Steele-Chapter two

Chapter 2

~flashback cont.~

The thing that was most worried about though, was taking a look at the damage done to my chest. What I expected was a huge rugged slash across my body. Seeing as careless as Boss was about the pain I’d be going through, I doubted he cared much about whether or not the slice was straight or not. But what was really there was something totally different. The scar across my heart looked like nothing compared to what else was there. Black veins ran all across my body. Not just on my chest, but on every part of me. They started from my neck and traveled from there down my arms and all through my fingertips.Even through the rips in my khakis I could see my darkened veins. It looked as though someone took a marker and outlined every major vein in my body. I could see them pulsing at every heart beat. If you looked close enough you could see traces of the green liquid, better known as Mercuranium, flowing through them, infecting my blood. My heart started to pound even more then it did when I found Jaclyn Churchill’s name on the list of people’s blood that were on the leather straps binding me to the bed.

“It should fade away soon.” The sudden voice made me jump. It was Boss. He was standing on the far side of the room near the only door. All the anger I felt towards him was boiling inside me. The only thing I wanted to do right now was get out of these restraints and rip out his throat. Or maybe I could tear out his other eye. Then he’d have no way of seeing.

I snarled at him. “What did you do to me? I demand an answer from you Boss.” My voice was drenched in hatred. He was the one who wanted to strip me of my normal life. The one who wanted me for this..this experiment!

Another nasty smile flickered across his face. His voice was soft, “I’ve made you perfect.”

“Perfect?! You kidnapped me, experimented on me, cut me open, and made my veins black! I wouldn’t call that perfect.”

“All in time my dear Eli. All in time. Soon you will understand.”

I couldn’t take it anymore. This guy wasn’t giving me anything I wanted. I screamed again. Not out of pain like the last time, but out of anger. I looked up at Boss, “I hate you.”

These restraints were the only thing keeping Boss alive at the moment. I wanted to change that. I used all the strength I could find and pulled my arms up trying to rip off the straps from my wrists. First attempt failed. I took a deep breath. Concentration was what I needed. I thought about what had happened in the past few hours. My normal life was now nonexistent, I’m no longer a human being, my body was aching with pain. The list goes on forever. Tears threatened to escape my eyes. No. No I refuse to show weakness with him around. A snarl formed on my face. All the pain and hatred left my body with a terrifying yell. “I hate you! I hate you I hate you I hate you!” My eyes were narrowed. I looked straight at Boss. “I want you dead.”

A tingling sensation filled my body. My hands felt icy cold like they were dipped into a bucket of ice water. The feeling made it’s way quickly up my arms. I had no idea what was happening to me. Was I dying? I hoped not, because I still had one thing left to do before I could die: Kill Boss, and do it slowly and painfully.

The sensation grew more intense and it made the veins in my arms start to get bigger and show themselves more. It was getting really painful. I threw my head back in agony and let out yet another scream. I could feel a strange feeling flowing through me, it wasn’t the same tingling one, no. This one, this feeling, was power.

Over the sound of my scream I could faintly hear the crackling of fire. Where it came from, I had no idea. But I know that it saved me from being held captive my those damned leather straps. Opening my eyes I could see that the fire was formed into a ball, and it was hovering right over my hands. And with my improved vision, the flames looked more brilliant then usual. I could make out all the small pieces of leather that turned to ash. My mind went completely blank. Completely forgetting my hatred toward Boss, I stared at my hands and the ball of fire above them. There was no way that I, Eli Steele, could have done that. I produced fire to come from my hands for Pete’s sakes!

I forgot about Boss until he came up to the end up the bed to unstrap my ankles. Still at a loss for words, I kept staring at my hands. “Eli,” he said. I pried my eyes from my hands to look at Boss. “You’re complete. No longer are you human, but you’re better. What I planned to do to you was a huge risk. The chances of survival were minimum, but because you lived, proves to me that I picked the right person for the job. Not just any normal human could withstand 40 injections of pure Mercuranium, Eli. Get off the bed, I must show you something.”

Moving was really difficult. I still felt weak and lightheaded from the operation. My muscles felt tight and every time I moved, more pain erupted through my body.  When my feet hit the floor, the pain shooting up through my toes to my shins and up to my thighs was like a hundred pins and needles piercing into my skin ripping and tearing through muscle and tissue.

I promised myself not to show weakness in front of Boss though. So I swallowed down the pain and planted my feet completely on the disgusting, blood covered floors. Boss tried to steady me, but I pushed him away. There was no way I was allowing him to touch me.

“Very well,” was all he muttered under his breath. “Follow me.” His eyes traveled down my legs and to my bare feet,  now covered in dirt and blood, “And try to keep up.” Boss took me back through the same swinging doors we entered before the experimentation began. We walked through the empty hallway until Boss came to a stop. He was about 20 yards a head of me. Slowly he turned to face me, his hair casting an erie shadow over his face. The words on his eye patch barely showing themselves through the darkness his shaggy brown hair was creating. Boss gave a hand motion indicating me to come closer. The pain in my legs made it difficult, but I managed as best as I could and eventually made it close enough to hear Boss whisper.

“What you are about to see, will change your life forever. Behind this door is something I’ve been keeping for just the right person.” He walked up to one of the many big wooden doors on the sides of the corridor. Pushing hard against the door with his shoulder, it opened. A cold breeze escaped from the darkness engulfing the room on the other side of the door. Boss looked back at me. “This will be the one and only time you’re allowed in here. Do you understand?” I left the question unanswered in fear of the wrong answer. I wanted to say I understood, but in truth, I didn’t. What could be in this room that is so bad that no one is allowed in it?

I regretted asking myself. The first thing that was noticeable was the screams. They weren’t just regular screams, but haunting, terrifying screams. The kind that wake you up from a nightmare. The kind that you don’t want to hear when you’re alone in a dark place. The kind that reminds you of death.

From the door, a long thin stretch of stone, about three feet wide, made a straight path to a platform in middle of the open area. Boss and I slowly walked onto the path. Looking over the edge of the path, I saw something that completely went against anything I could have thought possible, but it went against logic. Over the edge of the stone path was a vast open area. It was filled with a faint fog that had a reddish tint to it. The foggy abyss was a never ending drop. I tried to see if I could see anything that even resembled a floor to the bottomless pit, but found nothing. Though the strangest part of the entire room, was the floating orbs of mist. They floated mindlessly around the immense amount of open space without any disruption. The orbs didn’t seem to be a harm but they gave off small moans. Soft at first, but as we got closer to the platform up ahead, they seemed to be getting louder.

“Don’t worry, they pose as no threat to us.”

One of the orbs made their way close to my face.  I stared at it in fascination. “What are they?”

“Souls.” Boss said stepping onto the platform.

I stopped. “I’m sorry?”

“Souls,” he said again. “The part of a human that leaves the body after death. All of these have just so happened to be the souls of the many I’ve killed.” He pointed to all of them. “As you can see, I’ve finished all of my list.”  He was standing on the platform, while I was still in the same position standing still on the path. On the platform I noticed a small table. The table was being occupied  by a folded piece of paper with a wax seal. Boss took the piece of paper delicately off of the table and held it out for me to take. “And now, Eli,  it’s time for you to start yours. This is a list of all the people you’re destined to, take care of for me.” I started to say something but he held up his hand. “Don’t you dare question me Eli. This is your new future. And with your power, causing death and mayhem will be easy."