"Remember, keep your voices down," Eric whispered to Ariel and Timmy as he held their hands tight.
After escaping from Matthew's lab, they were now on the run. Navigating through the dark, long hallways and corridors, they kept their talking to a minimum. Anything said, or the slightest sound made, could alert the mutants to their whereabouts. Nobody is safe, not yet at least.
Before fleeing from the lab, he'd confronted Matthew. Both him and Eric had a brief altercation; ending in Matthew being knocked out. Using a pistol he'd found on the floor, left there by a marine who was killed the last time he was here, he used the handle of the gun to deem Matthew unconscious.
To his surprise, his mutants weren't present to protect him; not even Stitches or the Witch. Vulnerable to being harmed that gave Eric an opportunity…something he used to his advantage.
"First time, lucky," Eric said as he held the gun he'd found tightly in his hand. SCUFF! "Second time's… well…that's pure luck too."
Walking around in a circle, they stared into each other's eyes consistently. Matthew isn't even the slightest bit intimidated by Eric.
"Do what you must," Matthew encouraged Eric as he looked ahead of him and over at one of the three containment rooms.
Eric noticed that and turned around to face the same direction as him. They both stopped circling around, and are standing a foot away from each other.
SIGH!
"Daddy!" Timmy muffled, his voice quiet because of the thickness of the glass wall. He pounded on the glass three times, while Ariel began waving her hands around in the air. They both managed to attract their fathers attention.
As Eric stared off into the near distance, Matthew turned his head to his left, looking back over his shoulder at Eric.
"Look familiar?" Matthew asked as he waited for an answer. "That's the same room where you ended up in. Remember?"
Eric listened, but ignored him. His sights were firmly fixed on Ariel and Timmy.
Dark. Cold. Musty. The lab was in ruins after years of neglect and from being occupied by the mutants and cannibals.
"The island?" Eric asked as he glanced up and over at Matthew. He showcased a faint, sinister smile as he looked over at Eric. "Is that where we are?"
Matthew smirked, shrugged his shoulders, and shook his head.
"Surprise?" Matthew mumbled, "thought you would've picked up on that by now."
"I was blindfolded," Eric responded, "we were…blindfolded. How could we have known?"
Matthew shrugged again, putting his hands behind his back. TSK, TSK, TSK!
"The smell of the air, the wind rushing past you," Matthew explained, "the flapping of wings."
BANG!
Eric pulled the trigger. Being fed up with the "evil-me" talk with Matthew. His body collapsed and fell to the floor; lying next to the body of a dead marine. A single shot was all it took. Only thing, is that Eric hadn't the slightest idea of Matthew's cloning contingency.
The Matthew he killed wasn't the original. That Matthew has been dead for three months; killed by a Marine.
"Initiating Revival Protocol," an automated voice announced, "revival sequence commenced. T-minus five minutes."
Eric worked tirelessly to free Timmy and Ariel. Using a piece of a metal pipe, he began hitting the glass with everything he had; strength wise.
Elsewhere in the facility, Addison and Megan had heard the announcement. They knew that the cloned Matthew was dead, with another cloned version of him brewing in a part of the facility that was heavily guarded by one mutant both her and Megan both despised; the Centipede.
"We need to go get your father," Addison told Megan with a heavy sigh. "We can't leave without him."
"What about the LeBlancs and Ariel?" Megan asked, "he'll rip us a new one if we don't do something."
Stitches and the Witch came barging in through the doors. The Witch was handling a rope. It was a long, yellow one. Revealing themselves from the darkness from the hallway, Alexander, Rane, and Jackson were tied up.
"Leave that to Stitches and I," Addison told Megan just as she turned her head to look over at the three tied up prisoners.
Rane was walking alongside Alexander, while Jackson walked in front of them; his rope being shorter than theirs. Addison made direct eye contact with Rane, which raised red flags from Alexander and Jackson. They both turned their heads, looking right at her.
"Rane?" Alexander questioned as Rane raised her tied up hands slightly. Megan walked over to her, reaching into her back pocket. When her hand came out, she was holding a small knife.
"Alexander," she said as she looked over at him. Megan began cutting away at the rope around her hands. "I wanted to tell you, but couldn't find the right time–"
Alex frowned. His attitude towards her shifted noticeably from worried to pissed off. He shook his head and stared over at her.
"Bullshit!" Alexander shouted to Rane, "coward! How could you do this to me?"
"You always were the empathetic one," Megan said as she finished cutting through the rope; the rope sliding off her wrists and onto the floor.
Stitches had been carrying the guns he'd confiscated from them earlier.
"Why is he here?" Addison said angrily as she glanced over at Stitches. "It's a defect!"
"I thought he would be–" Stitches explained, but was interrupted by Addison.
"Be what? Useful?" Addison questioned, "it should be dead, like all the other fuck-ups."
Rane walked over to Stitches, holding her hand out to take her gun. He handed her gun back. Pulling the loaded cartridge out of the handle compartment, she made sure it was loaded; which it was.
"Kill him," Addison shouted at Stitches. "Right here, right now! Do it!"
"Wait!" Alexander shouted as he briefly glanced over at Stitches, then back facing forward to Addison. "Don't do it. He deserves a life just like you and I. Please–"
"We are nothing like you," Addison yelled, "don't compare us to you. You're nothing"
Stitches approached Jackson, standing behind him. Alexander glanced over at Jackson as Jackson did the same with him. Alexander noticed Stitches and began pleading for Jackson's life.
SNAP!
He snapped Jackson's neck, killing him instantly. Alexander just stared blankly up at Stitches. Jackson's body collapsed to the floor. THUD!
"Rane, Megan," Addison said as she turned to face her two daughters. "Stay here with him."
Rane Cross. The World doesn't and didn't know she was a sister and daughter to Matthew Cross. Her entire life, her real identity remained a secret. A secret only four other people now know; Alexander being one of them.
Before coming to work for the department in Boston, she had mysteriously changed her last name, now being known by Rane O'Leary. Following her last name change, she proceeded on to start a life for herself; securing a job as a detective. Many years later, she was paired with Alexander after his old partner, Natasha Adams, went missing.
"With me," Addison said to Stitches as she stormed past him, heading out into the hallway. Stitches followed her.
"Any chance I could get some water?" Alexander asked as he looked up and over at Rane and Megan. Behind him, the Witch was down on all three, holding the rope tightly in her hand.
"Bad boy," the Witch blurted out, "bad boy, no water!" She repeated.
"No," Megan told him.
Following that, Alexander dropped and shook his head; a long sigh ensued.
Elsewhere, not too far from the room where Rane and Megan were, Eric and the kids were on the run once again. This time they were desperately trying to find a way out. It's been so long since they were last here, that he merely forgot the lay of the land.
As they cautiously ventured down a familiar corridor, Eric had this uneasy gut feeling. With no flashlight or gun, it complicated their escape.
"Daddy," Ariel whispered, "he's–"
A pair of hands stretched down, picking Ariel up by her head. She screamed as she was lifted up towards the ceiling. Eric grabbed Timmy's hand, pulling him back towards him.
As she was pulled up, she screamed.
"Dadd–" Ariel yelled as she went silent. Unable to see the ceiling, Eric and Timmy both listened. From the sounds of it,
BANG!
THUD!
Something had fallen, landing on the floor.
THUD!
"Daddy?" Ariel asked as she fell down, landing on her feet. Her appendages were retracting back into her back. "Are you okay?"
A puddle of blood was on the floor, along with some human body parts and torso. As dark as it was, Eric and Timmy struggled to see Ariel.
"It was the stretchy mutant," Ariel told them as cracking sounds continued as the appendages continued retracting back into her back.
"Sweetheart, are you alright?" Eric asked as he kneeled down, holding his hand out. She slowly approached him, putting her hand in his. When she did, he saw that her hand and arm were covered in blood.
Stitches! He thought.
"I'm okay daddy," Ariel responded as she crawled down the wall and back down onto the floor. She had been in her mutant state. As her appendages retracted back into her body, her clothes were ripped and bloody. In fact, her entire body was covered in blood. A sweet, innocent girl like Ariel doesn't look so innocent anymore.
"Come," Eric whispered, "there's a door right up here."
As they got up to the door that Eric figured would lead them out of the facility.
"Mr. LeBlanc," a female voice said from afar as a loud and hideous muffled screech was heard from behind the doors that Eric was planning on going through.
Eric scooped Ariel up, completely forgetting about how bloody she was. Turning around, he held Ariel in his arm, as he held Timmy's hand.
SCREECH!
"What–the fuck–is–is–" Eric mumbled.
The thing on the other side kept banging and pounding the door. It sounded huge and terrifying. As it pounded on the door, the hinges rattled and the floors shook and rumbled.
As this thing pounded on the door for the final time, it let out another loud, hideous screech. The doors that resisted the constant banging and pounding, they suddenly gave way, falling forward.
Timmy and Ariel hid behind Eric as they all stood as still as they could. Eric was gazing up at the beast before him, he went into a frozen state.
A flashlight shone down the hallway from behind them. Timmy and Ariel turned around to look at the bright light.
The light revealed what this mutant looked like. But it's a mutant Eric's never seen up until now. Over the years, while being trapped on the island, he's heard rumors about a certain mutant; but those rumors came without a name or description.
It resembles a caterpillar. Long and wide, it had hundreds of legs or claws or something. No eyes, but one big mouth with dozens of sharp, black teeth. It was composed of many colors: murky green, dirty yellow, and a light brown with patches of white dots.
When it sensed them standing near, it screeched once more. It was followed by a loud roar too. Eric came to his senses, scooping Timmy and Ariel up into his arms.
"It's chasing us, daddy!" Timmy shouted. Ariel screamed as they slowly got further away from it.
SCREECH!
As they ran past Addison, she smiled sinisterly as she waved them goodbye. As it approached the end of the hallway, it charged at Addison. It bit down on her torso and picked her up. She'd dropped the flashlight and began screaming in pain. Blood leaked out from its mouth and onto the floor. Running straight into the wall, Addison was killed from the impact. Dangling in the centipede's mouth, blood continued leaking out.
The Centipede. From the Centipede files, Eric thought to himself.
It then tilted its head back, devouring Addison whole in one bite. It swallowed her body, and as it moved through the Centipede's body, it stretched and then retracted.
SCREECH!
Ariel screamed and Timmy patted his dad on his back to get his attention. But Eric has merely drowned them out to focus on getting out. That was more important. If they'd stopped, for just a second, they'd lose the advantage of being ahead of the centipede. The longer the distance between them, the better. The shorter distance between them, the worse things could turn out.
But just as their chances of escaping plummeted, a familiar voice had caught Eric's attention.
"Eric!" A male voice shouted, "over here!"
He looked to his left, and then to his right. He looked up, and then looked down. He couldn't pinpoint the location of where the voice had come from.
"Eric!" The voice said again, "it's Joseph. To your left!"
Joseph? Eric thought as he glanced to his left.
SCREECH!
When he did, he saw a dim light from a lighter. It was just barely bright enough for Eric to make out who he was talking to.
Rushing over to the door where Joseph was, Joseph stepped aside to allow them to enter into the stairwell. Pulling the door back, it slammed shut. Just as the door was closed, the centipede slammed into the door with powerful, brute force. The small window on the door cracked; a few small shards broke off.
Turning the lighter off, Joseph stepped away from the door. Eric set Ariel and Timmy down so he could catch his breath. Leaning over, with his hands on his knees, he began doing so.
"Where's Talen?" Eric asked as his heavy breathing ensued.
"He's–he's dead."
Eric briefly glanced up at Joseph. He tilted his head slightly.
"What do you mean he's dead? Didn't you two escape with Amber?" Eric asked.
"It was a deceptive, deviant trap," Joseph replied, "turned out that "Amber" was Matthew Cross' daughter, Megan."
"Is that so?"
Joseph nodded and lit the lighter again. Holding his arm out, he walked over to the stairs.
"There's more to that story," Joseph told Eric, "but I'll explain everything in time. Let's get the fuck out of here!"