Error's Rival
Chapter 29: Escape
"Sam, Tucker, we'll call you in the morning, for now you should go home and get some rest. You've had a long day." Maddie placed a hand on their shoulders, giving them a warm smile. "Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on both of them."
Sam sat on her bed, unable to sleep even though her eyes were barely open due to exhaustion. She finally walked over to her bathroom to take a shower, she could feel her skin covered in dry sweat. While she piled her clothes into the basket next to the shower, she then put her hands behind her neck to take off her necklace for the shower.
Her eyes lowered to look at the orb on the chain, looking at the brilliant glowing light illuminating from it. A smile was brought to her lips, remembering the time when Danny had given it to her and also remembering the time she had spent with a heavy, black orb around her neck. Now it was back to normal. She wrapped her hands around it, feeling the warmth of it against her skin.
She felt closer to Danny having this around her neck. It was comforting to her.
After a long, hot shower Sam changed into some pajamas and went over to her desk. Raising an eyebrow, she glanced down at the letter that someone had put on her desk. Sam suspected that her maid, Celeste had put it there before her parents could get their hands on it. It was a bill, Sam noticed, and picked it up. "Oh, yeah…" She muttered, realizing what it was.
Her eyes widened a slight bit at the amount of money she needed to pay. It's not that she couldn't pay for it, but she wasn't expecting it to be that much. Oh well, she thought. She dropped the bill onto her desk again and went over to her bed.
--
"Jazz, can you do me a favor and put up another IV for Klayton?" Maddie quickly inquired, leaning over Klayton while he lay on the operation table. Jack was on the other side, handing different tools to Maddie while she worked on repairing any damage to his organs. Jack was very good with medical things, but operation was something that Maddie did better.
Venom had already done an amazing job with his incredibly fast healing, but Klayton still needed some medical attention.
"Mom, is he going to be alright?" Jazz asked quietly while she hung up a new bag of liquid for Klayton. "You've been at this for hours."
Maddie sighed, "there was some significant damage to his body. Blood clots, organ failure, bone fractures. I'm doing all I can to fix it before it's too late."
Even Jazz could hear the worry in her mother's voice.
"Danny should be fine in a few days, all he needs now is some rest." Maddie added. Danny had been placed on a separate table on the far side of the room. This particular piece was surrounded with a white tent-like structure, creating a clean environment for Klayton to avoid any bacteria entering his wounds.
"Mom, we can't keep going on like this. All of this has been Danny and his friends acting on their own with what they think is right, but all of that has got them into trouble. Do you really think we should just let them do whatever they want? If it gets bad enough, they could die! All of them!"
"Jazz, this is what it's been like for Danny his whole life. We can't try to change that. He's been independent and fighting for his life nonstop, do you think we can change his mind? Of course I worry all the time for his safety. He's managed this long. I've already lost him once, I can't imagine having to go through that again, but that's his life and all I can do for him is to be there if he needs me."
Jack nodded, "your mother is right, Jazz." He smiled kindly, "parents always worry if their child will be safe, but we can't keep you from all the dangers in the world so all we can do is teach you everything we know and trust that you'll stay safe." Jack grinned "besides, Danny has pulled through every challenge so far! I doubt there's anything he can't accomplish!"
Jazz chuckled, "that's true."
Klayton's body shuddered as though he were cold. A damp layer of sweat ran down his face.
"He's going into shock." Maddie grit her teeth, "Jazz, get me some damp towels, hurry!"
--
Flashback:
"You think you can actually pull this off?" Danny asked, and received no reply; it was obvious why… Danny exhaled, feeling his blood speed up as he prepared himself. He quickly glanced down the hallway to make sure there was a guard there, then with one last encouraging glance at Klayton, Danny dropped to the floor with as loud of a crash as he could possibly make with his small body and started screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Danny!? Danny!" Klayton rushed to his side, "What's wrong!?" He brought his head up and cried, "Help! There's something wrong!"
The guard heard the cry and quickly rushed to the cell, pulling out his keys to open the door. Damn, the guard snarled, the doctors made it clear that these kids have to live for now. He knew that they were necessary to finish this job. He opened the cell and crouched down to scoop up the boy but was surprised when the kid suddenly twisted to his back and launched his foot directly into the side of the guard's head.
"Damn it!" The man growled, putting his hand to his head, "stupid kid!" He lashed his hand out and smacked the boy across the face, hearing a quiet squeal from the impact. The young boy that had just gotten smacked got up onto his feet and literally jumped at the guard, knocking him with as much force as possible, causing the man to stumble.
Danny could feel his bones ache and bruise from attacking the guy, but knew that his job wasn't done yet. The door to the cell had been left open and Danny took that opportunity to make a sprint for the door.
"Hey, stop!" The man barked, running after the child immediately, not noticing the other child.
Klayton waited several moments till Danny and the guard were out of sight, then he held up the keys he had grabbed from the guard's pocket and then left the cell, running in the opposite direction that Danny had gone, knowing full well that the way Danny went was not an exit from this place. "Bye, brother." Klayton muttered under his breath and took off.
His bare feet quietly slapped against the ice cold floor, his heart raced uncontrollably through his chest. It was at this point that Klayton wished he had paid more attention to his surroundings or memorized where things were located. It was too late for that now. Keys jingling in his hand, he continued down that hallway until it came to a dead end.
Every small sound made him jump with horror, in his mind he could see all of the horrible possibilities as a result of this act. If I don't get out of here, there's no way they'll give me another chance! And even if they by chance did…I wouldn't want that! I want out of here!
In the other rooms, Klayton could hear the doctors running toward the lab where Danny currently was. Please don't hurt him! Klayton fiddled with the ring of keys, trying several times to open a single door with different keys until one of them worked. It was difficult to keep his hands from shaking. Calm down. I just need to stay calm and quiet.
Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Klayton managed to bring his heart rate down a bit so that he could focus more and not worry. The door unlocked with a small click and Klayton opened it, peeking through the door before he completely entered. It had only been about five minutes when Klayton ran into his first problem. He gasped when he heard footsteps close by. He stopped, and sure enough, a man turned the corner, in plain sight of Klayton.
Frozen in place, eyes wide, Klayton could taste blood in his mouth as he bit his lip. Damn it! This can't be happening! Please no! His plan of escape had to mean that he wasn't caught by anyone, and now that he was, everything would go downhill from there!
Taking a small step back, Klayton's muscles tensed as he was ready to dart in the other direction. Obviously, his movement didn't go unnoticed because the guard standing before him reached into his pocket and pulled out a very familiar device. Now, Klayton did start running, hoping to get out of reach of this man before he could push the button. No luck. Klayton screamed as the painful sensation worked through his body.
Having been running at the time, Klayton just about tripped over himself and lost sense of direction while he was shocked, causing him to collide with the wall. He desperately tried to hold himself up with the wall as a crutch, but it was no use. He fell to the ground, curling up agonizingly into the fetal position and could only feel himself losing consciousness.
All of that…was for nothing? I thought for sure that I could escape. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking, maybe I didn't have much of a chance at all.
"Then make it all worth something!" Klayton opened his eyes briefly, realizing that those words had come out of his own mouth. Not you again! Go away! "Get up!" Go away! I don't need you! "Stand up, you good for nothing! Stand up and fight!" His body seemed to act on it's own; ignoring the pain completely, Klayton jumped up from the ground, his eyes blazing with energy.
The guard looked at the boy with a questioning, as well as feared look in his eyes. "What the!?"
--
A doctor was on his way down a hallway toward the lab but when he turned a corner, he suddenly tripped and fell down. Growling with annoyance, the doctor rotated himself while he was lying on he ground to see what he had tripped over. "Oh my god!" He quickly scrambled away from the body sprawled across the floor, or at least, what was left of a body. "Who did this!?"
A dark chuckle brushed against the doctor's ear. The hair on his neck stood on end. "That would be me."
The doctor gave a strangled cough, looking down at his chest for a brief moment before his body went completely limp. The boy retracted his arm from the doctor's chest, leaving a bloody, gaping hole there.
There were no more distractions, so Klayton continued on his way out of the building. He flicked his arm a few times to throw some of the blood off. "Good job, partner. See how easy that was?" He chuckled. "No! No! No!" Klayton barked, bringing his hand up and examining the blood with wide, horrified eyes. "What have you done!? Don't you mean we? Get away from me!" Klayton let out a barking laugh. "How do you expect me to get away? I'm part of you, you idiot! No! You're not!" He viciously rubbed his hands together to get the blood off.
"Wasn't it your plan to escape? The longer you worry about this, the harder it will be to escape later! Now get moving!" Klayton gasped, biting his lip before taking off down the hallway.
Someone's coming! Klayton stopped, narrowing his eyes. There were several different places they could come from, he didn't know where they were exactly. "You idiot!" The voice inside of him barked, "Fly! Get away from them!" Klayton raised an eyebrow, "Fly? How!?"
Three men came into view, calling out to some others to come over there.
"Let me take over!" Klayton's voice growled, "I'll get us out!" Snapping back, Klayton replied "No way! I can get out myself!" "Psh! No you can't you idiot!" "Stop calling me an idiot!"
"Don't move!" One of the men who had arrived ordered.
Klayton cursed, glancing left and right in search for an escape route.
"There's no escape, 103!" The man with a large gun barked. The men surrounded him on all sides, each of them held up a deadly weapon, loaded and ready to fire. Each of the men suddenly pulled something out of their pocket, a round device that they each placed on the ground in front of them.
Klayton's eyes widened as a red beam was connected through each of the objects on the ground, creating a circle around Klayton. Not good. The red beams began to crisscross to the opposite side with the devices, and a few of the beams touched Klayton. At first it seemed like the beams did nothing, but it only took a moment later to realize that his muscles were tightening painfully to the point that he couldn't move them, it was as though they were hardening to a rock. "Damn."
--
"Let go of me!" Klayton roared, throwing himself back and forth in an attempt to get away from the men dragging him through the hallway.
"We're supposed to leave him in containment until further instructions." One of the men said to the others.
"I said let go of me!" Klayton was quickly hit across the face by one of the guys near him. He licked the blood in his mouth, hating the metallic taste of it.
They soon came to a short hallway of doors, this part of the building was always freezing cold! Klayton had been here only a few times before, only the ones that were being disobedient were sent here. He knew that punishment would be next. He exhaled with defeat, knowing that it was a stupid idea to begin with!
The first door was opened and the men tossed Klayton in; then the door was closed and locked. "Why the hell did I do this anyway! Damn it, I'm such an idiot!" He thought back to Danny, "No, I have to get out! I told Danny I would!" The voice cackled with laughter from Klayton's mouth, "Is that the only reason you want to escape?" "Of course not! I just…I'm tired of this place!" "I see. You humans are so strange. I'll never understand you."
Klayton stood up. I'm tired of this stupid place! I hate it! I want to get out! Let me out!!!
He threw himself up against the walls, kicking with all his might. His mind felt so hazy at the moment it was hard to stand up straight. "Let me out!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
The door to the small room opened, slowly and almost cautiously.
Klayton turned, snarling like a rabid animal at the visitor. To his surprise, it was a female, she was dressed in a lab coat, which immediately made Klayton hate her. "What do you want!?"
"Sh, quiet down." She whispered, glancing behind her before completely stepping inside. "I need you to hold still for a bit, this won't hurt I promise." She pulled out a syringe filled with clear liquid.
Klayton's eyes grew wide, he ran as far from her as possible, "no! no! No more tests! Get away from me!"
"This isn't a test. I'm trying to help you." She still spoke quietly.
"Bull! Like I'll believe anything you monsters have to say! All you ever do is test on us!"
At his words, the woman cringed slightly. "I know. I don't expect you to believe me, or even trust me. But I need to give this to you. If you want to escape from here, you need this!"
"Liar! Liar!" Klayton growled, feeling the beast inside of him churn to fight.
"Please, quiet down!" The woman begged, "This won't hurt! I promise you! All I need you to do is be still." She heard some voices in the distance. "Damn." She walked up to Klayton, "Forgive me." She reached out and grabbed his arm. Klayton immediately began to struggle, kicking her and trying to push her away. When that didn't work, he put his head forward and bit down on her hand as hard as he could.
The woman grit her teeth in pain as blood gathered around the spot that he was biting. She quickly put the tip of the needle on his neck and gently put it into his skin where she injected the liquid.
Klayton hadn't felt the needle at all but realized a moment later that she had put it in him. The burning anger from his ghostly self was soon dying down to a dull murmur.
"I'm sorry. I promise this won't have any lasting effects, all it will do is hide your ectosignature so that they won't notice you leaving. But we have to go now."
Klayton's eyes half closed, he felt very tired. His teeth released the woman's hand.
"It will make you a bit exhausted though. I apologize." She wrapped an arm around him to keep him standing and gently picked him up and left the room.
The last thing Klayton saw was the room spinning before his eyes, he closed them and before he realized it, he drifted off to sleep.
--
Klayton sat up, eyes half open. He desperately wanted to fall back asleep, that had to be the most peaceful and comfortable sleep he had gotten in so long! He looked around him, noticing first that he was in a bed. His eyes narrowed and he pressed his hand down on the cushion beneath him. "Whoa." He said out loud, giving a small smile at the familiar fabric of a bed sheet.
The second thing he noticed was that he was in a room twice as big as his cell! It had a carpet, a window on the wall and even a light on the ceiling! Klayton stood up on top of the bed, jumping up and down a few times. He then lightly jumped off the bed and went over to the window. His eyes widened at the sight! "Whoa!" He said again, putting his hand up on the window. The glass was cold due to the frosty weather outside. There were white specs drifting down from the sky and creating a blanket of white on the ground.
He sniffed a few times, turning around and seeing a small table set up by his door with a bowl of hot soup on it. Nearly drooling with hunger, he ran toward the food, and began to drink it, completely ignoring the spoon that was left beside it.
Klayton, once he was finished with his soup, ran to the window again to watch the snow. He eventually opened up the window and put his hand out to catch a few of them.
"You'll let the cold air in if you leave the window open."
Klayton jumped with fear at the voice, spinning around to see who it was. "When did you get here!?"
A small girl was sitting in the corner of the room, she wore a large green coat and slippers while her hair was pulled into a braid. She turned her head toward Klayton and it was then that Klayton realized he recognized her. "I know you!" He exclaimed. "Subject 83! But…I thought you had been labeled! Didn't…"
"I don't like being called 83. Please call me Jezebel."
Klayton noticed that the girl seemed to be looking right through him, her eyes, much like a cats eyes, were paling with a foggy colour. Can she…not see me? "Jezebel." He nodded, "I'm Klayton."
"Miss Takarra told me what happened, that was very brave of you to escape from that place."
Klayton's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open with horror, having been reminded of the past events that had completely slipped his mind. "Oh my god…" He fell to his knees, "…Danny…" He grit his teeth, "please be okay!"
"Klayton?" Jezebel asked. "Is Danny still…"
Klayton looked up at Jezebel, "you know Danny?"
She nodded.
"Yeah, he was fine when I left…" He looked around, "that woman! Where is she? I have to ask her something!"
"She had to leave. She brought you here but had to go back otherwise it would be suspicious if you vanished at the same time she did."
"W-why did she save me?"
Jezebel shrugged, "I asked her the same thing. She told me that she didn't want anyone else to get hurt."
"Will she save Danny too!"
"That I don't know."
"Oh…" He sighed. It felt so strange…for once, he didn't know what to do. "I'm…" a smile was brought to his lips, "I'm…free?" A tear came to his eyes, and Klayton now realized that he didn't have to try and hold his tears, there was no person there to tell him that 'crying showed weakness', there was no person telling him what to do! No more experiments! No more Rafael! "I can't believe it…I never thought that I…"
Jezebel smiled, "yeah, you're free."
-End Flashback-
A/N: Any guesses for what that whole 'bill' was all about at the very beginning? Anyway! Hope you enjoyed it!
