Curse of Kate Corcovado
A dime light-bulb flickered on ominously in the dark quarters. Her body jerked awake from the sudden change of light. Her skin was cold like ice, and she couldn't feel her fingers or toes. It was so cold here. She looked down at herself, having not seen in quite some time. How long had she been in here in the dark? A few hours? Few days? A week? She had no idea. It felt like an eternal blackness. She shivered feeling the draft from the AC come from under the door, then a harsh blast of it when the door swung open. Harsh footsteps clamped into the room.
No.
Not again.
She curled up tighter into the corner, hoping whatever light was in the room did not reveal herself to the person who walked in. He was the last one she wanted to see right now. She didn't want to be here anymore. She wanted out of here. Out of this room. Out of this place. She'd happily return to the orphanage. Sure, the kids picked on her, but it was better than any amount of blasphemous attention here. Trying to keep her shallow breaths quiet, she forced herself more into the corner of darkness. The man in the room didn't seem to be in all that much of a hurry. Which was good. Normally he'd just pick her up or drag her to…that place. But today…he seemed content. It didn't take long however for him to see the glimmer of a pink flip flop closer to the light, then the five toes that lead him to the girl.
"C'mon. It's time to go." He sneered, as if he was trying to be friendly, but she knew this trick already.
"I don't wanna go." She whimpered, huddling more into the wall.
"You have to, Jitterbug… we're so close."
"Don't call me that! I hate it…" She mumbled, quickly changing her tone when she saw his face again. His eyes clearly told her not to make any sudden moves, or attitudes. She had learned from the last time…and her cheek still stung from that experience.
"Would you rather me call you by your actual name?"
"It's just a bunch of numbers that don't mean anything…"
"111205 does mean something. Rather interesting when you decode it." He smirked again, as if pleased with himself of the cleverness of the numbers on her dress.
She hated this dress. It was dull and boring. This room was dull and boring. White walls, White wooden floor. White dress. The only thing that wasn't white in this stinking room was her plush. At least he was humane enough to let her have this.
"Well, hurry up now. I don't have all day."
"But going there hurts… My head always hurts afterwards."
"That's why we have to go. I'll see if I can get it to stop hurting."
"You're not going to turn it on are you?" Her voice suddenly got fearful.
The man hesitated, before walking slowly closer to her.
"I have to. That's what this is all about, right?"
"But it hurts! It stings and burns and… I can't see…"
"Well, hopefully you'll be able to see after today." The man clearly was running low on patience, more edge on his voice the more the girl asked questions.
"Tell you what. If you're a good girl, and go with me, I'll bring you back some bubble gum?"
The child seemed almost enticed at first, but that shimmer soon faded away, looking away again.
"…You always say that." She moped.
"Is it weird that instead of bubble gum, I just want an apple or something?"
The man rubbed his chin, brushing the whiskers on his goatee.
"No. Not weird…but also unacceptable. Besides, I don't want an apple core rotting in here. I'm sure you wouldn't either."
"Why can't I? All you ever do is stick those nasty needle things into my arm. You call it food. It's not!" She whimpered again, her stomach screaming along with her.
"It's all I can do for now. I told you if you were good and we can get things figured out, then you can eat."
"It'll never be figured out! It goes on and on… I don't want it to go on and on anymore. Please, it hurts… make it stop Daddy!" Her shouting was soon turning into screaming of pain as the man grabbed her hair, almost pulling her clear off her feet, inches from his nose.
"I told you to never call me that!"
Her whimpers and screams didn't seem to crack his angry tone or face. He had done this before. He knew all her tricks and knew all the button's she'd push. He wasn't going to budge.
The girl knew that as well and accepted, knowing if she got quiet, he'd let her go.
The man jerked on the strands of hair he held through his pale rough fingers.
"What do you have to say to me?!"
"S..S…Sorry…"
"Sorry what?!"
The girl looked him directly in the eye, her own glistening in tears
"Sorry sir. "
With that, the man practically threw her back onto the floor, letting go of her hair, or rather, throwing the hair that did come out to the side.
"Now get up! We have to go. Now!"
He picked her up by her arm, roughly, walking to the door, practically dragging her with him. She tried to dig in her heels and hold back the tears, but they always came back. Sobbing, she tried everything to not come out of that room. She tried pushing against him, holding onto boxes in the room, but they were empty and simply toppled over. She knew it was useless, but she had to keep trying. Looking back at her corner. She saw her butterfly doll, cold and alone now without her protection. She wanted to take it with her, but she knew she couldn't, and she wouldn't dare try to get physical with the man holding her, that would just be another zap of pain. And she knew all too well…there was plenty of that ahead of her.
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"What do you mean I left it on? Anyone could have, Aviva." Jimmy had his back against the counter of the Tortuga's dashboard, arching as far into it as he could, veering into the woman's tan fired eyes ahead of him.
"Well whoever left it on has made the whip spiders to the size of a pinhead! I was researching them to make a power suit!" Aviva groaned, rolling her eyes.
"Why did you want to make a power suit for them again? They're the creepiest little crawlies I've ever seen." Koki chimed in, making a rather grossed out face, her body giving a little shiver.
"Yeah… aren't they just…creepier versions of praying mantis'?" Jimmy asked, following her back into the Tortuga.
"Well… sort of… I just thought they looked cool. I mean…" Aviva scratched her head, as if hiding something.
"Wait a moment." Koki crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one hip. "You just want to have a cool power suit for the upcoming Wild Kratts Pumpkin Picnic."
She could see Aviva blush in embarrassment. She was right.
"Heh…well… maybe. I just wanted to get the brothers back for once."
"What do you mean?"
"Every year, Martin always pulls a fast one on all of us. Remember last year when he tried to make us believe there was a creature in Madagascar that looked like an alien, and it began to enjoy eating humans?"
Koki giggled.
"It was an aye aye. And I'm sure Martin was exaggerating off his and Chris' adventure in Madagascar at night. "
"Well still…this year, I'm gonna get them good. Sneak up behind them in this powersuit." Aviva laughed to herself. "They'll never know what hit them-"
Aviva cut herself off as they heard loud shouts and screams outside. It sounded like Martin and Chris, along with Martin shouting something about where the miniatuizer was.
"Um, Jimmy? Did you bring the miniaturizer back in after replacing the size modules?" She asked.
"Um…no. I just replaced the module and tested it to make sure it was working."
Suddenly, several loud thumps hit the ground.
"What setting was it on?"
Jimmy shrugged. He couldn't remember.
Koki shouted looking outside.
"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" She pointed, shakingly out the window as the other two joined her in wide eyes.
Outside was a large creature, the size of an elephant, easily. It had eight legs with a flat body, eight legs crawling all around, with two in front edged to a hair thin point…like a whip. The worse was it's eight eyes and two pinchers in the front, barbed like daggers down the sides, like a praying mantis claw.
Both girls looked to Jimmy, unimpressed.
"JIMMY! THAT'S THE WHIPPING SPIDER!" She ran outside, realizing the large creature was closing in on the brothers. They couldn't make it to the miniaturizer.
"Uh, I thought whipping spiders were harmless to humans!" Chris asked frantically, feeling the hairs on his neck stand up.
"Usually, yeah! But not when we're the size of small morsels for him!" Martin shouted back, covering his eyes from the attack. They both knew a whipping spider was a quick as a mantis when it came to attacking with it's large pinchers.
"Guys! Duck!" Aviva grabbed the miniaturizer that was set in the grass beside the large turtle ship, tilting it at an angle, aiming straight for the creature.
"It's not a duck Aviva! Isn't that obvious?!" Martin shouted, looking at her, before realizing what she really meant.
"Chris! DUCK!" He grabbed his brother's shoulder, pushing him to the ground, as a large beam of light blue light charged at them, then above them, as the large terrifying creature slowly disappeared back into the grass.
Both brothers were still too shaken to really speak at that moment. Martin's first instinct was to look at Chris, and make sure he was okay. Besides a small patch of dirt where his face planted itself when they ducked for cover, he was fine.
Aviva looked back at Jimmy, who was trembling as well, completely pale.
"S-S-Sorry… I must h-have…left it on enlarge…" He studdered.
"Ya think!?" Aviva asked, still looking at him, shutting the contraption off.
"It's okay, Jimmy…" Martin reassured, looking back at his companion. Not only was he scared… he could tell in Jimmy's blue eyes he also felt really guilty.
"It was an honest mistake. Any one of us could have done it." He smiled, trying to help him forget the ordeal.
"Yeah. At least we didn't become spider food…" Chris chimed in, rising to his feet.
"I think you can forget about getting them back, Aviva… you did a pretty good job." Koki smirked at her friend as she placed the miniaturizer back on her work desk.
" Heh….maybe you're right. I guess there are some power suits that shouldn't be made after all. After that… I don't think we'll even look at those spiders ever aga-"
"See Jimmy? He's not so scary once you see him as he's meant to be." Martin chuckled, the little creature crawling up his arm.
He laughed, allowing Jimmy to look.
"Hey! That tickles." He chuckled.
Chris smiled. His brother was always finding ways to defend all creatures…even if they were misunderstood or creepy. He looked at his creature pod. He still had a lot to do before the picnic in a few weeks. They still had to settle on a location. No matter. That will come later. For now, he looked on at his crew. He was happy he and Martin had people they could fall back on, even when things seemed hopeless. Some people called them a crew, but secretly, he never saw them as that.
Family.
That's how he saw them.
He only hoped this family would stay together, happy, laughing, enjoying the life they were given, forever.
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"Okay. Perfect. Now don't move."
Looking ahead at the cockpit, she stared directly at the man that brought her here. She wasn't pleading, but she wasn't angry either. She was just…emotionless. He paid her no heed, or so it seemed, as he walked away from the window of the cockpit to another section of the box upstairs, most likely to the control panel. Of course… her head was strapped in place, so she couldn't look around it she wanted to. She didn't have to though. She knew where she was. She had been here so many times before. So many times had she come to his metallic, cold, ruthless room. So many times this feeling of leather and metal digging at her wrists, forehead, and ankles. They said she was helping a cause. What cause? What good would she be proving being here, enduring pain that might or might not come? Was she ensuring others didn't have to go through this? She led herself to believe that for so long, but as the days and weeks drew out more and more, the more it seemed like less of a possibility.
"Alright K. We're going to try again."
She heard the man's voice over the intercom that echoed into the room.
"Don't call me K! Why can't you call me by my real name?!" She shouted at him, wondering if he could even hear her with the thick windows barricading the box up above her.
She heard a snarl over the intercom.
"I've told you! It's unprofessional! Now don't embarrass me!" He shouted, readjusting things before turning on this 'mechanism'.
She looked bored, looking down with her eyes to her dress, white and flat. She just hoped this time didn't send as bad of a headache as last time. Today was better than yesterday though. At least she didn't see that red ooze stuff come out of her nose this time around. She saw the red light start to flash in the left corner of her eye. Well… it was going to be turned on any moment now.
The man in the cockpit pressed a button, pushing a throttle up more and more, seeing the measurements and frequency on a speedometer like table. He looked back at the kid in the chair, seeing her fingers start to twitch, and her chest arch out. Was that too much frequency? She shouldn't be jolting around that much. He made a mental note and pulled the throttle back down. Thankfully he sound proofed the barrier in the cockpit and turned off 111025's microphone. He never admitted to the other scientist, but he hated hearing her scream. All he could see was her mouth open as her lips quivered. Clearly, this round was really taking its toll. He clenched his teeth, trying to concentrate, as he lowered the throttle more, looking to the green button next to the red. She her body stopped arching, he quickly slammed it, looking at her intently, letting go of the dashboard.
"Clark? Hold the controls….let's see if this worked." He said, walking out of the room, down the steps into the testing room.
He opened the door, the red light now turned off above him. 111205's head wasn't moving, and her eyes were widened, as if the muscles that held her eyelids were rigid, and could not close. As he walked closer, he saw her eyes were not there…only a red glow replaced them.
"111205? If you can hear me, and understand me, try to look my way." He instructed, keeping his distance.
Slowly, the girl's head turned to him, almost creepily robotic with a smooth turn, red light blaring right at him.
"Good. Now, try to wriggle your fingers." He instructed, moving closer.
With some delay, one finger rose on her hand, then two, three, before the whole hand twitched.
The man made another note of that.
"Frequency is too strong. Subject is coherent and obeys commands. Certain gestures are too overpowered to function properly."
He jotted all this down on his clipboard, before looking back at the girl.
"Can you say hello?" He smiled, as if trying to be friendly, to stimulate a brain at the age of hers.
"…Hel…helo-o-o…"
That's funny…her voice glitched.
He jotted down another note.
"Subject's voice box is functional. Electrical signals from cortex to vocals might be too strong. Subject has no control of erratic clips in voice."
He looked back to the girl.
"Now…this is important. Can you see the fingers I'm holding up?"
He held up four digits.
He at least hoped this child knew how to count to ten.
Her expression was blank, her eyes didn't focus or squint. Her eyelids didn't seem to work. Another quick note.
"I-I-I can see… f-f-four?" She tried to make out.
The man smiled happily as if he'd jump in excitement.
"Yes! That's it! …No wait… the frequency is high enough to encourage the Cornea to work but too high to ensure consistent motor functions… I'm sure I can fix that." He smiled before, nodding to the men up in the cockpit. Clark saw his signal and pulled the throttle from before all the way down, and flipping off a switch.
The light resided from the child's eyes as she regained control of her own body once again. The man could see her head slightly slump forward, the strap holding it in place. He walked up to her, unstrapping her head, seeing it completely collapse. She had been knocked out…again.
"Hey? Jitterbug? Wake up…" He gently patted her cheek, trying to get her to wake up. That frequency was very high. He hoped he hadn't cause damage to their move valuable subject.
Soon… the girl's green eyes rolled back from her head, and after blinking a few times, started to look around, trying to lift her head. Soon, everything stopped going numb. Then came the headache again. That pulsing, pounding, unbearable headache! She gritted her teeth, wanting to cry. It was then she saw the black shoes of the man at her feet.
She tried lifting her head, making it halfway, seeing he was crouched to look at her.
"D…Did you…do it?" She whimpered, tears welling in her eyes.
The man nodded, sincerely.
"Yes. We're done for the day, I believe." He said, taking off her bonds on her wrists.
She whimpered more, feeling something was punching her with knives in the back of her head.
She looked over to the man again, holding her head with her free hand.
She whispered to him, not knowing if it was save to do.
"…Daddy, it hurts…"
The man looked to her, seeing the pain and suffering in her eyes. He cringed with a growl.
"I know… we'll get some medications for your system soon."
"Please hurry…it…it really hurts…" She gritted her teeth harder, trying not to cry. She didn't want to make him angry again.
Soon however, the world around her began to grow fuzzy, as the edges around her vision turned red, everything shining and too bright.
"Hey? Kid? …Jitterbug?" She faintly heard someone talking, but they felt like they were underwater. Soon, everything turned black, slowly sucked away from her, as she heard a thud, but not the pain afterwards.
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"Hema-what?!"
"Cmon, you're a scientist! You know what I said."
"That can't be it Clark! We can't lose her! We're so close!"
"Take a look at the X-Ray's again."
" …. She's caused a breakthrough! We can't lose her now! She's our most prized subject!"
"I'd at least have her on bed rest so we can see how bad her condition is."
"Grr! This can't be happening."
"At least take her to the medical ward to ensure she's okay. After a fainting spell like that, we could have no subject in a matter of days."
"What if it's a small one?"
"Better chances… but still should keep a close eye on her."
"Just our luck…"
"Well, at least the brain didn't explode this time."
"Please….don't remind me of that."
"For a scientist, you really don't like the idea of blood."
"No, I don't… now shut up! I need to get her back to her room… at least there we can monitor her vitals."
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"What do you mean break in?" Chris raised an eyebrow looking at the large screen of the HQ.
"There was a break into the clinic earlier today. Several supplies were stolen." Koki was reading the article in front of her.
"What kind of supplies?" Aviva asked, walking closer.
"Hmm… needles, IVs, blood containers, and even catheters."
"Why couldn't the people just go there and ask for them?"
"Who knows? It sounds like they were desperate for something."
"The catheter thing is kinda weird though. Any injury or condition like that should need medical approval." Martin added, looking at the photo of the clinic in question. It wasn't far from where they were. After a few days, they had finally settled on a small town with lots of forestry around it. Martin liked it considering the legends around the forest being haunted by a dark lord of sorts. It was perfect for the picnic. Now the news of the clinic missing supplies was making the place even more… eerie. Regardless, they were far outside the city limits and on the edge of the woods. No doubt they were safe.
"At least no one was hurt." He concluded, looking back at his decorations he was working up.
Jimmy was trying to help as well, but instead was tangled up in the fake black webbing sticking to his sweater.
"Hang on Jimmy." Martin chuckled, walking back over to the novice.
"Chris! Can you hand me those Styrofoam bats?"
"Sure thing." He handed the bat fake over, before walking outside.
"I'm gonna go visit that pumpkin patch on the farm outside of town! Maybe we can do some carving for the picnic."
"Oh! Bring back a big one for the pumpkin pie!" Jimmy reminded before Martin twisted the webbing around, causing Jimmy to twirl and land in the Halloween decorations with a shout, a thud, a laugh from Martin.
"Oops. Sorry." He laughed hard.
Chris rolled his eyes before walking down to the garage to grab his buzz bike.
Climbing aboard, he turned on the contraption and flew out of the turtle ship into the brisk cold October evening air.
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"And that's the last of 'em."
"Thanks for your help, Thomas." Chris smiled, carrying his own pumpkin to the cart behind the buzz bike.
"Sure. No prob. Ya'll are a little late for the pumpkin carvin'. All the big ones were takin' earlier this month." The farmer brushed his hands against each other as the wind blew softly, ruffling his leather cowboy hat.
"Yeah…we're not from here. We're just visiting for a get together for Halloween." Chris said with a grunt, placing the last pumpkin into the cart. He felt the wind as well. He wished he had brought a warmer coat. He felt his skin tighten with goose bumps as he rubbed his arms.
"I didn't think it'd be so cold here."
"Yeah, that temperature sure goes down at night." Thomas gave a crooked smirk, looking at the sun setting beyond the trees.
"Ain't it a pretty sight? The sun coming through the trees in perfect golden rays of autumn?"
"Yeah, sure is…" Chris couldn't help laughing to himself.
"Hmm? What is it? You don't sound so confident."
"Sorry, Thomas. Just… my brother thinks those woods are cursed because of the rumors we heard earlier when we went to get supplies. "
Thomas' expression suddenly grew blank, his smile slowly disappearing.
"Some people say it's a dark lord…some people say it's the ghosts he imprisons… some say it's the ghosts themselves. There are several stories…probably hundreds." He said, looking at the woods more grimly.
Chris felt a chill go down his back. It wasn't from the wind at all.
"Some say there's even a story about a little girl that got left there to die from her parents. They thought she was an accident, so they dumped her out there like a stray dog. Now, she roams the forest to lead children in there for her to play with… although…I've heard other stories about her coming out every other night from the woods to find her parents. Real spooky stuff."
Chris didn't realize he couldn't feel his fingers. He stood still, the wind suddenly having a haunting feel. He didn't even feel he was holding his breath. He let it out with a nervous chuckle.
"C-C'mon. You think that stuff is real?"
Thomas looked to Chris, seeing he was shaking slightly.
He laughed along.
"Sorry, man, I didn't mean to scare ya. Just poking some fun. It's a season, right?" He chuckled. Chris agreed, nodding with a small laugh.
"No no. It's fine. I don't believe in that stuff anyways. There's no really much evidence backing those occurrences up."
The two chatted for about five more minutes before Chris waved goodbye to the farmer as the sun set completely, leaving the main light on at the ranch house. A sign also lit up near the road, showing Chris the way out of the estate.
'Gendilson Farms'.
Weird name. Well, still, they were nice people. But the story Thomas had spoken of was still fresh in his mind. Could it possibly be real?
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"Are you kidding?! Hey! Sir! Get back here! She can't do this now!"
"I have to! I'm this close, Clark! All we need to do is test it again. One more time I'm sure can't hurt!"
The girl's eyes widened a crack, listening outside of the door. She heard that man and his friend talking outside her door. The steady monotone sound of a monitor next to her. The room was dim, but she could swear she felt something…warm. She felt the cotton heavy blanket around her little body, trying to warm her as best it could.
"It can! She's in too fragile of a state! Any more swelling and she-"
"You want to be known for creating the greatest weapon of all time or being known as a coward?!"
Her head hurt so bad. It burned, pounding inside. She realized everything was a little fuzzy. What did that last zap do? She could hear the monitor speed up its tempo, as her instincts made her panic. She couldn't see well. Her head felt it would explode, and it wouldn't go away!
"…Have you gone mad?!"
"Just one. Last. Time."
She heard a small shuffle before the man made himself present in the room. The light from outside blinded her, as she screamed, the back of her eyes throbbing from the stimulation.
"Cmon, sir, don't do this! For her sake!" Clark tried to plead, as if actually concerned for the child's well being.
"She'll be fine. She's done this a dozen times…what's one more time?" He placed some contraption on her head, strapping it tightly. It was round, like a bike helmet, but harsh with metal, a red light on the top.
She wanted to speak in protest, but her tongue couldn't form words. She thought them but they didn't come out. She looked to the man, her green eyes trembling in fear, looking back at his, green as well, but more vibrant.
"Cmon, sir…you... you need to think about this. This is more than a subject, she's your dau-"
"SHUT UP CLARK!" The man gave a cruel glare to the man.
Clark backed up, frightened by his sudden change of tone.
"I'm trying this… and I'll try it now! I'm certain it will work this time… and if it does, she'll be fine, no need to worry!" He snarled, grabbing a remote in his hand.
The girl coward into the bed sheets, trying to move her hands up to take off the helmet, but it was no use as red electricity overtook her vision, as well as a blood curdling scream. Her blood and nerves were on fire, and her head felt as if it were being disintegrated in acid.
"NO! VARMITECH, STOP! IT'S TOO HIGH!" Clark ran into the room, suddenly grabbing the remote control from the mastermind's hands, trying to tug it away. This man, Varmitech, was much stronger than he appeared to be, tugging back his main control of the girl.
"Get back! It's working this time! It's working!" His eyes changed to almost an insane glare, looking back at his comrade. Clark knew he obsessed over these experiments… the idea of finally having power had slowly drained the soul of what he once saw as his friend… he must have finally snapped.
"It's not, Varmitech! Stop this! Stop letting her suffer!" Clark insisted, trying to regain control of the situation, snatching the controller, but Varmitech kicked him out of the room with his boot and all his strength.
Clark landed on the ground with a harsh thud that echoed in the white facility. As he looked up, he couldn't believe the horror in front of him. The girl's body was jerking harshly, the electricity impulses overriding her motor functions, twisting like a leaf in the wind. Her eyes no longer glowed red, only a harsh white from all the power coursing through her fragile body, and the heat it was giving off.
"Varmitech! Stop! That's enough! You're gonna-"
The pit of his stomach dropped as quickly as the monitor did. It was beeping so fast before, now, the beats were slower and slower… almost to a constant ring.
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Why wouldn't anyone help her? Why wouldn't the pain stop? She felt her mouth open, like she was trying to scream, but nothing came out. All this painful warmth around her. She couldn't think straight. Pins and needles stabbed themselves into her every being, making her want to sob and cry, but the heat from her body just made them evaporate.
"STOP! THAT'S ENOUGH!"
She heard a faint voice come through her ears, as suddenly, just as it began…all of it stopped. She lay there, her mouth dry and chalky, her throat burning inside. Her voice didn't reveal itself still… but now her throat was raw. Surely she had lost it completely. The red in her eyes slowly drifted away, showing the dark quarters once again. Her body lay still, unable to move. She couldn't feel her fingers or toes. Even her legs were tingling, but not obeying her commands to… run. The voices around her slowly became more and more distant, and inaudible.
"What did you do?! Varmitech… look what you-"
"Is she…she's not breathing!"
She couldn't tell that. After feeling her whole body was on fire, she felt… restful. The world around her started to fade, darkness creeping in at the corners of her vision. Everything around her was numb…even the voices that seemed even more far away. They were shouting it seemed but… they came out in only whispers. Her eyes lazily moved to the side, seeing her butterfly doll next to her futon like bed. She wanted to reach out and grab it, but it was so out of reach, and her arms did not listen to her.
A sudden sorrow came over her as she started to realize… if she went to sleep, despite her body's desperate cries to do so, she'd never wake up. No… not yet. She was still so young. She wanted to grow up, go to school, have friends, and be happy like a normal girl. Why would all that be taken away now? She looked up slightly, her body pulling her even more to the depths of sleep. She saw the man hunched over her, sweating, like he was really scared. He did love her. She knew that. Even if the other people here didn't it. He was her daddy. She mouthed the word to him, her vision growing more tainted and black. At least… she got to see him…and feel him hug her as she fell asleep, feeling her lungs start to ache, then fade away, along with everything else in her knowledge.
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"Hey! Nice pumpkins!" Martin was overjoyed seeing his brother return. It was already night and the sun had already gone down. Chris returned with the headlights on the buzz bike.
"Thank goodness! You're just in time! I have all kinds of cooking to do before tomorrow. Roast the pumpkin seeds, make Grandma Jemina's pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie-" Jimmy Z was cut off while grabbing the biggest pumpkin in the bunch.
"Don't forget your candy corn cookies!" Koki chimed in.
"Yeah, that too." He smiled, walking back into the kitchen.
"Y-Y-Yeah…no p-p-problem guys." Chris held his arms, rubbing them furiously to warm himself.
"Chris…did you forget a jacket again?" Martin teased, unzipping his.
"Sorry…forgot it'd be so cold tonight."
Martin smirked handing him his jacket, walking in with him with his own pumpkin.
"So, how was the farm?"
"Hmm…small, but it had a nice huge pumpkin patch. The farmer there was nice. We got talking a little bit about…" Chris trailed off.
Martin could see the gears turning in his brother's head.
"About…what?"
"Oh… just some silly ghost like stories about a girl in the woods. Apparently every one here thinks that forest is pretty creepy. "
Martin gave another smirk.
"Oh cmon. You don't really believe those stories do you? They're just meant to make you quake in your boots. Honestly, I never expected that from you." He chuckled, walking into the Tortuga, placing the pumpkin on the table.
"No…it wasn't like that. I mean, of course I don't believe it…." There was no way Chris could hide any suspicion from his brother, no matter how hard he tried. It was rather irritating sometimes. Great. Now he was sure his brother would never let him live this down. What was it about that story that made it so…scary to him? Because it had a child in it? Perhaps. Even though he enjoyed children as much as Martin, he never really… felt as warm about them as Martin did. To him, children could either be blessings, or terrors. He was certain a little girl being left in the woods would certainly be angry and disturbed if she was old enough. Maybe it was the idea that someone would do something like that. He could handle ghosts, aliens, even experimentation stories that were based off real events. Why did this particular story make him so uneasy?! He had no idea. Well, no matter. Maybe helping with the preparations for the picnic tomorrow evening would help him relax a little. Or so he thought.
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Clark growled, holding the clipboard in his hands, walking down the white, metallic, sterile hall. This had to be over. There was nothing left to test. Nothing left to continue investigating. It was a horrible idea… thinking that manipulating a person's mind so strong would result in the world's most important and devastating weapon. What was he thinking? What was Varmitech thinking? Honestly, he didn't know anymore. He looked at the door to the left side of him. One of many in this hall. All were empty except one. The one that read '111205' on the tag beside the doorknob. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had to make that room empty as well, but Varmitech held the keys to the door. There was no way he'd let go of them. Certainly, after what happened eight days ago, Varmitech officially snapped. Clark didn't see him except within his main office, normally with a bottle of gin next to him, along with all his mind control and manipulation gadgets. He understood grieving, but this was far beyond it. It was an…extremely creepy level. He walked to the end of the hall, seeing the 'Varmitech' sign on the door. Taking a deep breath, he turned the doorknob. He had to take care of this. He opened the door to find only a dim light on, with a man's back to him, hunched over, holding his head in his hands.
"Varmitech?" He talked gentle, not wanting to startle him.
"…Is she awake yet?"
He heard a cracked voice barely whimper out of the man in the chair. Clark secretly breathed through his nose.
"Sir… She will not wake up. She is-"
"No she's not! S-She'll wake up! Give her time! You're administering fluids?"
Clark lowered his head.
"That's not possible sir. The skin…her…her tissue is-"
"Find a spot and give it to her! Quick! You want her to wake up, don't you?!"
"That can't be possible si-"
"MAKE IT POSSIBLE!"
"SHE'S DEAD, ZACH!"
The man's eyes widened, as he turned around in his chair to face Clark. His bags and darkness under his eyes was much more prominent than normal. He hadn't slept since the incident.
"She's not dead! She's not! If you can't wake her up, I will!"
Clark cringed trying to grab Zach's thin, scrawny shoulders. They were practically bone now.
"I can't let you do that! I won't let you go in there now…not with the way the body must be."
"You haven't moved her?!"
"How can I sir?! You keep the keys from me every day 24/7!" Clark shouted, hoping to get Zach to come to his senses.
Zach growled, pacing around his office, pulling on his hair.
"You know what happens to a body after it expires… you want her to rest in peace or in pieces?!"
"Don't talk…don't talk about her like that!" Zach shouted, seeming to lose his voice.
"I'm telling you what we need to do! Look! I know she was your daughter, but you need to let her go and move on with what he have going on here."
"You don't get it, do you?! We can bring her back!"
"How the heck we'll do that, Varmitech. She's beyond brain dead!"
"You'll help me with this or not?! We can still finish this. We can still complete what we wanted to accomplish!"
"No! You've gone completely mad! Do you not see what needs to be done?!"
"Oh, I see…and you're just in my way!" Zach suddenly cackled evilly, like he was truly insane, pulling something from his back pocket.
"Get out of the way Clark!"
"Zach…you can't be serious. Cmon! Think about what you're-" Before Clark could finish, his body burned a bright white, turning to pieces of burnt clothing and dust. Mind control wasn't the only thing Zach had learned to create. He also had learned to create sharp, advanced, sufficient weaponry, including his own personal ray gun.
"Now…back to work." He gave a small chuckle, walking back to his seat, looking over the helmet on the desk again. He could still see Kate wearing it when he first designed it, running around with it on her head, imagining she was an astronaut.
Why did he drag her into this? Why did he think it was ever a good idea? Why did he ever think that she'd like to help? It was truly the largest screw up in his life.
He grabbed the wrench next to him, tweaking the nuts and bolts, the girl flooding his mind. Her birth… first birthday… when he accidently knocked over all his science lab work with dyes and it turned her skin green… Her hug. Her smile. Just warmth on his legs as she hugged him. He promised he'd never let anything happen to her…and now look what happened. He was her worst enemy.
He quickly rubbed away a tear with his sleeve, trying to ensure others did not fall.
"Don't worry McKenzie… our little girl will be okay… I promised you… and I'll never break that promise." He snarled as he switched the dial to the machine on.
Silence.
Total silence in the office. In the quarters. In the forest.
"Cmon…please work…"
Zach waited for any sound. A door opening. The small claps of feet on the cold metallic floor. A sweet giggle. Anything.
Five minutes passed…nothing.
With a scream of defeat, Zach shoved the contraption to the side with all his force, smashing it against the wall, taking all his data and research papers with it, scattering them. They fell like feathers as Zach collapsed on the desk, completely defeated, finding it impossible to withhold the tears any longer, as they came out in harsh, raspy sobs.
He was so loud, he couldn't hear the small voice coming from the locked room. Somehow…it opened, as something walked out, dragging it's feet along the floor. It didn't sound like a foot, however. It sounded like cloth being dragged with a hammer in it, banging on the floor…like a bone.
"H…H…Hi…"
Zach's eyes widened, recognizing the voice, even if it was monotone. He looked behind him, hoping to see his little girl up and well. However, as he turned around, he had to hold back his scream, and his stomach's urge at what was before him.
Soon, screams of terror and horror filled the quarters. Along with ripping and tearing of flesh.
"You hurt me… you hurt me, Daddy."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
It was peaceful in the Tortuga. Everyone was getting a good night's rest before the Picnic launch tomorrow. Everyone, accept Chris. He stared at the ceiling, lost in his own thoughts. He was never the deepest of sleepers. He often woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep for a few hours. He used that time to think. Sometimes it was good and therapeutic, other times it just tormented him more. Like tonight. He wasn't about to admit that he was scared of a little campfire story, but he wondered if there was ever some real truth behind it. It bothered him how he just couldn't let this go! He rubbed his face trying to get the story out of his mind, but that was going to be rather difficult.
"H-Hello? Sir?"
Chris' eyes widened as his face went pale, looking to his left side, at the wall of the Tortuga.
Standing there, in a ripped and rather dirty white dress, was a small girl, hugging her arms as if something should be there. Her hair was ratted, but was dark brown. Her eyes were green and innocent.
Chris wanted to scream, but he didn't want to wake up the whole crew and scare her away. He stared at her in shock, looking at her from head to toe… where were her toes?
She was floating in the air, her feet slightly elevated from the floor.
Chris laughed at himself.
"Oh, I get it. I'm dreaming. Man, that story must have really gone to my head."
The girl cocked her head to one side.
"Hmm? A story about what?"
"Oh, about a girl like you. No worries. I'll just go back to sleep no-"
"She's missing…"
He raised an eyebrow, looking back to her, pulling his covers off.
"W-Who is missing? Okay seriously, how are you doing that? Are you hanging on some… Why are you glowing?!" He backed up slightly, stumbling back into his hammock.
"This can't be happening." He whispered to himself, straitening himself before pinching his arm.
Ouch.
Nope…this…was not a dream.
He looked at her, completely pale and dumbfounded.
"Please…she's missing…" The girl looked at him, shivering.
"W-W…Who is?" He asked, his jaw wide open.
"…Anna… my butterfly doll… I've lost her…I can't find her anywhere…" She said, looking at him like she'd cry.
"Where…where did you…l-last leave it- What the heck! I'm talking to a ghost!" Chris shouted accidentally, grabbing his spiky hair.
"Chris…you alright?" Martin lowered his head from his hammock, being on the top 'bunk'.
Chris darted his head up.
"Whoa, dude, you're sweating. Everything alright?"
"Y-You can't see her?!"
"See who?"
"The girl right there!" Chris pointed to the wall.
Nothing was there.
Martin gave out a small laugh.
"Dude, it was just a nightmare…seriously, go back to sleep. There are no little ghosts here." Martin reassured, rolling back over, still half asleep, soon snoring above Chris' head.
"It's not nice to point at people…" The girl sent him a glare with a pout.
"My Daddy taught me that."
Chris lowered his pointer finger.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to upset you."
"…Please…can you help me find her?" She seemed to adamant about finding her lost friend.
He looked at her, questioning his own sanity at this point. Follow a ghost around…or go back to bed? If he went back to bed, maybe he'd officially wake up. But if this was real…she could be very angry with him. He had heard plenty of stories, and he didn't want that to happen. He rubbed his face with a small snarl of agitation.
"Alright… where did you leave it last?"
"Her!"
"Sorry. Her?" Chris whispered to her, getting up from his hammock.
"I…I think I know where…" She looked down, so frightened.
"Okay… I'll take you there if you show me the way." Chris said, grabbing his jacket and khaki pants. It was still very dark outside, and he didn't want to freeze like before.
"Please? I miss her so much." The little girl ran on the air to the door, waiting for him.
This was truly going to be a long night.
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
The cold blue moon shown it's light onto the blue cold eerie earth. Leaves crinkled and spoke in the wind, the trees humming with what part of summer they had left on them. The air was crisp as fog laid low to the ground, making it hard to see.
"You sure it's this far out? We must be a mile from the Tortuga by now." Chris held his arms, shivering slightly, even with his coat on. He should have brought some gloves.
"I think I left it in there… but I'm scared to go in there…"
The little girl pointed ahead of her, revealing a rather large building in the forest they had traveled into. It seemed modern, high tech, and rather rout of place in the rustic woody area.
"In there? It looks like a brand new clinic or something. Are they doing construction up here? Kind of a weird place for it." Chris seemed suspicious, looking at the little girl. Honestly, he hoped he was asleep and he could soon head off to bed once again and wake up like nothing ever happened. For now, he'd play along with whatever story his subconscious had in mind.
The girl looked up at him, worried eyes.
"I think so. They were building it… but then stopped. They started again, but it was a small group, so it's been being built slowly. I sneaked in there to play and I left in a hurry. I left her in there." She whimpered, like she'd cry again.
Chris couldn't help himself as he patted the little girl on the head, or tried to. His hand passed right through her.
"Don't worry. We'll get her back." He nodded, looking at the building, seeing no cars or equipment for that matter.
"You know you shouldn't be playing around areas like this."
"I know. Daddy told me I couldn't play here but… it was so cool to see all the rooms. Until…I got locked in one…"
"What?"
"Oh! Nothing." The girl giggled, running to the building, her feet seeming to hit ground even though she was a few inches above it.
"Hey! Wait up!" Chris followed, not wanting to lose sight of her.
"Cmon! I think I remember the room I left her in! Maybe Daddy will want to see you! I think he talked about you before!" She smiled innocently, opening the glass doors to the large metallic building, running inside.
Great.
Chris ran in after her, feeling he had to. He couldn't lose sight of her.
"-And she's gone."
He facepalmed his forehead, looking around, not even seeing a glow of her light. The building was so spacious, as if it was meant to be for more people, but was changed at the last minute. He walked down the main hall, grabbing his creature pod and turning on the flashlight. He looked up and down the hallways.
"Hey! Where are you?" He called out, looking up the walls and into the doors on the side. What did she mean by her Daddy wanted to see him? Did he know him? He turned left down the hallway, seeing a dim light at the end, front and center.
"Oh! There you are!" He breathed a sigh of relief, walking closer. However, something wasn't right. This light wasn't bright like hers. It was dim, and flickering. He raised an eyebrow, grabbing his pocket knife in his back pocket.
"Who's there? Someone in there?" He called out.
No answer.
He walked closer, grabbing onto the door that was slightly ajar. Pocket knife firm in the other hand, he tilted the door just enough for him to look in.
He wished he hadn't. Chris Gasp
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Chris darted to the far right down the hall, skidding to an opened door, slamming it shut. What in the world had he just seen?! A nightmare. This just had to be a nightmare. There's no way that could happen to a human being! Well, it was possible, but it was something out of a horror flick. He breathed deeply, his throat dry from the adrenaline, trying to calm himself down. What should he do?! Call the police?! 911?! Martin?! He didn't know! He winced to himself, refusing to believe what he saw.
"…Zach…" breathing heavily
"So you do know Daddy?"
He eyes widened, suddenly realizing the light in the room behind some of the boxes.
It was the girl, hiding.
Chris was only able to nod.
He stared on at the girl, as if frightened yet saddened as well.
The little girl caught on this immediately.
"Oh… I didn't realize… sorry…" She cringed at herself.
"W-W…What are you doing in here?! What is he-"
"This is where I live…this is my room..or well… it was…" She looked down, as if saddened.
"It was?! What does that-"
Chris' stomach was already churning, but it lurched again as his senses began to come back as he quickly covered his mouth and nose in digust.
"Yuck…w-what is that… that…smell…?" He backed up to the door, feeling around for a light switch. Finally, success, or was it failure? Failure to keep his eyes from seeing the secret in that room. The lights flickered on, revealing what was inside, as the little girl began to cry.
In the middle of the room, lay a white and crinkled dress. It had holes in it, probably from moths chewing it out. Skinny arms protruded from the sleeves, skin rotten and barely holding on to the muscle and bone underneath. Old hair was sprawled across the floor, some pieces crinkled and singed from lack of nutrients, falling out of the head that was almost nothing but a skull. Eyes sunken in so deep they couldn't even be seen in the light. The mouth and teeth locked wide as if screaming. Little legs and toes just as skinny and rotted as the arms, flies landing on the extremities.
Chris truly felt he'd lose it, seeing what was in front of him.
The little girl looked at him, worried and scared.
"Please… I'm not that ugly…" She cried.
"I…I'm alone… I don't have any friends… because I look ugly in here…" She whimpered, hugging her butterfly doll to her chest.
She found it.
Chris tried to open the door, but the doorknob wouldn't budge. It was locked.
"It locks from the outside…" She confessed, looking back down at herself.
"W-What did you… what did die from?! How did you die?!" Chris shouted at her, clearly frightened.
The girl looked down, as if not wanting to answer.
"You saw Daddy… what he had in there… was for me… I was special… he wanted to make it special for me… and it never let go…" She cried harder, as if knowing something was happening, and she was terrified.
Chris soon found out why as the girls corpse…gargled slightly, as if the vocal cords were trying to work with no wind passing through them. He grabbed his knife, looking at the corpse on the ground. The sunken eyes started lighting up in a dark crimson red, to bright white light. The limbs jostled slightly as they tried to stand, her jaw now looking it'd fall off with the gravity pulling it.
It was at this point, Chris finally screamed, trying to bang on the door as if someone would hear him or the door would magically open… or he'd finally wake up. The little corpse finally made it to it's feet, stumbling, trying to maintain balance on its fragile boney legs.
"AVIVA?! MARTIN! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!" He banged harder, not daring to look behind him.
The girl's ghost cried softly.
"I…I'm sorry sir… I can't control it… I…I can't control myself…" She cried, holding her head as if in pain as her nose began to bleed, along with her ears and eyes.
Chris had no choice. Grabbing the pocket knife from his pocket, he tried to push the girl away from him, scrambling all over the tiny room. It made gargling noises that sounded almost like growls and snarls from a wolf, stumbling, holding onto the wall to lunge at him. Pocket knife in one hand, creature pod in the other, Chris pushed the button the side of his pod, sending an emergency SOS coordinate. Hopefully that alarm in the Tortuga still worked from Martin using it so much for useful but at this point stupid 'Wild Facts'. He looked at his screen, seeing the signal was green, meaning it went through. Thank God.
It was a mistake to look down however, as the creature found an opening, lunging on top of him, pushing him to the ground where he was most vulnerable. Cries could be heard all around the building. Some of high pitched tears, some screams of terror and pain, and other heartless snarls of a husk.
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
The large glass door was flown open with a loud bang that echoed around the building, along with harsh footsteps echoing in many directions.
"Martin! Slow down!" Aviva called from the door, seeing Martin's shadow fade down the hall. He wasn't thinking straight.
Frantically, he searched in all the doors, calling out, trying to find the exact coordinates.
"Chris?! Where are ya, brother?!" Martin was shaking, the atmosphere of the building giving him chills. It was like a hospital, but much more…sinister. The walls were cold with white metal, the floors echoing throughout the facility. It seemed abandoned. What would Chris be doing here? A wave a relief swept over Martin as he saw a faint light shining in the room at the end of the right hall, a tiny green creature pod set on the table. Not even thinking to, he charged towards the door, prepared to open it. He didn't want to stay in this creepy place long.
"Chris! There you are! What are you doing-" Martin's voice stopped immediately at what was in front of him. Blood painted the walls, dripping all around the floor. One half of the body in the chair, the other sprawled on the small floor, next to a small helmet coated in blood. A little red light blinked on it, meaning it must have been on.
Martin yelped in surprise, jumping away from the massacre in front of him. He gripped the wall trying to find the feeling in his legs again. What had done this? Who would do this? Sure, he never liked Zach's practices, but he'd never wish this on anyone, never in his life!
Another surge of sickness and fear coursed through him as he looked back down at the rooms.
Chris hadn't called out. He hadn't sent another signal. He hadn't responded to any of Martin's calls.
"No…No…T-This can't be happening, NO!" Martin felt sweat forming on his brow as he forced himself down the hall, into all the rooms. He had to find his brother. He couldn't have this happen this to him! He couldn't be dead!
Martin barged into the final room on the right, ramming into the door with his shoulder with all his weight, causing the door to collapse completely.
His stomach dropped further, then lurched back up in terror.
Like the other room, the walls were splattered in red. The floor was sprinkled as well, the smell completely vile and foul. Martin quickly backed away, holding his face and nose in his sleeve.
The blood seemed fresh still.
Martin trembled hard in despair, not wanting to look back into the room, tears forming in his eyes. He couldn't control it. When he heard Aviva scream in fear is when he snapped out of it, rushing back to the sound of her voice. Everything seemed to be going to hell around him.
"Aviva?! What's-" He turned the corner, seeing Aviva pointing in front of her, completely pale in fright. Martin turned his head slightly, seeing what was in front of them both. Across the hall was a skinny girl…or rather…a skinny corpse, staring them directly in the eyes. Her eyes glowed red from deep within her skull, with a ripped and holed white hospital gown, the numbers '111205' printed across the left name tag on her chest. Her voice was gurgled and faint since no air could move through it, as her eyes stared on, her jaw dangling in a widened gap. In her boney hands she clenched on something tightly. A swatch of green clothing, stained with blood in the corners. She looked at Aviva, then to Martin, then turned around, running back down the hall. Martin and Aviva looked at each other, completely paralyzed in terror, both pale in the face. What was that…creature? It turned its head back to the visitors, her eyes harsh red, glowing right into Martin's. It gave a wheezing sound of a giggle before walking further down the hall, towards the door, pointing towards the now sinking moon, as the most feared day of the year began.