From the Ashes

24

Ryan runs a comb through his auburn hair and diligently sets it down on the counter next to the bathroom sink. He carefully runs his hands over his neat hair, a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips as he does so. I love it when you style your hair like that, a woman smiled at him through the mirror, where she sat on their bed in the next room. His smile drops at the arrival of an old memory. He clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth and turns around to face the closed door of the bathroom, setting his hand on the doorknob, hesitating for a split second.

But then, like waking up from a haze, he rolls his eyes and his smirk appears back in full fashion on his lips and he pushes open the door with a new brash sense of confidence.

"Let's get this bread. How's everyone going today?" Now gone from his home, far away from the bathroom where his past lingers, Ryan struts into the large laboratory with a bright smile spread across his mouth. He beams of fake happiness that gives him an air of satire. Whether he is genuinely in a good mood or not, no one has ever been able to figure out in the many mornings he and the doctors and scientists have spent together. About a dozen of said doctors and scientists, dressed scrubs and white coats, give him a polite wave and a curt hello.

One of the doctors, a bald man in his late forties, jumps up from his seat at a desk, clipboard in hand and walks towards the young man who has finally appeared. "Mr. West, are you ready?" His tone is firm and to-the-point.

Ryan nods, "Yes. I'm following you, Dr. Henry." But he does not follow the older man. Instead, the auburn-haired gentleman steps to the side and begins to walk away, in the direction of wherever he is meant to be.

Dr. Henry looks toward the ground, a passive emotion flittering across his soft green eyes, hardening his gaze for a moment. He sighs and turns, heading for a hallway that the other man is now headed down. His pace quickens as he catches up to him, now at his side.

They only walk for about a minute before Dr. Henry stops and opens a door, allowing Ryan to step into a space that resembles a normal examination room found in a doctor's office. He jumps onto the chair in the chair in the middle of the white-tiled room while the doctor pulls up a stool adjacent to him, flipping to the next page on the clipboard. He scribbles something on the sheet and looks back up. The auburn-haired man now watches him patiently with his own green eyes that are much darker than the doctor's.

The doctor glances away quickly, only able to look so long at the cold and empty gaze held by his patient. "Alright, let's get started. So, the wolf properties, any change?" He asks, his voice giving no indication that he is made uncomfortable by the question receiver's presence.

The young man in the reclined chair leans back and stares at one of the tiles above him. "Nope, doc. When are we gonna get a new formula? This should have been the easiest to secure. Two out of five senses isn't a great ratio. Plus, the strength and speed stuff needs to kick in soon or else it will be...." He pauses. "All for not?" He flourishes his wrists and makes gestures with his hands as he speaks casually.

Dr. Henry nods and writes on his paper, filling out empty spaces between rows and lines of black ink. "We're working on that. It should be done by the end of tomorrow. It's just binding right now."

Ryan grunts in response but doesn't say anything more.

"Lynx?" The doctor asks next.

"Ugh, it's fantastic but still the side effects are getting worse each day." Ryan sighs and closes his eyes for a second before looking back over at the doctor who waits patiently for him to continue. "Being able to manipulate that kid has been extremely helpful, but really, I need you to fix the other things have come along." He still avoids giving the doctor a straight answer.