I just wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to read this. I'm glad you're all enjoying it! But up next, we find to find out a little more about Theo's past. Enjoy~
"I'll start from the beginning. When I was twelve, a virus outbreak started in my home town."
Three kids stood on the outside of the local forest. A black shaggy haired boy, a redheaded girl, and a smaller shorthaired blonde boy all stared into woods. They had been out playing, enjoying one of their final days of freedom. A strange sound from inside the greenery drew the kids' attention.
"Hey, did you see that?" The girl watched as one of the bushes that sat back into the woods shook slightly. She leaned in closer, trying to see what caused the movement. "I wonder what it was."
The blonde boy took a step back, not wanting to be the first to find out. Unlike his two friends, he didn't share their love of adventuring. His parents told him stories of the coyotes and other dangerous animals that would attack if provoked. He liked his face intact, thank you very much. "Dora, I don't think you should get closer."
"Yeah. Shaun's right. I bet you it's a monster."
"Monsters aren't real, Nick. Grow up." Theodora rolled her eyes. Nick had loved to tease both her and Shaun since before they could walk. He always talked about monsters, trying to scare them. Luckily for her, she was too old to believe in those 'monsters'.
"They are too! That old lady from down the road said so." Nick defended. They all knew of the lady he spoke about. She was well into her sixties. Since he mowed the old woman's lawn every week, he got to hear the exciting tales of her past.
"My dad says Mrs. Spencer is too old to tell the difference between what's real and what she watches on tv." Shaun muttered.
"You're just scared because I'm right."
Shaun stepped back even further. It certainly wasn't because he believed Nick's idea. He just didn't want to get any ticks. Yeah, that's it. No other reasons than that. "Are not. You're just being a jerk."
The tall weeds started to move again. Whatever the thing was seemed to be slowly coming closer to them. "See, there it is again!"
A gray mass crawled out of the overgrown weeds, letting out a growl. This time, all the other two kids stepped back. "Woah, what is that?"
"Whatever it is, it looks like it's half dead."
"Go poke it."
"No, you poke it."
"Hey! What are you kids doing out here!" The kids turned around as one of the neighbors walked over to them. He looked at the children, before looking at the gray mass that had crawled out of the brush. "What is tha-AHH!" The man cried out as the thing bit his leg.
The kids' eyes widened. "Run!" Nick yelled. The kids all scattered, running back to their homes.
"Mom? Dad?!" Theo called out as she slammed the door shut behind her, breathing heavily. The run from the woods to her house had taken over ten minutes. Taking a deep breath, she looked around the house. An unsettling silence greeted her. She pushed off of the door and walked further into the house. A thump came from one of the rooms down the hall. Turning the corner, she could see the door to their laundry room shake. "H-hello?"
"Theo!" Her father called out as he stepped out of the room. He pulled the door shut behind him. He grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the door. Theo didn't miss the red puddle that started pooling from under the door. "There you are! Where have you been?"
"Nick, Shaun, and I were out playing! Then this thing came up and attacked Mr. Smith! We need to call the police! Or animal control!"
Her father knelt down as he looked her over. "Did it hurt you?"
"No, we ran away after it attacked Mr. Smith."
"That's good to hear." Her father's voice sounded relieved, but also broken.
Something wasn't right. When she had left the house, both of her parents had been there. She had seen both cars in the driveway on her way into the house. Theo backed away and looked at the faint splatter of red on her father's favorite shirt. "Dad... Where's mom?"
Her father gave a tired sigh, refusing to look in his daughter's eyes. How do you tell your only child that you killed her mother? Granted, something wasn't right and she had attacked first. But still. He settled for the best option. "She's not here kiddo. We have to go."
"Dad and I tried to escape. We didn't get far, though, the military had set up a perimeter over-night. They said they were going to help us. But we were wrong."
It had been several hours since they reached the evacuation zone. The military men had led them into a small room, telling them to wait there for further instructions. They hadn't talked to anyone since. The man that stood outside their room offered no explanation. Instead, he stood at attention, waiting.
Theo pulled on her dad's sleeve. "Dad, how long do we have to be here?"
They were both tired and dirty. Her dad had broken his foot while trying to fight off some of the creatures that they once called neighbors. Theodora, herself, had a rather nasty bite wound on her shoulder after getting just a little too close.
"I don't know kiddo. I really don't." Her dad said. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Gently, he stood and hobbled over to the door. "Hey, buddy. What's going on here?"
The soldier didn't look at her father. "That's classified."
"Look, we just want to get out of here."
Her father watched as two men walked down the hall, sandwiched between four heavily armed men. The one to the right seemed to be a doctor. The one to the left wore a highly decorated military uniform. "It's really amazing, she shows no side effect of the virus."
"And she's been bitten?"
The soldier that stood outside of the door, held it open as the others entered. Neither of them paid attention to the two family members. "Yes. It's been well over the allotted time, and yet she still shows no symptoms. It seems like she's a possible compatibility for our research."
Cold blue eyes finally looked at the pair. "Get the girl." He ordered.
Her father stepped forward, trying to stop the two men that approached his daughter. The others stopped him, holding his arms. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"Dad?" Theo questioned as the men came closer. She shrunk back into the corner, unsure of what was happening.
Her father struggled harder. "Stay away from her!" He demanded. The end of one of the guns slammed into his stomach, taking all the air out of his lungs. He coughed as he fell to the ground. He felt another blow to his head, causing him to sprawl onto the ground with a groan.
"Stop it!" The girl cried out, trying to run to her father. One of the two men caught her by the arm. Taking a small needle out of his pocket, he jammed it into her neck. Theo cried out, more in surprise than pain.
The effect was immediate. A fuzzy feeling started around the injection that traveled throughout her body. She stumbled, landing on the ground.
"Theodora!" She could hear her father trying to get to her. "Leave her alone you bastards!"
"Dad?" Theo asked as she was lifted into the air. She rolled her head off to the side as a single shot rung out. A chill went down her spine as she watched her father's form collapse, unmoving. She wanted to struggle, to run to him, but the pull of the darkness was too strong. The strange man's voice was the last thing she heard before she fell unconscious.
"Pull the men out. Burn the city. We're done here."
"After that, they took me to this place that they called 'The Compound'. They ran a bunch of tests and then ended up infecting me with their trial virus. Lucky me, my DNA was a perfect match. Since I was a success, they decided they were going to try and find more like me."
"Gentlemen, let me introduce you to our newest creation." The Colonel said as he entered a room full of various men. He took his place at the head of the table and gestured to the files that sat in front of each of the possible investors. "Codename: Angel of Death."
All the men picked up their folders. A large blonde man laughed as his eyes scanned the file. "That's a pretty scary sounding name for a teenager. What's she gonna do? PMS the enemies to death?" His investor had asked him to attend the meeting in his place. From what he had seen so far, what this man offered seemed like nothing more than a total scam. There was no way that this kid could be a bioweapon.
"Let me show you what this 'teenager' can do." Picking up a small remote, he pressed a button. A large tv screen rose from the floor. The bioweapon in question stood in what appeared to be an arena. The girl's hands were bound at the wrist.
"AOD. Begin."
A large B.O.W. like creature stumbled out of the cage. It towered over the girl, who seemed completely unfazed. It let out a roar as it ran towards her. The girl snapped to attention as her cuffs detached themselves.
"That's enough." The Colonel ordered. The cuffs reattached themselves as the large creature fell over, dead. He turned his attention back to the investors, a smug smile on his face.
The spectators all watched in amazed silence. They had heard stories that The Colonel and his team had managed to find a match, but they had never dreamed it would be a teenage girl. One of the men leaned over to another. "Her speed is amazing."
"Yes. She threw that B.O.W. like it were a doll. We could use a weapon like that. How much do you need to make me one?"
"So, they managed to keep me in there until I was twenty-four. The one doctor, her name was Elizabeth, got tired of them using me for fighting and biowarfare. She helped me bust out of the place one night."
During her story, both women had turned themselves so they were facing each other. Theo sat Indian style, with her back resting against the arm of the couch. Similarly, Alcina sat with one of her long legs pulled up, while the other hung off the side. "What happened to her?"
Theo gave a sad smile. "She died. While helping me escape."
"I am truly sorry."
"Don't be. It happened a while ago."
Alcina leaned forward. After telling some of her story, the younger girl seemed to relax. Like the weight of the past had finally been lifted off her shoulders. "Do you the nightmares happen often?"
"They're usually only triggered by something."
Realization flooded Alcina. "The fight."
"Yeah..." Theo said awkwardly.
Guilt flooded over the vampire. How could she have been so foolish? She didn't even think to ask Theodora if she were okay with participating in the fight. She just assumed that everything would be fine. "If I had known-"
"Don't worry about it. I actually had fun." Theo waved, cutting her off. In truth, she did. At the end of the day, she had agreed to it. She wanted to impress the taller woman, in any way. Not to mention, getting to see Heisenberg's outfit had been well worth it.
Alcina leaned closer, staring into the mismatched eyes. "Still. It is my responsibility to know these things. I do not like seeing those I care for suffer."
"I wouldn't call it suffering. But thank you for your worry." Theo breathed. Their faces were only inches apart. It wouldn't take much to capture Alcina's lips with her own. Just a few centimeters more...
"My Lady, the silks you had ordered have arrived." The two sat back as the maid entered the room. Her eyes widened slightly, realizing she had interrupted something. Alcina sent a glare at the young maid, making her blood run cold. The maid left the room as fast as her legs could carry her.
Theo stood up. An awkward silence hung in the air. "Uh, yeah. Well, I'mma go ahead and take that stuff over to Donna. I'll be back in a few hours."