Eleven

George grabbed all of his belongings (clothes, pictures, books etc.) and hurriedly stuffed them into his suitcase. He needed to get out of the mansion quickly before Spencer made up some excuse to keep him here. If his family were out there, he would find them and they would go home, and never go near Spencer again. If they weren't anywhere he could find them, he would go to the authorities and explain to them about his missing family.

Right, that's everything. Now, wallet and keys?

He felt around in his jacket pockets and found them in his right pocket. He shut and locked the suitcase, leaving it on his bed for now as he went into the bathroom for a moment. When he finished, he zipped up his trousers and packed everything else left in the room that belonged to him.

There was a knock on the door. He shut the last suitcase and answered the door, seeing a guard outside.

"Mr Spencer wishes to speak to you in the reception room. Please follow me."

George knew he shouldn't listen to the guard and just leave, leave while he still could. But he knew that if he disobeyed Spencer's commands, the guards may kill him before he could step three foot out the front doors. So he just nodded and followed the guard to the reception room, keeping his thoughts of leaving in the back of his mind. Besides, he needed to find out once and for all what this mansion's real purpose was, and what Spencer had been up to all this time.

He entered the reception room, which was the room with the pictures of jewellery and his daughter, and found Spencer gazing up at the picture of his daughter, hands clasped on the head of his cane. George stepped closer to Lord Spencer, ignoring the lieutenant and the two guards standing nearby, and waited for Spencer to speak to him. He knew better to speak when spoken to in the presence of someone like Spencer.

"Your daughter is a beautiful creature. I must say that I enjoyed her talent at playing 'Moonlight Sonata' on the piano," Spencer stated, turning to face him, a smile on his face.

George took a deep breath and composed himself before asking, "Mr Spencer, what is happening here?"

"Research and development, George," he stated very bluntly, as if he was talking about a simple subject like the weather.

"What do you mean?"

"Me and my business associates have discovered a new kind of virus, something that can change a human into anything we want. Sort of like patchwork. It's rather...interesting to work with," he explained.

George couldn't believe what he heard. It wasn't much detail, but he knew that what he had just said was unethical in context. He was saying that they could take a human being, splice him up and turn him into a freak. How anyone could discuss a topic like this as if it were something insignificant was beyond him

He's completely mad.

George wanted to know more and what his family had to with it. He had to know why he had been lied to all this time.

"And why this mansion? Why here?"

"We needed a hiding place for the research. If the authorities found out about our work, there would be...complications," Spencer continued. His smile grew wider. "I guess I should thank you for building the estate in the first place."

George felt an immense amount of guilt hit him, like being kicked in the head. He had helped all along, unaware of course, but he was still an accomplice in this insanity.

"I see," was the only thing he could say to respond to the explanation. His mind suddenly flashed back to the body-bags. "What about the bodies? The ones your security took away."

"Failures. We had to dispose of them," Spencer said, his voice giving away no emotion whatsoever.

George felt the rage burning inside him grow larger. He couldn't believe that this man would sacrifice human life so willingly and didn't care about anyone who suffered from his work. They were people, living people, that he had experimented on and he just simply thrown them away like garbage. And he now realized that the dread of his family may well have been correct, but he needed to hold on to the hope that they were safe.

"Any my family?" he finally asked, clenching his fists.

"I told you not to worry about them. They are safe for the moment."

George couldn't help himself but to lunge at Spencer, his hands outstretched to catch this monster and throttle him. The guards stepped in and grabbed George by the arms, holding him back. The lieutenant stood in front of George and glanced at Spencer, who nodded his head.

The lieutenant punched George in the stomach, causing him to hunch forward, gasping for breath. He looked to see Spencer pull out a syringe filled with a clear liquid, pushing down on the plunger to make sure the syringe wasn't blocked.

He stepped closer to George, who continued to struggle in the guards' arms.

"I am dreadfully sorry, Mr Trevor, but you cannot be allowed to leave. You know too much and I had promised you that you would see your family soon," he said, gesturing to the lieutenant.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FAMILY, YOU SICK BASTARD!?!" George yelled, making no attempt to hide the rage he felt.

The lieutenant rolled up George's sleeve to show his arm and tied a piece of cloth around his elbow to expose the veins. As Spencer stuck the syringe in George's arm, he turned to look George in the eye and smiled maliciously.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but...I am afraid your family have sadly died," Spencer informed George coldly before pushing down on the plunger.

George eyes widened in shock and tried to deny what Spencer had just told him. Jessica and Lisa, his wife and daughter, the most precious people in his life were dead, murdered by this maniac and his men.

No it can't be true!!! It's a lie!! They are safe, I know it!!!

He felt extremely dizzy and tired, and fell to the floor, the guards releasing his arms and letting him fall to the floor. He rolled onto his back and gazed up at Spencer, who looked down on him with that evil smile. He started to lose focus in his eyes and his vision began to darken, his body succumbing to the sedative injected in him.

"Spencer...you...bastard," were the only words he managed to say before he fell unconscious...

Lisa had spent many days out in the cabin or spent time with her mother in the underground. She didn't need to worry about food or water, the cabin had plenty, and she didn't feel lonely because she could just stay with her mother whenever loneliness started setting in.

She had encountered more fakes sent to trick and capture her, though now they were wearing the face of her father as well. She took away all the faces from the fakes and killed them. They were bad people and deserved what they got for hurting her parents. Some of them tried fighting back with strange metal things that burst with fire or sharp pointed objects.

She just wanted to be with her parents forever and these fakes kept trying as if the faces they wore belonged to them. But the old man with the shiny stick was a very bad man and wanted to keep her away from her parents.

I hate him! Why does he hurt mummy and daddy? Mummy, Daddy, please be safe. I want to go home with you.

Water came through her eyes. Why couldn't she see them again? Why couldn't she just go home and stay with her parents? Why did this have to happen? What had they done? All these questions kept coming to her mind over the days and she didn't know any of the answers to them. And really, she didn't care; all she wanted was her parents.

She decided some of the strange food in the cabin and have some water. She ate her fill and nestled on the couch by the fire, staring into the flames dreamily. She liked the fire, it was her only friend. It seemed to want to help her and every time she watched it, it showed the faces of her parents, smiling at her, love and affection in their eyes. And from these visions, she would find peaceful dreams to fall asleep to.

Suddenly, she caught a scent, which snapped her out of her dreaming. She sniffed the air and growled; she recognised the scent as one of the fakes, a male fake, no doubt wearing the face of her father.

I must get daddy's face back!!

She got up from the couch and headed to the door...

Sergei watched the cabin through his binoculars, observing her through the windows, watching her movements. He stood on a sturdy oak tree, one hand holding firmly onto the branch above while the other held his binoculars over his eyes. He watched the girl eat her meal and then lie down on the couch in front of the fire.

He had watching the girl for days, gathering a pattern and deciding which time to capture her. He didn't go back to the mansion for anything, no food or water or sleep. He scrounged food from the local wildlife of badgers, raccoons and birds, took water from the river and slept in the trees, keeping himself perched securely and stationary to prevent him from falling off. He now had the perfect chance to grab the girl and take her back to the labs.

However, she had picked up his scent and was coming outside to find him. He put away the binoculars, pulled out his blade and licked it, cutting his tongue in the process so he got the coppery taste of blood.

Time to finish the hunt.

The girl came through the door and looked around, growling in rage for some reason he couldn't guess to. Her clothes were torn even more than before, showing more of body and the wounds that had healed over. All the faces she had taken were placed all over her head, shoulders and were now having to be placed on her back. Her eyes were clearly visible through the montage of screaming faces, dark, intense and containing the hint of insanity as they scanned the trees for him.

He leapt down from the trees and landed in a crouch. The girl looked at him and snarled, stalking closer. Sergei smirked and stood up, bringing his blade up to his face and cutting his cheek. Lisa's eyes widened as if she was shocked by this display and she snarled even more ferociously as if offended terribly.

"You want my face little one, don't you?" he taunted. "Well then." He sliced his other cheek. "Come claim it."

Lisa charged at Sergei, hands held out in front of her to grab him. He dodged to side and slashed her arm as she went past. She stopped and quickly turned round, growling, blood running down her arm.

Sergei laughed mockingly. "You are infected with the Progenitor? You can't even catch me. I want to have a good fight." He gestured with his hands for her to charge. "Come, attack me."

She crouched low, seeming to get ready to charge-

-but instead, she leapt into the air at him, arms reaching for his face. Sergei sheathed his blade immediately and grabbed Lisa by the wrists, holding her back. She kicked her feet at him to get to let go so she could get at his face, but he nimbly threw aside. She landed on her side, letting out a grunt as she hit the gravel path, the blood from her arm dripping on the stones. Lisa soon stood up and turned to glare at him before picking up a rock and flinging it at his face. He quickly drew his pistol and fired at the rock, shattering it to pebbles; he smiled triumphantly.

"Like shooting on the rifle range in training, young one," he taunted.

She leapt at him again and he nimbly dodged aside, hitting her in the back of her head with the butt of his pistol. She landed on her feet unsteadily and staggered for a bit before she turned to face him. He held out his hand and flexed his fingers, smiling at her.

She once again charged and leapt at him, roaring in rage and fury, clenching her hands together as if to hit him. But he quickly drew a small black box from his uniform pocket and fired an electric shock at her face, sending her flying across the clearing, shrieking. She landed in the long grass near the trees and lay on the ground unconscious, taking in ragged breaths of air.

Sergei put away his weapons and walked over to the girl, picking her up and placing her over his shoulder. He was glad he packed that mini Spark-Shot and was even more glad that he had them developed at the weapons labs. The mini Spark-Shot was designed like a hand-taser and could be concealed anywhere on a person. It was mainly designed for the higher-ups of their future company as a way of protection against escaped test subjects. It was as powerful as the larger model and it worked efficiently enough that it should keep Lisa stunned longer than last time.

Time to get you back to the mansion, young one.

He carried her over his shoulder and kept his weapon ready for any surprises as he made his way back to the mansion. This would please Lord Spencer very much...

Read and review please! And keep writing your own stories! Can't wait to see more of your work!!

Up soon, chapter 12!!!