Authors Note: Thanks to all the people who have been reviewing. You know
who you are. I just had a couple notes to point out. Updates have been
slow because I've been busy with school and such, and haven't had too much
time to do any writing. However, at this point in the story I've already
had the ending written out for a couple months so updates should be more
frequent. I do need to make some changes with the ending though, because I
have since then made changes to the story that I hadn't been anticipating
the time I wrote it. But from now on, things should be quicker. I also
need to say that the next few chapters may get pretty heavy on the
violence, so be warned. Anonymous reviews are now open, so you no longer
have to sign in or be a member of ff.net to leave a review. At least, I
think that's how it works.
Thanks to my pals Digital X and Andy for helping me out with the ending! You guys rule!
Inner Turmoil- Chapter 18
Blossom burst through two large steel doors, her adrenaline and panic running high. So far, she hadn't seen any sign of her family, nor any sign of an exit. When she'd made it away from the two guards, she'd retraced her steps back to where the first confrontation had taken place, hoping she could follow the trail of her family out the other door. That's where she was now, and a quick look around told her she was alone, and that there was no sign that anyone was aware of her escape.
That seemed a bit odd. Surely somebody would have been waiting for her, and would have noticed she hadn't shown up on time? Surely someone would have run into the unconscious guards, alerting the rest of the complex that she was loose? Obviously not, because the complex now seemed strangely empty.
It was odd how deathly quiet everything had become, almost as if someone was expecting something big to happen. For some reason it didn't seem to worry her, and she felt confident that she'd be able to bust her way out into the city again, get to the rest of her family, and possibly go to the police.
No. no good. she thought drearily. There really isn't anything they could do. Besides, that would only reveal us. which is bad.
Well. the first thing she'd do is look for her sisters and the professor. It was more than likely that they'd been taken back to the city, possibly back to their house. but that seemed too easy. They were still alive, which was good, and she could simply follow her senses to find them.
Blossom moved hurriedly into the open chamber, moving towards the door she'd seen the professor and the girls go through. She looked straight ahead of her, keeping herself aware and tense should anything happen. She was almost to the door when something made her stop dead in her tracks. She wasn't alone in the room.
It could have been her own fear, but as her heart sped up the temperature in the room started to rise drastically, throwing her into what felt like a sauna. That certainly wasn't right, and for a split second, she felt danger in the air, like a sickly pungent scent that couldn't be avoided.
She spun around, ready for more gunfire, her muscles tense and ready, but what she saw nearly made her laugh. The very same man that had slapped her, Levign if she remembered correctly, was walking towards her slowly, part of his body covered in shadow. He moved towards her smoothly, almost as if he was gliding, and he emerged from a shadowy corner like a ghost, grinning like a shark-
"Leaving so soon Blossom?" he said silkily, his tone of voice nothing like Blossom had remembered from before. Something was very different about his demeanor-
"I'd love to stay and party, but it's really past my curfew," Blossom said curtly, trying to make her voice sound sweet and innocent, but Levign wasn't amused. He stopped a ways away from her, his hands folded neatly behind his back. The man smiled, every line of his face creasing.
"I don't think you understand. I can't let you leave now, not when I have you exactly where I want you."
"Come again?"
Blossom took a few steps back. Something wasn't right. He was smiling at her like there was some sort of big prank that she wasn't a part of. That made her uneasy. Something was very wrong, and she had a pretty good idea what it could mean, but that brought her no comfort.
"What did you do with my sisters?!" she demanded, suddenly very fearful for them. She very much suspected that they hadn't been lead to safety at all, but possibly to something much worse that Blossom hadn't been aware of before. If anything were to happen to them-
"Oh I wouldn't worry about them, they're only sleeping right now. They'll be awake very soon," he said smoothly, turning his gaze from her to look at his hand, which he had brought out from behind his back. He flexed his thick fingers a few times, regarding them with cool interest, and then his gaze shifted back onto Blossom; a pure, cold, evil glare that scared her so much she couldn't do anything but look away. "What's the matter? We wouldn't be upset, would we?"
Blossom refused to look at him, because at that moment she wanted to crawl into a corner and cry. She'd been so stupid. She'd been so caught up in making sure her family was safe, she'd forgotten one very important thing; these people weren't to be trusted. Shame was welling up inside her like an inflated balloon threatening to burst. Breaking up the family had been the worst idea in the world, and if she could do it, she'd kick herself in the ass for not seeing it sooner.
"And what about the professor?" she asked finally, her voice shaking, her insides churning for fear of his answer.
"Professor Utonium is dead. But I assure you, he died quite painfully-" he said, still grinning. Just the fact that he could say it with so much joy sickened Blossom to the core.
"WHY?!" she cried, her voice choking. The words stung into her like acid. Words couldn't describe the anguish she felt. She looked at him, glaring through tear-drenched eyes, wanting nothing more than to lunge at him, tear him apart-
"What's the matter Blossom? Did everything not go according to your plan? I assure you, my plan worked beautifully."
She ignored him. The only thing she could concentrate on was her father, and that made her feel loads worse. All she could think about was the professor, sitting in front of her at dinner, smiling at her, gently rubbing her forehead to calm her, wiping the tears from her eyes when she woke up screaming; an expression of pure fatherly love gracing his delicate, aging face-
It was her fault. Everything was her fault. The professor had been killed because of her selfishness, and her sisters were probably already dead; being cut open and studied like some simple lab animals. All of it was because of her. It had been her idea for them to break into the labs, and if she'd only thought things through first, if only she hadn't been so focused on getting the professor away from this place, they might all still be alive.
-No. It wasn't possible. Blossom couldn't bring herself to believe him; she just couldn't believe that the professor was dead. but she kept picturing him all alone, left to die in the dirt like some animal, while her sisters were carted away...
He still felt alive. wouldn't she have felt his pain? Wouldn't she have felt the pain and fear of her sisters? .Unless, she'd been too preoccupied with escaping her escort. No. It was impossible.
"I should have come alone," she mumbled to herself through her tears, but the man heard her. He took a few steps closer. "WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT!?" Blossom screamed in warning. She didn't know exactly what he thought he was doing, because he was all alone and unarmed with her standing before him in full rage. If she got the chance, she could easily kill him without him laying so much as a finger onto her, and Blossom was pretty sure he knew that. But her mind kept drifting back to her family.
What on earth was she supposed to do now? She was alone in the world with no family. Nothing was left for her now, other than-
-Revenge. That was completely unlike her, but all her good sense was thrown out the window. She was seething, boiling over with hatred towards this man, who stood there calmly with a great big smile on his face as if this was all one big, goddamned joke. The only emotion coursing through her heated veins was rage, and the desire to kill-
-She looked up at him very suddenly, a look in her eyes that had never, ever been there before. It was bloodlust, and the man knew it right away. But sure enough, the only thing he did was smile as Blossom took two giant steps for him, both of her fists clenched tight.
"Ah. this is so unlike you Blossom," he said, his voice strangely high, "running into a fight before you've fully calculated your enemy. Hardly prudent. I would say," and he pointed one of his long, thick fingers in her direction. Her anger was boiling over.
"YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT ME!" she bellowed. He continued to smile, but this time, his eyes were narrowed in the evilest of stares, and almost seemed to be glowing. She watched him apprehensively, because at that moment, as he glared at her, she was suddenly alert to the fact that something was very, very wrong.
"I think you misunderstand me Blossom. You see, I have a. secret of my own." and then his voice had shifted into a high pitched, ghostly drawl that Blossom knew all too well.
Something was happening to the man; he appeared to be melting, fizzling away in a light film of misty smoke that took on a crimson hue, his form disappearing into thin air. Blossom cried out in horror, because the man she knew as Dr. Alex Levign was mutating before her eyes, changing into something far worse, into the last person she wanted to see-
"No. not. Him."
Thanks to my pals Digital X and Andy for helping me out with the ending! You guys rule!
Inner Turmoil- Chapter 18
Blossom burst through two large steel doors, her adrenaline and panic running high. So far, she hadn't seen any sign of her family, nor any sign of an exit. When she'd made it away from the two guards, she'd retraced her steps back to where the first confrontation had taken place, hoping she could follow the trail of her family out the other door. That's where she was now, and a quick look around told her she was alone, and that there was no sign that anyone was aware of her escape.
That seemed a bit odd. Surely somebody would have been waiting for her, and would have noticed she hadn't shown up on time? Surely someone would have run into the unconscious guards, alerting the rest of the complex that she was loose? Obviously not, because the complex now seemed strangely empty.
It was odd how deathly quiet everything had become, almost as if someone was expecting something big to happen. For some reason it didn't seem to worry her, and she felt confident that she'd be able to bust her way out into the city again, get to the rest of her family, and possibly go to the police.
No. no good. she thought drearily. There really isn't anything they could do. Besides, that would only reveal us. which is bad.
Well. the first thing she'd do is look for her sisters and the professor. It was more than likely that they'd been taken back to the city, possibly back to their house. but that seemed too easy. They were still alive, which was good, and she could simply follow her senses to find them.
Blossom moved hurriedly into the open chamber, moving towards the door she'd seen the professor and the girls go through. She looked straight ahead of her, keeping herself aware and tense should anything happen. She was almost to the door when something made her stop dead in her tracks. She wasn't alone in the room.
It could have been her own fear, but as her heart sped up the temperature in the room started to rise drastically, throwing her into what felt like a sauna. That certainly wasn't right, and for a split second, she felt danger in the air, like a sickly pungent scent that couldn't be avoided.
She spun around, ready for more gunfire, her muscles tense and ready, but what she saw nearly made her laugh. The very same man that had slapped her, Levign if she remembered correctly, was walking towards her slowly, part of his body covered in shadow. He moved towards her smoothly, almost as if he was gliding, and he emerged from a shadowy corner like a ghost, grinning like a shark-
"Leaving so soon Blossom?" he said silkily, his tone of voice nothing like Blossom had remembered from before. Something was very different about his demeanor-
"I'd love to stay and party, but it's really past my curfew," Blossom said curtly, trying to make her voice sound sweet and innocent, but Levign wasn't amused. He stopped a ways away from her, his hands folded neatly behind his back. The man smiled, every line of his face creasing.
"I don't think you understand. I can't let you leave now, not when I have you exactly where I want you."
"Come again?"
Blossom took a few steps back. Something wasn't right. He was smiling at her like there was some sort of big prank that she wasn't a part of. That made her uneasy. Something was very wrong, and she had a pretty good idea what it could mean, but that brought her no comfort.
"What did you do with my sisters?!" she demanded, suddenly very fearful for them. She very much suspected that they hadn't been lead to safety at all, but possibly to something much worse that Blossom hadn't been aware of before. If anything were to happen to them-
"Oh I wouldn't worry about them, they're only sleeping right now. They'll be awake very soon," he said smoothly, turning his gaze from her to look at his hand, which he had brought out from behind his back. He flexed his thick fingers a few times, regarding them with cool interest, and then his gaze shifted back onto Blossom; a pure, cold, evil glare that scared her so much she couldn't do anything but look away. "What's the matter? We wouldn't be upset, would we?"
Blossom refused to look at him, because at that moment she wanted to crawl into a corner and cry. She'd been so stupid. She'd been so caught up in making sure her family was safe, she'd forgotten one very important thing; these people weren't to be trusted. Shame was welling up inside her like an inflated balloon threatening to burst. Breaking up the family had been the worst idea in the world, and if she could do it, she'd kick herself in the ass for not seeing it sooner.
"And what about the professor?" she asked finally, her voice shaking, her insides churning for fear of his answer.
"Professor Utonium is dead. But I assure you, he died quite painfully-" he said, still grinning. Just the fact that he could say it with so much joy sickened Blossom to the core.
"WHY?!" she cried, her voice choking. The words stung into her like acid. Words couldn't describe the anguish she felt. She looked at him, glaring through tear-drenched eyes, wanting nothing more than to lunge at him, tear him apart-
"What's the matter Blossom? Did everything not go according to your plan? I assure you, my plan worked beautifully."
She ignored him. The only thing she could concentrate on was her father, and that made her feel loads worse. All she could think about was the professor, sitting in front of her at dinner, smiling at her, gently rubbing her forehead to calm her, wiping the tears from her eyes when she woke up screaming; an expression of pure fatherly love gracing his delicate, aging face-
It was her fault. Everything was her fault. The professor had been killed because of her selfishness, and her sisters were probably already dead; being cut open and studied like some simple lab animals. All of it was because of her. It had been her idea for them to break into the labs, and if she'd only thought things through first, if only she hadn't been so focused on getting the professor away from this place, they might all still be alive.
-No. It wasn't possible. Blossom couldn't bring herself to believe him; she just couldn't believe that the professor was dead. but she kept picturing him all alone, left to die in the dirt like some animal, while her sisters were carted away...
He still felt alive. wouldn't she have felt his pain? Wouldn't she have felt the pain and fear of her sisters? .Unless, she'd been too preoccupied with escaping her escort. No. It was impossible.
"I should have come alone," she mumbled to herself through her tears, but the man heard her. He took a few steps closer. "WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT!?" Blossom screamed in warning. She didn't know exactly what he thought he was doing, because he was all alone and unarmed with her standing before him in full rage. If she got the chance, she could easily kill him without him laying so much as a finger onto her, and Blossom was pretty sure he knew that. But her mind kept drifting back to her family.
What on earth was she supposed to do now? She was alone in the world with no family. Nothing was left for her now, other than-
-Revenge. That was completely unlike her, but all her good sense was thrown out the window. She was seething, boiling over with hatred towards this man, who stood there calmly with a great big smile on his face as if this was all one big, goddamned joke. The only emotion coursing through her heated veins was rage, and the desire to kill-
-She looked up at him very suddenly, a look in her eyes that had never, ever been there before. It was bloodlust, and the man knew it right away. But sure enough, the only thing he did was smile as Blossom took two giant steps for him, both of her fists clenched tight.
"Ah. this is so unlike you Blossom," he said, his voice strangely high, "running into a fight before you've fully calculated your enemy. Hardly prudent. I would say," and he pointed one of his long, thick fingers in her direction. Her anger was boiling over.
"YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT ME!" she bellowed. He continued to smile, but this time, his eyes were narrowed in the evilest of stares, and almost seemed to be glowing. She watched him apprehensively, because at that moment, as he glared at her, she was suddenly alert to the fact that something was very, very wrong.
"I think you misunderstand me Blossom. You see, I have a. secret of my own." and then his voice had shifted into a high pitched, ghostly drawl that Blossom knew all too well.
Something was happening to the man; he appeared to be melting, fizzling away in a light film of misty smoke that took on a crimson hue, his form disappearing into thin air. Blossom cried out in horror, because the man she knew as Dr. Alex Levign was mutating before her eyes, changing into something far worse, into the last person she wanted to see-
"No. not. Him."