Beyond the Horizon

42. A Dangerous Game

"Not you today," Lab Coat said as he circled around Shion's cage like a bored zoo patron.

          Shion had stood from his cot the moment Lab Coat came through the door. It was a reflex, since, being the newest addition to the S-class menagerie, he was the only subject Lab Coat had been seeing lately.

          His sessions with Lab Coat so far hadn't been more than uncomfortable or nauseating, and Shion bore them because he could sometimes finagle updates on Nezumi from the doctor if he were "well behaved." But evidently, the doctor hadn't forgotten his other subjects.

          Rin, Aki, and Hitomi had grown accustomed to being ignored since Shion's arrival, and so even though they still bristled whenever Lab Coat walked into the room, they had lost the sense of immediate panic. Fear was hardwired into the body, however, and the moment they realized that Shion was not the target today, the other occupants had no trouble remembering the terror elicited by Lab Coat's undivided attention.

          Shion's heart rabbited as the man stopped in front of Hitomi's cell.

          "Hello, my dear," Lab Coat purred. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

          Hitomi's whole body trembled. The tiny, incessant shivers rooted her to the spot as Lab Coat unlocked her cell and walked in, smiling gently, his cold, bleak eyes reflected in Hitomi's mask. He sauntered in leisurely, without his lackey or a sedative in sight, and that made it all the more repulsive—he knew Hitomi's power was useless with her face obscured; he knew she was petrified of him and would be powerless to fight him past her terror; he knew that they'd all have to watch as he took her by the elbow and steered her toward the hated exam room like a sheep.

          Shion felt sick with horror, and outrage, and his own impotence. Of all the people in this hellhole, Lab Coat had zeroed in on the one who was the least resilient to his probing. The atmosphere in the room dipped and darkened, and Shion felt his power writhing at the base of his skull. He wanted so badly to shove Lab Coat away from Hitomi, to throw him across the room and hear his skull crack on the concrete. He let the urge flow forward, but then, of course, it hit a wall of resistance. Bile pressed at the back of Shion's throat and he tamped down his power, shoving it to the back of his mind until the nausea receded.

          But the hatred that surged in to take its place was just as sickening.

          "We won't be long," Lab Coat called to the group. He had a hand clamped around Hitomi's delicate wrist, dragging her a stride behind him like a stiff automaton. "You'll have your lady back before you know it."

          Shion's eyes followed them across the grey expanse before locking onto Rikiga hovering by the exam room door. He wore the usual miserable expression and hunched posture of a man suffering, but for once, Shion didn't pity him. The cleaner was a large man, if a bit overweight; if he wanted to, he could have taken Lab Coat down. The doctor's leaner, sickly-looking constitution would be nothing for him, and Rikiga had the advantage of being in the position of trusted, subservient associate. He could help Shion and his friends if he just found the courage and sobriety to do so.

          But he had done nothing, and had done exactly that for years.

          When Rikiga noticed the hatred and censure burning on Shion's face, the man flinched and curled his shoulders tighter.

          Hitomi turned her head back just before Lab Coat tugged her through the door, and Shion knew that behind the mask her eyes were large and wet with terror. An icy spear of agony lanced through his chest, and then the door slammed closed between them.