"You're awake," Matthew said, his voice echoing from a speaker somewhere in the room.
Eric opened his eyes. The cold feeling of the floor startled him. He got back up onto his feet, looking around to get a sense of where he was. He also wondered how he got here. The last thing Eric remembered before blacking out was…. was what exactly? How did he end up here?
The room mostly dark. Small, and chilly. Eerie breathing sounds were coming from somewhere, but he couldn't make out where. Then, on came the lights… on the other side that is. He ran over to the floor-to-ceiling glass window. He pounded on the glass repeatedly, seeing Matthew and Timmy standing on the outside. Matthew was resting his hand on Timmy's shoulder as he stared over at Eric.
"Daddy….help me," Timmy cried, tears running down his face. He was scared and frightened. Matthew slapped the back of Timmy's head hard. He stumbled forward a bit, rubbing his head a couple times.
"Shut the fuck up!" Matthew yelled as he gazed down at Timmy.
"Ow, that hurt," Timmy cried as Matthew grabbed his hand, yanking him back away from the glass wall. His grip remained tight and forceful.
"Don't touch him!" Eric shouted as he pounded on the glass. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Matthew covered his face with his hand, laughing sarcastically. Eric frowned and looked over at him. He rested both hands on the glass. Pleaing for Timmy to be left alone, Matthew ignored his cries to mercy. Matthew had one hand behind his back, with the other tightly gripped around Timmy's neck.
Timmy had tried to desperately get free from Matthew's grasp, but couldn't because he wasn't as strong. A syringe was revealed after Matthew pulled his hand out from behind his back. Showcasing it for a brief moment, he began explaining what was going to happen.
"I thought that by keeping you alive, I was causing you pain and suffering," Matthew explained, "I thought that by letting you live, I'd cause you immense pain and suffering. but, as it turns out, I was wrong."
"Don't you hurt my son, or I'll–I'll–," Eric stumbled, at a loss for what to say.
"Or you'll what?" Matthew questioned, "kill me? Please. Don't exhaust your energy on me."
He pushed down the syringe slightly, a small amount of fluid shooting out the tip of it. Faintly smiling, he continued to focus on Eric. Slowly moving the syringe closer to Timmy's neck, he moved his thumb out of the way of where he'd inject the fluid into Timmy.
It was the same fluid he'd been injected with years ago. After the plane crash, not only did Matthew kidnap Timmy but Eric as well. He brought both of them back to the lab to perform his sinisterly-crooked experiments on them.
"Please Matthew, I'm begging you," Eric plead, "please don't do this. He's a child!"
Matthew held the syringe inches from Timmy's neck, looking up and over at Eric once more. Smiling creepily, he shook his head.
"This…this is how I'll repay my debt," Matthew told Eric, then quickly inserting the needle into Timmy's neck. The fluid inside the syringe being forced out. Timmy screamed and tried to push himself away from Matthew. He screamed and squirmed.
"Please, please…," Eric said as he slowly slipped down onto his knees, his hands sliding down the bloody glass.
Matthew pulled the needle out. Timmy swayed around like a drunken man before collapsing to the floor. He laid on his side, unconscious. Bubble shapes moved around under his skin, giving the clear indication of the beginning of his transformation. His body was fighting the serum, but wasn't winning that battle.
"And all you had to do… was give me Joseph and Talen," Matthew muttered as he turned around, scoffing and shaking his head. Leaving Timmy on the floor, he punished Eric by watching his son fight a losing battle.
As he walked back over to the metal table in the middle of the room, three loud gunshots echoed; sounding deafeningly loud. Eric rose his head. He leaped back up onto his feet, looking all around the lab. Nothing.
After scouring the entire lab, a swarm of uniformed-men and women stormed into the room. They all had their weapons in the fire-position. Ready to shoot anything that dared get in their way. These people were different from the ones he'd encountered briefly earlier. Instead of wearing cameo uniforms, these people were wearing all black uniforms. Completed by black helmets, black bullet-proof vests, black boots, and black gloves and a face shield covering their faces. One of them, a woman, was holding her plastic shield out in front of her, while holding a M1911 pistol.
"Kill conformation," a man ordered, looking back behind him at his team.
These people, as Eric would find out, were S.W.A.T team. Accompanying them, although not present in the room, were others. The only way Eric knew this was of the constant chatter on the two-way radios.
"Oh yeah, he dead," the female Marine responded. Threat neutralized, Sir," she continued. Matthew's body rolled over onto its stomach, still unresponsive and stiff. With no clear sights of blood, they had to confirm their kill by checking for a pulse and feeling how body temperature.
"Stay sharp, there's more," the commanding S.W.A.T man explained. The marine that confirmed the kill gazed down at Matthew's body on the floor in front of her. She kicked his body with her foot, double checking Strangely, there was minimal to almost no blood forming around his gunshot wounds.
"Where's the Sergeant and Carter?" A male S.W.A.T teammate asked his commander, "this was the rondeau point."
COUGH…COUGH, COUGH. Eric began pounding non-stop, begging and shouting out for help. That didn't mean, however, they didn't hear him. One Marine glanced over to the left at them, discovering Eric being locked in the room. Shouting….
"Over there," the soldier shouted, pointing over to their left. Everyone else looked over. "Hey!"
The pace at which Eric was pounding on the glass slowed. He slipped back down onto his knees. A few of the people from the team rushed over to where he was locked up. They also noticed Timmy lying on the floor. White foam was coming out of his mouth, him starting to shake and gurgle helplessly.
"Someone help the boy," the commanding officer said.
An Hour Earlier…
7:05a.m
Leaving Stitches to pursue Eric and Timmy, Matthew had stopped as he came across a picture hanging on the wall. It was framed in a dark brown wooden frame, with only one person in the picture. Another, much smaller, framed picture hung next to it. He sighed, approaching them. One was of his daughter Meghan, while the bigger picture was of his late wife Allison. In his pocket, he put his hand into it, was a folded up family picture of the three of them.
He unfolded it, looking down at it. He sniffled his nose, quickly wiping away the single tear that had slid down his cheek. He gently swpet his finger across the picture, then folding it back up and putting it back in his pocket.
But before walking away, he looked up at Allison's picture. He kissed his two fingers, then setting them down on the photo.
"It was always about you," he muttered as he turned away from the pictures, then inhaling heavily. He shook his head and cracked his neck before leaving. He didn't want anyone to know he expressed feelings. He wanted people to fear him. The only way he could do that was to act as though he were a fearless monster; or in his case murderer.
Unbeknownst to him, he had no idea as to what he was being branded as back on the mainland and around the world. But soon, he will catch up with the vast world around him. It's only a matter of time before that happens. Is he prepared?
Elsewhere in the facility, Eric and Timmy were following a young girl. A girl that had miraculously appeared at just the right time. She's young, probably around six or seven years old. She had long dark brown hair that was maintained and brushed. Her short blue dress was ripped down the center down the back. Her dress was bloody to the point of just barely being able to make out its original color. Her white leggings were ripped and stretched out. She only wore one shoe, with the other being who knows where.
"In here," she whispered, "they won't be able to get us in here."
She walked over to a door that was left open. Gently pushing it forward, it opened. Its hinges creaked and squeaked. The sounds of pipes sqeaking and creaking sounds returned. That meant only one thing: Stitches was gaining on them… and fast.
"Ariel," the little girl said, "I'm Ariel."
Eric set Timmy down, but held him close by holding his hand. They both rushed into the room. Ariel stood out in the hallway, slamming the door shut behind them. Eric ran over to the door to try and open it, but wasn't having any luck.
"Daddy?" Timmy questioned, "it smells bad."
"It smells like… like burning flesh," Eric said as he turned around. He grabbed Timmy by the arm, pulling him closer to him. Whatever was burning in the room, wasn't fully engulfed in fire. But the smell was overwhelming. Eric and Timmy both covered their mouths and began coughing and gagging.
"Timmy?" A young boy's voice said, "is that you?"
Outside in the hallway, Ariel stood in the middle of the hallway. She was clenching her hands, waiting for Stitches to come crawling down the pipes in her direction. A light had begun flickering from around the corner. When it did, it illuminated a shadow of Stitches.
"Over here!" Ariel shouted.
The closer Stitches crawled, the bigger his shadow grew. Just then, he peaked around the corner. He was still hanging upside down. It was only his head that appeared, with the rest of his body still hidden around the corner. The rest of his body caught up to his head, the stretchy stitches retracted.
He leaped down from the ceiling, landing on his feet. As he turned into the hallway where Ariel was standing, he walked around the corner just in time to see her transform. Several appendages began spawning out from her back. She screamed and shouted as they grew bigger and longer. Several appendages were boney-like. Stitches watched as she was lifted up off of the floor, facing downward. Her back being in the air. Something began bulging out from her stomach under her dress. It was beating just like a heart does. Only this was bigger and more mysterious.
Stitches took one slight step backwards, unable to take his eyes off of the girl. He took another step and another. Turning around, he ran back around the corner. She chased after him. As he fled from the girl, he paid close attention to the pipes overhead. Above the pipes, there was a ventilation shaft. That was a way he could use to escape. Tossing his hand out in front of him, he grabbed onto a pipe. He pulled himself up off the floor, swinging like a monkey.
There was an airduct opening. It took one more swing to make it to that air duct. With his other hand he grabbed the grate cover, yanking it. It broke free of its hinges, falling to the floor, clinging and clunking noises rattling throughout.
Just as the girl swung one of her appendages, he escaped up into the air vents. But that didn't stop her from continuing to chase him. She screamed, swinging another appendage up. The force was so great, it crushed the pipes like crumpling up paper.
Back in the room where Eric and Timmy had been put into, they were both still in the corner of the room. Eric was more frightened than Timmy was. That's a surprise to him.
"Benny?" Timmy whispered as he took one step forward. Eric refused to let him go, but he pulled his arm free anyway. Taking another step forward, Timmy drowned out everything that was distracting. Eric had began hearing faint stretching sounds, like ropes being pulled apart. That's what they sounded like.
"Timmy?" Eric whispered.
"Shhh," Timmy replied.
"It's so nice to see you again, Timmy," a girls voice said, "it's been days since we last saw you."
"Yeah Timmy, it's been days," another young boy's voice said.
Eric saw something crawling towards his feet. He quickly retracted them, wrapping his arms around his legs to keep them folded in the upwards position. Crawling on the floor was something he couldn't quite make out.
The sounds it was making were sounds of sleuthing and squishing sounds. It crawled another foot or two before coming to a rest right by Eric's foot.
"Is this–?" A boy's voice said. Timmy turned around, looking down at the floor.
"That's my dad," Timmy responded.
Little did Eric know, was that Timmy had somehow befriended the most fearcest and most deadliest mutants of them all… the Worm. It was this encounter that would lead to Eric and Timmy being recaptured. You can thank the Worm.