Synthetic: Dark Beginning (5 page)

“That’s all I have.”

Vaughn considered beating Ivan until he revealed where he’d squirreled away all the keys. He’d spent years looking for them, but never found so much as the key to the Winnebago that hid near the back of the garage like a great wounded bear.

“I don’t have time to argue.” Vaughn lifted him off the ground by the front of his apron until their eyes met. Ivan kicked his legs out but Vaughn held him at a farther distance so his boots only met with air.

“I knew I should have asked Caleb to come with us.”

“Are those the Italian shoes Ruby ordered for me? Very nice.” Vaughn pretended to admire the shiny black leather.

“Hold me a little closer and I’ll let you taste them.”

“I’ve tried to be patient with you, Ivan, but you make it impossible. I’m going to teach you a lesson. Where do you hide the keys?”

“You can beat me all day but I won’t tell you.”

Vaughn was in too much of a hurry for the usual drawn-out torture. “Then just give me the key to your superbird.”

Ivan hung in silence for a moment, studying Vaughn. “The engine still needs some fine tuning. You might break down halfway there.”

He’d chosen his lie well. Vaughn didn’t know anything about engines and if he got stranded, he’d be screwed.  “Then I want the Aston. That’s my final choice.”

“What do you think you are? A blood-sucking James Bond?”

“Looks like I’ll have to break each of your fingers one by one. It’ll be quick and what a nice sound they’ll make—snap, snap, snap.”

Ivan stopped kicking and went limp. “Fine. But only because this trip might help Caleb.”

Vaughn opened his hand and Ivan fell to the cement with a loud thump. He scrambled to his feet, glowered at Vaughn as he brushed himself off, and scurried to the other side of the garage. Vaughn crept after him, slipping through the rows of cars like a lynx. He’d just reached the door to Ivan’s shop when it burst open and Ivan stood holding the key.

“If that car comes back with so much as a tiny scratch, I’ll mash you to a vampire pulp,” said Ivan.

Vaughn pushed Ivan aside and swept into the fastidious room lined with low workbenches. Every tool sat in its designated spot and once removed, an outline similar to a chalk drawing at a crime scene was revealed in its place. Vaughn had ransacked Ivan’s shop many times over the years and though he’d never found the car keys, he’d at least had the satisfaction of stealing his tools.

“Don’t even bother looking,” said Ivan. He shut the door and locked it. Ivan had tried every lock on the market and constantly complained that nothing was vampire proof.

They walked over to the Aston and Vaughn opened the door. “Let me know when you’re done tuning the Superbird and I’ll take that one out next.”

Vaughn revved the engine and clumsily jerked the car into first gear so it shot forward and banged into the garage door. Ivan shrieked and flew to a panel on the wall where he pressed a red button, sending the huge wooden door creaking open. Vaughn waved through the open window as he lurched up the driveway, rolling backward at one point when he accidentally shifted into neutral.

“You'll never drive my bird, you idiotic parasite,” Ivan screamed at him, “because you’ll never find the key.”

Chapter 5

Ruby hauled open a door that resembled the entrance to an ancient monastery.  Kora expected another Frankenstein set, but instead she was drenched in sunlight. She lifted her face into the golden warmth and marveled at a glass roof that bubbled up into the sky like a hollowed out diamond. Stacks of machines cluttered the floor around Ishmael’s travel container and many had already been sorted into different piles: a sign that her squid had emerged during the night.

Kora could hear the shower running in his container.  Though breathing was optional for Ishmael, he had to keep his flesh moist and to her surprise, Randall had done a good job anticipating all of his needs. This piece of junk would come in handy during those infuriating times when she couldn't get the temperature, pH levels, or salt content of his tank water just right.  Sometimes she spent days hovering over his tank, tapping in various potions as Ishmael paced the lab floor, signing over and over that the water was fine.

“This is fantastic.” Kora searched the room and finally found Ruby packed into a shadowy recess where the sunlight couldn’t reach her.

“I knew you’d like it,” she said accusingly. “Humphrey got carried away with the windows as usual.”

“I wish my lab at Mirafield had this much natural light.” Kora picked up a machine from the floor, the guts hanging out in a pitiful tangle of wires. “Is there somewhere I can put trash?”

“You get rid of things?”

“Don’t you?”

“I just have Humphrey add another floor to the castle. Stack anything you don’t want out in the hall and Ivan will take care of it.”

Kora grabbed hold of a steel box and dragged it to the door. Ruby frowned as she ran a black nail over her chin.

“You have the most disappointing equipment. Machines of creation should be made of iron and bellow fire.”

“I think we moved beyond iron and fire a long time ago.”

“Beyond fire? My creatures were born out of fire. To understand fire is to understand the chemistry of creation.”

Kora felt confident that her scientific knowledge far outstripped her mother’s, but when she looked into that hardened face, she knew arguing would be a complete waste of time. “What is it you want, exactly?”

Ruby climbed out of her dark nook and stretched. “I’ll show you, but first let me fetch your assistant. The wretched boy should already be here.”

Kora waited until Ruby disappeared down the hall before darting over to Ishmael. He dropped his shell and stood with his rubbery arms wriggling in the air as if trying to get all the kinks out. Kora took a running leap and Ishmael caught her with one arm while his remaining seven wrapped around the steel box she’d managed to drag to the door. He pulled it back to the center of the lab behind Kora's back.

“Leave that alone. I’m getting rid of it,” said Kora, twisting around while she dangled in midair.

Ishmael didn't set her down until he'd scooped everything into a pile and writhed on top of it.

“I thought I finally had my chance to clean house,” said Kora.

He reached out and fondly rubbed the top of her head, but when she glanced down at the pile, his arm snapped back into a defensive position.

“Have you even looked up at the sky?”

Ishmael tipped back his tall head and gazed up at the glass ceiling.

“Amazing isn’t it? The ocean is just beyond that wall at the base of the cliffs. Beautiful, but I'm sure it's filthy and unfit for either humans or squids.”

Ishmael hustled back to the base of his tower, spooled his arms around his narrow body, and yanked a lever that raised his shell which closed with a loud snap. Kora thought maybe she’d said something to scare him off, but the next moment Ruby blew into the lab with a hunched figure hobbling behind her dressed in a monk's robe. Kora knew this was the same deformed creature she’d seen silhouetted against the torches the previous morning, but he wasn’t at all what she expected. Beneath the swell of the massive hump was a handsome face with brown eyes and a wide smile.

“You’re sort of normal,” said Kora, unaware that she’d spoken her thoughts aloud.  This was a great relief to her.  She couldn't handle meeting another one of Ruby's mutants.

“Thanks for noticing. I’m Gus,” he said. “You were expecting the old hunchback, the mutant one?”

Kora glanced at Ruby who was massaging her temples as if she had a headache. “I didn't know there was a previous hunchback,” said Kora.

“Oh yes. Before I came along, Ruby had a hideous beast with one eye bigger than the other who drank three cases of Budweiser every night while watching reruns of pro wrestling. Unfortunately, when she first diced him together she gave him a liver the size of a ping-pong ball. The poor guy had just discovered the wonders of cocktails and independent films when he keeled over.”

Ruby opened her mouth to refute this charge, but Gus breezed by her and spun in the center of the room. “How beautiful. I had no idea the ceiling was like that because Humphrey had it covered up with boards for so long. And look, there’s even a phallic work of public art celebrating the new construction.”

“That’s Ishmael,” said Kora.

“What is he?” asked Gus.

Kora fidgeted with her fingers until she finally stuffed her hands into the pockets of her cashmere sweater. “Nothing, just a tool I use in my work.”

“That’s a big tool.”

Ruby ventured into the sunlit room like a condemned witch moving toward a bonfire. “Stop talking Gustavo. We need to get started.”

Gus hobbled around Kora, his eyes moving up and down her slender frame. “Ruby, you sly dog.” He pointed a finger at the old woman. “I never thought you’d have such a hot daughter. Always thought you the insanely jealous type when it came to other women, especially the ones from your womb.”

“Shut up and go get the synthetic out of the fridge,” commanded Ruby.

On his way by Ishmael, Gus poked at his shell. “Let me guess. It’s a great big kielbasa?” He reached for one of the steel plates and Kora yelled, “NO.” Ruby and Gus both looked at her and she forced a laugh. “Ishmael’s nothing but a big blob. If you open one of those plates, some of him might…spill out.”

“Will he be fizzy and green?” asked Gus.

“The vessel!” Ruby pointed at the fridge.

Gus returned minutes later with the long gurney still covered in a plastic lid. He pressed a button and the cover folded away revealing the vessel's pale, beautiful face.

“Can I go make my coffee now,” Gus said with a yawn. “I’m still half asleep.”

“Yes, go away,” said Ruby. She caressed the vessel's face as her voice swelled: “Her skin is like the moon through mist with hair that is a thousand shades of darkness—” Gus banged his coffee filter loudly against the trashcan until Ruby turned and scowled at him. “I know Randall has coached you, but I have a different plan in mind for this body,” she continued when he was done. “In two days, I expect to look in the mirror and see that gorgeous face reflected back at me with great big fangs.”

“This is where it gets weird,” said Gus, rejoining them with two grimy cups in his hands, one of which he handed to Kora. “Ruby thinks you’ll be able to put her brain into that body. I told her I could do it in a jiffy, but for some reason she went to all the trouble of hiring you.”

Kora took a deep breath.  “What you’re asking is impossible.”

“Of course it’s possible,” said Ruby. “That is the one and only thing Randall and I agree on.”

“All the synthetics around here are a total mess so I’m not sure why Ruby’s so eager to stuff her brain inside one,” said Gus, refilling Kora’s cup.

“Kora’s work is different from mine,” said Ruby. “Longevity was never my strength. I designed my creatures to be hacked up during fight scenes so why bother having them around forever?”  She ran a hand down the synthetic's long hair.  “Here, before us, is the most advanced creature ever made. She is perfect in beauty, strength, and longevity.”

Gus brushed the vessel’s hair away from her ears. “And you’ll be able to hear conversations ten miles away.”

Ruby glared at Kora. “You’ll fix those atrocious ears, too, while you’re here.”

“So exactly how long is this longevity we’re talking about?” asked Gus.

“Forever,” said Ruby.

“Unfortunately, that’s true,” said Kora. “She's immortal.”

“Well, well,” said Gus. “Vaughn will be so thrilled when he hears that you’ll be chasing his tail for eternity.”

Ruby stamped her foot. “We will not mention his name here.”

An evil grin streaked across Gus’s face. “Fine. I’ll never mention your gorgeous, vampire boy toy ever again.”

“Vampire?” Kora turned to Ruby. “You mean you have one already? I thought you were joking when you said you'd have two.”

Gus wandered back to his coffee machine for another cup. “No modern menagerie of ghouls is complete without at least two hot vampires. It’s what every little goth girl longs to see under the tree on Christmas morning.”

“As soon as this project is over, I’m feeding you to him,” said Ruby.

“A fabulous way to die. Spooning with your sexy, beefcake vampire. I’ll get more action out of him in my last ten minutes than you have in ten years.”

Ruby raised a fist and Kora expected any moment she’d sweep over to thrash Gus, but instead she fell into a terrible coughing fit. Gus hobbled over to the sink and filled a glass with water, then pressed it into her outstretched hand. When the fit was over, Ruby’s face looked even more haggard than usual.

“There’s one last thing I need to go over with you, Kora,” she said in a raspy voice.

“Brace yourself,” said Gus, who was now gathering dirty cups up from around the lab.

“I require her to drink blood,” said Ruby.

It was bad enough that Ruby wanted fangs. “First of all, I’m incapable of performing a brain transplant and second, Randall rejected your whole vampire idea. He told me himself before we left Mirafield.”

Ruby trailed one of her black fingernails along Kora’s cheek, outlining the underside of her eye. “Randall isn’t in charge here, daughter, I am.”

Kora took a step back so Ruby’s talons couldn’t reach her. “You might as well ask me to turn her into a forty-foot dragon.”

“That would definitely be more appropriate,” said Gus from the sink where he was busy scrubbing his cups.

“I brought you here to follow my orders and that’s exactly what you’re going to do,” said Ruby.

“Because I wouldn’t follow them when I was at Mirafield?”

Ruby pursed her wrinkly lips. “Randall turned on me. All he cares about is marketing synthetic bodies to the filthy masses. I believe eternity and super powers should be reserved for an exclusive few.  Now that I have you all to myself, things will become much clearer for you.”

The idea of altering the synthetic to drink blood filled Kora with a familiar anguish, as if she were about to repeat a mistake that had once blown her onto her current, doomed course.

“Vaughn never kills anyone,” said Gus. “He turned drinking blood into a fantastic, nightly beach party with music, lights, and dancing. Half-naked men and women offer him blood during wild orgies beneath the shimmering moon.” Both Ruby and Kora stared at him as he stacked his clean cups on a little shelf above his coffee machine. “Just kidding. There are no orgies that I know of, but I don't get out a lot these days.”

“Where was I,” said Ruby with a finger pressed against her cheek. “Ah yes. If you don’t do as I ask, I’ll send you back to Mirafield one piece at a time which will make it very difficult for you to wear that new wedding dress.”  Ruby fixed her dark eyes on Kora. “You have two days and then I’ll start sending Randall one of your limbs every evening until you’re finished. Not the vital ones at first—those that you need to complete your work—but unnecessary little things like pinkie toes and earlobes. Then we’ll slowly work our way in.”

Kora trembled. The sun had dipped down and light no longer poured through the dome. She wished she could rise up, break through the panes, and glide back to Mirafield. “Ruby, I’m serious when I tell you that I’ve never performed a brain transplant or made a blood digesting stomach. This is all completely new to me.”

Ruby curled her lips into a smile.  “If you want to stay in one piece, you’d better figure it out, my dear.  And quick.”