"Don't turn around." He noticed the gun in her trembling hand.
"I won't harm you."
Henrietta obeyed his commands, much to his surprise. The man circled her like a vulture around prey, taking note of every scratch, every bruise. Looking carefully at her abdomen, he could see the wide, seeping gash from his lapse of judgement only partially hidden by her sweater.
"What did you do with Sebastian?" She spoke, eyes still glued shut.
"Neutralized, for now. I came to talk to you."
"What could someone like you possibly have to talk about?" Her blue eyes flashed open and he nearly flinched in response.
Inhaling deeply, Ruvik tensed his damaged fingers into fists at his side. His heart pounded in his chest, the words he so desperately needed to say hiding behind his teeth.
Disappointed by his silence, she let out a heavy sigh and began walking towards the door past him, her feet gingerly stepping on the broken glass in her thin flats.
"I didn't say you could leave."
The girl stopped. Influencing her was easy.
"Come with me, you'll be safe."
"I want to get out!" She cried, almost folding in on herself, her arms wrapping around her stomach tightly. "I can't take it anymore, the blood, the screams, the monsters...YOU are the cause of ALL of it, what makes you think I'll go with you anywhere!?"
Without hesitation, he waved his arm, the large room they were occupying suddenly returning to its normal, non-destroyed state.
"I did not create this world to torture you." Ruvik spoke softly, surprising himself. "It's a reflection of my inner turmoil, I've made it this way to torture myself. So I'll never forget what's been done. Let me take you somewhere safe. Please."
Why was she staring at him like that? Those blue eyes that caught even the tiniest ray of light, those lips that curved far too easily into empathetic smiles... The first time he'd seen her replayed again and again in his mind, he remembered everything about her down to her shoes.
What he remembered most, however, was that she wasn't scared of him. He'd walked into the room with Doctor Jimenez, having been told this patient was close to death, therefore would make an ideal test subject for STEM's prototype.
"Hello." She'd said with such kind sincerity, a stark contrast from what he was and what he was used to. Bright blue and yellow flowers sat beside her on the bedside table, ones that she'd brought for him, no doubt. A long, calculating pause hung in the air before he replied with a hello of his own. "Who are you, then? Dr. Jimenez's assistant?"
He'd scoffed at the idea, but answered positively all the same. "In a way. I'm not directly related to the hospital but my research brings me here. Unfortunately Dr. Jimenez is a by-product of this relationship. I need his connections here."
"Oh, then you must be Ruvik." The look on her face dissolved into curiosity. "Dr. Jimenez told me you might come in to look at my brother."
"This is your brother?"
"Yes, sir." What a strange girl, with the respect to call him sir. "My big brother, Christopher."
Looking at her now in STEM, he wondered if she had any idea that he'd killed her brother. Henri had come in at the same time every day, just for an hour or so to visit with the man who hardly had any concept of her being by his side. Ruvik had planned his days to coincide with her visits, talking and spending time with her while pretending to be working on making him better.
Every day except one.
It concerned him, looking at the clock to see her 45 minutes past her usual arrival time. Dr. Jimenez was getting impatient, it looked as if now was as good a time as any.
The next day was the last day he'd see her for almost a year. Of course he never approached her, just watched her breakdown from a distance. Cheeks wet with tears, pleading with the doctor for answers he couldn't give. The girl who always smiled, as sunny as her sundresses, on her knees with her head in her hands, wearing jeans for the first time he'd ever seen.
The scarred man actually missed her, which bothered him. His routine felt hollow, and every girl in a skirt reminded him of her. He buried himself even further into his research at that point, even feeling a hint of remorse when Christopher emerged from STEM a corpse.
"I think I'll take my chances with Joseph and Sebastian..." She said meekly, looking around warily.
"Your headaches are killing you."
"How do you know about my headaches?"
"Because I'm causing them. Unintentionally, let me be clear. It's your body trying to fight the world I've created. Soon it will have to give in, and you'll become a monster too."
"What about Joseph? He's having them too, anything you can do to help him?"
He wanted to yell, he wanted to raise his hand and choke her. Everything he'd ever encountered before could be solved with violence or death, and the finesse of romance made him tense with frustration. He knew more than anything that he wanted her affections, true, consensual affections, and to threaten her would destroy any hopes of feelings she might harbor now or in the future.
The thought of being loved made his mind swirl and his skin tingle. It was both the best and worst feeling, dismayed and thrilled that he would allow someone to have so much power over him. When she'd arrived in STEM the very first thing he'd done was look into her mind to see her feelings for him, and the warmth of infatuation had been nearly overwhelming. All he had to do was nurture and raise that spark, though he underestimated how difficult it - and she - would be.
"I will not help Joseph." He said plainly. "I do not care for him as I care for you."
He liked to think she had a hint of blush on her cheeks, but his judgement told him it was probably the light.
"Can you let me think about it?" Henrietta's voice was quiet and shy, and her fingers nervously fiddled with the handgun one of the detectives had given her.
"Three hours." Ruvik huffed in anger. What was there possibly to think about? Either she came with him or she died. He faded out of view and opened the hallway to the detectives who would be waking up momentarily.