After Dawn (Book 3 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy) (9 page)

"We did knock out all the ones at the camp, as far as we could tell," said Dennis. "Maybe they didn't keep guards up here. I mean, look at these people, if you can even still call them that. They can't even get up and leave."

"Here, Paivi, here." Peter shouted. His voice echoed down the corridor. "I found it."

The walls pressed in around her, stealing the breath from her lungs. Her hands shook and she lost all the confidence she had ever gained from Master Song and Master Gendun. She was a little girl, searching for her daddy, hoping that finding him would make everything okay.

Paivi joined Peter in front of the door and the others gathered behind them, each of them putting a hand on Paivi or Peter.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Peter looked into her eyes. He didn't bother to shield his grief.

She nodded. She had to see. She had to know the truth. And at the least, if like Molly, she could take her dad beyond the walls of hell for a decent death or burial, then that's what she had to do.

Peter placed his hand on the side of the scanner to the right of the door.

The door slid open to reveal a grisly scene.

A man Paivi remembered from her dream stood in front of a metal table. A body lay beneath him. Wires and tubes trailed out of both wrists, ankles, knees, and hips, as well as out of the crook of both elbows. The tubes were filled with a green liquid. Electrodes were stuck to the bald man's head and his skull vibrated.

A large needle with a tube attached was stuck directly in the center of his heart and red blood flowed through the tube into the ceiling. Monitors on the wall beeped and reported numbers and stats that Paivi didn't comprehend.

"What are you doing here?" squeaked the small man in the lab coat. His bushy eyebrows rose in alarm. He spun toward them brandishing a scalpel.

"Yeah, you're going to stop us with that scalpel?" Xavier laughed.

Paivi sensed a surge of energy from someone behind her and the doctor's scalpel flew against the wall with a clang and dropped to the floor.

The doctor lunged for a bright red phone that hung to his left.

Paivi's eyes bored into the small man and she flicked her hand at him lazily.

He froze in mid-lunge, but she allowed him to be able to speak. She needed to know how to disconnect her dad.

"They won't come. There aren't even any in the mountain that we've found. Not like we'd have a problem dealing with them like we dealt with the others." Paivi crossed the room to stand in front of him and narrowed her eyes. "Dr. Todesengel. That's your name, isn't it?"

"What is this, you insipid girl?" Dr. Todesengel said, his accent thick and gutteral. He narrowed his eyes, which were darkened by the shadows of his heavy brows. He had a distinct gap between his teeth. His words whistled through it. "You have no idea what you're doing here."

"Oh, I know what I'm doing here." She walked past the doctor to her dad's body and gently pulled the electrode free from his head. It gave her a shock, but nothing strong. Her energy shielded her. She pulled another one free as Dr. Todesengel looked on in horror.

"No, no! He was my greatest experiment. You can't do this!" He squealed as she pulled off the last two electrodes.

Her dad's head stopped shaking and lay still and silent. She fingered the tubes.

"He's my father, you monster. I'm taking him home." She took one of the needles inserted into his hand and gently freed it. Blood mixed with the green fluid oozed from the wound. Her dad's arms were barely more than skin and bone. She feared she would have to carry him out of there.  

"You are making a horrible mistake, little girl." He screamed at her. "You will kill us all."

She flung a hand toward his face and released a burst of energy. He fell silent, his eyes frozen with terror.

"Go round up whoever you can find," Paivi said to the others. They stood in the doorway with sad eyes. "We're leaving this place as soon as I get him unhooked."

The group filed out the door, following Peter. Xavier stayed, moving closer to the metal table. "Can I help?"

Paivi looked up through a veil of tears as she struggled to remove a needle from her dad's knee. "Just stand there. Be there." She swallowed a sob. "Thanks."

The needle came free from her dad's knee and it bled worse than the others. His blood did not run red like it should. It had a greenish hue. His eyes fluttered.

Paivi's heart thudded in her chest. "Daddy?" she whispered.

His blue eyes appeared from under the thin lids. At first they were fixated only on the ceiling. He didn't move. He didn't see her.

Paivi sucked in a deep breath and moved on to the next tube. She disconnected the tube and wire contraption attached to his hip. She stepped sideways the next tube in his wrist. He continued to stare at the ceiling. She delicately pulled the needle free from his opposite wrist and gently wrapped her fingers around his hand. She squeezed it, sending positive energy and love through their connected skin. If he couldn't tell she was there, maybe he could feel it in his soul or in his mind, if any of it still existed.

Paivi wiped a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand.

Her dad's cracked lips moved ever so lightly. A light breath escaped, nothing more.

"I think he tried to say something," Paivi said and leaned closer to his face. She looked deep into his deadened eyes, hoping for some sign of life.

"I didn't hear anything," Xavier said. He stepped to her side. Paivi could feel his presence next to her.

With sudden force, Paivi's dad sprang to life. An unearthly shriek echoed around the room and Paivi could feel Xavier's warm hands yanking her backward. Her dad thrashed on the table, his eyes still staring at the ceiling.

"I have to help him!" Paivi screamed at Xavier. "What if he’s having a seizure or something?"

"I don't think that's a seizure." Xavier gestured toward the table where Paivi’s dad sat up straight and proceeded to rip the final needle from his body. From his own heart. Blood shot forward like a fountain, pouring out of his heart and over his body onto the table. Green-tinged blood pooled into small puddles on the floor.

"He's dying!" She pushed Xavier aside and ran toward her dad. "Dad! Dad!"

Paivi grabbed her dad's shoulder. "You need to lay down, Daddy!"

His head swung stiffly toward her, his icy blue dead eyes bore through her.

"I'm here to help you. To save you. I came for you. For Mom. She's alive and we're leaving today."

"I don't think he's in there anymore, Paivi," Xavier said quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Paivi’s dad leapt off the table and lunged at Paivi, knocking her to the floor. Xavier dragged her by the arm and pulled her to her feet in the corner. Her dad stood between them and the exit. The grotesque human statue of Dr. Todesengel remained as well, posing another obstacle.

"Paivi!" Peter shouted from the doorway. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Paivi stammered. "He's stronger than me and he's skin and bones. What the hell is that green stuff?"

Her dad roared like a caged beast. It rattled the instruments in the room. Paivi watched in horror as he began to grow, his chest swelling out and his legs lengthening. He was nearly as tall as the ten-foot ceilings and his newly muscled body filled the room. He gnashed his teeth, which had grown sharper, like daggers in his mouth. Froth and green liquid oozed from his lips. Claws sprouted from his fingertips, razor-sharp. Still, his blue eyes remained. Paivi attempted a scream but nothing passed her lips, not even breath.

She had to pull herself together. She could feel Xavier's energy flowing through her. A ball of fire appeared in his palm.

"No! Don't do that!" She threw out a hand and extinguished it. "That's my Dad."

"Paivi, he's not your father anymore!" Peter screamed from the door.

Her dad’s head swung heavily toward the door and roared, lunging for Peter with clawed hands.

On instinct, Paivi threw her own energy at him, but it bounced out, barely registering. He turned on them, more angered than before.

"I told you, you'd never get out of here alive." A voice cackled in the doorway.

Chapter 11

The man from the drawer stood in the doorway. MD something. She didn't remember the numbers.

He shuffled into the room next to her dad. In his hand he held the IV bag that contained the blue liquid. The needle was stuck into his arm.

Paivi’s dad, now a monster, did not lunge at the man, he even stepped aside to make room for him. Her dad’s heavy breath echoed through the room. He kept his icy eyes trained on Paivi and Xavier in the corner.

"I see you've met Dr. Todesengel." He nodded toward the man in the lab coat.

Paivi could barely nod in response.

"What did he do to you?" Paivi whispered. Her voice shook.

"He made us weapons." He gestured toward Paivi’s dad. "He made us monsters of destruction. This was your father?"

She nodded. "Why isn't he attacking you?"

"It would be stupid to produce weapons that attack each other." The man chuckled. "We're programmed to recognize each other's presence. In such a small space, he could kill us all, so he stops. But if I leave," he paused, "it's lights out for you."

He stood silent for a moment. His hospital gown hung on him like he was a coat rack.

"I'm going to do something for you now. I'm going to save your life."

Xavier tightened his grip on her arm. Peter peeked around the corner through the doorway, but said nothing.

"Don't you want to come with us?" Paivi asked, her voice shaking.

"I can't do that. Technically, I'm programmed to kill you, but you're safe as long as this needle is in my arm. And something has to set me off."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Anger. Hatred." He looked her over. "He created us to kill our own kind. I'm not sure what for. He's got all of us in a camp."

Paivi knew why. There were more people like them in the world. Did Stevens know that too?

"What will you do then? Just stay here?" Paivi inched forward, Xavier at her side. They were pressed close. She was ready for anything, but she was powerless. She only hoped she could trust what this man said.

"Oh, no. I plan on destroying this place and everything in it." A crooked smile twisted across his bony face.

"My...my Dad?" Paivi's heart sank to her feet.

"Would you rather I release him to follow you? We can't be fixed. We're abominations of nature. Monsters." His eyes softened for a moment. "I was a monster in life, as well. I used my powers for my own agenda. I killed people. A lot of people."

"MD." Xavier breathed next to Paivi. "Malcolm Davis? Head of the Righteous Front?"

The man lowered his eyes and breathed deeply. "I can't change what I did in the past. I was a horrible person. I am a horrible person. I was the reason Stevens came up with the damned EOS list. But this is my chance to show one person that I was more than a murderer. I can save you."

Paivi's head spun. Her eyes traveled over the monstrous form of her dad in front of her. She wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. She longed to erase this vision from her memory. It was the last time she would see him and she didn't want to remember him this way for the rest of her life.