"Now, if we're done with pleasantries-"
Sneaking furtive glances at the letter opener hadn't yet opened her up for an opportunity. She'd have to take a page from Jill's manual and make one herself. An idea struck her and, desperate, Kelly ran with it without a second thought.
"Do you let your family keep secrets from you?" Kelly piped up, interrupting him. "Irene is keeping one for your daughter. Has she mentioned it?"
The doctor's cool exterior melted away for the briefest of moments. He was getting irritated with them, Kelly knew, and that was just fine with her. Quick as a flash, it was over though, and he smiled cordially and rooted through the desk drawer again, this time coming up with what looked to the girls like a stainless steel lunch box.
He went on as if Kelly had never spoken. "Now, if we're done with pleasantries, I have some questions I need for you to answer."
"It sounded big." Kelly went on, ignoring him.
The doctor eyed her coolly and then heaved a big sigh. "Very well. If you won't cooperate, then we can move on."
"Don't you want to know what it is?" Kelly continued, desperately. They were running out of time. The doctor had flipped the latches of the box and pulled it open, revealing a set of gleaming metal syringes and a vial of something that probably looked very familiar to Jill.
Again, the doctor ignored her. "Kelly, what with your condition, this is a step that we can bypass. Your trials can begin as soon as we're done here. This is for your friend, but I trust for her benefit, you'll do as I say." He turned to Jill, a proud smile on his face. "This is the fifth trial, Jill, and I must admit I'm feeling quite confident about it. If all goes according to plan, you're going to be a very lucky young lady."
"What's the secret?" Jill pressed, the sight of the syringe upping her urgency. "Is it about this place?"
"Or the fact that you're wanted for war crimes?" Kelly continued.
The doctor calmly prepared a syringe and set it down. His folded his hands patiently on his desk. There was a tight smile on his face, but so far he was keeping his cool.
"That's a pretty big secret to ask someone to keep." Kelly rambled on. "I know I couldn't keep a secret like that for long. Could you, Jill-"
"Enough!"
The doctor slammed both palms down hard against the surface of his desk, rattling his coffee cup, the metal lunchbox, and startling Kelly into silence.
When she looked up at him, his face was twisted into a sneer. "What is it you think you know, Kelly?" he whispered menacingly. "Tell me the great tactical advantage you have over me, you foolish child."
Kelly couldn't help the way her eyes darted to the letter opener. The doctor had jostled the cup and her weapon had settled itself in a different spot, but it was still there. "Irene is keeping something from you." she muttered stubbornly. "I thought you were a family."
For a few moments, the doctor said nothing. Finally, he sighed and settled himself back into his chair. "Keeping something from me." He said calmly. "Do you mean about Anna? About Anna being responsible for her sister's death and Irene lying for her? Rest assured, ladies, I know about Anna's…flaws. A father always knows. If it makes Irene and Anna feel safer thinking that I don't know what they did all those years ago, then so be it. It's my burden to bear." He glared at them. "You've met my daughter. Does that surprise you?"
When neither girl answered, the doctor eyed them menacingly. "Would it really surprise you to know that, at six years old, she was capable of drowning her younger sister? Would it?"
He gave a bitter chuckle and his cool exterior faded as his lips curled into a sneer. "She is my daughter. Of course, I knew. Their mother had already lost one child, how could I make her lose another?" The doctor gave them a moment to process that before leaning forward towards Kelly.
"My dear child, you cannot fathom the pain of losing a child." He said in a soft, eerie voice. "It is a hurt that cannot be described." He narrowed his eyes. "Irene lost all of her children many, many years ago. I took her in when her family was killed in the war. I welcomed her into my family just as I now welcome you."
Kelly pulled away from him in disgust. Her eyes flitted instinctively toward the letter opener and then back to the doctor. "We're your hostages not your family." She replied angrily. "There's a difference."
The doctor smiled cruelly. "No, I suppose not. Not yet, anyway. Now, since we're revealing secrets, tell me, Kelly, after learning what you've just learned, would it surprise you that only today, Anna has killed two girls?"
Kelly swallowed, refusing to let that bother her.
"She killed them because they resembled my daughter. Beautiful, blonde hair, blue eyes." The doctor went on, his voice getting louder and more threatening as he spoke. "Imagine if I were to leave another beautiful, blonde haired, blued eyed girl alone with her, Kelly, imagine what would happen and that's exactly what will happen if you challenge me again."
"I'm not afraid of her." Jill cut in sharply.
The doctor whirled on her. "Not yet." He replied quietly. "And only your father can protect you." He leaned towards Kelly again, this time snatching her roughly by the arm. "You have everything to lose Kelly. Your baby, your friends. Would you like to lose everything, Kelly? Would you like to see your child die? Would you like to ask Irina what that's like? I can arrange it for you just as I did for her." He smiled, released Kelly, and settled back into his chair. "So, tell me, Kelly, what else is it that you think you know?"
Kelly glared at him, but didn't dare respond.
The doctor smiled. "My suggestion is that you do as you're told, and I'll keep Anna under close watch. Do as I say, and I'll let you keep your child when it's born and your friend, should she survive. Either way, ladies, you will take your place in Divinity, in life or death, and you will do so under my terms." He narrowed his eyes and gave an elegant gesture towards Jill. "If not, your family will suffer your consequences."
The threat was clear. Both girls waited until the doctor's intense gaze finally released them and moved back toward the metal box. "Now, enough of this nonsense-'
A gunshot cracked through the empty hallways, ripping through the silence.
The doctor's head snapped towards the source and Kelly was all too happy to finally see her chance.
With an angry cry, she lunged over the desk, snatching up the letter opener and a handful of pencils with it. Her momentum carried her straight into the doctor, tipping his chair backwards and sending both of them crashing into the bookshelf behind it.
Jill sprang to her feet, lurching forward to give Kelly any kind of assistance that she could. The doctor was both bigger and stronger than Kelly, but she had genuinely caught him by surprise. The letter opener flashed again and again, Kelly was striking him wildly and in anger, as hard and fast as she could with an awkward left hand, shouting obscenities, leaving blood running down both of his arms.
She'd cut him but not where it counted and not nearly enough to slow him down.
"Kelly, move!" Thinking quickly, Jill snatched the metal box from the top of the desk and, with a cry of anger, brought it down on the doctor's face.
His bellow of pain made her ears ring, but Jill swung it again. The doctor was thrashing now, struggling to find his footing. His hand latched onto the bookshelf and it came tipping over to the side with a crash, spilling all of his notes and book across the room like a tidal wave.
Jill swung the box again, but her blow was deflected by the doctor's blood smeared hand. "You stupid girls! You don't know what you're doing!" the old man threatened in a guttural snarl. He wrenched the box from Jill and shoved it up against Kelly's attacking left hand to use as a shield.
There was a loud thunk and Kelly's letter opener glanced off of it, sending her careening off balance and into the desk by their side. Her advantage was lost, but they had both done damage to him. The doctor's right lens was shattered and his sliced up hands smearing blood all over the metal lunchbox, the tiled floor, and Kelly's already blood stained shirt.
Jill made that box her priority. Avoiding Kelly and the doctor's vicious struggle and the wild slashing of the letter opener, she locked her hands on the box and the two wrestled madly over it.
A gun had gone off, Jill knew, as she struggled. Had someone else had just been killed. Irene? Sabrina? Max? Her sister? There wasn't time to think about it.
Whoever it was, was only the first, because, without a doubt, Jill knew that this fight wasn't going to end until one of them was dead as well.
Max wandered aimlessly through the first floor hallways of Divinity's Reach, keeping to the more well lit areas of the building. If Kris was hiding somewhere, that was where she'd be. And if she was someone's prisoner?
Well, that was still where she'd be.
His wandering had started cautiously enough, sticking to the darkness, keeping as quiet as he could and jumping at every shadow and the slightest noise. After a few minutes of that, he'd decided that sneaking around was pointless. Sabrina was following the old woman, leaving only an old man and a girl to contend with. Nothing he couldn't handle. If there was someone lurking about over here, he'd much rather face them than hide.
His trek took him to a dimly lit hallway lined with doors and he paused, trying to decide where to go. Up ahead, the overhead lights suddenly stopped, casting everything beyond them in darkness. To the left, he could see another hallway, this one completely dark.
The dark hallway was out. His blue eyes rested on the doors lining the lit hallway. They were all closed but one and with nothing else to check out, he decided to investigate further. He jogged over and carefully gave it a light push open. The door creaked on its hinges and thudded softly into the wall.
Nothing came bursting out at him and, relieved, he decided it was safe enough to poke his head inside. It was the only room in this entire place that actually looked like it belonged in a hospital. It was mostly empty, a counter with a sink on one side, a small desk and rolling chair on the other. Someone's work station?
Maybe.
Deciding there was nothing else of interest here, he closed the door and walked on, hoping to find another like it down the hall. Maybe Kris was hiding in one.
His trek led him back into the darkness, but he paid little attention to it as he walked, testing the doorknobs to the left and right of the hall and finding them all locked. Three quarters of the way down, he abruptly stopped.
There was something about this hallway that was making him uncomfortable, something that didn't have anything to do with the darkness. Uneasy, he turned and decided to head back towards the light.
It wasn't until he was halfway down the hall did he realize his sneakers were squeaking on the tile floor.
Max stopped, taking full notice of his surroundings in the darkness.
There was a certain smell that hung in the air here, a heavy smell that was making the hair on his arm stand on end. Spooked, he broke into a jog, refusing to stop until he was had reached the light. He wasn't sure he wanted to look down at his sneakers, but he had to. That quick look made him want to vomit.
It had been blood, he realized in horror, that smell he couldn't quite place, the wetness on the floor that had his sneakers squeaking. It was all over the bottom of his shoes, tracked on the tile floor everywhere he'd stepped.
"Oh, shit." Max felt his stomach roil. Blood all over the damn place, but whose? Jittery now, he knew he couldn't leave without finding out. Back into the dark hallway he went with renewed urgency, willing his eyes to adjust along the way.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…" he muttered to himself. There was no special reason for him to believe that it was Kris's blood smeared on his shoes, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible had happened.
His foot suddenly bumped something solid and he sprawled forward, just barely managing to catch himself against the wall. An instant later, he knew his fears had been realized.
"Oh, fuck. Kris?!" he cried out, his voice strained and high with panic. "Kris, Kris!"
He dropped to his knees, both hands fumbling along in the dark, falling on head and shoulders of whoever was laying here. He felt along, bumping the figure's head, feeling familiar features and the long blonde ponytail he knew with more and more sickening certainty that he'd feel.
It was Kris.
Babbling incoherently to himself, he grabbed at her shoulders to haul her up, feeling her wet, sticky hands, still grasping weakly at her stomach. Panicked tears pricked at his eyes and, cursing to himself, Max began slapping at her frantically.
"Hey!" he shouted, giving her a shake. "Kris, no, no, no, no, no!"
Blood was everywhere, puddled beneath her, soaking her clothes, seeping into the knees of his jeans. The smell of it was overpowering, how in the hell had he walked through here without noticing it?
He had nearly dissolved into a screaming fit, when a faint moan reeled him back to sanity.
His hands flew to her face. She was breathing! Shallow and weak, but she was breathing!
"Kris? Kris, hey!"
"Max?" came a weak, whispery voice.
Max couldn't help but to burst into relieved laughter. "Kris! You're okay! You're…you're gonna be okay, I swear it, I swear it-"
She coughed weakly and Max had to lean down to hear her.
"Bitch stabbed me."
Anna. Of course. "Where? Here?" Max laid his hand over hers on her stomach.
It was too much of a struggle for Kris to nod and so she groaned her affirmative. "Bad?" she breathed weakly.
Max hesitated. "Uh…I can't tell. I'm- I'm gonna get you out of here okay?" Without thinking, he slid his hands underneath her and began to lift her off the floor. Her anguished wail of pain made him want to cry.
"I'll just….I'll take you to the car and call for help and-" He had no idea what to do next and even less of an idea what to say to comfort her and so he stopped talking, scooped her up and, careful not to slip on the slick floor, stumbled forward through the hall.
He'd been eager to see how bad she was in the light, but actually seeing his old friend was much, much worse. Her clothes were soaked, the source of it all appearing to be in her stomach, where her blood stained hands were tightly clamped over. Her face was deathly pale, her breathing shallow and he knew that if she didn't get help soon, he'd have one less friend.
Still, he tried not to panic.
"I'll get you to the car and call for an ambulance." Max grunted as he made his way through the hall. He was still leaving bloody footprints on the floor and hoped that Kris couldn't see them.
Fortunately, her glazed half-lidded eyes were fixed on the ceiling. "My sister? Kelly?" she whispered.
Max bit his lip. "Not yet. Sabrina will find them though. Just….don't talk, okay? You're gonna be fine."
"You need to help her."
"Well, she isn't bleeding out right now. I need to help you." Max replied. He took a corner, no longer caring about being quiet or staying out of sight. To his immense relief, he found himself in the lobby. Getting Kris through a broken window was out of the question. They'd have to take the easy way out. The main entrance it was and if anyone tried to stop him…well, his hand was hardly hurting anymore. One way or another, they were getting out of here.
Kris squirmed in his arms and gave a pained cough. "I can't believe I let her stab me." She groaned. Her voice was fading and hearing it made Max's blood run cold.
"When it rains, it pours, huh?" he answered, forcing his tone to be light.
"And I thought I was having a bad day before." Kris continued muttering. "Ugh, that bitch."
Max had to smile at that. Here she was bleeding to death and still making him laugh. "Almost there." He panted. His arms and back were starting to burn with fatigue, but Kris didn't have time for him to take a break. He forced himself to pick up speed. The main door was easy to find and he had just shouldered it open and sucked in his first breath of the night air outside when the sound of a gunshot took it right from his lungs.
Kris jerked as Max spun her around. "Wha-"
It was a full three seconds before Max could speak. "I…I don't know." He started. "Sabrina maybe. Maybe she…I don't know." His stomach was churning violently, he couldn't remember a time when he felt more afraid than he did at this moment. Everything in him screamed for him to run and help, to see what had happened and put an end to this maddening uncertainty.
But Kris needed him more. He'd take her to the car, radio an ambulance, and then he'd go help.
"Hang in there, Kris." He said as he pushed through the door. "We're almost there, almost there."
With Kelly's initial surprise attack spent, Jill had no choice but to watch the fight slip from her and Kelly's fingers.
Her friend was still giving it all she had, the doctor was cut and bleeding, his shouts mingling with theirs, but he'd managed to get a grip around Kelly's wrist and forced her to drop her letter opener. He'd have overpowered her by now had Jill not thrown herself into the mix, using what little energy she had to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him backwards. She was probably not choking him the way she'd planned, she could feel her lack of strength, but her weight was keeping him off balance, unable to hurt Kelly and it was all she could do.
Over the sound of the doctor and Kelly's shouting and swearing, the echo of footsteps sounded in her ear. Jill didn't have the luxury to worry about it. The footsteps thundered down the hallway, getting louder and louder as they grew closer and Jill realized that if it was Irene, then her and Kelly were as good as dead.
The footsteps were right outside now. The knob jiggled and then the door burst open.
Kelly, Jill, and the doctor whirled to face it.
"Sabrina!" Jill called out. Her friend's hair was disheveled, the collar of her shirt was stretched out and torn and her face was scratched up and bruised. The relief she felt at seeing her best friend safe and sound was immeasurable, but again there was no time for it. The doctor had pushed Kelly off of him and was crawling away. "Get him!"
Sabrina looked bewildered by the scene she'd burst into, but lunged forward, leveling Kris's gun at the doctor. "Hey! Freeze!" she shouted at him.
He smiled, a frightful sight with blood running down his arms, his face, and matting his hair. "What's this?" he panted, rising slowly.
Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "You tell me, Dr. Rutger." She said quietly. She stepped forward, barely glancing at her two friends, still on the floor. Later, there was time for that later. She dug into her pocket and held out something very familiar to Jill. "Here, take this damn thing."
Jill took her gun and was more than happy to join Sabrina in aiming it at the doctor.
"Shoot him, Bri." Kelly managed through her labored breathing. She'd snatched up the letter opener again, but sat leaning heavily against the toppled bookshelf, too winded to do anything with it. "You have to shoot him, it's the only wa-"
"Shutup, Kelly." Sabrina snapped. With Jill helping, she allowed herself to spare a moment to look her friends over. Both were bleeding and out of breath, but otherwise would be fine. Her brown eyes darted back to the doctor, still standing awkwardly with his hands halfheartedly raised in the air, an odd look on his face.
"No, Bri, he won't stop. You have to." Kelly was saying, her voice strained and frantic.
Sabrina rolled her eyes and stepped forward to give the doctor a quick shove to the shoulder. "Turn around." She ordered. The doctor complied.
"Bri!" Kelly cried in frustration.
"I can't just shoot him!" Sabrina snapped at her. "Just….sit there and don't move, okay?" She dragged over the chair Jill had been sitting in and pushed down on the doctor's shoulder. He sat and Sabrina stepped over to face him.
"Where's Anna?" she asked roughly.
The doctor smiled a serene smile and took off his broken glasses. "Ah, you didn't ask about Irina. So she's dead, then?"
Sabrina's countenance darkened, but she didn't answer. "That's not what I asked you. Where is Anna?"
"Bri, shoot him." Kelly groaned.
"I'm gonna shoot you!" Sabrina growled at her. Her brown eyes focused back on the doctor. His right hand was up, shredded up and bleeding heavily, leaving bloody smears on the top button of his shirt where his fingers had traveled nervously. "Answer me."
The doctor smiled and continued toying with his button. His collar was tugged down a bit, revealing a thin cord around his neck that she hadn't noticed before. Sabrina allowed herself to burn off a bit of her jittery, nervous energy, by slapping the doctor on the side of his head. "I'm talking to you!" she snarled. "Where's Anna?"
"Oh, Anna. Where's Anna?" the doctor sighed. "I'm sure she's around. Somewhere."
Sabrina glowered at him. "I want you to call her here."
In the silence that followed, the distinct wail of police sirens could be heard in the distance. Bill had come through, after all.
An hour too late and after they'd dug themselves even deeper into this mess, but he'd come through.
"Cops?" Jill asked in confusion. She struggled to her feet and limped over to the open door. There was a big window at the end of the hall that faced the outside and though she couldn't see any lights, the faint sirens were there.
Kelly looked horrified. "Police? Bri, you ca-"
"Yeah, I called." Sabrina sighed wearily. "I called Bill. I had to."
"Ah, the police." The doctor said pleasantly. He pulled the necklace out of his shirt with deft fingertips and rolled something at the end of it between his fingers. "I suppose you think you've stopped me."
"Shutup." Sabrina snapped at him. "Just sit there and shutup."
The doctor laughed softly. "You've done nothing." He said quietly. "There are others, you know, others to carry on my legacy."
"What, Anna?" Jill sneered. "They'll get her first."
"Anna-" the doctor scoffed. His fingers rolled the end of his necklace, darkening the thin cord with his blood. "-Anna is nothing without me. There are others. People you'd never expect. We are everywhere and where I have failed, someone else will succeed. I am only the beginning, my dears."
The sirens were getting louder. Sabrina turned briefly to see Jill, now joined by Kelly, standing at the doorway to see out the window. She sighed her relief and gave the doctor her attention. "You know what, I'm sick of you. Just shut your mouth. I don't want to hear another word from you until the cops get here."
The old man grinned. "You won't, my dear." He deftly slipped the end of his necklace between his lips.
"No!" Kelly was suddenly shouting. "Bri, stop him!"
Sabrina had realized what was happening just as Kelly and Jill did, but it was too late. She lunged at the old man, yanking the cord roughly out of his mouth, but it came out in two pieces.
"No!" Kelly shouted again. Her and Jill had hurried over, and with five hands grabbing at him, the old man simply bit down hard. There was an audible crunch, the doctor grimaced and then swallowed. The girls' pawed at him, groping at his mouth, his throat, their combined effort spilling the doctor from his chair.
He was already dying before he hit the floor.
The girls dropped down to the floor after him but there was nothing that could be done. The doctor began to thrash, choking, turning blue, and foaming at the mouth. Nothing could be done for him. In less than a minute it was over. Dr. Markus Rutger stared up at them, one last mocking smile frozen on his face, his wide blue eyes laughing, haunting, until, as the girls watched helplessly, the life faded from them, leaving his wide unseeing eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.