" I think I got it!"
Angela's exclamation made Zoey's skin want to leave her body.
It had been over four hours of them researching, reading, and rereading. Examining Zoey from top to bottom.
They were even examining some of Zoey's blood which was not simple to obtain. She ended up having to gnaw at her thumb for five minutes to finally procure some of the rose-colored fluid.
Even still, it only ended up being a few drops.
Zoey couldn't really help beside answer questions for Angela and contribute now and again by giving her nourishment.
Stone helped as much as he could before the mental exhaustion and the medicine provided by Zoey (because she bruised him from head to toe) took their toll and he passed out on the floor.
So Angela was working as hard as possible to get results and eventually that hard work paid off.
Connection made after connection she finally found a solution.
" Huh? What, what is it?"
Zoey sputtered awake rubbing her droopy eyes.
" I know how to fix you! "
" You mean like... fixing my health problems, right? "
" What? Yes! What did you think I meant?"
" I dunno man I'm tired. "
" Okay? Uh, let's move past that.
Anyway, you know what caused your powers in your past life?"
" They fucked up my body with all sorts of shit?"
" Yes! But more specifically, they modified your genetics with a cocktail of drugs, enhancing you! Which made you capable of being able to handle your powers."
" Okay. "
" So for whatever reason, you have your powers now but they are still attached to Zoey's non-enhanced decaying body.
So along with the poison, the sheer force from your abilities is becoming too much for your new body to handle!
And though your main focus right now is to get stronger that is the absolute worst thing to do!"
Zoey slowly absorbed the realization and her eyes widened.
" Because the stronger my powers get the more the strain on my body."
" Which explains why you've been having your recent health problems. "
Angela sighed after letting her words fall out all at once.
" So... what do we do?"
" I am sixty percent sure I have a solution!"
" Why sixty? I don't like those odds."
" If you get down to it, you either take a chance at maybe dying or take a chance of absolutely dying. What do you got to lose?"
Angela shrugged with a snide response.
Zoey just let out a complacent sigh and admitted, " Well, you're pretty much right.
So what do we do?"
" It's a long shot, but remember how you told me when you destroyed the lab you found all the formulas to all the drugs they gave us?"
" I destroyed them. "
" Do you remember what the formulas said exactly?"
" I shouldn't but since they had observations on us written on them it made it even more apparent how they actually thought of us as objects. It pissed me off so much that every word, symbol, and picture became etched into the very foundation of my brain.
*Ugh* This is bringing up a lot of bad memories. Tell me what do the formulas have to do... with.... me?"
Zoey's sentences had long halts toward the end. That's because she realized what Angela was proposing.
" No... "
Zoey looked at her with a look of sadness and shock while her voice pleaded to Angela.
" The only chance we seem to have is to flush out your poison and start improving the quality of your body so it can handle said abilities... is by using the drugs from our past lives. "
" Oh! No! C'mon! How is that even gonna work?! You have to inject it! "
" We're gonna aim for the soft parts and use your strongest needle and again it's either try this or die. "
Zoey pouted like a child before sucking in half the oxygen in the warehouse and let out a sigh that sounded like two humping bears.
" Fine-AH!"
She let out a dramatic and teenager like answer.
" Great! Now get some pen and paper chica and start reading out those darn formulas!"
Hours passed away once again and Angela was just one second away from a total burnout.
But after multiple cheek slaps and contributions from Zoey, she had successfully engineered the mixtures according to the information given to her by Zoey. She checked, double-checked, and triple-checked.
She checked and checked until she herself almost checked out.
She had to be as sure as she could be that nothing too bad would happen and what she made was accurate to the past formula.
Then when she found that she could no longer make it any better and that's all she was gonna get.
This lead to the next step. The most difficult step of all, injecting Zoey.
First, Angela had Zoey set up a bed and the required equipment.
Next, she had Zoey remove all of her clothes, including underwear, and put on a thin white shirt that barely covered her thighs.
Then, attaching a few pads to her chest to monitor her heartbeat.
Finally, she had to drive the needles filled with drugs into the steel walls that was Zoey's flesh.
It took SO much exertion.
Finally, after several broken needles, the introduction of a hammer, and both Zoey and Angela combining their strength to pierce into Zoey's body.
They were able to get two I.Vs into the softest parts of Zoey's thighs. This especially took longer because Zoey was resistant to the possibility of Angela seeing the Nirvana in between Zoey's legs.
Too which Angela replied snarkily, " Bruh, you ain't my type. Plus, you're a solid three on a good day, and I try to aim for a seven at best."
Zoey flipped her off in response to snarkiness.
Back to the matter at hand.
After getting the needles into her legs, Angela then shoved more of the thin metal sticks of pain into Zoey's arms and neck.
Getting a total of six needles jabbed into her body, Zoey let out a, (quite monotone to be honest), " Ow. "
Angela just gave her a head pat and a shrug.
" Okay, ready?"
" Why can't we use any anesthesia again? "
" No anesthesia before, no anesthesia now. "
" *Ugh* Fuck it. Drug me doc!"
Zoey groaned.
Angela gave a nod of her head and went over to I.V tubes and made the fluids run and seep into Zoey's veins.
Zoey shuddered at the feeling and for the next few minutes she only let out a large number of bored sighs.
" How you feeling? "
Angela asked as she stopped her pacing around Zoey's bed.
" Fucking great. "
Zoey huffed sarcastically.
Angela sighed exasperatedly.
" Yeesh, this isn't exactly comfortable but I don't know what you were worried about."
" Hey! Don't jinx it! Just because it's going well doesn't mean it can't get worse!"
" Alright! Alright! Jeez! Chill out!"
Zoey huffed again and let a few more minutes pass before asking, " So how long do I have to do this?"
" Well based on the past you were injected with... around twenty-eight cc's of each substance once a week for eleven years.
They stuck to their schedule and there's about fifty-two of every day of the week in a year.
So fifty-two times eleven is five hundred seventy-two. Equalling the total amount of days that you were injected.
Multiply five hundred seventy-two by twenty-eight and then you get..."
She looked up at the ceiling for a second.
"Around... sixteen thousand cc's or milliliters I believe. And these IV bags carry around one thousand milliliters. So... we'll just see what happens as we go along. "
Zoey just stared at her before bluntly spouting, " So you just had to flex your mediocre math skills on me huh?"
Angela stared back at her for a second before she wheezed and started to laugh.
" *HA* Thanks, I needed that. "
" I know, you've been hovering over me non-stop."
" I'm just trying to make sure you stay alive. And you know to tell me when you're feeling strange right?"
" Yes!"
Zoey was ready to take a nap so she was a bit cranky.
" I mean yeah. When... I feel... weird I'll talk to you. "
Zoey's consciousness started shift.
(Obviously) Unseen by the two women the solutions being injected into Zoey became cars in a race track.
Racing through her bloodstream seeping into every blood cell. Soon the newly infected blood pumped into her heart, organs, and brain.
" Good!"
" Hey Ange?"
Zoey called out sloppily.
" What's up?"
Angela chimed.
" Umm... I'm feeling pretty... weird."
Her mind was now numb.
Her words refused to go out as she wanted to.
Her breathing created fog in the air and that's when her chest was suddenly jerked up towards the heavens and her head was curving backward. She looked as if she was possessed. Her eyes rolled back turning them white and her mouth gaped like a fish, before her body subsequently crashed back onto her bed.
Only letting out a few mouse-like squeaks at her clouded surroundings that slowly turned into unclear pixel-like blocks of color, hoping that the block she could semi-see was Angela and the words she had in mind reached her ears. This was all before her eyelids slammed themselves together to throw Zoey into unconsciousness.
Floating in a black space without a single thought. No longer allowed to think.
Zoey's thoughts were suppressed for...
Who knew?
There was minimal... in fact NO concept of time when you're trapped in an endless black void.
But she was still surprised that when she woke up she was buried.
' Damn Angela you couldn't even properly cover me up?'
Zoey said to herself thinking her friend must have buried her.
The reason she was crabby was because light poked through the top of her makeshift grave.
What she thought was dirt was loosely compact around her signaling she wasn't in that deep or wasn't in any coffin.
So she took a chance and sat up.
Without warning, a gentle gust of wind worked its cold path through her hair and across her face.
It took her a moment to blink away the tears as a result from the glaring light.
Given back her sight, with otherwise slightly misty eyes she finally looked around.
Only to find, she was... in a field of white flowers?
Well, if one were to go into specifics it was more like flowers that had been torn off their stems them dumped in an outrageously huge pile.
Standing up, her eyes shrunk at the sight.
Blank.
Desolate white space was all around her.
There was no sky.
No clouds.
And no sun! So where the fuck was the light coming from she screamed to herself.
Was this a dream?
But it all felt real.
Even her body, which admittedly felt strange, still felt real to a point.
The ground just seemed to be inches and inches of flowers plucked off their stems.
" Hello?"
She spoke out into the emptiness.
" Damn it who the fuck is going to answer you huh? Idiot!"
She scolded herself and made a slight click with her tongue in irritation at her stupidity.
With no other options besides just standing there, she called out again, " Hey! Can I get a little service here, please?
C'mon what kind of shitty place is this? Am I in fucking Florida!?"
Zoey yelled at the very top of her lungs.
After only a few seconds she let out a defeated sigh.
She closed her eyes and stared in the upward direction of the cloudy white void.
What was this place?
Was she dead?
If so shouldn't she be burning her skin off in hell?
So many questions she had for this desolate hellhole and whoever ran it. Wait if it was a hellhole could it actually be hell?
Being so preoccupied and refusing to face her newfound whereabouts she didn't notice the little insect fluttering towards her.
Until it came down gently on her nose.
Fluttering her eyes open she was faced with a tiny white butterfly.
She blinked a few times.
" Hello there. "
She offered a greeting to the shivering white insect.
" I'm guessing you don't know where I can actually find someone who talks huh? Like, I'll even take sign language!"
She threw her hands up dramatically and dropped them back to her side.
That's when the tiny insect flapped its wings and took off. It flapped a few feet ahead before noticing that the woman had yet to follow it.
" Oh, c'mon! The mysterious creature that leads me away? How cliche! I could be lead to my death for all I know!"
The butterfly fluttered back to the statue of a woman and back forward.
Then back again and forward again.
Trying to say without a mouth, 'follow me!'
Eventually, the poor little thing tuckered itself out and almost dropped into the sea of petals.
Quickly reaching her hand out to catch the small creature, she let out a groan.
" Alright! Alright! Don't kill yourself little one."
She sighed then walked in the direction the bug flew before as it regained its stamina in her palm.
Wading through the endless sea of decapitated flower heads she saw that there was honestly nothing else around.
" Hey, you're not gonna lead me to my death right?"
She asked the trembling butterfly then huffed to herself, ' You're talking to a fucking bug get ahold of yourself!'
Continuing to trudge through the flowers, her eyes almost popped out in joy to have finally found something that contrasted with the pure white landscape.
" Is that a... bridge?"
She walked closer and upon coming near she found that she was right. It was a dark grey cobblestone bridge stretched across some more plain white space. It was anchored into the makeshift ground and the other end was so far away that it was unseen.
That's when she felt her little friend stir in her hand and that's when it arose from her palm and started to fly across the bridge.
" Really? "
She asked, looking around. Too bad there was no one to share her look of disbelief.
" *Sigh*"
But what else was there to do besides stand there and die from a myriad of possibilities.
So she began to walk.
Her feet tapped against the hard stone and Zoey began to count the seconds.
She felt her brow start to furrow after getting to six thousand.
Almost two hours.
She silently flashed her teeth as a grimace as she walked along with the little bug who had flown back to her shoulder to rest.
She had the urge to break the stone bridge into bits.
Or squash the butterfly.
Thankfully her rageful actions buried themselves once she saw the end of the bridge.
Finding herself to be even more impatient, she saw herself rushing forward and stepping into a new landscape.
Grass.
Just grass.
And a bit more wind.
" Seriously?"
Zoey was done with these mysterious empty spaces.
The only one who would enjoy this experience was a fucking goat or any other herbivore.
Then once again her newfound companion fluttered into the air and glided forward.
She was too fed up so she didn't question it anymore and just followed the butterfly.
The ivory insect led her up a hill, climbing (luckily) for only a few minutes.
The butterfly had long made it up before her and once she made it to the top of the hill she rolled her eyes.
' What is up with this place and the flowers?'
In front of her was a large meadow filled with white flowers, grass, and a few more butterflies.
' Is that-?'
Her eyes narrowed once again, so she finally noticed the white table set in the middle of the field. And the person sitting in a chair seeming to converse with the flurry of insects.
Immediately rushing forward she shouted, " Hey! I mean, excuse me!"
She corrected herself on her politeness as she ran towards the person.
In a flash, she was right in front of the person huffing like the big bad wolf. Not because of exhaustion but because of some sort of relief and excitement.
Looking at the mysterious being before her they looked extremely delicate. Like some sort of saint.
With a pure white dress with frills at the end. Then at the end of the sleeves of the gown were these lovely doily-like patterns that blended with the lovely peach-colored skin of the wrist. The dress seemed to fall around a slightly curvy body indicating that the person was a woman.
Along with white nail polish adorning their fingernails, there was a matching snow colored lacy veil draped over the person's head, covering their eyes leaving their mouth revealed.
Zoey was a bit mystified by the person.
" Hey, umm, do you think you could uh, tell me... Umm, everything?"
She was, for once, at a loss for words.
The veiled entity before her, slowly turned their head and gave a small smile.
" Of course, Z... oh, before that what would you like to be called? You're welcome to your current name if you'd like. "
" What? What do you mean?"
" I mean... being back in your original body might prompt you to use your past name, Jade."
" Original... body?"
A butterfly then landed on the entity's shoulder. The being turned their head a bit and seemed to have an actual conversation.
The person even murmured a few 'ahs ' and 'ohs' before turning back to her.
" Well, my friend tells me that you haven't even noticed the change. Which is quite surprising based on how aware you usually are."
"What?"
" Take a look at your arms. "
Though confused she looked down at her arms and her heart dropped into her stomach and stayed there for a minute.
' My scars...'
The memories flashed through her mind on how the purplish marks had been put there.
That's when she reached behind her head and grabbed some of her hair and pulled it into her range of vision.
' Green... '
Her heart tried to crawl up her throat this time as she looked at what used to be her old hair.
Turning back to the entity with an obviously terrified and confused look she asked, " What in the fresh hell?!?!"
Her voice trembled as if her vocal cords were physically dumped in an ice bath and shoved back in her throat.
" Well, you're almost right."
The entity chuckled.
" Who the hell are you? What is this?"
The being made a big grin before standing up and walking a bit closer.
They then reached their hand up and grabbed their veil before whisking it off.
Thinking that things couldn't get worse the green-haired woman was harshly proved wrong.
The wind started to blow much harder, billowing the being's dress and the long hair attached to its... her head.
Staring at the entity and its appearance made the scarred woman's heart explode.
Or stop beating.
She couldn't tell.
She stared at the orange hair that was supposed to be rooted to her head. As it flowed with the wind.
She shuddered at the unique pink eyes that were supposed to be implanted in her skull.
The body she had gotten used too. The body she was starting to accept. The body she was willing to forget her old one for.
It wasn't with her anymore. It was no longer hers. Someone else... possessed it.
" As you can see, I am the original owner of the body you're inhabiting!
Your soul has separated from your current body in your attempt to cure yourself.
So before you could be snatched up by one of those pompous angels or demons. I brought you here!
You can just call me Z as I have abandoned my mortal name!
And welcome to purgatory Zoey!
Or do you prefer Jade? "
That's when the green-haired woman, who had yet to choose a preferred moniker, collapsed to the ground.