Joan finds herself in a dark void, unable to move or to speak. She stares off into the blackness, waiting for something to happen. Not long after, a light begins to shine from the void, engulfing the black background and her vision. Soon, she begins to feel her body laying on something, a voice calling out to her lightly, growing louder. Eventually, she awakens from her stuper, squinting as light is shined into her face. The light moves away as she sees Dekar moving a flashlight around. "Joan," he starts asking for a response, "you alright? Do you remember who I am?"
Joan starts bending her arms and stretching her legs, gathering insight into where she is. Suddenly, images of her last moments flash by; she remembers her arm being shot off. She shoots up and starts tapping at her right arm, finding it's alright, but how?
"D-Dekar," she begins stuttering, "w-what happened to me?"
"Easy, easy, breath," he inhales slowly and exhales, "just look at me, you're alright, you're alright."
Joan starts taking in deep breaths, doing as he says, but she's still panicking about what happened.
"Okay…, now listen. I know what you did."
She looks at him with guilt. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't… I shouldn't have taken that sample. It was dumb and…, wait…, where is it?"
"It's back with me, but that's not important right now. Just tell me… what do you remember?"
Joan sits to the right side of the bed she's resting on, rubbing her forehead like she just finish dealing with a massive hangover. She looks around to see she's in the abandoned factory hideout, with Havoc still passed out on the top floors. "I… I remember seeing armed guards by the mining facility. They were looking for samples, then they…," she looks at her arm, "they killed me, or something; they shot my arm off and I fell and…,"
"Okay, breath," Dekar tries calming her down again. "Okay, now what happened was an induced hallucination."
"An… induced… what?"
"It's a defense mechanism. That specimen you had was making you see things with a chemical it produces. You started seeing things and acting like things were real. This happened with other people who tried studying me, but the affects should be gone now, it's out of your system, you're good."
"I-I don't understand, I thought I fell from the cliff?"
"I felt the arm's presence and rushed over. I found you just standing in place staring into nothing. I took you back and waited for you to wake up."
Joan starts standing up, wobbly at first, but with Dekar's help, she's able to get herself going. She stumbles over to the "kitchen" table and takes a seat, feeling up her right arm constantly. Dekar takes a seat across from her and hands her a water bottle. "Don't worry, just keep drinking water, get your strength back, and you should be good. I just want to warn you, though. From now on, stay away from the pit. Frankly, it has brought nothing but grief for us, okay?"
Joan takes the water bottle and starts drinking. Dekar looks on as she keeps drinking, and drinking, and drinking, until it's empty, before she finally answers "okay" before breathing in.
She clutches her stomach, feeling her hunger starting to grow. "Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving."
"Uh, sure," he walks over to the fridge, "let me see."
Dekar brings out a ham sandwich and Joan scarfs it down, trying to satiate her hunger. "How long was I out?"
"Only about a day or so."
Joan questions his response, feeling like she hasn't eaten in a week. Dekar notices this and heads back to the fridge, bringing out a large trifle bowl. He brings it over with some plates and scoops out a portion for her. "Try this, it tastes great."
"What's in it?"
"Uh… lady fingers, custard, jam, beef, peas, powderized funyuns, and I forget the rest.
She hesitates for a moment, worrying about trying… what he thinks is a trifle, but her hunger gets the better of her. Shockingly, she doesn't waste any time and cleans her plate. Dekar finds this concerning, but hopes it's just a case of the munchies. He gives her another two servings, and they go down without any problem. Joan, even though she still feels hungry, decides to stop and takes her leave. "Thank you for the meal, but I should get going."
"Are you sure?" Dekar tries convincing her to stay. "You can stay if you want."
"I shouldn't be anymore trouble, especially since you guys are still waiting for him," she looks up to Havoc.
"Yeah, but at least I can talk to you."
"I'm sorry, I just want to put this day behind me, okay?"
Dekar looks too concerned for her safety. "At least let me drive you home."
"Okay, that's fair."
Joan tries sleeping the day off after Dekar brought her back to her place, but the feeling of hunger keeps her up. Along with hunger, her arm continues to irritate her, feeling itchy constantly. As she tosses and turns, the door opens with Liz and Ana's return. They call out for her, worried about what happened to her. "Joan," Liz calls out, "are you home?"
"I'm over here," Joan calls out from her room.
Liz comes in, exhaling in relief as she sees her. "Thank god, you're alright. I thought you got taken or something."
"Sorry about that," Joan answers. "Did Dekar tell you what happened?"
"He said you got really sick and collapsed in the forest. Are you okay?"
"No," she lets out a grunt, "I feel starving."
"Oh, do you want something?"
"No, I just had enough for lunch and dinner, and I don't want to just pig out."
"Joan," Liz begins to worry, "are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm sorry," Joan gets up and looks to her. "I just don't feel right. I just need to sleep it off, that's all."
Liz steps out of the room and closes the door. Ana pulls her aside for a moment. "Are you sure she's alright?"
"I don't know," Liz starts pacing back and forth, thinking about what to do. "Let's go see Dimitri, he might know what's wrong."
Back in the factory, Dekar sits alone at the table, snacking on a whole watermelon. His teeth begin to protrude as his mouth stretches wide and clamps down on the watermelon, crushing it, leaving juice to splash around him. As he swallows it, he can hear Dimitri outside. He looks out the windows to see him coming with concern in his eyes, a sign that he wants answers.
"Shit," Dekar mutters under his breath, failing to notice movement on the upper floors. A pipe falls to the ground and catches his attention. He looks up to see Havoc is gone from his bed, prompting him to race up the ladder in distress. However, the moment he reaches the top rung, a hand grabs him by the neck and yanks him up. Havoc stares at him as he struggles to release himself. Havoc notices how similar he is to himself, failing to notice Dimitri stepping in to witness this.
Dekar immediately slams his foot against Havoc, causing him to drop him and fall to the ground. Dekar regains his footing as Havoc drops down, cracking the floor as he makes contact. Dimitri rushes to his side, seeing if he's aggressive. Havoc looks to him in frustration.
"Calm down," Dimitri asks, "we just want to talk."
Havoc goes for him, but Dekar grabs him by the neck behind him, jumping onto his back.
"Don't do that," Dimitri yells at him, "you're making him mad."
"He's already pissed off," Dekar exclaims as Havoc grabs him by the head and flips him off. With great force, he kicks him into Dimitri. Dekar stands and they stare down the towering relative, more aggravated now. However, things calm down as Liz and Ana arrive to see what's going on. Havoc sees Ana and immediately runs passed them, picking her up and hugging her with relief. Dimitri and Dekar stare on as this once menacing killer turns soft and starts talking.
"Moya lyubov', ty v poryadke! YA ne mogu v eto poverit'. YA snova chuvstvuyu sebya!"
"Moya lyubov'," Ana answers him, "ne volnuysya. Eti lyudi - tvoya sem'ya, oni spasli tebya i menya. YA tak schastliv, chto ty v poryadke."
Havoc puts her down and turns to the two cousins. He walks up to them and looks them down. He starts muttering and trying to speak. "F...family?"
Dimitri steps up to him and answers. "Yes. You can trust us. My name is…," he's cut off as both he and Dekar are pulled into a bear hug, feeling like they're being squeezed to death.
"Can't… breath," Dekar utters before he puts them down.
Things calm down as Havoc enjoys his reunion with his lyubov' while Dekar plays off the encounter. "Hehe, glad that's cleared up," he looks to Dimitri. "Sooo… what's up?"
"What happened with Joan?" Dimitri wastes no time, pulling him to the table.
Dekar ponders over what to say before answering. "Long story short, she took a sample of me."
"And?"
"... She grew it in a lab."
Dimitri steps aside for a moment, irritated by the realization. He comes back to him after taking a deep breath. "Where is it?"
"It's back with me, reabsorbed and everything," Dekar speaks to him as calmly as possible, seeing how anxious he's becoming.
"Did it do anything to Joan?"
"No, just used a defensive chemical. It's alright, though, the chemical should be out of her system by now."
"She isn't doing too well, though," Liz steps in. "She says her right arm is getting itchy and she has these unnatural cravings. I'm worried it's hurting her."
"There's nothing else we can do, I'm afraid," Dekar makes his point clear. "I've seen this before. All we can do is wait for it to pass. How bout I go stay with her until she gets better."
Dekar begins standing out of his chair before Dimitri stops him. "I think it's better if I go check on her. You stay here and watch Havoc and Ana," he looks to Liz. "Liz, would you like to come with me?"
She nods in agreement and Dekar is unable to go against Dimitri's judgment. However, as he looks on as they leave, he starts feeling uneasy about the situation, clutching his chest with anxiety.
Calm down… calm down. It's fine, nothing will happen. Nothing will happen… nothing.
A couple hours have passed, Joan feels the hunger welling up inside of her, and her arm is still irritating her, causing her to scratch at it vigorously. She finally gives in and rushes to the kitchen, opening the fridge and taking out anything she can find. For a moment, she takes a breath and stops herself from going crazy. She pulls together a simple sandwich and starts eating. In no time, it's gone. However, she still feels hungry and makes another, more sloppy one, but it's eaten too. Her hunger still grows, making her forget about the formalities and scarf down whatever she has. Eventually, half the fridge is gone, her hunger finally satiated. In the aftermath, she groans over the fact that she acted like an animal. However, something isn't right.
She heads over to the bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror. After everything she's done, the scratching and the gorging, she looks normal. She lifts her shirt and sees it isn't fattened up or anything. In fact, she notices she's looking more fit than before, developing a bit of muscle, even with the training she went through with Dekar. She doesn't have any rashes from her scratching either; her arm looks find. The images flash through her mind again, the stump she thought she had.
It felt so real. But… Dekar said… he said…
Joan wanders over to the living room couch and sits staring at the t.v. turned off. Her thoughts are scattered, the whole day seems impossible, she thought she was dead, but she's fine. She's snapped out of it when a knock comes from the door. She opens it to see Dimitri. "Oh, hey," she greets him.
"May I come in?" he asks.
She stands aside and lets him in, along with Liz behind him. They take a seat at the table across from Joan.
"Joan," Dimitri starts, "we're worried about your… condition after the incident. We're doing this because we're your friends and we want to help. So please, tell us, do you remember anything about what happened?"
"Well…," Joan recollects her thoughts, "Dekar said I was hallucinating in the mining factory."
"And what did you see?"
"I saw armed men at the sight. They were searching for something, 'samples' as they said. The arm started growing an eye or something. Next thing I know, I'm running from the men and started climbing up the wall. One guy shot my arm off and I fell. Dekar said I was just standing in place when he found me."
"And how do you feel now?"
"I felt… hungry, but…," she looks back to the kitchen for the moment, "I'm fine now. The cravings stopped, along with the itching."
"And when did you get better?"
"Just now when you got here?"
"May I see your arm?"
"Sure," Joan outstretches her right arm to Dimitri, splaying it out on the table.
Dimitri taps at her arm in several places. Next, he extends one of his nails as a long, pointed tip and taps at the nerves in her hand. "Your reactions seem fine," he stops for a moment and stares at the skin. Joan begins to feel nervous, thinking that he found something important. However, he pulls away without much to say. "You seem fine right now, but if anything happens over these few days, you have to let us know, okay?"
"Okay."
Dimitri takes his leave, letting Liz know that Ana will be back tomorrow. She says goodbye and closes the door, walking back to Joan who's still sitting at the table. She sits with her and asks her one last question. "Joan, do you feel something is wrong with you? Do you want to go to the hospital just in case?"
"No," she answers calmly, "I'll just do as Dimitri says and wait for anything to happen. Besides, if something is wrong, I don't think regular doctors can help me."
