Out Of This World

“Ben,” the whisper was amplified through the darkness, “Ben, there’s something....something...”

Four shadows twitched to attention as Kim shuffled closer to the one next to her, grasping thick material beneath cold, shaking knuckles. A reflective, black lens perched above them rotated forty-five degrees clockwise to focus on the one that spoke. The room was a small square with a six foot high roof and concrete walls. The only light source came from two small circles penetrating through one wall, separated into two semi-circles where air met soil. Water stained the upper quatre of each wall and the air smelled musty and damp, with a hint of rotten eggs and sun-dried earth. The five beings were positioned in four separate areas of the cell. One figure stood; back bent slightly to fit beneath the roof. He leaned on one shoulder against the wall with the portholes, of which he had been staring fixedly through earlier. Now his head was inclined toward another two figures, both huddled intimately close. Sitting cross-legged in the centre of the room, back straight and hands folded elegantly in her lap, was Kora, the female Vannecian and Cle’s partner in crime. In the furthest corner, curled into a ball was Ada. She hadn’t changed her position since returning to the United States.

Ben stiffened and craned his head over Kim’s, squinting at the alleged ‘something’. Getting to his knees, he pushed Kimmy gently aside -swapping positions with her- and lay an open palm against the smooth concrete wall. Creeping forward and feeling his way down the damp cement, he stopped abruptly and scrunched his nose. Four others peered across at his still, black shape.

“Ben...what is it?” Kim’s voice retreated further down her throat as she reached out for him. Ben took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze though made no oral response. Replacing her cold, clammy hand back by her side, he held his breath and shuffled further forward before pausing once more to pull his worn shirt sleeve over his nail-bitten fingers. Slowly, cautiously, he reached out and prodded the object in the side with his fist. The others watched anxiously, squinting at the vague shapes in frustration. Ben breathed in sharply.

“I think its...a body.” The air itself seemed to stiffen in unison with the teenagers. Ben released his sleeve and let it spring back around his wrist before feeling around the object, a little more confident now. Knotted, mangled hair clotted beneath his fingers, stuck together with something thin and crusty. Hands palm-down and hovering, he advanced forward to the face, rested his thumb in the hollow of the cheek bone; tapped at the smooth, cold ridge of the nose. Ben’s breath held in the back of his throat at the texture of the skin: dry and lifeless, yet unnaturally smooth. The flesh below, instead of radiating warmth, felt heavy and dense, more like thick rubber than anything alive. Though the object was now clearly known to be a body, it felt oddly inanimate, like a tree that had been hacked down and left to rot.

“Dead,” Ben said. The word seemed to clutch to his lips. Suddenly there was the rustle of movement. Ben’s head snapped up just in time to see Ada out of her ball and scrambling toward him. She arrived, breathless with anticipation rather than exhaustion and shoved Ben out of the way with her shoulder. Ben fell to the ground, twisting his body so as not to fall on Kim, who quickly came to his aid. The two stared up, gaping at Ada as she knelt down and lifted the body’s upper half onto her lap. It’s head flopped over her arms like a rubber chicken, and she scooped it up hastily before dragging it to the light. There was a pause as her violet’s ran over the body from head to toe. Her brows -illuminated by the half-circle of honey sunlight- furrowed until they were one line with the shadow of her fringe before slowly raising in realization. A small whimper escape Ada’s throat; her knees buckled and she was yanked downwards, out of the light. The shadow of her torso slumped forward, her head keeling inwards to rest against the lifeless one. There was s sniff, then a throaty groan; the living lurched forward, her lips parted and she screamed a sorrowful wail. The sound penetrated through the flesh, blood and bone of everyone present, their hearts crumbling to soot beneath iron fists.

When the sobs died away, the portholes were full circles of darkness. Ada’s shape rose and fell with each mournful breath. The others had all found other things to occupy their short-distance gazes; after a minute of continuous sobbing they found her too depressing to watch. Only Kim’s eyes stayed glued to the despondent Vannecian, her expression still and thinking.

“Who was he,” she said quietly, the sound waves pulsing easily through the empty cell. Ada’s head rose slightly to look at Kim, before bowing down again to plant her lips against the body’s temple.

“Alec...” Ada whispered, her lips still resting on the boy’s face, her nose grazing through the clotted hair affectionately. She breathed in deeply as if the body smelled of fresh sheets rather than week-old road kill. Ben’s head twitched upward at the sound of her amorous breaths.

“Was he...the one that tried to escape?”

Ada’s tortured expression was response enough as the corners of her lips dragged down her jaw, making them look like a stretched balloon. She hiccuped and squeezed the body closer. Kim’s heart lurched and she began to wish Alec would wake up and squeeze back. The whole scene was quite disturbing, and Kora found herself almost grateful when a latch clicked and the guttural sound of the mis-fitting metal door grated over the cement with a brain-imploding screech.

Kora and Cle recoiled further into their dark corner and the two cross-breeds tensed protectively against each other. Ada remained un-fazed as Dr. Foster gave the door one last shove with her shoulder before stepping aside to make way for Kieth Rogers. Leaving the physical work to the women. What a gentlemen. Kieth strolled in, hands clasped behind his back, nose hailing the heavens and eyes narrowed into thin slits. He halted in the centre of the room, legs shoulder width apart in an excessively superior stance. Behind him Foster eyed the door skeptically. Raising a gloved hand and rubbing tenderly at her aching shoulder, she shook her head and with one last weary glance at the door, positioned herself in between its steal frame. Kieth Rogers cleared his throat and the scientist jumped and squinted at him through the darkness. His shadow was poised with its forearm cocking out to its right side, wrist jutting out in a ninety degree angle with it’s palm toward the ceiling. Foster dug around in a large inside pocket before producing a torch and ambling forward to place it in her commander's’s open hand. The whole way there her eyes darted around the room, seemingly endless in the gloom. The woman, who was usually brisk and strictly composed, was undoubtedly flustered by the lack of light.

An impatient “humph!” huffed up the trunk of his neck, out of his nostrils, stirring the light mustache –a result of a work related obsession- inhabiting his slightly convex upper lip. He ran his sausage thumb up and down the length of the torch before pushing a small yellow button at its top half. Light so bright it was almost fluorescent splashed the opposing wall, a circular beam illuminating the dark grey water stains. The experiments flinched backwards, heads ducking down, eyes squinting and teeth gritting in discomfort. Rogers chuckled, flipping the torch in his hand and pointing it directly at each of the Vannecians, earning a low groan from the males.

“Get up,” he sneered, wavering the light at Cle and Kora, then Ben and Kim. The beam paused on Ada, Alec slumped across her lap. “Get up,” Kieth’s voice was rougher now, and tauntingly commanding. Ada looked up at him through empty eyes whilst adjusting Alec and laying him gently on the ground, resting his head on the jumper which had long been reduced to a thin rag. Rogers bowed his head to discreetly swallow the demoralized lump in his throat before sauntering closer to the dead couple. Ada stood up and looked Rogers steadily in the eye, an action found difficult for those with a soul. Rogers –stone faced and strict- slowly squatted down. With one quick swipe, he removed the jumper from beneath the dead boy’s head, leaving it to loll limply to one side. Ada’s body shook, her eyes stared madly and her lips pulled backwards over her teeth in a silent shriek. Rogers stood up and tucked the jumper into his trouser pocket.

“Even you can’t keep him warm now,” he said quietly, before turning on his heel and strolling back into the centre of the room. His eyes did another circuit of the cell, this time pausing on the half-breeds. “I told you to get up,” he said balefully. Kim’s eyes widened in fear and she clutched at Ben’s forearm. Ben leaned down and held her by the shoulders, steadying her as she bent a leg and placed its corresponding foot on the ground. Cautiously she pushed herself off the ground, testing weight on her knobbly legs. A shrill whimper flew from her lips as she staggered and tripped; harpoons of pain shooting up her ankle. Ben caught her and lowered her carefully back into a sitting position. Rogers jaw locked, a vein pulsed at his right temple.

“F-Foster-“ he staggered out, face flushing scarlet. Foster leaped forward, still a little flustered though the darkness was now under control. Ben stood over Kim, looking nervously between the two superiors as Foster advanced forward and Rogers fought some kind of psychiatric battle in his head. Foster dove into another of her pockets, this time pulling out a syringe and a small glass vile filled with Artificial Lullaby.

“Don’t-“ Ben started, fighting the flames licking beneath his skin. He wasn’t to use his power, he wasn’t to show them what he could do...

Foster ignored him, though he thought he saw hesitation flickered behind her gaze. She pressed lightly on the syringe; sedative squirted from the top in droplets of gold as it passed through the light and landed as dark, perfect circles on the floor. Her steps echoed on and on in Ben’s ears, so continually numbing that the sound blended into one long, dreadful drone.

Smash!

Foster gasped and fumbled the syringe, dropping the vile as she tried to avoid being injected. The vile landed on the rounded toe of her leather boot before bouncing off and along the ground with a high pitched tinkling; it rolled in a circular winding pattern, coming to a halt at Kim’s feet. Foster swiveled around, hand erect and pointing the syringe like a gun at the source of commotion.

“Ada!” Rogers growled, reeling forward and catching her by the shoulders. Ada stumbled backwards, her feet landing upon the fallen CCTV camera with a crunch as she was pushed up against the wall. Kim got on all fours and attempted her way over. Ben was stuck between the two, terrified that if he left Kim’s side for a moment they’d take her away. Kora shrunk back in the shadows, Cle following suit.

“No! Stay where you are!” Foster yelled, her voice cracking. The pin point of the needle was pointed threateningly at Ben, who eyed it indecisively. Rogers had Ada pinned by the throat against the opposite wall. Her mouth opened and closed hopelessly as she ripped at the air with her teeth. Rogers pressed down on her windpipe, blood pumping with adrenaline in time with the vein pulsing on his temple. Ada’s face was red now; threads of crimson veins spread like roots clustering around her cheek bones and blood vessels gleamed against the white of her eye balls. Over Rogers’ shoulder she saw the blurred image of Ben gazing hopelessly at her past Foster’s shaking figure. Behind Ben was Kim, lame legs weighing her to the spot as she clawed at the ground with her arms as if trying to row through the concrete moat. Ada switched her gaze to the man in front of her and soulless eyes met soulless eyes. Lifting her right arm with the last remaining ounce of life, she flicked her wrist and placed an open palm on the side of Rogers’ head. Flames erupted beneath her finger tips and Rogers roared in pain. He hurled away from her, dropping her to the ground as if she were the flames themselves; the flames that seethed his hair, sucked at his flesh, draining its very solidity and converting it to black crusts of carbon. He threw himself to the ground, tossing and turning, flipping and twisting with spasms of pain like a fish out of water. He ripped off his jacket, clawed at his face, at his eye sockets, at his head; the flames thrived on the newly offered flesh. Like a pack of brilliant golden lions -ruthless with blood lust- the flames ripped him apart with their burning canines and heated licks. Ada, gasping and vulnerable on the floor was seen as the perfect target for Foster, who instead of helping her co worker, decided to attack . She leaped forward, only to be caught back by Ben. A strangled, throaty grunt emitted her lips as she was jerked back by her collar. Ben summoned flames to his fingertips and instantly the collar was ablaze. The cell hadn’t seen so much light since a roof was put on it.

Ben stared at the writhing figures on the ground; they looked summoned from hell. Their anguished shrieks bounced off the cement walls and filled his head with remorse – he was in the process of murdering someone.

“Ben!” Ada yelled over the deafening purr of the inferno. Ben remained staring at his victim. Ada yanked his sleeve so that he was facing her and slapped him sharply across the face. Ben started. “Grab Kim! Let’s go!”

Ben ducked around to the other side of the bodies and swiftly lifted Kim onto his back. Together they raced out of the cell, struggling to gather up the fast-flowing commands Ada was shooting at them. The flames were growing- they didn’t have much time. Rolling up her sleeves, Ada scooped up Rogers’ jacket and shook it out. Several things fell from his pockets with a clatter, one thing fell with a loud thud. Ada picked it up and took experimental aim at Rogers, feeling the comfortable weight in her hand. Rogers and Foster were motionless now- and forever. Alec was still lying along side the back wall where she had left him earlier. Hopping across the square, she bent down beside him, opened his eyelids and looked into the marbles that inhabited his sockets. She closed them again before carefully lifting him onto her shoulder.

“Are you nuts?” Ben screamed from the doorway. Ada jumped. “He’s dead, Ada. You aren’t, but you will be if you stay in here a minute longer!”

Death. The emotive finality of the dauntingly enigmatic word seemed soothing, comforting. As Ben had said, it was only a minute away.

“Ada! Come on! Please!” It was Kim now, legs dangling from her position on Ben’s back. Ada looked at them sadly. Closing her eyes, she bent down and replaced the body, placing a soft kiss on the lifeless led lips.

“I love you, Alec,” she whispered, a warm tear simmering on the protruding cheek bone.

Ada stood up, her buzzing mind slowly being invaded by fringes of black. How desperately she wanted to give in to the black. But she couldn’t. Not while two lives were intertwined with her own.