Hey guys! Since last chapter was all happy and sweet and bunny-related, this one is dark and sad to even it out! Enjoy! The tone is a request by AsgardianGrizzly! Nice and morbid! ;)
Reviews:
angelcarstairs4679: Thanks! Glad you liked it!
thepandabella: Yay, glad you enjoyed! Thank you for reviewing and suggesting!
The Maze Writer: Lol, that's a glitch right? Otherwise, well done on your extreme speed-reading! Happy you like the chapter!
fadingshadowss: Aw me too! People always underestimate Gally's soul! I'm happy you liked it!
MazeRunnerGirl: Cool headcannon, I'll see what I can do. No promises that it'll be fast though because I've never listened to those bands myself, but I know what they are, and so it would require some musical homework on my part. Enjoy the chapter!
Science. That's what it was. That's what all of it was.
Ava sat hunched in her office, glaring at nothing while tears carved rivers into her perfect skin.
A computer monitor blinked in front of her, alive with the images of brutal monsters tearing into the flesh of teenagers. Monsters that were Ava's own children. Her creations. Killing and murdering and stinging and discarding the bony, pulpy remains.
All for science.
Ava gritted her teeth, hands closing around a tall bottle of blackish liquid. She raised it unsteadily to her lips, and drank. Everything she'd ever wanted was to be a world-renowned scientist. To save the world. Ever since she was a little girl.
She chuckled, oily bubbles dripping down her chin. She remembered when she was young, and would drape her mother's lab coat around her small body. She had glasses then, big and black and round. And braces.
She was the kid who did not play tag, or catch, or jump rope. She sat on the side, alone with her journal full of theories and sketches for inventions that would never be made.
Alone.
Ava bit her lip. She wasn't alone anymore. She had workers, everywhere. An entire building full of people that knew her name! An entire world that knew her name! And machines, she had millions of beautiful machines! She stroked the computer screen, numb to the tears that soaked the metal. She had friends now.
Janson, was her friend. And Lincoln and everyone else who helped with the trials. All of them were her very best friends. She knew they were, because even after she hit them and screamed at them and made them bleed, they still came back. That was how she knew.
Friends. Yes, company. No longer alone.
She took another sip, hands visibly shaking. Black bags hung under her eyes, heavy on the papery skin that cracked over her face.
She stared at the screen, listening to the screams that emitted from the speakers. The kids.
They were not her friends.
They hated her and spited her and wanted to watch her die. Ava trembled, a sick smile snaking onto her face.
But she was the one watching them die.
All in the name of science.
To save a world that had long since slipped away. Ava tipped her head back, finishing off the burning liquid. She clutched the empty bottle to her chest, rubbing it against her face and neck.
"I'm sorry," She whispered to the glass.
Another scream ripped from the monitor. The grievers were killing this one slower than usual.
Blood painted a deathly scene across the maze floor. She watched it in fascination, tracing invisible patterns with her finger.
She waited desperately for the joy that always accompanied the elixir. For the relief. Instead her pain worsened, weighing down on her like a leaden blanket.
They'll appreciate it after.
They're halfway through the trials.
They'll thank me for it after.
Ava staggered out of her seat, collapsing to the floor. More screams. More screams!
Where were they coming from? Ava clawed at the floor. The bottle rolled away to join its kin.
"Come back!" Ava croaked to it, "Don't leave me yet."
Shrieks of terror echoed in Ava's skull, bouncing around the room. She writhed, scratching at her ears until bloody rivulets adorned her neck. Always the screaming! Always! ALWAYS!
Science! It was for science which made it right! This was right! So why did they hate her!? Why didn't they understand!
Was there something wrong with her that made them hate her? A monster growing inside her? Yes! That had to be it! Ava plunged her nails into her abdomen, digging and twisting.
She had to find the monster! Find the monster and they'd love her!
Ava cried, breathing heavily. She choked on bloody saliva.
No. The monster was not simply growing inside her. She was the monster.
Ava curled into herself, wishing for darkness. Wishing for blackness and sweet oblivion. But she could not have those things. Not yet. There was still more science to commit.
There was always more science to commit.
She sobbed, empty sounds that blended with the screaming. Where had life taken her? She didn't know any longer, unsure if she ever would. But she had to keep going, because it was much too late.
Much too late to claw her way back home.
Much too late to undo her murders.
She had all the time in the world and yet she was always much too late!
"I'm so, so sorry," Ava said again, not sure if she was talking to the kids or to the world or to herself. But none of it mattered because now she could feel the elixir making her float. She giggled through choked sobs.
And everything melted away.
Just slightly shorter than usual, but I thought this was as far as it needed to go. :) Please review!
Wolf Out...