Chapter 12 Infra-red
TRIGGER WARNING. Chapter contains noncon/ implied rape.
"Someone call the ambulance
There's gonna be an accident
I'm coming up on infra-red
There is no running that can hide you
'Cause I can see in the dark
I'm coming up on infra-red
Forget your running
I will find you" – Infra- red, Placebo
Hoffman's words bothered her. Despite her telling herself he was just being bitter. He just wanted to hurt her. His word meant nothing. How could he have possibly gotten a hold of Lucy? And yet the nagging feeling in her chest wouldn't go away. She spoke to the police about it. They had searched his house, phone and his computer. After all the sexual harassment charges from students he was under suspicion of being in possession of child pornography. But no such content was found. They had found no traces of anything to do with any of his students either.
But there was one place they hadn't looked. Alex knew it. The silver laptop he used at school. It was not the same one they took from his house. It had to be there in his office, at school. Yet the police didn't get a warrant to search it. But a gut feeling told her that the answers she needed were on that laptop. The only information about Lucy anyone was able to find, was the Umbrella car, wrecked two days away from town. They found it in the middle of nowhere, off the road, down a hill in a stream. No traces of blood or the driver being injured. The car had next to no gas in the tank. Anything could have happened. Maybe Lucy abandoned it. Maybe traded it with someone.
Alex sat in the library plotting how to get into Hoffman's private office. Problem one; the old lady at the reception desk who had all the office keys. Problem number two the security cameras and security guard. They would see her take the key. She would get into trouble not to mention most likely interrupted before she could find what she needed. Problem three – all the people at school who could see her stealing the key. This wasn't like breaking into Umbrella, where she knew all access codes and was one of the senior staff members. Her thought were interrupted when somebody blocked out the light. Looking up she saw Eliot. Still porting the bruise she gave him.
"Uhm, hi" he stood there being awkward.
She looks at him, not sure what to expect. They hadn't spoken since the day Hoffman got arrested.
"So. ..I'm sorry again. about burning your place down… I just thought.. Maybe you.. I know a place you could stay .."
A secret place she didn't know anything about sounded interesting.
"Show me." She said
A part of her did consider it being a payback trick for beating him up. Eliot led her outside. To the other side of school. Then he picked up the bottom of the chain link fence and rose it up. She got under it. Past the few trees and bushes was an old stadium. Then some greenhouses and an old building similar to the ones belonging to the school. The old building connected to one of the school buildings. But the half on this side was clearly in disrepair. Eliot pointed to the green metal door.
"In there. "
The door opened. It squeaked slightly.
"What is this place?" she said looking around.
The stairs lead up to a hall. There was a wall of opaque glass tiles.
"The school used to be a collage ,researching something to do with plants."
"Agricultural research institute. " Alex read the fade writing on the board.
"Yeah, that. The collage moved out but some of the stuff is still here."
She walked between the glass walls into a room that made her hear skip a beat. It was a laboratory. Some of the equipment was still there.
"It's kind of creepy, no?" Eliot said.
"Who else knows about this place?" she asked.
"Me and the guys used to come here sometimes to smoke but we don't any more. And we never went in this far. Just outside the door. But it's too long to go here then walk back and you can't hear the bell at all."
She was only half listening. Inspecting the equipment.
"I'm sorry I was being mean to you and Lucy." He said." I wish I had had the guts to stand up to Hoffman. I was just scared he'd have me kicked out of school."
"Well he was going to frame you for the arson" she said.
"Yeah, I guess I was pretty stupid to trust that guy." Eliot sighed.
She agreed on him being stupid. But he could follow orders given the right initiative and had driver's license. He could be useful.
"Yes, you are" She agreed.
He looked at her surprised.
"But so was Hoffman. Why do you think he only preyed on students? He was bad at hiding his intentions and gave himself away. I can't believe nobody caught him sooner."
"You're really something. It's like you're not scared of anything."
Fearless. Once she had claimed to be. She wasn't. She knew it. she could still feel fear. It never truly left her. It was there, always in the background. Most times she forgot it was even there. So used to it. Constantly looming over her. Having to be carefull, watching her every step. Since the early days in Umbrella. The looming shadow of fear, punishment, failure, death. But her greatest fear had already come to pass, twice. With his death.
She just shakes her head. Repeats the words she has heard or perhaps read somewhere.
"Courage is not being unable to feel fear. Courage is feeling it and moving forward regardless."
Eliot seems to consider it for a moment.
"Keep going just like that? It still sound difficult."
"It is." She is being honest.
"Still, you're a hella lot braver then most of us here."
She says nothing. Accepts the compliment. Not sure if she deserves it or not. Her intent was purely selfish. Revenge. She didn't plan to be a hero.
Eliot leaves. She is alone. Goes around the empty building. Inspects it. Gathers what other equipment she can find. The building still had water and power. Being connected to a school building that makes sense. However the two are completely disconnected inside. One cannot enter without thought the outside. The main entrance is boarded up. And the green door used to be locked with a padlock that somebody cut the chain from. The lab overlooks the inner yard that can't be seen from the street or the school yard. The windows are opaque. But light can still be seen. She will need to be careful if she stays late.
A plan has already began to form in her head. She uses the money she stole from the Davis's to get some more equipment. Has Eliot do all the heavy lifting. She pays him for the work. He doesn't ask questions. She uses aliases, several different accounts. Information she has committed to memory long ago. Gets herself a laptop. Starts working on a program to copy all the data from Hoffman's computer.
Days of digging in the trash finally pay off. She holds the paper tissue with a tweezer. Inspects it under a microscope. It's alive, but just barely. A flu virus. Without a host it will die. Luckily she has one prepared. She takes one white rat from its cage. Injects the extracted virus into it. Places it back. Takes its temperature. Makes notes. Hair tied back. White lab coat on. Rubber gloves. Face mask in place. She doesn't really need it. The virus inside her body would never allow another to infect her. But it is a habit born from many years spent making viruses and monsters.
Eliot enters. She had been insistent that he take the necessary precautions whenever he came here. The plastic bags on his shoes, gloves, mask. He looks around the room. Tables full of tubes, and equipment and rats in cages. He places another cage.
"The pet store was out of rats." He says.
The Guinea pigs make cute little noises in their cage. Alex looks over at them.
"I suppose these will do."
"I know it's none of my business but what are you doing here?" Eliot finally asks.
"You're right. it is none of your business. It's a personal science project of mine. Nothing to be concerned about. "
He says nothing more.
It's been couple of weeks and yet there are no results. She wasn't expecting it to be that easy but it starting look hopeless. In two weeks school will close for Christmas break. She needs to act out her plan till then. Trying to bread a strand of a virus with very specific traits is something she has done before. But she had all the resources of Umbrella then.
Eliot tries not to squirm as the needle pierces the skin. She draws blood. Fills up the vial attached to the syringe. Undoes the belt around the top his arm, pulls out the needle. Places a band aid on. He holds his arm bent to his chest. Eyes full of questions. But he keep quiet. She hands him 20 dollars. He takes it. Leaves. He is easy to handle. Hoffman trained him well to keep his mouth shut.
It would help so much if she had a human to experiment with but the blood she get from Eliot and his friends will have to do. There is only so much one can achieve with limited resources. And yet she refuses to admit defeat. Words from Spencer still haunt her. "If you have time to make excuses, you have time to her results." It would be so easy to make excuses. But she needs results.
It's morning. She spent the night in the lab. It's cold. Fed Barry some excuse about staying over at a classmates for a project. She feels sore from sleeping in an old classroom chair. Arms crossed on the table, head resting on her elbow. The lab coat does nothing for warmth. She goes to the side room. Turns on the electric kettle. Makes a cup of coffee
It is nostalgic. Doing science work again. She goes around the cages, examines all the subjects. The changes in them. Looks for any who might have died in the night. Makes sure to place them in airtight containers and to burn them later. Finally she finds one that seems to have made a miraculous recovery overnight. Checks her notes to make sure. Checks the others in the same group. Extracts some blood. Examines it. Grins. She did it. Just one more day to make sure it works on humans. Some homeless guy who will do anything for money or booze. It works like clockwork. Exact. Instant. The man looks at her terrified. She just smiles a cruel smile as she watches him suffer. She told him it was a new drug that needed testing. She takes notes. He should have known better, after all who conducts tests in the middle of the woods?
Alex holds the syringe. Imbeds it into her arm. Presses. The cold sting as the yellowish liquid enters her. She has an hour at most. It will have to be enough. Leaves the girls room and goes out into the hallway. It's lunch break. The halls are overcrowded. She takes out the vial, opens it. Tosses it in the trash next to a group of teens. With so many people next to each other it should spread like wild fire. She sets the timer on her smartwatch. Now she just needs to wait.
The clock alarm goes off with a quiet vibration in history class. The first hands start rising up. Alex smirks to herself. Can't help it. The teacher is confused at first. Soon everybody starts to get up. Rush to the door. But their class is not the only one. The whole school is. The teacher starts doubling over as well. One of the students is already vomiting. Alex gets up like everyone else. Leaves the classroom. Rushes along the hall. Lines outside the bathrooms. Students vomiting in corners. The nurse office is overcrowded. People are calling for help. She breaks into a run. The first sound of an ambulance can be heard outside the school.
Just as she thought the security guard has left his post. She turns of the cameras. Runs. The old woman has left the post. She takes the key from the office. She hears the sirens as more ambulances are coming. Runs to the stairs. Gets up to the top floor. Almost no one is in the halls. The teachers are trying to get everybody outside. This side of the building is empty. She finds Hoffman's office. Get's inside. The lap top is in the drawer. She takes out the USB with the special program she made. Plugs it in. sees the bar start to fill up. Security bar pops up. Password needed. She wonders. He had often referenced Picasso in his class. She tries it. It actually works. Not to mention there is a large framed work of the man, right in front of the desk. Hoffman was not very clever after all. The download is almost finished. She is starting to feel the first symptoms. Her head becoming dizzy. It won't last long, just enough to make it convincing. The one she injected was special, weaker, nothing that would make the virus inside her trigger. It will die on its own soon enough. She made it that way.
Download is done. She takes the USB stick. Places the laptop back in the drawer. She made sure to wear gloves doing this, leaved no traces. Locks the door. Puts the key back. Goes outside where the doctors are setting up an area. The five hundred students and the teachers and most of the staff getting sick all at once was not something they were prepared for. They check her temperature. She had the fever. Complains about upset stomach. Headache. The same as everyone. A bad stomach flu. Barry is there. Most parents have been alerted by now. The local hospital can't take in this many. Most are sent home with a shot of medicine. But what they don't know is that none of this is really needed. In a few hours it will die on its own. Its life force spent. Because she made it this way. Before anyone can figure out what happened. All trace of her virus will be gone. It works instantly and live for four hours on average, giving the immune system a boost in the process.
Barry looks at her. Half angry, half concerned. But she is breathing heavy. Cold sweat on her brow. Her body aches a little. He gives in. leaves her alone. She goes to her room. To sleep, she says. Kathy is worried. Goes to make some chicken soup. She pretends to drink the medicine. Spits it out into the toilet. Finally in her room. She takes out her laptop and plugs the stick in. starts look through the data she got from Hoffman. Lists, numbers. Student works. Something else. A live feed from a camera is coming in. She opens it and wants to scream.
It's dark. But there is still some light. The camera is pointed at somebody on the floor. There are black plastic sheets on the floor. The person in front of the camera is tied up. There is blood on their skin. That person is Lucy.
It get's worse. Many feeds like this are saved. It also shows that some have been sent somewhere else. Or uploaded online. She opens one. The name is just numbers. Lucy is tied up, naked. On the flood with her legs spread in clear view of the camera. Blindfolded. The intricate patterns of ropes and knots on her body. Ankles bound to her thighs, hands behind her back. Somebody enters the frame. Just the legs. Kneels down, face out of frame. But she recognizes the shirt, it's the same one he wore to class so often. The ways his hands touch Lucy's breast makes her blood boil with rage and disgust. He starts touching her more intimate places. The video ends. Nothing in the videos to help figure out the location she opens another one. Alex feels sick. It starts with Hoffman, naked on top of Lucy.
Barry jumps at the sound of the door slamming. Natalia, or at least he things it's her., rushes down the stairs and slams a laptop on the living room table.
"Call the Police" She demands.
He looks at her confused. Then he looks down at the screen.
She sits the at station. Waits. They have many questions. But no one can deny the urgency of the situation. It's already been five weeks since Lucy left. And it's been almost a month since Hoffman was arrested. Finding Lucy was a priority, if she was even still alive.
She tells them that she used the commotion at the school to break into his office. She made sure to erase her program before handing in the USB stick. She just managed to guess his password and copy the files. It was illegal she knows but she was worried about the threat he made. She already has a reputation. It seems to work for her. It's all she cares about. They will punish her later, once Lucy is found. But by then will probably have forgotten all about it.
They uncover a lot more than just what she found. There are many different videos. All in the same room. Different people. Mostly girls, but there are some guys. These records have been found uploaded to the dark web. Lists of names of people who have gone missing in the area. Turns out Ashley was not the only monster hunting people. Prices next to the names. Hoffman wasn't just kidnaping people and filming what he did to them. He was selling them after he was done.
Finally someone uncovered a website with a constant feed from the same camera. They managed to track its location. It was around the area where the car was found. And old farm house with a basement. They found Lucy down there. Still alive. But just barely. Malnourished and on deaths door.
Alex felt her legs give out when she saw them bring her in out of the ambulance. This isn't how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to make it out. To fly away. Be free for both of them. In then end she just ended up condemning the girl for a fate worse than death. Another person she tried to save was now worse off because of her. She couldn't save Yuki, she couldn't save Albert, she couldn't even save herself. The only thing she could do was sit beside Lucy and apologize.
She was unconscious. Oxygen mask covering her face. Her thin body was almost a skeleton. She needed surgery but was too weak. IV drips in both arms. The beeping of a heart monitor in the background.
"I should have gone with you. Then maybe this wouldn't have happened."
She knows Lucy can't really hear her or respond.
" I wish I could put my hands around his neck. No it wouldn't be enough. "She sighs. " I wish I still had my torture rooms from the island. Make him suffer."
Claire walks down the hospital hallway. Barry had told her everything. She stops outside the door. So may questions and only she can answer.
"I'm sorry" she hears a voice.
"You said you wanted to leave here. I thought I did the right thing."
Claire pauses with her hand on the doorframe. Doesn't want to interrupt.
"I really did try to do the right thing." The realization hit's her." For the first time in my life. I just wanted to something good for someone else. And look what it got us."
She shakes her head.
"I should have been selfish. I should have left with you. Then maybe things would have worked out differently. This is all because I thought I could save someone. I'm sorry. You were so nice to me. And I couldn't even do anything nice for you in return. "
Claire feels an ache in her chest. Pulls away from the door. She would ask her questions later. They have prepared a room for Natalia to stay in. it didn't look like she would be leaving her friend any time soon. Claire decided to stay over at Barry's place. Leaving her alone didn't seem to be dangerous. The hospital staff would look after her for the night.
Alex wasn't sure what time it was. Only that it was dark. Lost in her head. She leaves the room. Says she is going for a walk. Needs fresh air. She really does. It feels like she will suffocate in that room. but the cold outside air isn't much better. She doesn't know what she feels. Defeated, drained. Completely hopeless. She repeats the phrase she said so many times. "There may be an infinite amount of hope in the universe but not for us. Not for me"
Her legs just keep on walking. Taking her away from the hospital.
