The toxin, it was revealed, stopped affecting the human system after a few hours. Rachel remained in her chair, unbound, twitching occasionally as her nerves failed. It was impossible to focus properly…sweat was running down her back, and she was still in the same room as that disgusting…creepy…
Rachel began to shake uncontrollably again. Crane continued to observe her with deep interest from his seat opposite, his legs crossed and an index finger rested under his nose. She glanced briefly at him and began to pull, maybe slightly too hard, at a strand of hair.
"Let me go."
"I'd rather not."
She froze, and looked up at his blunt retort. Crane shifted, cleared his throat and placed his hands along the armrests.
"You must understand, I can't have you running off to the police. Having them take samples, finding out my research plans…I'll never learn anything that way." He paused momentarily. "Besides, my tests with my first subject have only just begun"
"I don't want to be your test subject anymore." Her voice came out as a choked whisper, and a tear rolled down her face. She didn't notice it and started to chew a fingernail – he noticed that the floor had recently become a worthy point of focus for her. It was funny how they always look down when cornered – he rarely saw a positive glance upwards in his investigations.
Crane sighed and massaged his temples slowly. "I'm sorry, but if you hadn't come back I wouldn't have had to use you. You were an opportunity and I took it. You must understand." He apologised, his to-the-point tone making the situation seem completely normal.
Normal! A small voice in Rachel's head screamed madly. You're a guinea pig, for Christ's sake! How abnormal can you get?
She blinked and shook her head. A white halo had lent itself to everything around her, and no amount of blinking could take it away. She felt exhausted again, dehydrated and lacking control over herself.
Crane rose and started to connect wires to what looked like a bulky laptop with a limited screen. "I want to monitor your brain activity. It won't hurt, and to be honest the sooner you agree, the quicker my research will be over."
"Please just let me go. I'll do anything…" The tears overflowed, and the D.A. broke down, her adrenaline pumping like her mind was going to give in. Crane paused.
"…Anything?"
"Anything." She said, stupidly.
He took her by the wrist and measured her racing pulse. She struggled half-heartedly out of his grip and struck out at him. Calmly, he backhanded her across the face in one sharp movement, and carried on as is nothing had happened.
"The toxins will remain in your body. I hope you realise that they could kick-start again at any time, provided they have the right stimuli – your personal fears. I will let you leave, but you must return to me…every evening. I'll run tests, keep a log of results, side effects and so forth…" He regarded her steadily as she opened and shut her mouth in silent protest. "If you run to the cops, I run after you, and they'll never catch up. Do I make myself clear?"
She nodded dumbly. He furrowed his brow at her incoherent response. "Miss Dawes…if you cause me problems, I have many people who know where you live, and where to find you. Do you understand?"
Rachel nodded again, the colour draining from her face. She was an experiment…a rat in a cage…a puppet to a deranged Doctor. There was nothing she could do about it…
He approached her again, and she shut her eyes to attempt to block out the negative emotions that involuntarily swamped her mind. She could feel his presence in her personal space. There was nothing but Crane in those two feet she was supposed to have for her own.
"Miss Dawes?"
She opened her eyes. Crane was crouched next to her seat, his face deadpan, and less than a foot from hers…the burns on his cheek slightly swollen and red, with a dotted scab in the centre of each welt.
"I'm really nothing to be afraid of."
Rachel missed his satisfied smile as she blacked out, but felt the crack exchanged between her skull and the floor as she slid from her chair.