CE 64

Sarik rolled around on the floor, gawking at his new toy. This one was round, and it came with several differently shaped blocks that he had to put through the holes that riddled the contraption. However, he couldn't put them in just any hole. Each hole was designed for a specific block, and he had to figure out which ones fit where. And when he was done, he could open up the cage and do it all over again. It was far more entertaining than any of his previous toys.

As he had filled and emptied the device for the fifth time, Sarik realized that there were three people watching him from the edge of the room. He didn't know who these people were, just that they had been taking care of him for a while.

After staring at them for a moment, Sarik went back to playing, happy and completely oblivious to the world around him.

* * *

"Why isn't he recovering?" Derick questioned Sarah impatiently. "You told me that he was killing trained mercenaries in that facility. How could he have done that in THIS state? He's been like this ever since he woke up nearly a year ago!"

"Do you have any idea what he went through?" Sarah questioned calmly. "Do you have any idea what kind of conditioning they forced on the child? The programming? The physical modifications?"

"My doctors attempted to explain it to me at one point or the other," Derick replied. "And from my understanding, there is no reason he should be acting like this. His brain is relatively undamaged in regard to his memory centers."

"The brain and the mind are two different things, sir," Sarah retorted rudely. "His brain may be in perfectly condition, but his MIND is not. What he went through aged his mind in ways that none of us will ever be able to understand. This is its way of resetting, starting over."

"Your job was to ensure that his recovery was swift," Derick reminded Sarah. "It's been nearly a year, and you have failed at that up to this point. He needs to get back to his education so that he'll be able to take my place at the head of the company."

"Is that all you think about?" Laura asked Derick. "About what the future holds? About how you can manipulate it?"

"Well, we certainly can't have William run everything!" Derick yelled. "Or perhaps, even after everything that he's done, you still think he should? You do, don't you?"

Derick stared intimidatingly at his wife, waiting for her answer.

"He's our son," she replied weakly.

"And so is Sarik," Derick reminded her. "But Sarik can be changed. He can be readied to take our place in the world without tarnishing a legacy that goes back several decades. William cannot."

"You truly think that, after everything you've seen?" Sarah remarked smugly.

Derick turned on her, a slightly crazed expression on his face.

"You will not question my judgment if you wish to continue working with Sarik," Derick told her agitatedly.

"I'm simply stating a fact," Sarah told him bluntly. "Do you REALLY want to bring back the Sarik we saw in those security videos? A cold-blooded killer who eliminates anything physically in his way? What makes you think that he won't consider you or I a threat?"

"That's for you to deal with," Derick replied. "If, in the end, he becomes the heir that he is meant to be, then yes, I want to risk bringing that child back."

"My JOB is to make sure Sarik doesn't become a monster," Sarah declared. "One like the one we've seen or otherwise."

"And what is otherwise?" Derick inquired, sensing Sarah's contempt.

"A selfish, backstabbing, heartless..." Sarah started.

But before she could get far, Derick swung his right arm outward at her out of impulse. However, Sarah had already prepared for the blow, something she knew was long in the coming. She grabbed Derick's arm and was about to snap it into an unnatural and painful position when she spotted Sarik, who was standing about a meter away, watching the entire drama unfold.

Sarah took a couple steps backwards, then released Derick and moved off even further.

Derick continued to glare at Sarah, but regained his composure and softened his face. He turned about towards his wife, but she was gone. He glanced around the playroom and found her leading Sarik away deeper into the playroom.

"I apologize for my rash actions," Derick told Sarah, though his tone had no sincerity about it. "Please forgive me."

However, Sarah was still surprised. She had expected him to throw her out for her part in the brief conflict.

"I am growing old," Derick confessed to her. "I will soon be replaced, and I do not wish for my life's works to be wasted. This world is one of constant conflict. It seems no matter what messes are cleaned up, there is always some insurrection, or some scandal, or some investigation, all meant to discredit organizations and individuals. I attempted to bring William up amidst that competitive world with the hope that it would prepare him for his intended role. Apparently, I did too well."

Sarah remained silent as she watched Laura play with Sarik. It seemed so great, parenthood. To be able to have someone to truly call your own, someone to be able to love, no matter what the circumstances.

Apparently, Derick realized that she watching the two.

"You envy her," he stated. "Or do you envy him?"

"Both," Sarah replied. "When I was a young girl, the one thing I KNEW I wanted to do with my life was become a mother. But when I was older, I was pressured to do other things by my family, and eventually, I ended up where I was a year ago."

"So what ever stopped you?" Derick prodded.

"Probably me," Sarah admitted. "I spent most of my time working for Blue Cosmos after I finished college. None of the men around were exactly what I would call model citizens. Mostly criminals and discharged military."

"There are other methods of obtaining a child these days," Derick informed her. "Adoption, artificial insemination, cloning..."

"Which is illegal," Sarah interrupted.

"Regardless, it's an option," Derick said.

"For the wealthy," Sarah stated.

Derick sighed.

"Look, I'm going to be forward with you," Derick told her, resorting to his no-nonsense tone. "I don't know what you feel you owe Sarik, but he already has two capable and experienced parents. What we can't do for him, our teams of physicians and surgeons can. With the information provided by Doctor Spence, we may even be able to cure him someday. What I need is someone who can provide for his psychological needs. Something you have failed to do to the current date."

"Sir, what I am doing is best for Sarik," Sarah replied.

"In your experienced opinion, I assume?" Derick inquired mockingly.

Sarah felt rage boil inside of her, but she kept her cool. It would not do well to show weakness right now.

"The exercises I am putting him through are the slower of two options, yes," Sarah informed Derick. "However, they are the least intrusive. If we allow his mind to recover at its own pace, we can bring back someone who at least partially resembles the boy you knew, though it is unlikely he'll ever recover the entirety of his passed memories in this lifetime. But, if we force him, what we will probably end up with is the child that escaped from William."

"It's been nearly a year," Derick replied. "Can't we find some sort of middle ground?"

"Not likely," Sarah told him. "Not after what he's been through."

The middle-aged man sighed.

"Very well," Derick said solemnly.

Her turned to her and extended a hand.

"I thank you for your services rendered up to this period, Miss Raahl," Derick courtesied in a seemingly cheery tone. "However, they are no longer required. Please have your belongings cleared out by this evening."

And with that, Derick left the playroom, his posture emitting complete confidence and total arrogance.

* * *

Laura watched as the entire affair unfolded. Sarah just stood there, stunned. After Derick left the room, she leaned her back against the wall and let herself fall to the floor.

"Is your husband always like this?" Sarah asked about five minutes later, still sitting.

"No," Laura replied. "Normally he would have had you imprisoned the day we rescued Sarik. For some reason, he has some sort of respect for you."

Sarah stared at the wall in front of her, thinking.

"What did you feel when you found out?" Sarah questioned.

"About William?" Laura inquired.

"Yes," Sarah said.

"Disappointment, sadness, a little anger," Laura answered.

"Did you feel any...hatred?" Sarah asked solemnly.

Laura sighed, then stood up and walked over to Sarah. Sarik followed his mother without a sound.

"If a mother can hate her own child, then she should be asking herself why she decided to raise the child in the first place," Laura told Sarah. "If a person truly hates another, then they are in danger of becoming something far less than human, because they will plot against the one who wronged them, and perhaps act upon those thoughts if the appropriate situation presented itself."

"Did you feel anything REMOTELY in that direction?" Sarah prodded deeper. "Anything at all?"

Laura slid down the wall in front of Sarah and situated herself into a comfortable position.

"Anything that I felt at the time was directed at myself," Laura told her. "I will be honest with you, I was not the best parent to William. There has always been...tension in this marriage, and I often neglected my responsibilities to William, spending more time on myself to make up for what Derick would do to me. By the time I was mature enough to take notice of him, he had grown into a man like his father. I was proud of him at the time. William had always been successful. I guess I was so proud, so...relieved, that I was unwilling to see the dark side of things."

"So, what is the story with Sarik?" Sarah asked after a moment of thought.

Laura remained silent for a moment.

"He was, I guess you can say, an accident," Laura admitted. "I found out about the pregnancy early on, and at the time, it was a decision of whether to abort, or attempt carrying a child at my relatively old age. Derick had left the decision to me, as we already had William. He didn't care either way. When I decided to go through with it, Derick had suggested that we make Sarik into a Coordinator."

Sarah's eyes widened.

"You mean that he really is one?" Sarah asked.

"Well, no," Laura answered. "Something went wrong during the operation, and most of the enhancements didn't take hold. We had Sarik classified as a Natural, and that was the end of it. From then on, we raised him like we would have any other child. I had just hoped that this time, I would have been a larger influence in his life than William's, and be able to better enjoy the experience."

Sarah remained for a moment. She glanced over at Sarik, who was playing with another of his toys nearby.

"Promise me you'll take care of him," Sarah whispered. "During my time with him last summer, I had an opportunity to see what kind of a person he is. Somewhere in there is an intelligent but kind child. No matter what Derick does to him, please help him stay that way."

Laura rose to her feet, then walked over to Sarik and kissed him on the forehead.

"Would you mind watching Sarik for a moment?" she asked. "I have some things I need to get done in the next few minutes."

"Of course," Sarah responded formally.

Laura smiled, then left the playroom, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Sarah quickly crawled over to Sarik, who was flipping through some sort of pop-up book. She was surprised that the Ostheims had found this particular one. From the production date printed on its cover, she had learned that it was an antique from the previous era.

And she took note of how carefully Sarik handled it. How graceful his movements were, how delicately he he flipped the pages.

Sarah sighed. No matter how anyone looked at it, Sarik was changed. And no matter what anyone did, the old Sarik would never exist again. He had great power of both mind and body, and buried deep down, he had programming that allowed him to use that power without a single thought to his actions or the consequences of those actions. If he was ever in a position where something challenged him, she knew he would overcome it, and at any cost.

Sarah remained by Sarik as he turned the page, and another scene popped out of the book. It portrayed a family bustling about a modest house in the afternoon, the father walking in the front door, presumably returning home from work. Sarah found the scene ironic, because the man had the same hair color as William and Derick.

Sarah thought Sarik was about to turn the page when he grabbed the paper man by the head and pulled sideways. The paper tore almost perfectly along the neck. Sarik stared at the piece of paper for a moment, then dropped it back into the book and proceeded to turn the page.

Sarah, who felt tears welling up in her eyes, forced the book closed and pulled Sarik into a tight embrace. She felt a tear streak down her cheek, and it rolled down onto Sarik's head.

Sarik, curious about what it was, struggled to get one of his arms free. When he had, he reached up and wiped the object off of his cheek. He stared at the tiny drop for a moment.

"C...c..cry," he stuttered.

Sarah stared down at him. He was looking back at her as if she were a person, not an object. Something familiar was back.

"Crying," he said, like a baby who had just discovered his first word.

"Yes, crying," Sarah sobbed to him.

Sarik reached up and wiped another of the tears off of Sarah's face. He stared at it for a moment, then suddenly grabbed her in an embrace.

"S..Stella," he muttered.

Sarah gazed back down at him, starting to regain her composure. She thought more of her tears had dripped onto him, but they were all below his eyes. Sarik was actually crying.

"It's all in there somewhere, isn't it?" Sarah asked, putting her forehead to Sarik's. "We just have to get it all out, somehow."

Sarik wiped away his tears, then looked back up at Sarah in the dumb, distant way as he had before.

Sarah sighed. Perhaps it was simply not to be.

Sarik had walked off and started playing with another toy when Laura strolled back into the room. Sarah bolted to her feet instantly.

"Thank you, Sarah," she courtesied. "I truly appreciate it."

"Anything for him," Sarah replied as she stood.

Laura nodded as Sarah passed her.

"Miss Ostheim?" Sarah said.

"Yes?" Laura replied.

"If he ever needs anything, I'll be nearby," Sarah told her.

"I am truly grateful," Laura thanked.

Sarah nodded her head once, then left the playroom. She had a lot of work to do before her room was cleared out.

* * *

Sarah soon arrived at the room the Ostheims had provided her in their Eurasian estate. She glanced around at her numerous belongings. After Sarik was rescued, she had cleared out from among her belongings anything having to do with her family and Blue Cosmos, which didn't leave much at all. It was what she had accumulated since then that made up the bulk of her things.

She decided to start with her desk. It would probably be the biggest mess to clean.

As she was throwing away the piles of junk that somehow managed to collect on her desk, Sarah noticed a large manila envelope on top of one of the piles that hadn't been there before. No markings of any sort decorated it, but it was sealed shut.

Sarah carefully tore it open, exposing several credit vouchers and a note. She pulled out the letter first, as she already had an idea of the amount of money provided.

Dear Miss Raahl,
I apologize for my rash words earlier today. After discussing matters with my wife, I have decided that it is in Sarik's best interest for you to continue working with him. If you are willing, I would like for you to take over the duties as his full-time caretaker, in addition to your current responsibilities. Please think this over well, and do not allow my gift to influence your decision. It is merely a gesture of goodwill, and there will be no hard feelings if you still choose to leave.

Sincerely,
Derick Ostheim

Sarah folded the letter and replaced it into the envelope. She didn't need the money, but she would definitely be staying.

She sighed in relief. At least she wouldn't have to clear out her room.

* * *

Walters glanced over the the displays to the device once again. He hated having to experiment around like this. One wrong setting, and the child could die.

It was as Sarik was escorted into the chamber when Walters literally started sweating. Both Derick and Laura were there, along with a younger woman that he didn't recognize. Probably some sort of psychological adviser.

"Are you finished with the adjustments, Doctor?" Derick asked him when he was about a meter away.

"Just about," Walters answered. "We're still interpreting data from the last attempt. The more precise we are with our measurements, the better the results we'll see in Sarik."

Derick nodded in understanding before walking off and looking over the shoulders of the other doctors.

Walters went back to making his adjustments, hoping that they would get it right this time. His personal opinion to why Sarik was not recovering was because the machines that sustained his body were mere prototypes, and were originally only meant to be a temporary measure. The constant changes in a growing child's body called for regular alterations to the device's calibration, the equations to those adjustments obviously something that Blue Cosmos had been careful to keep secret, either through intention or ignorance. Walters hoped he would get it right this time.

Ten minutes later, Walters had finished checking over the work of other members of his team, who had completed their tasks and were double-checking their work. When everything seemed ready, he had Sarik climb into the bed.

Sarik did so obediently, and a glass dome closed down over him, sealing the device airtight. Walters began the process of activating the machine, and moments later, Sarik had fallen into a deep and unnatural sleep.

Walters watched over all of the mechanical and vitals readings during the entire hour that Sarik slept. The device emitted energies and vibrations of various wavelengths and frequencies, inducing certain reactions within his body. Coupled with the various compounds that were released into the air inside of the device, this essentially caused Sarik's body to rebuild itself. Without this process every few weeks, he would die from his nervous system literally caving in on itself.

After Sarik's hour was up, Walters carefully shut down the device. The boy awoke soon after, and was escorted out by his mother. Walters let out a sigh as they left, as today, he had gambled with the boy's life more than he would ever have liked. He hoped he wouldn't have to do something like this again in the near future, because he would probably be looking for work elsewhere if he did. He could not in good conscience pointlessly gamble with a patient's life.

* * *

"And now it's your turn," Derick said into Sarah's ear.

She kept her calm, betraying no emotion on her face, though she very much wanted to cause the middle-aged man indescribable amounts of pain right now. She had agreed to stay, but did not realize until now the trap Derick had set for her.

He had tricked both her and Laura. Derick was going to bring Sarik back to his senses through any method possible, with or without Sarah. She was essentially backed into a corner. Either Sarah could leave and abandon Sarik to his father's ruthlessness, or she could stay, and help him as best as she knew how. She was the only one, other than his mother, that she knew cared about Sarik as a person.

But deep down, Sarah still knew what she was about to do to Sarik was wrong. Everything was about to change, and not necessarily for the better.

* * *

Sarik sat cross-legged in the center of the nearly empty room, looking for something to do. No one else was with him, and the only items of remote interest in the room that he could locate was a small table with a lamp on it and a giant window that made up the wall opposite of the door, providing him with a decent view of a beach. Of course, he didn't know what a beach was, nor could he come to appreciate its beauty.

Sarik turned his head as the room's only door opened and a woman walked in, carrying two large duffel bags. She walked in front of him and set them down.

"Hello Sarik," she greeted. "You remember me? Sarah?"

Sarik stared back dumbly, not truly understanding any of the words that left her mouth. The woman sighed.

She slowly reached into the bag and pulled out a small object of some sort. Sarik stared at it for a moment as she set it down on the floor in front of him. It was a metal object, shaped like two rectangles stuck together opposite of each other, with protrusions of various sorts all along it.

Sarik continued to watch patiently as she set a smaller piece of metal next to the object. For some reason, it looked like it belonged with the larger object, sort of like the blocks that went to one of his toys.

Next, she pulled out another object, this one appearing to be made of some sort of plastic. Or from what he could tell. The rest of it was covered by a leather-like sheath. She set this object to the right of the other items.

And she continued to pull out object after object, creating a progressively longer lineup. Sarik stared at the various items. Some of them seemed familiar, while others remained completely foreign to him.

The woman pulled one more thing out of her bag, a stack of several small sheets of paper. Imprinted on them were the frozen images of people. Sarik recognized one to be of himself, though he could not identify any of the others.

"Do you recognize any of these, Sarik?" the woman asked him.

Sarik glanced up and down the line again. He was suddenly prompted to grab up the first two objects she had pulled out. He attempted to shove the smaller piece into the grip on the larger piece, and it went in, partway. Enthusiastically, he pulled it out and and attempted to force it in another way, this time sliding the object all the way inside and causing the larger object to click. He tried removing the smaller piece once more, but it was stuck. Sarik thought about what to do next, and observed that the top of this object looked like it could slide independent of the rest of it, so he decided to pull on it. Amazingly, it did slide back.

The woman quickly snatched the object from him, setting it back into one of the bags.

"Anything else?" she inquired.

Sarik stared at each of the objects intently, but none of them struck a cord within his mind.

The woman sighed.

"All right, Sarik, I need you to lay down on your back and close your eyes," she told him.

Sarik looked at her, puzzled. The woman crawled over to him and delicately forced him onto his back.

"Now close your eyes," she cooed.

Sarik did so.

"Now I want you to listen to my voice. Do not think of anything else but my words."

* * *

Derick watched the screen intently. Sarah had been in there for nearly an hour, and the entire time, Sarik had remained unmoving. She, along with several of the world's best psychology authorities, had resorted to this simple and classic plan. Derick truly hoped it would work as it had for so many others who had suffered such trauma as his son. He couldn't afford for Sarik to remain a child forever.

After another two hours, Derick observed a change in Sarik's condition. The boy had suddenly started writhing, and soon began yelling.

* * *

He ran down the halls, killing all that were in his path. They were in his way, so he had no remorse in what he did. If there was an obstacle before one's self, he had to overcome it, right?

Suddenly, he was at the controls of a vehicle of some sort, and he was jerked forward as it impacted a building. He quickly put it into reverse, smashing into another building.

Then he was jumping out of the hatch, running towards a cliff's edge. He started climbing down the cliff, but fell and hit the water.

And as he hit the water, he landed into a crowd of children, and he was suddenly carrying a tray. He quickly tossed that tray away from himself, revealing an enemy. But he was not that enemy's intended target. The boy was pointing one of those metal objects somewhere else. Suddenly, there was a girl with golden hair next to Sarik, and he knew she was the target. Sarik rushed his enemy, hitting him in the chest and sending him flying.

And then, the scene around him changed again. Sarik was in a white room, and the flying boy was replaced by the girl who had just been standing next to him. And he was crying as he did. He rushed towards her...

Only to burst up from under water, pulling her along with him. He pushed her to land, where several men waited. They forced him into a chair, and one of the men, well dressed, pointed one of those metal objects at the girl. He yelled something at Sarik, then pulled the trigger.

And then, everything replayed itself in Sarik's mind, suddenly reorganized into its proper order.

* * *

"Stella!" Sarik screamed as he awoke.

He bolted straight up, surveying his surroundings, checking for any threats. Right there, next to him, was a woman that he couldn't identify in the heat of the moment. Sarik jumped backwards, getting as far away from her as possible. He needed a weapon, and quickly spotted one. Near the woman lay a knife in a sheath. The same knife and sheath he had used before.

Sarik bolted towards it, but was grabbed by the woman as he neared the weapon.

"Sarik!" she yelled.

Sarik turned towards her, breaking her grip. He recognized that voice. It was the voice of the instructor.

Sarah.

"You!" Sarik yelled, striking her across the face, the entirety of his wrath and strength behind it.

Sarah allowed herself to role with the punch, but she felt something pop as she did. She brought her hands up in an involuntary attempt to protect herself.

"It's me!" Sarah screamed in pain as she started to crawl backwards.

"Oh, I know who you are," Sarik assured her arrogantly as he dramatically advanced closer to her. "You're the one who made sure I was ready, weren't you?"

"The instructor," he said with absolute disgust.

"Yes," Sarah admitted.

"And you're the one who betrayed us, gave us to them!" Sarik accused.

"I didn't have a choice," she replied calmly.

"Choice?" Sarik yelled in a crazed tone. "Choice?! You had every 'choice'. You didn't have to be there. You didn't have to work for them, to further their goals. But you did. And then, you left us to be treated like rats!"

"If I didn't leave, we couldn't have saved you," Sarah told him, standing.

"Saved?" Sarik laughed. "Saved? I did not need saving. I FOUGHT my way out of there. I FOUGHT to get her out of there. But you had to interfere. And that's why he got her. Because of you."

"I did not know..." Sarah started calmly.

Sarik lunged at her.

"You didn't 'know'?!" Sarik yelled as he struck Sarah down. "That's your excuse for trying to stop me? You didn't 'know'? If you were there, then you 'knew'. You knew about everything!"

Sarah attempted to get to her feet, but Sarik struck her in the face yet again, his inhuman strength causing her to fall back down.

"Why didn't you try to save her?" Sarik cried. "Why didn't you try to save Stella?"

"We didn't know..." Sarah started as she began rising once more.

"Excuses!" Sarik yelled as he brought a foot down on her hand. Even with bare feet, he had the force of someone years his senior. Sarah felt something crack, and let out a yell in pain.

* * *

"Get somebody in there!" Derick yelled to the men he had stationed nearby.

Sarah had instructed him to leave her alone no matter what, but this was getting dangerous. If Sarik killed her, there would be many problems he would have to deal with, not the least of Sarah being right.

"We could have saved her!" Derick heard Sarik yell. "I could have saved her. But you just HAD to get in the way, didn't you?"

This truly wasn't the Sarik he had known. This was a child who had experienced things. Things that made one age so much faster than their body.

But that age also meant a developed mind, didn't it? Perhaps he was making a deal with the devil in this decision. A dark deal, to be sure, but perhaps one that had definite potential for greatness.

* * *

"We did everything we could!" Sarah retorted, trying to rise again.

Sarik pulled back his arm to strike her again, but he stopped himself, dropping his fists to his sides. He allowed her to rise to her knees.

"So, in your failure, what possessed you to bring me back?" Sarik questioned menacingly. "What in the entire world made you think I could just come back and everything would be fine?"

"What?" Sarah asked, confused.

"You could have simply left me in the back of my own mind," Sarik continued on. "I was perfectly content with myself. I didn't need to feel the anger, the hatred, the pain. I could have lived the rest of my life as that child, contented with stupid, insignificant things. But you just had to continue in your meddling, didn't you?"

He glared at her, hatred evident in his eyes. But Sarah also perceived something else. Sadness. Pain. Regret.

"We had to bring you back, Sarik," Sarah told him calmly. "Would you have ever been able to do anything with your life if we didn't?"

"It doesn't matter!" Sarik yelled. "Don't you realize what I am? What I've done? In the course of hours, I killed dozens. Dozens! I even killed my friends! What makes you think that I won't use my power to kill you, or my father, or my...?"

Sarik stopped himself. So he couldn't bring himself to curse the one who had brought him life, the only one who had truly cared for him in his short life.

"I know you better than that," Sarah told Sarik confidently. "You don't want to hurt people."

Tears started to fall from Sarah's eyes. "You are too kind for that. That is why we had to bring you back. So you could remember that."

"What strikes you as kind, Sarah?" Sarik asked tauntingly, a crazed smirk on his face.

"Stella," Sarah reminded him.

Sarik's eyes widened suddenly, and he let out a roar in anger. Sarah was beginning to brace herself for another blow when she realized Sarik was now standing in front of the window, pathetically punching it.

"Stella is gone!" Sarik sobbed. "Gone, gone, gone!"

Sarah noticed that each time he said the word, he was hitting the window a little bit harder.

"Gone!" he cried. "She's gone!"

Sarik continued hitting the glass, near microscopic cracks appearing despite its reinforced design.

"Gone, gone, gone...!" Sarik yelled, his blood staining the glass.

Suddenly, he smashed his head against the glass, falling backwards from the impact. Sarah looked at the glass. There was a series of minute cracks in a pattern the size of head in the glass.

Suddenly, he rose back up, walking back towards the glass. Sarah rushed towards him, trying to stop him from harming himself further.

But Sarik turned his head in her direction in anger, blood covering one of his eyes. He let out a yell, and let loose a well placed kick into her abdomen, the force reaching up underneath her rib cage and knocking her to the floor, her breath gone.

"Because of you," he accused, forcing his foot into the center of her chest and holding it there, his body's weight holding Sarah down.

As Sarah regained her bearings, she realized Sarik was holding his sheathed knife in one hand and the photos in the the other.

"Gone," Sarik said coldly, though tears flooded from his swollen eyes. He tore the photo of Grey to shreds and tossed the scraps aside.

"Gone," Sarik sobbed as he ripped the image of Alex into the pieces.

"GONE!" he cried as he drew his knife and held Stella's picture in the other hand, readying to cut it through.

But he didn't. He dropped everything he held and fell to his knees, then let his body slump forward, his head planted on the floor.

"Gone!" Sarik cried into the carpet. "I'm sorry! I should have stayed with you!"

Sarah attempted to move closer, but Sarik noticed, and grabbed up his knife, forcing it to her throat.

"And it's because of you!" he screamed hatefully.

Sarah could feel the pressure from the knife increase, but Sarik never cut. What was stopping him if he hated her so much?

Suddenly, the door burst open, and two men armed with tasers barged in. They were both about to pull their triggers when Sarik rushed at them.

But Sarah already lunging, and tackled him to the ground from behind. Sarik did not struggle. He simply cried.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed as she tossed his knife away. "I'm so sorry."

Sarah knew he wasn't talking to her. He was reliving that last fight in his mind.

"It's all right," Sarah cooed as she brought Sarik into a strong embrace. "It's going to all right."

Sarik turned into her embrace, dropping all of his barriers and letting loose.

"Make it stop," he begged Sarah minutes later, pain filling his voice.

She looked down at him in pity, tears forming in her own eyes. She nodded at the guards, and one moved up to Sarik, preparing a syringe. He pressed it to Sarik's arm, and his sobs slowly became weaker. Within a minute, Sarik was breathing shallowly in a peaceful sleep.

Or so I hope, Sarah thought to herself. And that's what would have to drive her.

Hope.