at least the boy wasn’t about to let them injure his girlfriend. However, Marcel simply rolled her eyes at his exaggerating remarks wondering to herself… ‘What did he expect… that they would spread out a red carpet and escort them politely? For heaven sake, they were possibly being led to their deaths, this wasn’t some award ceremony… and besides, how fragile did he really think she was? “Shut
“Oh crap!” the girl blurted out, immediately recognizing the owner of the voice despite the grumbling sound of static frequency announcing his every word from the other side of the small funnel shaped speakers fixed just a few inches below the white reflective pvc ceiling stationed throughout the building. “If I’m not mistake, Nathaniel Estefan should be right beside you at this moment.” Victor paused then emphasized in a casual manner… “Don’t worry… the more… the merrier.” No doubt the duo was rather confused by his reaction. ‘Shouldn’t he boiling with anger or at least a tad bit hostile?’ Marcel glanced at Nate with a look of uncertainty, her questioning thoughts easily understood by the young man. “I’m sure he’s pissed.”
Staring at the personification of pure evil standing right before them, neither woman could cry out in fear, anger or agony even if they wanted to, for their mental battle was not one they could easily overcome at will. “Don’t give me that look; I’m only trying to help.” Victor spoke yet again with a fake expression of pity and concern that could not be disguised as he found a sense of excitement seeing the two innocent souls in such a miserable state. “Then again… blood is always the most important thing and that is… something I’m willing to kill for.” He continued… his prospective obviously differing on a whole other level than what those words would have meant to any other sane individual. “Now I can’t possibly ask you to abandon them in their times of need&hell
Since the remaining M-TIFY containers were nowhere near their reach, the only other logical explanation Victor could come up with was that… ‘Something must have happened in the control room’… as to when exactly it all started, he had no clue. But if it was before the fumes had run its course, then they truly had no idea where the girl could be at this precise moment... everything could very well be a fabricated scenario this time around. Thankfully, when it came to Maxwell he was indeed right where the cameras placed him. ‘What are they planning to do now? Why leave the old man behind after all the trouble they went through to find him?’ “Master, should we also send someone to the cold storage area?” Bradford’s words interrupted the man’s internal reasoning realizing that he had neither disconnected the call nor said an
Flashback ends**** “I think it worked, he wouldn’t be able to see us for at least a few minutes.” Nate let out a loud breath of relief, closing the door behind them. “Yeah, until he figures out what we’ve done.” Marcel mumbled worriedly, choosing not to ask what actually happened to the motionless guards leaned against each other lifelessly like a sack of potatoes; assuming that the boy must have sneaked up on them while they busy squinting into the monitors and easily knocked them out cold or maybe they were already asleep and all he had to do was hit their heads together really hard… of course this was only her imagination. “With all that you’ve done I’m sure he has another outlet to constantly spy on us and if he realizes something is up with the images, this will be the firs
“Master, should we wait and see what she’s up to?” One of the officer asked thinking that the man, just as before would prefer to observe the bothersome girl from afar, afraid of being led into a trap. “Wait?” Victor’s blood boiled in anger at the mere thought of letting her roam freely for another minute, yet he did not intend on acting rashly. “Get the father first and make sure the women are ready for testing… I will personally accommodate these two.” He added, all the while remaining focused on the monitor in fron