My shoulders sprawled as I boredly unlocked the door to my apartment. The brisky lane humping with hooters and screeching tires, beating away the allure of the night. My tongue nibbles on my lower lips as I guide my head off the far busy road.
Light spewed as my steps pended past the door, shutting it behind me. My vision gradually got accustomed to the vibrantly lit living room.
A twinge against a door caused my neck to curl at the waving curtains of the kitchen. My legs curtailed me from moving forward as Thomas marched inside the room, gleaming brightly. It's been long since I've seen him like this.
The smile on his face reflected more of his age. A seventeen-year-old boy without worries.
"You're home," He started, tugging off the coloured apron clamped around his waist, wiping his moist fingers next. "I've prepared dinner." The boyish grin showcasing on his face almost revealed how I missed him.
But this was too sudden.
"How are you feeling?" The words cautiously fled my tongue, and my eyes carefully trailed on every one of his movements. He appeared peaceful.
A chuckle broke out of his lips as his eyes noted my expression. His arms waved in front of me without a hint of nervousness as he spoke. "I feel strong, stronger than I've felt in years. Boozed juice made by Grace, although it aches for minutes in my abdomen, but it's fine now."
Grace.
"Where's she?" My fingers stretched out for my buckled shoes, peeling them off and next to my socks. My feet finally felt unrestricted, home.
Without looking at me as he arranged a set of dishes, he responded. "Mrs Williamsburg called in sick. So, she left to tend to her."
My head nodded at his reply.
Proceeding next to my room, I let the shoes and socks fall along the washing machine as I fell back into the bathroom. Washing away the stress of the day, I sigh as the cold shower plundered against my dry skull. It was bliss.
Blocking the thoughts seeping through my head, I swabbed off the bathroom and wore light bed clothing. I needed a relaxed night. It has been a long time since I had one; days rather.
Trudging back to the living room, I sighted Thomas's set pose in the dining, waiting for me.
There's something about European dishes that leaves a fascinating tangling taste on the tips of my tongue. Thomas was a master when it came to cooking these dishes since he'd lived there most of his childhood under the care of his mother.
Catching up with Thomas made the evening much better than I'd hoped while returning home. I'll speak with Grace and learn more about this… juice.
Drained limbs made their way to the neatly arranged mattress, my back sought comfort as it gradually declined to it. The cosy feeling of the soft mattress almost made all my worries disappear. Almost.
My eyes subconsciously slide past the wall clock; 23:01. And I shut off the lights.
I let my eyes furl with the drowsiness soaking my brain, plunging me into the crowd of darkness. Shadows percolated through my head, and my foggy eyes slowly lost their strength.
It was a lovely night-
…Thump thump thump…
It will be a lovely night-
…Thump thump thump…
It won't be a lovely night-
…Thump thump thump…
"Oh, fuck it!" A moan struggled to go up my throat as my back turned against the mattress, my head trying to hide under the useless non-sound-concealer pillows.
Silence reigned for seconds, and gladness clotted my chest thinking the sound was gone-
…Thump thump thump…
"Fine." I puffed out, opened my eyes, and let my butt sit up on the bed. My eyes floundered to trail the cause of the disturbance, and a second later I realized it was coming from my window.
Without switching on the lights, I walked to the side of my window to examine the cause of my deprived sleep. My eyes Involuntarily glanced at the time. 01:19.
The moon was halfway up in the sky, casting a faded glow on the inhabitants underneath. My fingers gradually unlocked the window to provide a way for my head.
The disruption, unfortunately, wasn't close to my window. Or wasn't supposed to be heard?
I withdrew my head to ignore whatever it was and snuggled back to sleep, however, a faint smell of blood penetrated my nostrils. Not the regular blood smell, a different type.
Curiousness always oversees repulsiveness.
I let my eyes wander from the view of my window, marking every detail in my sight.
There was nothing out there.
I must be hearing strange noises again. But I knew that wasn't the point.
Resigning back to shut the window, a sharp glow of the moon hitting a broken glass a little distance away caught my sight. It wasn't the glow that caught my attention, but the images in it.
A frown clotted my forehead. My eyes searched for the images, but the broken glass wasn't sufficient enough to provide me with more. A thought stumbled upon my mind, and I retreated inside to get a mirror positioned on the wall.
Sitting beside the window, showing the glassy part out of the window. My body stood beside it as I observed the mirror, to make sure I wasn't going completely insane.
Shockingly, images, invincible to the moonlight and eyes start spilling on the mirror. Boney sculptures, almost like a bunch of skeletons, were walking up and down digging a hole. They appeared to be busy burying something underneath the soil surface.
All this wasn't visible.
A thump sounded against my chest as one of the skeletons turned its money skull at my window as if noticing being watched. Fast reflex made me hide before I was seen.
That was enough for me. I quietly shut the window and covered the curtains, dropping my mirror to its previous position.
My head hit the bed, but sleep was far away from me.
I don't know what that was. I was still having the words inside my head tell me it was not real. But I know reality when I see one.
Something wild was definitely happening. Something vile.
What were they burying at such an hour?
And who are these skeletons?
Surprise washed through me, but I would've been more shocked if I wasn't already a victim of the viral infection. So, nothing unordinary surprises me vastly.
Sleep manages to sweep me off my feet an hour later.
_____________
Dawn came wriggling under stenches of spilt dews. There's still an hour left before the sunlight starts making an entrance.
My gaze flickered at the clock. Five AM.
Pushing myself off the bed, I make my way towards the bathroom. I needed things done. I walked back to my bed after the urinating, casting a soft moan of relief.
My eyes refused to shut, however, feeling wide awake. My finger slipped through the pendant hiding under my shirt, and I carefully raised it to study the content.
It's a picture of my parents. It wasn't around my neck just because I miss them, it's a way not to forget their faces.
"Is that your wife?" A voice breaks from the darkness, positioned on the couch.
My mind was relaxed, not once spiked with the lurking voice of a regular intruder.
"I'm not married."
"So… your child?"
My head raised, angling at the position of my couch. A lazily inclined Lazaros lay with his arms spread, foot on the arm of the couch. Resting.
"I don't have any child, Lazaros,"
"I wouldn't be so sure," He taunted, tilting his head sideways, earning a crack from his neck. He had a weary smug expression on his face, exhausted. It made me wonder what he'd been doing.
I couldn't hold it in, so I asked. "You look tired. What have you been doing?" His eyes raised to me, seeming surprised I asked that. Then it plummeted with an exhale.
"Fighting." He simply answered.
Thinking he might have confused himself with the choice of words, I asked for clarification. "You mean killing?"
"Fighting is fighting, Roman. I wouldn't be this exhausted even after killing hundreds."
Deciding not to go more into it, I decided to tell him about the skeletons. They kept pumping up in my head throughout the night.
I let my head adjust to the silence of the room, hearing the breathing from my nostrils and the calmness of early dawn. Then I started, "I saw skeletons, outside my window."
Lazaros's declined head picked up, there wasn't a surprise emotion on his face. His emotions had finally crept back into place, and even the tiredness around his eyes suddenly disappeared.
I continued, eyes still on him. "Through the use of the mirror. They were -like- invincible, Lazaros," I tried to dye down my conflicted tone, but it kept creeping through my lungs. I've never seen something like that before, and I know I'm used to seeing strange now, but it'll take time to adjust.
He didn't reply, just kept watching me as I spilled everything. His eyes stayed on my face as if trying to catch every word escaping from my lips.
"What time?"
"One in the morning."
He slowly nodded his head, a shadow cast at the side of his face as he turned to face the view of the window. He almost seemed to be lost in thoughts, only that nothing could be read about his expression.
"Well, it's gone now." He only said.
I didn't tell him about the thumping sound and the burial they were conducting, it skipped my mind, and I didn't feel the need to tell him anymore.
He stood up from the chair, positioning himself to head for the window. "I'll see you later, take care." He didn't wait a second as he jumped off the opened window. A chill breeze swiped with curtains to different trends.
I didn't ponder much on his odd behaviour and got ready to start my day.
______
Sunlight slowly slopped on the horizon, casting its golden glow on the inhabitants.
The rustling of dry leaves from underneath my feet sounded through the quiet space as I walked down towards the old Cabin, attempting to check up on the 'subject'.
Subtle knocks echoed as my knuckles drummed against the wooden door. A second later it opened, revealing a halfway-clothed female.
Water stumbled down her body indicating she just took a bath. But as I walked inside, I realized it was a whole different thing.
Her clothes were spilled on the ground, wet. It showed signs of dry leaves, implying she took a bath in the stream down the lane. A bath with her clothes on.
"There's no clothes," She said, putting on a naive expression, biting down on her lip. Whatever she wanted to achieve by that wasn't working.
I don't have any female clothing, and I'm not walking towards any shop to buy-
TWENTY MINUTES LATER
"Here," I tossed her a bag containing a few items, including the clothes I just bought. I handed her another bag, containing breakfast. I was running late for my training.
"Thank you."
Nodding my head softly, I rose from the wooden chair in an attempt to leave and get my day truly started.
"Where are you going?" She asked, eyes trailing on me as she took a sip from the coffee I bought.
"Work."
I didn't explain much, but I know she had realized I work with people who wanted her head, probably a hole in her skull. And every other type like her.
She nodded slowly in understanding.
"Will you bring me to them?" She carefully asked with a soft tone, her eyes looking like a lost dog who wanted pity. But I did see underneath her skin. Agreeing to bring her to them would make her stab the knife lurking under her shirt on my neck. She's as vicious as her innocence.
Her eyes continued to observe me, waiting for a response.
"No."
A slight relief washed through her, clothing her expression with a tugging smile.
________
"What is the situation?" Alice's steps echoed through the corridor accompanied by other agents from different departments. Including me. Holding a tab firmly underneath her palm, she let her eyes wander between the floor and the tab.
"We've caught two females, new breeds. However, they refused to talk and found our beating heart fascinating." One of the agents said. He started again, "And there's a male who's oddly quiet."
Alice nodded, navigating her steps towards the investigation chamber. Her steps then stalled, causing the other agents to halt.
"Quinn and Justin, follow me."
The voicing of my name made my toes involuntarily stride behind her despite the halting of the other agents. An early thirties male followed behind us as the investigation chamber opened.
My eyes roamed across, taking everything in view. It registered the blandness of the room, and the double chairs at either side of the room across the mental table. One of the seats was already occupied, by a somewhat middle-aged male whose wrists and ankles were cuffed with silver chains.
His short black hair blended with his dark clothing, conspiring with the shadowy whiff at the side of his face which was off the view of the light.
Justin handed a different tab to Alice, which undoubtedly contained every detail about this man's life and history, probably future. She shut it shortly and handed it back.
"Mr. Daniel," She rolled the name off her tongue, her eyes shaped with attentiveness on the cuffed male. "Divorced with two girls; aged five and eight. It says here you've got a criminal record of stabbing the fiance of your divorced wife, and she'd reported you twice on attempted murder."
"What do you want?" The male asked with indifference, not once raising his declined face. It almost seemed he'd accepted his fate.
Alice's eyes remained in a spot, suddenly thinking something through. "You weren't infected when you were alive. It states that you died while escaping the clutches of the sheriff, run over by a truck. Your stay at the mortuary lasted a week, and the other week your body was declared missing."
My eyes slide off Alice, then to the male. As if sensing my gaze, his head raised to me with a smirk. A beat missed to cross around my ribcage.
He relaxed his back, rotating his stiff shoulders as he tried to stay comfortable on the chair. "What do you want to know?"
"What was it?"
The man didn't chuckle, but amusement flew across his face. "There are things that are better left unknown, pretty lady. Don't try to pry too deep, it won't end well."
It seemed like a message. A warning. Hell, it was a warning.
Alice didn't speak, just nodded at Justin who pressed something on the tab, causing the chains and cuffs around the middle-aged man to tighten.
He bit his bottom lips as if trying to nibble the pain. After two minutes-
"Fuck it!" He spat, and a beasty giggle rang from his throat. His eyes then slid to me, curtailed on my face. "They'll bring doom. Chaos. I'm a bad man, but I want both my daughters out of danger." If I didn't know better, I'd have said he was pleading.
"Your girls are under the protection of the States," Justin informed.
A wary smirk curled at the side of his lips again. "Soon."
He wasn't going to provide any valuable information. I'm sure Alice realized this. I wasn't serving much purpose here. But then-
"What did you recognize, Quinn?" Alice suddenly asked, causing eyes to turn my way. And my voice spoke before thinking through.
"His shady love for his daughters."
"Then bring his daughters."
AN HOUR LATER…
"Take him back to his cell," Alice said, standing up from the seat opposite the worn-out man.
Walking behind Alice as she strode out of the room, my feet steered beside her to catch up with her long legs. The children's baiting was helpful but barely.
"Kill him." She said again after walking a distance. I didn't know why the sudden change of heart. "He's too dangerous to be left alive."
Two agents nodded in understanding and walked back to the investigation room.
The more we try to get to the root of the viral infection, the more complicated the entire situation is. The case wasn't moving forward, just a dead end with dead victims.
There weren't going to be answers from these victims. But maybe I could get some from the female 'subject'.