Well, since I haven't updated in a very, very, very long time, I think it's only fair that I put another chapter up for your viewing pleasure.
I like this chapter. Jeb gets all scared and broken in it.
Poor, evil, insaneJeb.
Oh, and it pretty much explains why the Flock are so speacial to Nox. How they came to be. And if you pay close attention, what they really are.
Chapter Twenty-one
Jeb shuddered as he stared at the mug clasped in his hand. Steam curled upwards from the honey-colored liquid inside, carrying the strong herbal scent that churned his stomach.
He hated tea. Always had, probably always would. The only reason he had been gulping it by the mug-full the past day had been because his doctor prescribed it.
Yes, Jeb had been thoroughly shaken by his last encounter with Noxnoctis. Before that he had already been shaken by Luxlucious. In between all of that had been utter stress and worries of what the Director would say about his loss of the Flock and Luxlucious.
The Director hadn't been happy.
Everything combined was why Jeb now sat behind his oak desk, hunched in his cushioned leather chair. One hand was clasped around a steaming mug of herbal tea, the other massaging the area just above his newly acquired black eye.
He never knew the Director could be so physical.
His doctor had said to stay calm, take a few days off. His doctor didn't know that it would be impossible to part from his work now. Jeb did take the opportunity to cancel all his meaningless appointments and hide himself in his dark study, though. A lucid threat to his secretary ensured he would not be disturbed.
That was exactly the reason why a rap on the door startled him. Jumping an inch off his seat, he scrambled to make sure the steaming tea didn't spill onto his lap. He swore as the liquid instead spread out on his desk, soaking a few very important documents about the origins of a very important experiment.
A white-coat poked his blonde head into the room. He hesitated at the sight of Jeb, holding a steaming mug with liquid dripping down the sides. His eyes were settled, glaring, on the white-coat at the door.
"S-sir, you have a visitor."
Jeb glared, translating the icy stare into his low voice. "What did I say about my privacy, Nobs?"
"Yes, well, sir, I tried to turn her away, but she insisted on seeing you. S-she said it was about the Flock."
Jeb raised and eyebrow. "She? I had no appointments with a female."
Nobs hesitated again as Jeb's face went blank, seemingly lost in his own world. A trickle of sweat appeared on Nob's forehead, a shudder wracking his body. Was the Head going to change? That was never a pretty thing, especially when you were the man's target.
Pushing aside his fright, Nobs continued. "The inspector, sir. She says it's urgent. Sir."
Nobs sighed as Jeb turned his hard gaze back to him. He didn't look hostile, though. Just regular Jeb Batchelder, Head of the Institute. Not like the Director.
"Well then, send her in. No point in sending her away."
"Yes, sir."
Nobs nodded, almost bowing, and quickly scurried from the room.
Outside the door, Annaira almost jumped as the little white-coat rushed out of the study. Sweat glistened on his face, and he appeared to be shaking. Clearly Jeb had frightened him.
That was a funny thought.
Annaira quirked an eyebrow at the little man as he almost walked right past her. Stuttering and bowing, he back-tracked towards her.
"Y-you can go in, miss."
With that the little man hurried down the hallway, muttering about character changes and the Director.
Shrugging to herself, Annaira pulled open the door and stepped into the study. Her eyes had to adjust to the darkness of the room. A strong herbal scent reached her nostrils, making her nose twitch. Obviously Nox had had an effect on the white-coat. Would it work for her?
Jeb, now sitting straight with his tea-mug gone, watched the inspector as she stepped soundlessly into the room. A heavy cloak shrouded her undoubtedly slim figure, the much-exposed skin glowing white in the shadowy room. Quite used to examining specimens, he noted every unusual thing about her.
He noticed the cat-like pupils expanding to take in light, turning her eyes virtually black. Her nose twitched at the herbal scent, even though the mug was clear across the room. She almost glided across the room, making no noise whatsoever, seating herself gracefully in the uncomfortable guest-seat.
She clearly was not human. By now, he already knew she wasn't. Nor was Noxnoctis, or Luxlucious. The Flock, who seemed to be involved in all of this, either already weren't or soon wouldn't be.
Perhaps his wasn't the only plan.
Flicking the thought from his mind, Jeb settled his gaze on the inspector. He smirked at the sight. There she sat, small and fragile, staring at him with wide eyes. He drew himself up in his seat, leaning forward over the desk.
"Noxnoctis sent you, I presume?"
The woman's eyes narrowed at his mocking tone. "No, Noxnoctis merely arranged the meeting, though obviously you attempted to wave it off." Jeb's smirk faded as the woman tsked at him. "Not a good idea, Jeb. We have business to attend to."
Jeb eyed her for a moment. He hadn't expected her voice to sound as it did. He expected it to shake, quiver slightly with an attempt to hide discomfort and fear. That's what females normally sounded like while under his watchful eyes.
Instead her voice was unwavering, clear and assured. At the same time it was soft and melodic, lilting with a flawless British accent. Beautiful and commanding all at once.
Just what he liked in a woman.
The smirk spread onto his face at the thought. He stayed leaned in his chair, hands folded across his lap. His eyes focused on the woman's face. She hadn't taken her hood off yet.
"And what business would that be?"
The woman sighed in annoyance. "Surely Nox made that clear in our last meeting, did he not? No, I suppose you're too hot-headed to believe any of it."
Again Annaira managed to wipe the arrogant smirk from the arrogant face of arrogant Jeb Batchelder. Nobody did that twice and escaped his wrath. Not even a promisingly pretty woman with a definitely pretty voice.
Before he could say anything, a delicate hand rose from beneath the cloak to silence him.
"Listen, Jeb, I'm going to make this quick. Nox has officially put me in charge of tracking the Flock and Lux." Jeb moved to protest, again silenced by the hand. "Yes, yes, I know that's your job. So it will be."
Jeb quirked and eyebrow. "What are you proposing?"
"I propose we work together. You give me access to your computer and all your files, completely leave the research to me, and speak of nothing to Nox."
Jeb's eyes narrowed. The woman sat, serious and unmoving, eyes boring into him. She was clearly serious.
"And where do I come into that plan? What's in it for me?"
Jeb shuddered as the woman smirked wickedly. A white fang glinted in the sparse light, sending chills up his spine.
"I'll keep all your little secrets safe. Your little mood swings, the Director's true identity, and Maximum."
If possible, his eyes narrowed further, eyebrow quirking in slight interest.
"My apologies, miss, but I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."
The woman snorted in disgust, glowing eyes rolling at him.
"Don't give me that, Batchelder. I know all about your history. You weren't always a blood-sucking scientist, where you? You worked as a doctor, led a completely normal life, and even had a family. A wife, kids. Do you remember that?"
Annaira's smirk began to fade as she gazed at Jeb. His eyes had widened, face completely still. His eyes were beginning to cloud over, body beginning to shake. She was having an impact on him. Might as well continue.
"Then you got a job offer. One you couldn't resist. You'd be working as a genetic scientist, something you always wanted to do. You were amazed on the first day. The facility was completely new, all the equipment unused. Somehow you managed to land the position Head of your department. It was amazing, your first day on the job and already there was an experiment to be done."
Jeb's eyes were now closed. He breathing came in ragged gasps, his body shaking visibly now.
"The first month or so was harmless enough. Nothing but lab mice and rabbits to test on. Little did you know, something was beginning to work in you that first month. You longed for excitement, for something more than rats and simple testing. Something only few had ever done, something that would change the human race as we know it. So you began testing on humans."
Annaira shifted in her seat, tilting her head in mock interest. Her eyes glowed with hate.
"Do you remember the first baby, Jeb? Barely a month old, readily donated by a teenage mother for drug money. Perfectly healthy boy, could have lived a somewhat normal life. He was dead in a week.
"A year passed, and amazingly your lab managed to continue their human experimentation. Partly because nobody notified the government, and partly because you would have given your life to keep it a secret. No, you would never go back to testing on mice and rabbits. You even managed to keep your conscience at bay by telling yourself the babies were doomed anyway.
"Eventually, though, the government did find out. Luckily you were able to escape with the few experiments you had, covering all evidence of human experimentation. Still, the lab closed down, leaving you and your colleagues jobless. Which didn't really matter.
"Within the next month you received a letter from your former agency, inviting you to join their new secret project. The Higher Living would continue their human experimentation, even if it forced them into a small laboratory with next to no funding. Things were bleak, but you saw a future in it all. The human race depended on you.
"You weren't in the pathetic excuse for a laboratory long. Soon the Higher Living began receiving funding from an anonymous donor. Thus the School was built, just miles away from your home. Convenient. You didn't have to move your wife anywhere. Which was good, because she was already beginning to complain about the time your job consumed. Because really, it was changing you. You began to distance yourself. From your family, your friends, the love of your life. Soon your job became priority number one, the secret of it all your life."
Annaira's eyes had begun to cloud over as she gazed intently at Jeb, searching his guilty eyes.
"Another year passed. Experimentation became more intense, studies ever growing. However, it was becoming harder to find subjects. Not as many people were willing to give up a child. Slowly your hunger for change became a starvation. By now you knew enough about humans and their reactions, about diseases and malfunctions. You wanted more.
"The answer to your problems came via a short but revolutionary letter from an anonymous source. A secret facility was to be built in New York, underground. In return you were promised a promotion and a revolution. You couldn't resist.
"Your wife almost left you when you told her about moving to New York. She refused to go. Thus, you promised to be home within the month, leaving your wife and newborn daughter for a much greater project. Once in New York you found that construction was already well under way. By the end of the month the Institute was nearing it's opening day. Still, you had to go home. You'd promised your wife.
"Once back home, your life became unbearably boring. Your wife was the same, if not more irritable towards you, your daughter was too young to be of any interest, even your job was boring. Boring only because you knew something was going to happen soon. Something revolutionary, something huge. Something that would happen at the Institute, and you weren't even there. Every day you were home became torture. You thought of nothing but what would happen in the future. You could hardly wait.
"You didn't have long to wait. Soon an invitation came in the mail, inviting you to the grand opening of the Institute. It promised a revolutionary unveiling. The next day you were on a plane without your wife even knowing it. But that didn't matter."
Jeb had gone completely still by now, his eyes wide and glassy. A smile spread onto his face. Annaira continued in a low voice.
"The unveiling was of something no one had ever dreamed of. Luxlucious. Fully grown, no younger than eighteen. With a fully formed pair of wings. Wings. You could never have asked for anything better. All your longings, your cravings for something greater, and there he sat. A revolution.
"Needless to say, within the next week the Institute was alive with experimentation. Firstly, you had to discover how Lux could possibly be the way he was. You never did properly figure it out, though you did find his DNA to be a bit odd. Not entirely human. Perhaps it was a bit avian.
"When you left the Institute a month later, only because your wife was irate, two experiments had already been successful. How long they would last, nobody knew. Still, two babies had successfully had their DNA mixed with avian DNA.
"Two years passed at home. The Higher Living had learned that it was much easier to inject a life form with foreign DNA while still forming. Oddly, plenty of mothers were willing to aid the School. Mostly wives and girlfriends of the scientists, though. Experiments had branched well beyond the avian variety. Some were successful, some failed miserably. Most never made it past a year.
"Another year, and the Higher Living hit a dilemma. More so, they were hungry for more knowledge. If a newborn was injected with foreign DNA, it would be successful but only for a short period of time. Things were still forming, you concluded, and thus it was harder for the body to take. If injected before birth at an early stage in the pregnancy, the foreign DNA would become more a part of the body. But, what would happen if DNA was injected at an older age?"
Annaira's voice became dark, laced with malice and disgust.
"Oddly, few people were willing to donate a child over the age of two. Except you, Jeb. You knew that this was for the greater good, for all of mankind. It had to be done. And who better to have the opportunity to be great than your own daughter?
"So you kidnapped your own daughter, three-year-old Max. Your wife didn't know what had happened. How could she? She knew nothing of went on at the School and Institute. Why should she know? She wouldn't understand it. She'd try to stop it all. You couldn't have that. Especially this, your daughter. She would be great.
"You didn't even think about what would happen it the experiment was a failure. You couldn't think about it. Luckily the experiment was a success. Your daughter had been injected with avian DNA, and within a week showed signs of a forming pair of wings. Her bones became weaker as they attempted to hollow out, her lungs and heart grew to a larger size. With the help of a few surgeries, you had a living bird/human hybrid. Just like Luxlucious. A revolution had begun."
Annaira blinked rapidly as she drew herself away from Jeb's thoughts. She shuddered as the effects hit her. Voice trembling, she barely managed to get the last of the story out.
"Six years later you had five more bird/human hybrids, and twelve other developing experiments. Not to mention a new race of wolf/humans. Your job consumed you, barely leaving any time for your wife and new son. You started taking Ari to work, to give him a chance to see his sister. To spend more time with him. To get him ready for what would happen to him. You didn't think he'd tell anyone what he saw, because you told him it was a secret. Little boys are horrible secret keepers, Jeb.
"He told his mother. She blew up at you. She screamed, she cried, she begged. She hated you. That almost hurt you. Almost. After a few hours of fighting she went for the phone, to call the police. You were mad, fearful, insane. She dropped to the floor when you hit her, never to wake again."
Again Annaira shuddered.
"That's your life Jeb. You threw everything away for an experiment. But it wasn't all you, was it? Something helped along with your change. Something that ultimately brought about this Jeb, this bloodsucking, evil, white-coat Jeb. The same change brought about the Director in you, didn't it?"
Annaira smirked as Jeb blinked, pulling himself from his stupor. His eyes slowly became clear again as he regained recognition. A questioning look spread across his face as he analyzed the question.
"The…Director…yes…"
Annaira had pulled herself from the chair and crossed to the door, settling Jeb with a malicious stare. Her voice came cold and hard as he stared at her.
"Good evening, Jeb. Thank you so much for the information."
Jeb could only blink as she left, leaving no time for him to yell at her. Or stop her. Kill her, question her. Become the Director.
Outside the door Annaira leaned herself against the wall. A shiver went through her body as the remnants of Jeb's thoughts rushed through her. His mind was cold, filled with regret and desire. Fearful and prideful, meek and strong. It was confused. He was confused. Someone had molded Jeb into the person he was today.
Slowly standing straight, Annaira shuddered once more. Three guesses who had changed Jeb into such a dark creature. All along she had never known it, never even guessed it.
As she muttered the words of departure, throwing herself into a dark In-Between world, one thought raced across her mind.
Noxnoctis had much more planned than she thought.