Everything had been fine at first; Cassie sat there holding William's hand, smiling at the slight twitches now and then, speaking softly to try and encourage the man before her to wake. It was like something out of a medically-centered romance where the lovely young girl waits for her lover to wake from some coma. She thought it would be like that. His eyes would flutter softly, and he would look around for that first blurry moment before meeting her eyes. She thought it would be a beautiful heartfelt moment, and they would kiss and cry and love…
She thought back to those beautiful mornings they once spent together. Curled around one another, the way she would watch him sleep then. The first trickling rays of light from the bedroom window would dance across his face. Falling into the slopes and curves of his body. Golden shades created elegant shadows. Had she been a gifted artist, she would have painted him.
Cassie would watch him then and think only of those kinder moments from the past.
But it wasn't like that. Those.memories we're far away dreams and what was before she became a nightmare.
It happened abruptly, William's eyes snapped open, and his biceps flexed, tugging at the restraints. His body jerked unnaturally, and a raspy gurgle slipped past his lips. The sound escalates into guttural, animalistic growls. This wasn't the voice of her lover; it was something else she didn't recognize.
Something primal awakening stirred a trembling fear within her.
Cassie stood trying to calm him and herself, but the look in the man's eyes seemed so different it was frightening. As if they could both see and not see, the dull glaze was haunting, like looking into death itself.
"Will..it's me ...please" Cassie stepped back as the man she loved began growling and snapping his teeth at her like some primitive beast.
Cassie stared, trembling, her heart thundering in her ears and her breath escaping in tiny pants. Just beyond the thick observation glass, she could hear her brother shouting, then his voice blasting over the intercom.
" Get out of there, Cassie! That's Not Will !"
She cringed and covered her ears, shaking her head in refusal. "No! You're wrong!! He's just confused !" Maybe she knew even as she spoke it was a lie, but she wouldn't give in.
She wasn't going to believe it; she just wasn't. William would never forget her! Never! he promised! He loved her, and she had to believe he was still somewhere.
As Cassie pulled her hands away from her ears, the sound of the leather restraints snapping made her freeze. Looking over to see the beast that was formerly her lover growling, foaming at the mouth, jaws snapping wildly as the undead reached out for her with one hand now free. Cassie's heart was thundering with fear, and a cold sweat broke over her flesh. No...no, this wasn't happening. They were so close... Will was so close.
Cassie took a half step closer, holding her hand to the flailing monster on the bed. "Sweetheart.. come on...you have to recognize me, please."
In the lab, everyone was horrified. Luke had heard the commotion and was now over the intercom telling Cassie to step back that William was gone. It hurt the man to admit it, but what he saw couldn't ever be his brother.
But the young woman wasn't listening. All she could see was her very heart and soul in front of her, groaning and growling like an animal, and it hurt. She didn't want to see it; she wasn't going to accept it; in a way, Cassie didn't care if William killed her. At least they would be together.
When the second restraint snapped, the bed came tumbling over, and Cassie scrambled backward, slipping and falling flat on her rear. When she looked up, she saw the thing that was her lover coming at her dragging its lower body.
Somewhere in Cassie's mind, her survival reflex went over her blind love. She reached out, grabbed the metal stool she'd been sitting on, and held it up like some lion tamer.
The zombie crawled forward, straining against the stool's base reaching and flailing; the only thought in its singular mind was Blood, kill, consume, and destroy.
Cassie was crying and screaming, begging for the man she had to believe was still there ."PLEASE! I LOVE YOU!"