The Downward Spiral
A/N - The website was being a knob and didn't send out an alert for Chapter 14. So, check that out before this one if you haven't.
"And so it begins," Naraku announced, turning the shaker on. Jade was glad it was a quiet machine. She wasn't sure she could take multiple hours of a loud humming noise and Naraku's provocative tactics. She dropped her used gloves in the nearest trash can and slid her goggles off her face.
"So, it looks like there's a six hour break during Fraction Three?" Jade asked. Naraku nodded and removed his goggles, placing them on the table beside him.
"Getting there is the trick, though."
"How many extractions have you done? You almost don't even need the instructions."
"Overall extractions or just Phosphorus? I've lost count. I conducted my first Phosphorus extraction when I was a freshman." Naraku replied, taking a sip of tea from his mug. He had hooked up a small warming plate, cranked the heat up, and boiled some tea for both of them. He did it more for himself, but Jade actually asked for tea this time instead of him just pouring her some.
"Wow. Well, I guess I'll find something to do."
"What have you brought to entertain yourself?" Naraku asked, nodding towards Jade's third backpack. She already told him one was for clothes, and the other was for schoolwork, but she didn't disclose the third bag.
"My laptop, some speakers, external hard drive, a camera, various cords," Jade listed off.
"Are you going to stream here?"
"Nooooo. I might edit some videos, though." Jade pointed to her second bag. "But schoolwork comes first."
After Jade finished the rest of her O-Chem homework, she and Naraku gathered the papers, writing utensils, and various other items from the main table and stacked them on Naraku's former desk. They were going to need the entire table and the island beside the table. One by one, Jade carefully placed the bottles in descending numerical order; starting with the top sediment measurement and counting down to the lowest depth. Naraku had started mixing the solution needed for the next part inside the fume hood. Jade hurried to finish her task so she could watch him. Watching Naraku do anything scientific was extremely satisfying. He was fast, precise, and he made it look so easy. It was poetry in motion.
'I wonder if he would agree to make an instructional video doing something cool?' Jade stood beside him and glanced up at him. 'Probably not.'
"What is this?" Naraku asked her, looking at her as he steadily poured a clear liquid into a massive beaker.
"Magnesium Chloride?"
"Yes." he answered, smiling at her. Jade felt the painful pressure in her chest slowly deflate. He was being so encouraging. It was nice, but also weird. Naraku slid over and offered her a glass rod. She took it and reached into the fume hood, stirring the solution Naraku had created. Naraku moved over to the counter beside the fume hood, cleaning and rinsing out two pipettes. They were the models Naraku used for adding exact measurements of liquids.
"I get to use a cool one?" Jade leaned over to get a better look.
"Lightly press to absorb the exact amount; hard press to eject." Naraku explained, demonstrating with the water he was using to rinse them out. "I've already set the dial to absorb the needed amount, but you twist the button to increase or decrease the intake amounts."
"Cool." Jade said, taking the pipette from Naraku to examine it. She left the glass rod in the beaker so she could slowly twist the pipette button. She turned it back to the amount Naraku had chosen and placed the pipette back onto the towel next to its twin.
Naraku switched the shaking machine off and handed Jade one plastic bag, which held half of the tubes of sediment and liquid. He picked up the other and carried it to the other side of the table where he had his half of the bottles set up. Jade pulled a pair of purple latex gloves on and Naraku pulled on blue ones, clearing his throat.
"This is our first decanting process. The most efficient way to do this is to organize your tubes into the styrofoam holders first, take off all the caps, and place those in the same order to make sure they go back to the tubes they belong to. When you decant from the tubes, pour gently and make sure no sediment drops into the bottle."
"What if I can't drain all of the liquid without the sediment falling in?"
"Then we centrifuge them. But if we do that, we have to take additional time to bash the tubes against various surfaces to break up the sediment again so it fully reacts." Naraku explained with a sigh. "If we could avoid that process, our lives will be much easier."
"I remember watching you do that earlier this summer." Jade said, looking down at her portion of tubes. She opened the bag holding them and began pulling them out to organize them numerically. Naraku started doing the same; his movements quick and fluid while Jade's were slower and robotic.
Jade didn't know how or why, but time seemed to slow down when they began decanting. Was it because she was moving slowly to make sure she wasn't going to mess up? Was it because the process, despite being easy, required steady hands, which Jade didn't have? Before she joined The Pack as WeedWolf, Jade had used the gamertag, "Triggered_Fingers," because her hands and fingers were usually shaky and tense; ready to react to video game nonsense. Her hands usually reacted to a visual stimuli before she recognized what it was.
'Of course he's done.' Jade lamented, side-glancing at Naraku, who was screwing the caps back on his portion of nalgene bottles. Jade huffed, but she pushed forward. She figured she would get faster the more she did it.
"Hey," Jade shot at Naraku, who had moved to the other side of the table, plucking a tube from her group. He stopped moving entirely, staring back at her. "I can't get better if you won't let me."
"But I want to be finished before next year." Naraku said back seriously.
"No, put it back. Let me practice." Jade insisted, picking up her next tube.
"How about I do a third of yours?"
"How about no?"
"Fine." Naraku placed the tube back into its slot and strode around the table towards Jade, who was expecting his reaction. For the umpteenth time since she met him, she fought away a smile and snort. Naraku was so predictable at this point that it was funny to her. He now stood right behind her, slightly leaned over her left shoulder and silently judging her. Jade could almost feel his snide comments hitting the back of her neck alongside his breath….then he started gently blowing into her ear and behind it, causing her to twitch and rub away the tickling sensation with her shoulder, which prevented her from pouring.
"It's going to take me longer if you keep doing this!" Jade laughed, leaning away from him.
"Point taken." Naraku agreed, moving past her towards the fume hood. He lifted the giant beaker full of the new chemical to add to the tubes and placed it on the small island behind Jade. He moved his portion of samples to the island and cleared his throat loudly.
"I'm tryiiiiiiiing!" Jade whined, moving onto her next tube.
When Jade finally finished her portion of decanting, it was time to inject more chemicals back into the tubes to let them shake again. Again, Naraku finished his portion before she finished hers, and again, he tried various forms of annoying her until she finished.
"Are the lids tightened?" Naraku asked her, poking a few of her tubes.
"As tight as I could get them."
"Good. Back into the bags and onto the shaker they go."
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Naraku lay on the short couch lazily, his right leg hanging over the arm and his left leg planted on the floor. He had his left arm folded under his head and his right one repeatedly tossed a stress ball into the air and caught it.
'My organic matter shows the same anomalies my dissolved slides showed; the microbes are various purple colors and all of them are the dominant species. How is that possible?' Naraku wondered with irritation. He had spent his last two-hour break using the lab's very expensive, high-powered microscope. The best feature about it? It took excellent pictures and videos, which were necessary for his conference posters, presentations, and his thesis paper. It was much better than aiming his cell phone's camera through the eyepieces. He turned his head when the lab door jiggled and opened carefully. Jade came bouncing in with a wide grin on her face.
"What are you doing?" Naraku questioned her. She was carrying a plastic knife and a petri dish holding moist green moss. She pranced to the microscope immediately.
"Looking for water bears!" she answered, turning to him excitedly. Naraku rolled his eyes and groaned with disgust, but when Jade turned back to the microscope, the corners of his mouth turned upward.
'She's like a child. I suppose I can keep my judgments to myself about her water bears.' he decided. She reminded him of himself when he first saw algae under a microscope. He would often venture to nearby ponds or streams, or even the flooded paddy fields of the local farmers, and scoop up water, soil, sediment, moss; anything that could have life. Naraku imagined Jade was feeling what he felt; the excitement of discovery - even if it was unimportant to others.
"Can you show me how to work the microscope?" Jade asked him.
"You're tech savvy; figure it out."
"I don't want to break it."
"Turn it on. The knobs on the side raise the stage. The knobs above those focus your sights."
"If I break it, I'm blaming it on you."
"And Bruce will believe you."
"Did you know that water bears are also called, "moss piglets?" It's adorable."
"I had nooooooo idea, Jade." Naraku cooed sarcastically, tossing the stress ball up once more and catching it stiffly. He heard her giggle at his response and shook his head. Was there anything he could say to upset her or was he a joke to her now?
"Hey, I'm only just now learning and I'm stuck with you, so I'm going to share my excitement with you." Jade said back. "Whether you like it or not."
"Go back to your water bear search. Quietly." Naraku responded.
Within minutes, Jade had not only figured out and focused the microscope, but she also figured out how to activate the camera and display its sights onto the computer's monitor. Bruce had to show Naraku how to operate the camera when he first joined the lab, but after watching her videos, Naraku wasn't surprised that Jade figured it out, though he was still bitter.
"Have you found one yet?" Naraku asked mockingly.
"Oh, you'll know." Jade replied, seemingly unaware of his tone. Or, maybe she didn't care.
A little while later, Naraku was standing at the sink, splashing some water on his face. Laying on the couch had started to convince his body to sleep, so he needed to wake up. It was already nearly midnight and Fraction I still had one more water rinse session, meaning it would be almost four in the morning before the samples were ready for Fraction II. It made his eyes ache just thinking about it.
"Oh, oh, oh!" Jade hooted, almost rocketing herself to the ceiling from the chair as both of her hands shot up in the air.
"Found one?" Naraku assumed, drying his hands and face before walking towards her.
"Found two! Look at how wiggly they are!" she corrected. She pointed at the monitor and framed the area she wanted the camera to zoom in on. Naraku tilted his head. Sure enough, there were two of the eight-legged critters wiggling around the green moss chunks.
"Where did you scrape your sample from?"
"The little pond area in front of the library." Jade said. She gasped when she saw one water bear squirming on the surface of the dish, but it wasn't moving. "Oh no! Jerry! Is he hurt?"
"No. Water bears can't walk very well on slick surfaces." Naraku answered, looking into the eyepieces to see how well Jade had centered and focused the scope.
"Aww, come on, Jerry! Larry, get over here and help Jerry!"
"Zoom in on Jerry," Naraku told her, spotting something odd about the water bear's shape. Jade aimed the frame around him and hit the zoom key until the water bear took up most of the screen.
"What is that mass on him? Is it something he ate? A tumor?" Jade quizzed, pointing the mass at the end of its abdomen.
"Those," Naraku paused, pointing at the pale spherical blobs inside the mass with his finger. "Those are eggs."
"Oooh! Jerry! You're a Carrie!"
"Your future children are going to hate you for their names."
"Eat me, Naraku. Carrie and Larry love their names."
"Blow me, Jade. They're abysmal." Naraku shot back. "You have twenty minutes before we decant again."
"Okay. I'll take some pictures and a short video and put them back in the pond."
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'I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay,' Jade chanted silently, bouncing from one foot to the other and back again. She had taken a short nap, but then Naraku woke her and told her they had ten minutes to prepare for the next decant. They began Fraction II around four in the morning and this was its first decanting session. Jade had stayed up for long periods of time before, but video games were engaging. This? This was Hell. Not super hot fires burning flesh off, not frozen areas so cold that they burned, and no demons torturing people with sharp tools. No. Hell was this extraction process. Unscrew caps. Add chemicals. Screw caps back on. Shake for two hours. Unscrew caps. Decant. Add chemicals. Screw caps back on. Shake for two hours. Unscrew caps. Decant. Add more chemicals. Screw caps back on. Shake for two more hours. Don't commit suicide. Unscrew caps. Fuck your sanity. It was worse than she imagined.
"Here we go," Naraku announced, handing her bag of samples to her.
"You said you've lost count of how many of these you've done? Extractions?" Jade asked, now organizing her tubes back into their styrofoam slots. It was almost time to unscrew the caps again. Jade blinked a few times to remind her brain to keep them open.
"Yes."
"I think I understand why you're so sadistic now." Jade said with a loud sigh. "You've suffered so much doing these that you need to make someone else hurt too."
For the first time since they got high, Naraku laughed a deep, genuine laugh. This episode went on a little longer and he didn't even try to stop it. He smiled widely while organizing his tubes into their slots.
"You have no idea." he told her.
"Don't get me wrong. I love science, but this is probably the worst thing I've done in my life. Well, I had a bad hangover one time, but this is definitely worse."
"Oh, my sweet summer child," Naraku recited softly. "This is science."
"This fucking sucks."
Despite her exhaustion, Jade's decanting skills had improved greatly. She still wasn't as efficient as Naraku was, and probably never would be, but she was taking half the time she started off taking. That also helped cut their time down in general. Her pipette skills still needed improvement, though. Jade had spaced out at one point and injected too much Magnesium Chloride into a sample and almost had a meltdown over it. Naraku watched her quietly and waited for her to calm down before telling her it was fine. He then took her pipette from her and when the sediment had settled, he carefully suctioned the excess liquid from the tube. They wrote down which sample it was, which Fraction, and which process so they could toss out that data point later if it was clearly ruined.
"Tired already?" Naraku asked Jade when she collapsed backwards on the couch.
"You're not?" Jade grumbled.
"No." he lied. Naraku walked out of the lab to take a few laps around the building and keep himself awake. The lights on every floor in the building had been turned off with the exception of display cases or informational videos. He hopped in place a few times before taking off as fast as he could, feet pounding the floor. When he reached the end of the hall, he slowed down to a jog to safely turn the corner. He jogged the short hall and when he was about to reach the other long hallway, he sped up and took off again.
'Maybe I shouldn't drug her with the solution. It might be poisonous.' Naraku had been going back and forth on the idea of using Jade as his, "guinea pig." He even packed the solution up securely with his other items because, at the time, he was sold on the idea. It was different now and he didn't know what convinced him not to. Part of him said, "She will be surrounded by people and if anything happens, she will be helped." Yet, a deeper part of him also argued, "But what if it causes any kind of organ failure? A blood clot? Brain damage? Can I handle knowing I killed her?"
"Hm?" Naraku stopped at the end of the hall entirely when he heard voices. It wasn't uncommon for students to stay in the building when working on projects, but it was also unlikely this early in the semester. He stood in place, straining his ears. There was the middle hallway that featured a terrarium and an aquarium, and an informational video about the creatures in those tanks was always playing on loop, so he figured it was the video. But, when he was ready to take off again, he heard a different voice, louder than the distant video.
"There she is," someone whispered. "It's WeedWolf."
'Someone is here?' Naraku frowned, but then his already-pumping heart jumped. 'I left the door open! She's asleep!'
Lurching forward, he ran the short hallway and prepared himself to turn, and when he did, he heard her gasp, but he couldn't stop himself. Naraku slammed into Jade, taking her down with him as he fell forward. He heard the thump when she hit the floor and felt a sharp pain ring through his knee when he tried to catch himself, but Jade's body had cushioned most of his fall.
"Wh-What," Naraku panted, pushing himself up from her body with his hands. "I thought you were asleep!"
"I was! I heard footsteps and came looking for you!" Jade whined. She sat up after Naraku moved away from her. They both stood, rubbing the sore areas on their bodies.
"Why did you come looking for me?"
"I thought someone else was in the building."
"Who?"
"Do I look like I could fight someone? I didn't want to find out by myself."
"Did you tell anyone you would be here? Friends? Fans?"
"Just my roommates. Why?"
"I thought I heard something, but maybe it was you." Naraku said carefully. He knew what he heard, but he had no explanation for it. Jade would have seen them if she was already outside the lab. Naraku didn't hear any additional footsteps, either.
'Maybe it's my exhaustion.'
Both students walked back to their lab, closing the door behind them. They still had a while before the samples needed rinsed, but neither felt exhausted anymore. Naraku was able to walk the soreness out of his knee, but he knew a nasty bruise would appear within the hour.
"You hit like a fucking truck, man." Jade complained as she rubbed her chest.
"I'm bigger than you, and I was running at full-speed, so yes, I'm going to hit hard if I run into you." Naraku pointed out simply.
"I'm dying." Jade whimpered. Naraku watched as her body went limp playfully; her eyes staring listlessly at the ceiling. His stomach churned and a bout of nausea overwhelmed him.
'I can't do it.' he admitted. But, a voice, his own, whispered back, "Well, you can. You just won't...yet."
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Once he turned the shaker back on, Naraku looked at Jade, who was collapsed facedown on the couch. She was sleeping so heavily and motionless that Naraku was able to stack several books on her back without them toppling over. He grabbed the meter stick and stood on the end of the couch where her feet lay against the arm of the couch. Resting the tip of the corner of the stick on her left calf, Naraku lightly traced a snake-like path up to her hamstring.
"Bugs!" Jade snapped, reaching back to, "kill the bug," and causing the stack of books to collapse onto her. Naraku held the stick against his shoulder, chuckling as Jade cursed at him. She slowly turned and carefully rolled off the couch onto her hands and knees.
"Good morning, sunshine." Naraku stated tauntingly. She held her middle finger up as a response. "It's time for breakfast."
"Coming." Jade grumbled, remaining completely still. He didn't like that, so he started tapping the end of the stick on various parts of her body, each tap striking harder and harder. Jade snatched the stick and held it tightly.
"As you wish," Naraku turned and pulled her along the floor with the stick. The floors of the building were smooth, so it made dragging her all the easier. He glanced back and would have thought her to be dead had she not been gripping the stick with her right hand. Her eyes were closed and her limbs were slightly spread apart.
"Kill me, Naraku." she pleaded. For a split second, the thought of the dark purple solution flashed in his head.
"That's too merciful." he replied. "You might want to stand now, unless you want me to drag you across the concrete."
"You would like that, wouldn't you?"
"Very much so."
"Okay." Jade let go of the meter stick and pushed herself to her feet. Naraku held back a chuckle when he heard the harsh stomping of her feet indicating her exhaustion and sour mood.
'Honestly, she's handling this rather well for it being her first extraction experience.' Naraku glanced back at her again. Her eyes were closed, her long, brown hair was pulled into a disheveled ponytail, her white, stained lab coat was slightly hanging off her right shoulder, and her loose jeans were dragging along the sidewalk. She looked like a glorious mess. He stopped walking and braced himself for impact. Jade walked into him, jumping back and gasping.
"What's your deal?" Jade hissed at him angrily, her hand pressed to her chest.
"You're making this too easy for me. I cannot resist." Naraku admitted. "Whenever I see an opportunity, my blood starts pumping, my skin itches, and until I act, I receive no relief."
"You need to masturbate more often. Jeez." Jade growled at him harmlessly.
"What is with your obsession over my masturbation practices?"
"Shut up." she said, pushing past him towards the Commons area. Naraku grinned and took two wide strides to catch up with her.
"I think you like me."
"I think you're reading too much into things. You've watched some of my videos, right?" she asked as she opened the door to the eating area.
"Yes."
"Do you hear half of the horrible shit I say on there or do you just mute it and masturbate to our faces instead?"
"Point taken." Naraku said. "Though, you explicitly avoided saying, "No," again."
"I like hating you. It feels good." Jade was heading towards the Burger King line, but Naraku grabbed her by the collar and tugged her with him to the family-owned outlet.
"Carbs will only make you feel worse. You need protein." Naraku scolded her, keeping a grip on her collar.
"You and Sango have a lot in common."
"We work out at the same gym; end of similarities."
"You both also bitch at me about my food choices."
"If you would make better decisions, we would have nothing to bitch about."
The aroma of sausage and eggs filled the lab when the suffering students popped open their styrofoam containers. Naraku harped on Jade to buy the turkey sausage option, but she went with the usual fatty option of regular sausage to spite him.
'Had he asked nicely like Sango, I would have got the turkey.' Jade thought with amusement, savoring the first bite of her sausage. Her stomach was roiling with hunger and she intended to satisfy it with greasy, fatty food. She took a long sip of her chocolate milk, closing her eyes. It tasted like heaven.
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The cold water shocked Naraku's body enough to revitalize him for the moment. He faced the shower head, slowly brushing his black mane with his fingers to soak it completely. A whole day had passed since he last slept and he had already chewed through most of his snacks, so Naraku decided to go home, shower, feed the guinea pig, and grab more food for this break.
Naraku walked into his spare room, twisting his hair into a single, thick cord with a towel. The solution hadn't changed color or form for days. He brought the solution back home with him because he decided this wasn't the time to test it on Jade. But, then he paused.
'A single drop; it cannot be that dangerous.' Naraku placed it back into its case and took it with him. 'It was bitter, but it did nothing else to my mouth.'
Naraku approached the lab and saw the door was opened halfway. He pushed it open and then returned it to its half-opened position. Jade was eating a bowl of chili and watching a video on her laptop. Her hair was also wet, so she must have followed Naraku's lead with the shower break.
"Hey," Jade chirped. Naraku nodded back at her and placed his bag down on the desk.
"What are you watching?" he quizzed when he heard the excessive, frantic cursing of a whiny man's voice echoing from her laptop. It sounded like the whiny moron who was usually with Koga at the gym.
"Some footage of my latest stream. We made Ginta play a scary game and he can't handle that stuff."
"You sound like a wonderful friend."
"He deserved it." Jade shrugged.
"Did you take classes to learn how to stream and edit videos?"
"Nope. Self-taught." Jade took a bite of chili. "There wasn't much to do where I grew up. Small town, barely any kids my age, and I can only hike the same trails so many times before I memorized the place so well that it's impossible to get lost, which removes any excitement from the hike."
"Oh." Naraku blinked after staring at her for a moment. He expected an answer, but not one so revealing. It sounded very familiar, too.
'Replace video games with science experiments and it's me.' he noted.
"I mean, I've played video games since I was little, but I turned it into a job when I was fourteen...fifteen." she continued, ignoring Naraku's blatant staring. She stirred her chili before taking another bite and finally acknowledging Naraku. "What?"
"Nothing." he said quickly. "I can relate. I grew up in a small village where everyone's hobbies were fishing, farming, healing, or warding off evil spirits."
"Yup! Mine is more livestock than farming, but we have the healers, too. Ours like to use quartz crystals."
"A mountain town?" Naraku asked, raising an eyebrow. Jade nodded while giggling.
"Yours, too?"
"Indeed. I didn't have constant Internet access, though. I had entertain myself with other...hobbies."
"Arson?" Jade shot jokingly.
"Let's just say that many unexplainable events occurred and those events may or may not have been the reason an exorcist moved in."
"Hahaha, I shouldn't be laughing, but you're good. You're good."
"What? You were never up to no good?" Naraku quizzed.
"I did things, but not to the point that we needed a local exorcist." Jade retorted. Pushing her empty bowl aside, Jade cleared her throat. "I need to know something, though. Please be honest,"
"When have I ever been deceitful?"
"Cute." Jade snipped. "Dude, where do you get your weed? I know you don't grow it in your apartment, so either you have a connection or you have a spot out in some random field or - where are you going?"
"Come with me." Naraku insisted, wagging his finger at her invitingly. Jade trotted after him, closing the door behind her. They walked to the other side of the building where the main stairways and elevator resided. Naraku stepped onto the elevator and hit the button for the top floor.
'The Biology Department?' Jade frowned, but she knew better than to doubt Naraku's ability to skirt illegal activity by watchful eyes. She was very curious now. How could a bunch of biologists not notice pot growing in their rooms?
"I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong." he said, stepping off the elevator and turning to the left to the north end of the building. There was an off-white door with, "To the Roof," written in red letters.
"You're kidding me. The roof? Don't they have a telescope up there? How does nobody see it?" Jade's questions fired off before she could stop any of them. She knew it was because she was tired, but she needed to be careful; it was still Naraku she was speaking to.
"There is a telescope," he answered as he climbed the set of cement steps. "There is something else, too."
"Mm," Jade hummed skeptically. Naraku pushed the door open and stepped to the side while holding the door. Jade stepped out onto the roof and felt her mouth hit the roof while her eyebrows flew up into the sky. "There's a greenhouse up here?"
"I'm shocked you've never noticed." Naraku remarked with a snort.
"I'm short." Jade shot back.
"I have a deal with one of the botany professors; I grow the weed and he gets half."
"To himself?"
"He has a permit to conduct research on marijuana and the various effects it can have for various situations. I did my own research and showed him that I could grow it better." Naraku explained. He crossed his arms and looked back at Jade. "Though, I'm sure he shares some with his colleagues. Actually, I wouldn't be shocked if Bruce has smoked from at least one crop of mine without even knowing it."
"Bruce gets down?" Jade asked with a wide smile. Naraku arched an eyebrow, now stroking his chin.
"Rarely. You didn't hear it from me."
"Got it." Jade agreed. Then, she started laughing. It escalated and soon, she was doubled over and tears were leaking from her eyes.
"Get a hold of yourself." Naraku scolded her, but his tone was soft.
"I caaaaaaaaan't!" she wailed back. Naraku turned his back to her so he could smile in peace.
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'This is my last chance,' Naraku reminded himself. 'She's asleep. She will go to class and come back to finish up with me. She will be monitored. Nothing will happen.' He already had a small plastic syringe with a single drop of the solution sitting by his hand. The aroma of brewing tea had filled the room; the boiling liquid was the only noise in the lab at the time. Naraku had insisted that Jade get some rest before class while he stacked their one-thousand bottles on two multi-shelved carts. He was going to store them in one of the classroom's closets to keep them from being tampered with.
"I shouldn't." he whispered, closing his eyes. Naraku thought he preferred doing extractions by himself, but after performing one with Jade, he was beginning to think it was because his past partners were incompetent and lazy. Jade worked to become faster with the pipette, faster with decanting, and a bit more confident in her mixing skills. She read the instructions beforehand. She took notes. She listened to him, asked him questions, and…
'It can't be me. It has to be her. I need to know or I can't move forward.' Naraku forced all of his uneasiness and hesitations back into the depths of his mind. Jade was his assistant, a good one, but just an assistant. He squeezed the drop into her mug and poured the steaming tea in with it. He poured himself a cup and let it cool alongside hers.
"Jade," Naraku said, tapping her on the forehead. "It's almost time for class."
"Mm, how long?" she grumbled, opening one eye.
"Twenty minutes. I figured you wanted to wake up before leaving."
"I want to die."
"So dramatic. I made some very strong tea, by the way. It should help your energy for class at least."
"Hell yeah." Jade quickly rolled off the couch onto her hands and feet, walking on all fours to the table to grab her mug. "Did you drug it?"
Naraku's blood ran cold, but he quickly calmed himself by reminding himself she asked that every time he made her tea. "Do I ever?" he asked back.
"True." Jade shrugged and took a sip. Naraku had to hold back a laugh when her face contorted as she thrust the mug away from her face. "The fuck is this?"
"Very strong. Should I brew you the weenie batch instead?" Naraku challenged her, lifting his cup to his lips and pausing for her answer.
"Mama didn't raise no bitch," she said quickly. She tilted her head back and Naraku decided to indulge her competitive nature, but after the first drink, he could tell she really wasn't, "no bitch." Her gulps were steady and large and after draining her mug, she slammed it down on the table. Jade shook her head while sticking her tongue out of her mouth, complaining about the bitterness.
"You drink like a fish." Naraku pointed out after finishing his cup.
"I'm just happy that I'm faster at something than you are."
"You're faster at having worthless talents."
"You mad."
"Oh yes." he replied sarcastically.
"Alright, well, the taste woke me up at least." Jade sighed, grabbing her backpack. "Thanks for the tea. I'll be back in an hour."
"Have fun being terrible at drawing." Naraku said back as she darted out the door. Again, her hand and middle finger flew back in and then out before the door closed. As much as he wanted to, Naraku couldn't bring himself to smile at that gesture.
Glass clinked together as Naraku gathered used beakers and utensils to wash. He covered the drain in the left sink and filled it with hot, soapy water to let the glassware soak. Despite having a five hour nap earlier that morning, Naraku's body still ached and felt like it weighed a ton. The lab door opened while he was rubbing his eyes to help keep them stimulated. He could already tell from the silence that it was Sesshomaru.
"Good morning, friend." Naraku called out, blinking his eyes to remove the blurriness from his vision.
"You look tired, but alive. I suggest you keep it that way by staying silent." Sesshomaru responded, his tone bored and uninterested.
"Can you at least sound like you want to hurt me?" Naraku asked while flashing him a grin.
"Pest." Sesshomaru grumbled, opening a drawer and pulling out a box of slides and a box of slide covers. Naraku slowly walked towards him with his arms crossed.
"You might want to keep your slides locked up somewhere safe."
"You know how the game goes; if you touch something of mine, I will ruin something of yours. You might want to place your extraction samples somewhere safe. It would be a shame for three hard-working days to go to waste." Sesshomaru warned, turning to Naraku and crossing his arms.
"You know how my game goes; if you ruin something of mine, no one will ever find you." Naraku stated seriously, but then he smirked wickedly. "But, that will give me a chance to console your mother one last time."
Sesshomaru hesitated, but Naraku could tell by the look in his golden eyes that his decision was made; murder him! The white-haired man's right fist sliced through the air swiftly. Naraku ducked, but the fist caught him on the side of the head instead of his face. He stumbled to the side, but kept his footing. Naraku swung his fist in return. Sesshomaru had already bent over, grabbing Naraku by the waist and lifting him off the floor.
'He's going to throw me into our samples!' Naraku realized with horror.
"I don't think so!" Naraku spat, tipping himself forward and shifting Sesshomaru's balance. Naraku hit the floor first, but he managed to grab Sesshomaru's shoulder and bring him down with him. Both men rolled away from one another. Sesshomaru recovered to his feet first; Naraku was already exhausted and was down on one knee. Sesshomaru raised his left hand and gripped one of the bars of the mobile shelves holding Naraku's samples.
"Think really hard about what you're going to do," Naraku panted, remaining on his left knee, but he shifted his body up, ready to launch himself forward. "I hold back during our fights because they amuse me. If you shake even one of those bottles, I will strangle you."
"Oh, now you're serious?" Sesshomaru asked skeptically.
"Prove your doubts. Try me."
"Come at me then," Sesshomaru flicked the cap of a single bottle, but barely had time to react to Naraku's agile lunge towards him. Naraku grabbed Sesshomaru's wrist and shoved him backwards into the wall. Sesshomaru smirked. "Wrong move!" He jabbed Naraku in the ribs before tackling him, both men collapsing into the two mobile shelves.
Red. A fuzzy mixture of red, black, and white was all Naraku could see. Had the fumes from the ruined extractions splashed into his eyes? If so, it didn't explain the high-pitched ringing in his ears. But, a louder, muffled voice proved to him that he hadn't gone deaf.
"Stop! Stop!" Bruce's voice echoed. Naraku blinked and saw his hands around Sesshomaru's throat.
"When did," Naraku released his grip and Sesshomaru coughed as the air filled his lungs.
"I am so fucking," Bruce paused, looking around at all the spilled bottles. He gasped deeply and loudly, his expression shifting from anger to disbelief. "Oh my, oh no, nononono! This was Jade's first - I can't even speak right now!"
"Get off me!" Sesshomaru snarled, shoving Naraku from his body.
"Oh my God, oh my God," Bruce's panicked voice echoed throughout the lab. "Shit! Shit!"
"..." Naraku could only stare at the floor. The thousand bottles were scattered everywhere. Some had remained closed, but most had broken open, spilling out their contents. That was because some of the samples were still reacting, so they left the caps slightly unscrewed to allow the fumes to escape peacefully instead of risking the bottles exploding from the pressure.
'How could I let this happen?' Naraku slowly wiped the dribble of blood from his lip with his thumb and then stared at it. Three days worth of work; gone. The blood droplet crept down his thumb, curving towards his palm.
"I have had it with you two! Had it! I'm done! I'm taking this to the head of the department and we're going to figure out what to do with both of you!" Bruce stormed to the closet, pulling out a mop and bucket and shoving it towards both men. "Start cleaning! Save the bottles that haven't spilled!"
Naraku cleaned himself up first, as did Sesshomaru, and then they both grabbed gloves and started stalking around the room, searching for any intact bottles. He and Sesshomaru capped and tossed the unlucky ones into a blue plastic tub. They also dropped various towels on the floor to soak up the horrendous-smelling liquids.
"Did Jade help you with these?" Sesshomaru asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes." Naraku answered.
"We shouldn't let her see this." Sesshomaru said, dipping the mop into the bucket of water.
"Heh, this is your doing, so you can handle it." Naraku responded, finding another plastic tub to toss the soiled towels into. "You also ruined the slides she made."
"Had I known,"
"You're lucky. She's rather forgiving." Naraku told him. Sesshomaru looked back at him, searching for any sign of deceit, but Naraku meant it.
"So I've heard."
Bruce walked in several minutes later, closing the door behind him. He was still shaking his head, his eyes wide with disbelief. The two Master's students were now drying the floor quietly. The professor watched them for a moment and wondered why this had to happen, especially to Jade. Anything she had a hand in, Naraku and Sesshomaru would destroy it.
"If you two would act more like this instead of like two hormonal gorillas fighting over a female, things would be so much easier. Not just for me, but for both of you." Bruce said.
"He provoked me." Sesshomaru bit.
"I don't care if he fucked your grandmother's corpse while waving at you with her arm! Act like an adult! Act like a man of science, discipline, and respect! If you know him so well, you should be familiar with his tactics." Bruce lectured angrily, his New Zealand accent becoming heavier the angrier he became. "Naraku, don't even get me fucking started on you. I swear. I'll set you on fire with my frustration alone."
"What will we do about Jade?" Sesshomaru interjected. The fear returned to Bruce's eyes.
"I don't know. I don't know if we should tell her or if we should send her home to rest first. I'm tempted to just throw all of my money and funding at her and hope that she doesn't take legal action against us for mental, emotional, and physical distress."
"She won't." Naraku said. "We should tell her immediately. She's going to find out no matter what."
"Well, she's not doing this again. I forbid it." Bruce declared, pointing at the remaining bottles on the table.
"We still have an entire month to,"
"I forbid it, Naraku!" the professor snapped, stamping his foot on the floor. The three men fell silent, none of them making eye contact. They all heard it; the ruckus of chairs scooting across floors as classroom doors opened up and down the hallway. Classes were done. Jade was on her way. Bruce started fidgeting where he stood, still moaning, "Oh my God," through his hands and staring at the clock on the back wall. Sesshomaru let out a loud, slow exhale with his eyes fixated on his watch. Naraku sat on the couch and tapped a beat on the cushion with a single finger; one second, one tap.
"Goddamn, she's going to be pissed," Bruce breathed, tears forming in his eyes. Naraku was actually taken aback. He had never seen Bruce cry. Was he honestly that worried? About Jade? She was going to be very angry, yes, but Jade didn't dwell on things.
'This will blow over. It will blow over like a hurricane, but it will blow over.' Naraku continued tapping his finger.
The door clicked and Bruce inhaled sharply, turning around immediately. Jade shuffled through the door and for the first time, Naraku felt a piercing pain in his heart. She looked absolutely miserable. Her hand was pressed to her stomach and her shoulders heaved with every breath she took. She even looked ghostly pale despite the olive tone her skin naturally held.
'I've made a mistake.' he realized.
"I don't feel good, guys. I think I'm just going to go ahead and...what?" Jade's voice was shaky, but now she was frowning, her eyes shifting from Sesshomaru, to Bruce, and then over to Naraku, who wasn't sure what his expression was, but it must have set an alarm off in her head, because she started shaking her head slowly, murmuring, "No."
"Jade, I want you to go home, okay? Go home and rest and don't worry about coming to class tomorrow, alright? Just stay home today and tomorrow. Naraku has nothing for you to do, right?" Bruce's soft, apologetic voice turned sharp and bitter when addressing Naraku, who couldn't stop staring at Jade. She was staring back at him, her trembling lips pressed together.
"Right." Naraku finally said.
"You didn't," she muttered. "Where are they? Where are the bottles?"
"Jade, please go home. You don't need to worry about this." Bruce pressed on, but Jade walked past him, spotting the few surviving bottles on the table. She turned and saw the blue tub containing the bottles that didn't make it. Slowly and shakily, her mouth opened as she placed her hands on her head, burrowing her fingers into her messy brown hair.
"Jade," Naraku said as he stood up. "This isn't your mess. Go home."
"They will be redone, you can count on that. Right, boys? You will both redo them." Bruce ordered sternly. He glanced back at Jade, whose eyes were closed as she stood still; her face frozen in a silent, terrible scream. Once the tears started streaming down her face and her teeth slowly gnashed together, her entire body began to tremble.
"If I could take it back, I would. My intentions were not aimed at you." Sesshomaru said as he approached the trembling Jade. She slowly bent down, a loud sob escaping her mouth...then the hyperventilating and crying began and all three men looked at one another with wide eyes, hoping one of the others knew what to do or say.
"Jade, do you need us to get you something? Someone?" Bruce asked softly, carefully pulling his phone from his pocket.
"What? Do you have a psychologist on speed dial?" Naraku shot at him skeptically. "Let her work it out on her own." It made him unbearably uncomfortable to see her like this. When the trembling in his hands began, he pocketed them.
"If it hadn't been for you being a dick, this wouldn't have happened!" Bruce snapped back heatedly.
"Sesshomaru threw the first punch." Naraku argued.
"Well then, I must have given you brain damage, because you seem to have forgotten why I did in the first place." Sesshomaru stepped towards Naraku threateningly, but Bruce stepped back between them and held his hands outward.
"What is wrong with you two?" Bruce hissed, looking from one man to the other.
"Sesshomaru should own up. His actions led to this. He's always the first to get physical." Naraku said with a grin. Sesshomaru stared back at him sternly, his golden eyes searing into Naraku's eyes.
"Fine. Jade," Sesshomaru turned to her and within a split second, he felt his soul try to rip itself free from his body before he even fully comprehended what he saw. It took a second longer for his mind to register what he was staring at. Jade was standing now, facing him, glaring at him, but that wasn't what disturbed him; it was the dark red blood dripping from her nose and mouth. Her entire body heaved with each forceful, angered breath she took, causing droplets of blood to spatter onto the floor in front of her. Sesshomaru took a step back immediately. His instincts were screaming at him to flee!
"Jaaaaade," Bruce's voice was a slow, pleading whimper. Naraku's body had seized up; every muscle tensed and clenched. He couldn't move them if he wanted to and he wanted to very badly.
'I don't think she can hear you.' Naraku wanted to say, but his throat refused to obey. Jade opened her mouth to let out the loudest, most animalistic scream he had ever heard in his life. Time seemed to slow down as she charged at Sesshomaru, spearing him to the floor. The force of the hit slid them back towards the closet door.
"MY SAMPLES!" Jade roared, her fist striking Sesshomaru's left cheek. He was too stunned to defend himself. "MY SLIDES! MY FACE!" She struck him twice more before his brain rebooted and he gained the sense to stop her. Sesshomaru reached up to grab her, but she was able to knock his arms aside and dig her hands into the collar of his shirt, her lips pulled back in a blood-stained snarl. She lifted his shoulders and neck up. "MINE!" She slammed him into the concrete floor. She did it again, again, and again screaming, "Mine," viciously each time.
"Oh my fucking God! What is happening?" Bruce shrieked as he tore at his hair, unable to accept what was unfolding before him. Naraku finally peeled his feet from the floor and sprinted towards her. Before Jade could turn on him, he wrapped his arms under hers and then clasped his hands behind her neck, dragging her off Sesshomaru, who was breathing raggedly, his eyes wide with terror and disorientation. Naraku grunted as Jade kicked, pulling and swinging her body at different angles. She began sobbing, almost as if she was terrified, but then her cries morphed into savage wails, almost roaring! It sent chills through Naraku's body, starting at his hands and feet and swelling to his spine. He wanted nothing more than to teleport to the opposite side of the planet and away from her.
"Jade!" Naraku shouted, realizing that her thrashing was only getting wilder and stronger! He was barely able to keep her restrained, let alone still!
'How is she so strong?' Naraku's mind was in a frenzy. Was this all her stress erupting at once? Was this the blood solution he dropped into her drink? Was this real? The more she jerked and pulled herself, the higher the numbness crawled in his arms and legs. With one last yell, Jade pulled free and Naraku fell backwards from his own force. She followed up by swinging around and stomping him in the chest until he was flat on the floor. Then, Jade spun around and slammed her hands under the main table and flipped it onto its side, sending all the papers, writing utensils, and remaining extraction bottles flying through the air and crashing to the floor. Bruce had gasped and jumped back until he slammed his back into the board. Jade was now glaring at him! She leapt forward, knocking aside the boxes that had been stored under the table.
"I don't think so!" Sesshomaru barked, grabbing one of her legs and pulling her to the floor with him. He grabbed her other leg and jerked her back towards him before slamming his body down on her back, pinning her down. Sesshomaru wrapped his right arm around her neck, holding it in place with his left arm. With a single deep inhale, he flexed as hard as he could while clamping his arm around her neck. Her screams now turned into gasps, her nails digging into his arm desperately.
"Don't hurt her!" Bruce shouted worriedly.
"Are you serious?" Sesshomaru barked back at him. He grunted with frustration when he realized her writhing hadn't weakened or slowed down at all. She should have been losing consciousness by now!
"Hold her!" Naraku ordered, recovering from his encounter and leaping over them. He slid to the fume hood, ripped open the door to the bottom and knocked over several brown bottles until he found the one labeled, "Chloroform."
"Naraku, hurry up!" Bruce urged, watching in terror as Jade began steadily pushing herself and Sesshomaru up with her arms. She shifted their bodies just enough to pull her leg under herself.
"How is...she still...conscious?" Sesshomaru growled through gritted teeth, putting all of his strength into his grip on her neck. He attempted to weigh her back down with the force of his body, but she didn't budge. Jade swung her arm twice and caught him in the ribs with her elbow, causing him to loosen his hold just enough for her to pull free and nearly run on all fours to the lab door.
"NOOOOO!" Bruce wailed, his voice cracking as he ran towards her in hopes of stalling her for even a second, but she ripped the door open anyway, breaking the top hinge.
"You are useless!" Naraku spat, pocketing the rag and leaping over Sesshomaru, the boxes, and the flipped table in one bound. He picked up speed once he reached the long stretch of hallway, ignoring the people who gathered to check out the commotion. He kept his focus on Jade, watching as she slid into her turn at the end of the hallway and took off like she had sprinted professionally all her life. Naraku reached the turn and slid into it like she had, preventing himself from slamming into the wall due to his momentum. He heard the door to the stairway slam and he frowned. Why was she going up?
Naraku's hair whipped and bounced behind him as he skipped several steps at a time. He bounded up the steps after her, hearing the squeaks and slaps of her shoes along with her frantic crying. A man yelped with shock, screaming after Jade to watch out. Naraku soon saw the man; gray hair and stern lines carved into his face.
"No! No! What is going on?" the man shouted, throwing himself in front of Naraku.
"Shut up!" Naraku hollered as grabbed the man by the neck and belt, lifting him as he jogged up to the next landing. He shoved him into the wall and burst through the door that led to the roof.
"Jade," Naraku called out, spotting her standing on the edge of the building. She held a large, gray cement block in her hands and was panting. Before Naraku could say anything else, she tossed the block off the side. The crunch of metal, the cracking of glass, and a very familiar car alarm echoed loudly. The alarm was distorted, almost as if the car was crying about the damage.
'My car,' he realized, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, Jade was holding her head with both hands, hyperventilating again and whimpering loudly. He took the opportunity, running as hard as he possibly could. Jade saw him and shook her head vehemently.
"Jade! Stop!" Naraku shouted.
"No!" she yelled, pleaded, stepping back to the edge, but Naraku dove forward and snatched her left wrist. She toppled over with him to the ground. He felt a pop and Jade returned to screaming and thrashing, but it was much weaker compared to her strength in the lab moments earlier. Naraku flipped over and pushed her back down using her dislocated shoulder as a painful leverage. He saw her try to turn, to escape, but she shook her head again, repeating, "No," over and over.
'Is she telling me, "No," or herself?' he wondered, yanking the prepped rag from his pocket. Pinning her arms down with his knees and sitting on her chest, Naraku gripped her nose and mouth powerfully with the rag.
"You will breathe eventually," Naraku told her. Jade held her breath firmly, trying to sit up, to move her body enough to shift him from her body, but Naraku didn't budge. When her face started to turn blue, Naraku dug his free fist into her dislocated shoulder, applying more and more pressure until she finally gasped for air and relief. Soon, her thrashes turned to twitches, and her entire body fell limp.
"What...the hell?" he murmured when he noticed her eyes were still open. Her breathing was ragged and uneven, and her body twitched in a strange, pulsating rhythm. The roof door swung open, Bruce running through and shouting Naraku's name.
"Is she finally down? I called an ambulance!" Bruce panted as he jogged towards them.
"I knocked her out, but," Naraku trailed off as he moved from her body, allowing Bruce to assess the situation himself. Naraku pulled his phone out, noticing a new crack at the top right corner. He activated the flashlight and leaned over her face. He held her eyelid open, shinning the light into it, but her pupil did not react. The same for her other eye. Her eyelids did try to close on their own when he held them, which was very unusual for an unconscious person.
"Is she,"
"She's unconscious, but her body is still awake." Naraku explained. Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder.
"Naraku, what the hell just happened?" Bruce demanded. "What am I...what happened? Is she on drugs? Did you drug her?"
"No!" Naraku spat.
'But you did.' his voice echoed back in his head.
"Then what happened to her? That was not Jade!" Bruce hollered, turning around to hide his tears of frustration. Both men tensed up when they heard Jade choking. Naraku quickly turned her onto her side, watching the red liquid pour from her mouth as she coughed. But still, her eyes remained open and listless.
"Why didn't Sesshomaru's hold work on her? She should have passed out! He had her locked, but she didn't let up at all!"
"I think...she was already unconscious at that point,"
"If she was unconscious, she would be," Bruce cut off and pointed at Jade in her current state.
"Not necessarily. There are different levels of consciousness. It's similar to being blackout drunk. You don't remember, but you walked and talked."
"Jade isn't drunk!"
"She doesn't have to be. She was exhausted and upset enough for her to mentally check out." Naraku finally stood up when he heard the emergency vehicles pulling up. Bruce ran to the edge and called down to them.
'But she was too strong; too out of control. Was this really my doing?' he wondered.
More gurgling noises came from Jade's mouth and with one, powerful cough, her body expelled more blood - and a small, dark purple mass. Naraku gasped and used the rag in his hand to grab the small crystal. He slipped it into his pocket as he rose back to his feet, stepping away as the paramedics surrounded the unconscious Jade. They asked for her name; Bruce gave it. They asked for her age; Bruce gave it. They asked what happened; Bruce's mouth opened, but nothing came out. His head shook, so did his hands, but no sounds came out. The first two paramedics called for the gurney while the others went to check on Sesshomaru.
"Jade," one paramedic, a man around Naraku's age, called. "Can you hear me? Blink if you can." He repeated the question and request another time, but looked at his partner and shook his head. "She isn't responding."
"No shit? I've never," the older man turned and spotted Naraku. "What happened?"
"She," Naraku paused, seemingly hitting the same wall Bruce had. "She was out of control."
"Alright. We're taking her. Does she have relatives?"
"I don't know. She has roommates. They might know."
"Contact them immediately." the older paramedic ordered, pointing at Naraku and Bruce. Once they placed her on the gurney, Bruce and Naraku followed them down. The paramedics detoured to the elevator, but Naraku and Bruce remained on the stairwell.
"Do you know her roommates?" Bruce asked quickly.
"I know one, but I don't have her contact information and she isn't my biggest fan,"
"Imagine that." Bruce growled sarcastically. He stopped at the bottom of stairs, tuning to Naraku angrily. "Go home. You're not allowed back in my lab until this is sorted out with Eric. Now I have to go explain this mess to everyone and my gut is screaming at me that you had something to do with this."
"Prove it." Naraku said back calmly. Bruce pointed at him.
"I have Jade's address and emergency contact information, so I'll handle that part, too. Go home. Sesshomaru is to do the same. Neither of you are to step foot in my lab." Bruce marched away quickly. Naraku snorted with annoyance. Then, he remembered his car. Jade had ruined it during her fit of rage.
"Damn." Naraku whispered. But, he couldn't bring himself to be too upset about it. He walked outside and examined the damage to his car. The windshield had shattered and the hood was deeply dented in. He doubted it could be repaired, especially since a portion of the hood split from the force, indicating the possibility of internal damage. The one time he parked in the forbidden parking lot while classes were in session, this happened.
'The crystal she spat out,' he remembered, pulling the bloodied rag from his pocket. It looked identical to the crystals from the blood solution before they dissolved. 'I am even more confused.'
000000
Cold. Everything was cold. Everything was black. Jade could hear water dripping. Slow, steady, one drip at a time; it was almost ominous, as if telling her, "I'm here. I'm watching you." Jade wondered why she thought that. It was just water. Everything else was quiet. But still, she dared not open her eyes. Her arms wrapped around her legs, pulling them tighter to her chest. The less space she occupied, the better. Drip. Nothing had indicated that. Drip. It just felt better that way. Drip. Now her teeth were gnashing together. Drip. Where was it? Drip. It was irritating. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
"Stooooooooooop!" Jade hollered, balling her hands into fists so tight, her nails cut into her palms. Now her breathing was labored, her heart rate was elevated, and her heart felt like it was going to burst through her chest; but it was quiet now. The water heard her. It feared her.
"No. No. I'm not scary. It was annoying me." Now the beating of her heart and blood rushing through her veins replaced the dripping sounds. She covered her ears. It didn't help. B-bmp. B-bmp. B-bmp. B-bmp. She fell on her side. B-bmp. B-bmp. B-bmp. B-bmp. The pain in her chest and the fear of her situation gripped around her neck and held tightly. B-bmp! B-bmp! B-bmp! B-bmp! Anything else! Anything but this sound! It was suffocating her!
"MY SAMPLES!" a familiar voice screamed in the distance. Jade shook her head, unable to inhale or exhale. "MY SLIDES! MY FACE!" She opened her eyes, but it was still dark; blacker than black.
'Whose voice is that?'
"MINE!" it echoed.
'No,' Jade wanted to scream back, but she couldn't breathe. Yet, she wouldn't pass out either.
"MINE!"
'No!' The warm tears trailed down her chilled face.
"MINE!"
'That isn't me! That isn't my voice!'
"MIIIIIIIIINE!"
'Someone stop this! I need help! I need help! Just let me die already!'
"Jade! Stop!" another, deeper voice called out. The pressure around her neck disappeared and she inhaled deeply and desperately. She rolled onto her stomach, her breaths coming in short bursts. But, she held them deep in her chest in when she heard it again…
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
