Chapter 7
Author's Notes: Ugh! I'm real sorry for the long wait, but I just haven't had the time to write.
(Or when I do, I can't organize my thoughts so I don't get anywhere.) Well, so this chapter ended up real short since I decided against shoving all my thoughts into this one chapter. I'll make sure the next chapter is back to the regular lengths though. Anyways, thanks for being patient and please enjoy!
The moment Sergei returned from his mission, he knew something was wrong. No soldiers wandered about on the helipad and Liza, the secretary, hadn't called him on his intercom to ask if anything had happened. Everything was oddly silent. So silent, even the most oblivious of his soldiers seemed to notice the strange air that surrounded the SPETSNAZ headquarter.
As soon as the helicopter landed and the propellers began to die down, Sergei and his men exited then stared at the building entrance. Most of them had been involved in war and battles that they seemed to develop a sixth sense that warned them of oncoming dangers. They made sure their weapon was within reach and slowly began heading towards the door that would lead inside.
Generally Sergei would've taken as much caution as his men had when opening doors that could potentially have a threat lurking behind them, but when he took Anna's condition into consideration, he got careless and brusquely pushed it open.
The hallway that was to be filled with people rushing to and fro was vacant. Almost instantly his team knew something was up and after Sergei gave them the signal, they began rushing down the halls, opening any door and quickly aiming their guns. As they did so, Sergei began making his way down to the patients' quarters in hopes of finding Anna there.
While taking the path down the halls to find Anna, Sergei came upon the lab which had clearly been broken into. Taking a look inside, the sight near froze him as countless of his colleagues lay on the blood-stained floor. Gripping the gun attached to his back, he made his way in carelessly stepping in the puddle of blood and dirtying his boots. His eyes scanned desperately for Anna, but she was nowhere within sight. Sergei didn't know whether to be relieved or not.
As he was walking by a cabinet, a body toppled over before him and as he looked over it, he realized it was Aleksander. His superior looked up at him and relief washed over his face as he spotted who it was. "Sergei," he said breathless. He rose to his feet and frantically grabbed at Sergei's outfit. "Sergei," he repeated, "A soldier came and-"
Sergei didn't have time to listen to Aleksander's problems just yet. He had already decided what his top priority was for the time being and was prepared to walk away until Aleksander whispered, "He took Anna Williams." If there was ever a time in which Sergei displayed any emotion, now would be it.
With a grim look plastered on his face, Sergei seized ahold of the man's collar and stared straight into his eyes. Without having the need to speak, Sergei delivered his message to Aleksander. Unlatching his fingers from his shirt, Aleksander replied, "I'll explain it all, but first…" He looked around at the mess of bodies that scattered themselves along the floor, "We need to clean these up."
XoooooX
Dr. Abel couldn't believe his luck when he had watched Bryan enter his laboratory three days ago with not only the notes, but a new specimen for him to study. She was a long-legged beauty, but he could care less about the minor details. "And who's that you have with you Bryan?" He had asked the former protocol officer.
Bryan dropped the unconscious woman on the steel flooring and tossed the notes towards the aged scientist. His body was wearing away and within a few more minutes he was sure another piece of his arm was going to peel off. Dr. Abel took notice and nodded. "Oh yes, yes. If you will Bryan, settle yourself into that seat there and I'll be with you in just a second…"
As Bryan walked off weakly, Abel looked over Anna and almost drooled in anticipation at being able to dig through her organs and discover what interesting things SPETSNAZ had performed on her. And perhaps, he thought, he would be able to combine her cells with the devil gene. His heart was racing as he thought about all he could do to her and nearly forgot about the decaying man waiting for him until they let out a groan. "Oh yes, Bryan. I'm coming." He passed one last glance towards her before he headed off towards his patient.
Now, three days later, Anna found herself strapped down to a metallic table, her eyes blindfolded as an irritating drip echoed throughout the room. She had just recently been sprayed with freezing cold water while an old man's voice drawled over the intercom. "Are you ready for test number two?" The voice asked.
Even if Anna had wanted to answer she didn't have the strength. Two days ago she had been injected with some sort of serum that although heightened her senses, put her in excruciating pain. Her body was numb and even the quietest of noises nearly made her ears explode. The light that they had put her under nearly blinded her which was why she was fortunate for the cloth covering for her eyes.
The scientist looked down at her from his personal office and grinned. "Did you know, dear child, that when a human's body temperature exceeds over 107 degrees, their cells begin to solidify?" He asked into the microphone sitting before him. "Well it's true. That's why they tell you to watch out when your fever gets too high. It's also the reason why your body becomes charcoal when it becomes engulfed in flames." He let out a laugh that reverberated through Anna's eardrums. "Ah, but what if the human cells were to be modified and adjusted to survive such temperatures?"
It didn't take a genius to see what he was hinting at. Anna, vulnerable as she was, bit her lip as she heard a door open and gentle footsteps began to make their way in towards her. She could already imagine the syringe in their hand and felt herself tremble. What kind of chemicals was going to enter her body next? In desperation, she began to writhe as best she can, refusing to allow the scientist an opportunity to inject her. However, with her hands and feet bound, the struggle proved to be useless as the man above her easily stilled her and inserted the needle.
The pain that rushed into her made her eyes begin to tear up and she began to bite down harder on her lip, causing a cut to open up. As much as she tried to resist, the pain became too much and she let out an ear-piercing scream. Uncontrollably she began to thrash about; trying to fight back the agony, but the metal clasps limited her movement. "Get me out of here…! Please…Anyone…" Her mind began to go through the short list of people in her life from her parents to Nina then to her favorite soldier. As her mind drew an image of him, Anna's body slowly began to go limp as her struggling began to come to an end. For some odd reason, having him in her thoughts seemed to brush aside all her pain.
After watching the subject calm down, the scientist who had injected her looked up at Dr. Abel and asked into his walkie-talkie, "Should we proceed with the experiment now?"
Dr. Abel gave a sinister grin and replied, "Yes. Do we have the incinerator fired up?"
Incinerator? As soon as she heard the word, her mind snapped back into reality as Dragunov's image vanished. She didn't think this man was planning to actually setting her on fire! Although fear immediately struck her, she forced herself to stay calm. She wasn't going to give this man, who was still unknown to her, the joy of watching her suffer in her final moments.
As she lay on that table in silence, with her hyper sensitive hearing, she began to hear Dr. Abel speak to one of his subordinates. "What is it now?" He had asked grumpily.
"We can't…threat from Aleksander…her back…" Anna couldn't quite hear the other person's voice but she did manage to pick out a few words.
XoooooX
Dr. Abel stared fearfully at the phone in his secretary's hand. "Did I just hear you correctly…?" He whispered to the pale black-haired woman, "Aleksander is really sending troops over?"
"Yes sir. And he wants the woman, Anna Williams, back. Now please, if you will, he's waiting on the other end." She motioned to the blinking phone within her palm.
With his wrinkled hand, Dr. Abel cautiously took the phone and slowly raised it up to his ear. Without having made even the slightest of noises, Aleksander already knew Dr. Abel had taken the phone. Before Dr. Abel could fathom the idea of how he knew, he was greeted by Aleksander's voice. "I know it was you, Abel," Aleksander spoke coldly. "You sent your soldier here to wreak havoc in my lab, didn't you?"
"Now hold on," Dr. Abel retorted back, "I only sent him to receive notes for his operation. You see, Bryan's body was decaying-"
Rather than listen to his story, Aleksander continued right on with the questions. "So I assume it wasn't you who told him to take my subject, Anna Williams?"
"Why no," the aged scientist replied back innocently, "Bryan took her out of his own free will."
"Regardless of why she's there, we're coming to take her back. And we want her back alive and unharmed. Do you understand?"
Slowly, Dr. Abel looked out his office window to Anna down below and gulped. "Well, Aleksander, I can't say that she's unharmed per se, but she's most definitely alive."
"Prove it then. Let us speak to her. Then we'll consider whether we should demolish or spare you and your lab."
Frantically Dr. Abel rushed down to the experimentation lab, arousing Anna from her short-lived peace. "Anna, dearie," he spoke in a panic stricken voice, "wake up. Someone wants to talk to you." He held the phone up to her ear, hoping that she would say something soon.
Anna listened and didn't hear anything other than a very faint, almost inaudible breathing emanate from the phone. The gentle breaths reminded her of someone and instinctively she whispered his name. "Sergei…" Her voice came out weak, but it was nonetheless heard by the man on the other end.
XoooooX
Upon hearing her speak in such a feeble tone, Sergei clenched the phone tightly within his grasp. She sounded so pained; it almost hurt him to hear her in such a condition. Rather than leave her in the dark, he slowly released the tension on the phone and said in his cold, deep voice, "I'll be there…"