Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Katie. Everyone else belongs to whoever they belong to.
Notes: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! I had a bad case of the writer's block. The chapters might be a bit slow in coming, because school starts soon, and I'm going to be a little preoccupied, since it is my last year of high school.
Sporker- I understand why you'd say that about that character, but I disagree. I think that every man, even the doctor, has his breaking point. I never said it was just like the canon. I was trying to get across the desperation which Jekyll felt at the thought of my main character putting herself into danger like that. I hope you understand the reason why I deleted your review, because I don't appreciate your attacking another of my reviewers. That's not to say that I haven't listened at all though, and I appreciate your suggestions.
Cage of Bone
In time we hate that which we often fear.
~Antony and Cleopatra I,3
I don't have much time to dwell on my current predicament as the door to my tiny little room is suddenly flung open, and I am face to face with a strange man. He is tall, so tall that he has to stoop slightly to enter my cell. He has black hair which is long enough to be tied back into a small ponytail, and his eyes are like two black beads staring straight into my soul. His face is very tanned, but emotionless, as if he's detached from life itself. And I can feel something very familiar about him. He's got a rather slender build, and as he begins to pace as much as he can in my room, I begin to wonder if he's slightly mad.
" I am Kaspar." He say simply, his tone devoid of any emotion at all. He looks at me as if he expects me to react to his name, as if I knew who he were. He moves closer to me, so close that I can feel his breath on my face. He regards me carefully, inspecting me closely, and I hold my breath, wondering just what he's planning on doing to me.
" You are Miss Howard, yes?" He asks, an almost pleasant tone creeping into his voice. He has an accent but I can't tell where it's from. It's almost as if he's adpoted several accents and blended them into one. I can faintly catch a German lilt to his words, but I could be mistaken. When I nod he says," Yes... Dr.Moreau will be very pleased."
At the sound of the doctor's name my entire body stiffens, and I grit my teeth. He gauges my reaction and gives a tiny snort, plucking a stray thread off of his black shirt. He flicks it away and then looks at me, his eyes penetrating mine. I tilt my head to the side and try to figure out why he looks so familiar. His eyes continue to bore into mine and it finally hits me. I gasp a little and whisper," You're Moreau's son!" He gives a half smile, looking even more like his father, and says," Good for you. You figured it out faster than your comrades."
" You better not have hurt them." I hiss, tugging on my chains, trying my best to break through that icy exterior and make him sorry he ever stepped foot in my cell. He simply sneers at my attempts at intimidation and mutters," Such a pity. You would have made an excellent whore." I can only glare at his back as he turns on his heel and leaves me alone in my cell.
I gulp as he leaves, finally letting down my bravado and truly feeling afraid. The stark reality is that I am facing overwhelming odds right now. His last comment frightens me the most. Sure, he may not touch me, but who's to say that there isn't another guard who feels differently? I crawl into a corner of the cell and curl up into a ball, my back right up against the wall. A warm breeze blows through the window and the smell of the salt air makes my stomach turn.
I sit there for what seems like an eternity. I feel so tired, but don't dare close my eyes, afraid of what might happen to me if I did. However, my body rebels against me as the day wears on, and my eyes begin to droop shut. I have not been fed, nor has anyone else come into my cell, for which I am grateful. I finally can't take it anymore, and when my eyes slide shut of their own accord, this time I don't care.
I wake up again to the sound of someone opening the heavy metal door to my cell. Immediately on guard, I straighten up and force a blank look onto my face, not wanting them to see how badly this is affecting me. To my relief, some food is slid into my room. It's not a four course meal, which I think I could handle all on my own right now, but it'll have to do. I inch towards it after making sure that the door is closed and as soon as I catch the scent of bread and some sort of soup, my mouth starts to water.
I wolf down the food, almost scalding myself on the soup in my haste to fill up my stomach. When there isn't a crumb left on the plate, I crawl back into the corner. I release a breath and conjure up a mental picture of Henry. Tears spring to my eyes as I think of him, though he's never really fully off of my mind. From my spot in the corner of the room, I can just barely catch a glimpse of the starry night sky. The air has turned much cooler now, and I shiver as I catch a faint breeze. As I look at the stars, I wonder if Henry's doing the same. I wonder if he's missing me, or just plain hating me.
" Henry...." I whisper softly, wishing that I was in his arms right now. A harsh little voice inside me is screaming,' See what you've done? What on earth made you think you could do this? Now Henry's going to hate you forever, and you have nobody to blame but yourself and your stupid pride.' I whimper a little and wonder if this is what Henry feels like when he's being attacked by Hyde.
I eventually fall asleep again, and I immediately slip into nightmare after nightmare which causes me to wake up in a cold sweat time and time again. The ship slowly makes it's way to Moreau's island, and another day passes. I barely see anyone, except for the man who gives me food. They give me something to eat at very irregular intervals, probably to keep me off guard in every way.
Then, quite suddenly, the familiar movement of the ship alters slightly, and I hear the faint shouts of some of the men on board. I get up from my spot on the floor and stand up on tip toe to try to see what's going on through the window. I can just barely spot a dock a few yards away, and my heart begins to race. The door to my cell is flung open, and I only have a second to move away from the window before what seems like a flood of guards come into my room. They grab me and hold me fast as they undo my chains.
I struggle in their arms, screaming at them to let me go, though I know it won't do me any good. My hands are bound behind my back, so tight that my fingers begin to tingle slightly. One of the guards grab me by the hair and wrenches my neck back as far as it can go, making me let out a wail of pain. He chuckles and then hisses," You even think about using your freak powers, I will personally rip you limb from limb." I glare at him and growl back," You wouldn't dare. Moreau-"
" Gave us orders to put a bullet right between your eyes if you try anything. You are expendable." He finishes for me, sounding amused. I swallow hard, not sure if he's telling the truth, but not about to risk it. He lets go of my hair and I am dragged out of the room by two guards who loop their arms with mine to make sure I can't get away. They drag me down a plank and onto the dock that I saw earlier. I look back once to see the thing that had been my floating prison for the past day or so.
It's a strange mix of old and new, the style of the ship reminding me of several drawings I have seen of the ships used by the Spanish Armada back in the late fifteen hundreds. The thing that makes it new is the fact that instead of wood, the entire ship has been built out of metal. It makes quite the strange sight, like a sore thumb sticking out of the sea.
I turn back around in time to see a building come into view over the horizon. As I am lead up a small hill, my eyes widen when I see it more clearly. The sinister kingdom of Dr.Moreau is deceptively beautiful and calm looking. The air is rich with the scent of exotic flowers and plants, which grow seemingly everywhere around the building, like a tiny jungle which partly hides the building itself. The jungle almost seems to big for the island itself, like a vase which has been filled with far too many roses.
The outside of Moreau's home looks like it's made of white marble, partly reminding me of the pictures I've seen of the Taj Mahal. It is nearly as tall as the trees that surround it, which are taller than anything that I've ever seen. I look down and if I weren't so scared, I might laugh. It seems so strange to me that leading up to this beautiful building is only a mere dirt path.
One of the things I notice first is the fact that there are very few windows on the lowest level of the building. In fact, there are very few windows at all, until you reach the ceiling. That is made entirely of glass, a strange finish to this strange building. I am lead to the front doors where two more guards wait, heavily armed with guns that are longer than my arm.
They step aside for us, and I am taken to a flight of stairs made of metal to the right of the door, down a small hallway. They lead me down a flight or two, and then open another door, which is also guarded by two more men. As soon as I walk through the door, I try to stop in my tracks. The pain and anguish that comes rushing at me all at once is like a thousand bees stinging me at the same time.
I dig my heels into the ground, but do nothing more than irritate my captors. They drag me down the hallway, and past a few strange looking cells. These two are made of metal, except for the front of them. They are made of thick glass, and open from the side, where there is a small crevice. Inside each room that I pass are about two or three children, all wearing black shirts and pants, even the girls. They all look up at me with the same expression of bewilderment and fear. A few even have an expression which is devoid of all hope. My heart breaks looking into their sweet little faces. It is their pain that I feel.
They lead me all the way to the end of the hallway, and then open a cell to the left hand side. I am shoved in before I can even think of uttering a protest, and I collide with another body. As we both tumble to the ground, I hear a very female voice utter a very unladylike curse under her breath, and I recognize the voice immediately. I look down into annoyed green eyes and exclaim," Mina!"
She nudges me off of her and then gets to her feet, primly fixing her hair. She's wearing the clothes that she must've left the League with, a black skirt and a white blouse. However, her trademark scarf is missing. I sit on the floor and stare up at her, stunned, until she finally looks down at me and coolly says," Katie."
I get to my feet and blurt out," Are you all right? Have you seen Tom? I can't believe you're alive! Can we get out of here? Have you seen Moreau?" She holds up an elegant hand and says," Hush, and let me answer. First, yes, I am all right, and no I haven't seen Tom. No, we cannot escape, I have tried everything. And yes, I have seen Moreau, as will you."
I sag, already disheartened by her information that she could not find any way out. Though, in retrospect, it was a fairly silly question to ask. If she had found an escape before now, she would have used it.
" The glass is nearly ten inches thick. The door is heavily locked, and there are no windows, though there is air coming in." I test the lock with my mind and realize that she is right. This is a strange type of lock, one that is far too complicated to even try to crack with my mind. I heave a sigh and grumble," Don't you have any good news?" She considers this for a moment and then says," We are alive." I give her a very dark look and then go to the glass, trying to see down the hallway.
There are two guards patrolling the hallway, both looking sour. I can tell just by looking at them that they both want something to happen, for one of us to escape so they can use their weapons. One of them sneers at me as I give them a disgusted look. Mina clears her throat and matter-of-factly states," Moreau will come for you, probably within the next few minutes or so." I turn to look at her and hesitantly ask," Why?"
" He will want to make sure you are fit, and healthy." As she says this, a very uneasy feeling comes upon me like a snake in the grass. She looks away from me and explains what Moreau did to her in graphic detail. How he stripped her down completely and forced her into an examination which was not only degrading, but humiliating as well, as Moreau's son was there watching the entire time. I gulp and then whisper," I'm sorry." She waves it off with an abrupt motion of her hand and crosses her arms over her chest, in a motion that looks almost defensive.
I lick my lips and then softly say," Mina, I need to give you something before they take me away. You can't let them take it, understand?" She nods, looking very puzzled. I motion for her to watch for the guards and as she does, I begin to partially undress myself. When I am able to retrieve the knife, I do so carefully before dressing again. I call Mina over and then hand her the dagger. She looks surprised, but doesn't ask why I have it. She just slips it under her skirts as she sits down in the corner of the room.
" I promise I'll explain later." I say earnestly, sensing that they are going to come for me again soon," But I'm going to try and save us all." She lets out a snort, but doesn't say anything. Just as I am about to reply, they come for me again, and I am dragged out of the room as one of them snickers," Moreau's ready for you now." I put up a little bit of a fight, but am to nervous and scared to really fight them. I am taken back upstairs, but instead of being lead through that same hallway, I am taken into a huge round room. The glass dome on top allows the sun to shine in brightly, and it nearly blinds me for a moment.
There is a huge platform in the middle of the room, circular, and surrounded by all sorts of strange looking devices and an operating table. I blanch when I see it, the feeling of a thousand bees stinging me at once returning. He's caused so much pain here....
" Ah, my little flower arrives." A heavily accented voice says, sounding almost gleeful. My vision finally adjusts to the near-blinding light in the room and I stop short when I see the man in front of me. Moreau looks just like he did in his picture, with his graying hair, plump belly and dark beard. He is currently using a walking cane, leaning on it as he watches his minions pull me up onto the platform. His son stands behind him, looking only vaguely interested.
I am shoved in Moreau's direction, and then all the guards form a semicircle around me, preventing any escape. I stare at Moreau, waiting for him to do or say something, and all I get is that intense look that his son seems to have inherited from him. It unnerves me so badly that I bow my head to get away from it as best I can. I hear him chuckle a little and I instinctively take a step back. I am pushed forward none too gently by one of the guards, and am left again.
It's not long before I am subjected to the most degrading half hour of my life. I am stripped down completely, totally against my will, and I am given a complete check over, right in front of the guards. When I am given my clothes again, it takes every bit of courage that I posses not to burst into tears of helpless rage and humiliation. My body trembles with shame as they drag me back to the cell that I share with Mina, and all the fight has left me. I'm sure that Moreau's 'checkup' had very little to do with making sure I'm healthy. It probably had more to do with breaking my spirit. It just enrages me even further, adding more fuel to my fire, making me want to bring them all down fast, furious and with a lot of bloodshed.
I will make them suffer.
[Next time]
Katie puts the last part of the plan into action. (I wrote most of it about five chapters ago. LOL)