Subject 3033...(BWAM, Sci-fi Romance, 18+)

Chapter Eighteen

My feet make haste as I dash past thorny bushes with little branches that tear and rip at the skin of my ankles and calves. Siobhan is hot on my heel. She is relentless in her pursuit as she sprints closely behind me. And though the thorny greenery pierces at her flesh as well, all her focus remains  channelled upon her most prized chattel; me. And her intention remains clear as crystal -to drag me back to the labs and torture me to the point beyond insanity.

All too suddenly drops a net, dense and heavy, one that captures and lifts me off the surface of earthen floors that crawl with bugs and worms. And I dangle, breathless, heart pounding mightily, chest heaving heavily. I -so terribly- want to scream, to shriek, to call out for help. But no. Seems as though my lips have been sown tightly shut. Siobhan marches up to me, evil glint in her demonic eyes of a sapphire hue.

"I finally caught you, Subject 3033. You truly thought you could run? Hide from me, your creator? Oh, it's been so long, too long. You've broken the one rule I'd put in place back when you were one hundred and fifty three days old. Do not attempt escape. Therefore, you shall face a sanction for your iniquity. Your darling mother, she will pay for your sins...."

My eyes snap open and instantaneously, I take in one long whiff of the much needed air to quench the thirst in my lungs. I draw my knees to my chest, arms snaking about them, face resting into my knees caps. And I battle, I fight to subdue the tears that burn at my eyes so horridly. Goodness, I shall never truly know peace until I know the demise of those who made me. The lump chokes my throat and the bile scorches my oesophagus.

Noe stirs in his sleep and his eyes flutter open. His vision rakes the room till it finds me and the man is hasty to draw me to him in the warmth of embrace. I keep mute, I keep still, I work to steady my breathing.

"Another nightmare?" His voice vibrates inside his chest where my head presses into.
"Yeah. I honestly can't keep up, Noe. I just...oh, look at me being so self-centered. You just arrived yester night. You must be so tired. Yet here I am having woken you with one of my episodes. I'm sorry, Noe," I speak lowly, speak softly.

"You have no reason to apologize, Tallulah. We already talked about this, didn't we? Do you want to talk about it...the nightmare? Get it off your chest?"
I draw back, simply stare upon man, just stare in silent appreciation of both his presence and his concern.
"Are you sure you want to hear it? Noe, sleep," I coo, my palms reaching out to cup his face tenderly.

Oh, but his face is unusually hot, his temperatures abnormally high.
"Noe, are you okay? It feels as if you have a fever."
"Hey, this is not about me, Tallulah."
"Noe, we can talk about this later. You're burning up. Let me help you first."
I make attempts to climb off softness of bed and sheets but the man's hold around my waist grows a tad bit firmer.
"Noe, it won't take long, I won't be long, yes?"

And after much contemplation on his part, his hold ultimately falters and loosens allowing me the opportunity to climb off the bed. In a matter of short minutes, I am in and out of the bathroom, two hand towels and a small basin of cool waters clutched in my palms. I proceed for the bed, sit myself by the edge, and Noe lays his head atop my thighs. I wet the clothe, dub it repetitively upon man's forehead, upon the hollow of his neck and upon his chest.

"Tallulah," he begins after a minute of comforting quietness,"tell me what happened to you in those labs...if you're comfortable enough to speak about it."
The muscles of my backside tense up and a rivulet of the perspiration rolls down the length of my spine. Do I trust man enough to speak of those ugly little memories numbed and buried in the deepest pits of my memory? Perhaps, I do.

I sigh as I continuously press cotton fabric upon man's skin. Then, I begin.
"Where do I honestly begin? Let's see. In those labs, freedom was the one thing they'd relentlessly denied me. They'd strap me to large operating tables like a lab rat, slice off sections of my body, fit in little electronic gadgets for purposes of observation."

I squeeze excess waters from clothe, resume from I left off -dubbing fabric upon the crook of man's neck tenderly.
"Then as the days went on, they'd reopen the stitches, retrieve the devices then sew me shut. On the very last days of my stay there, I'd made an attempt to escape. A futile attempt anyway.

I killed people, Noe. Then they sedated me just as I was about to exit the front doors, woke me up through electrocution, whipped with this steel-hooked whip they really liked to use on those who transgressed. Hence the scars on my back when we first met. Then, they killed my mother and blamed it on me, told me it was a sanction for my transgressions.

I dip little towel into the waters, wring, dub, continue, "Then came the nurse that saved me. I'm grateful that she did. My room was made of titanium metal. So she gave me the code to unlock my doors, gave me a pin to uncuff my wrist, killed a couple of armed guards to allow a chance at escaping.

You know, sometimes I tend to believe they tested both the virus and the antivirus on me on one of those many nights they heavily sedated me. I mean, I see little glimpses of those nights here and there, I remember them talking is hushed tones about some sort of virus they were creating. According to them, I was the perfect human with the perfect immune system to withstand just about anything.

Oh, they also created me sterile because the only purpose I served was to become a weapon of war. I can't bare children, Noe. Anyway, how are you feeling now?" I work to switch topics.
I place damp towel inside the basin rested upon bedside table and grab the other to dry off my palms.
"Better, cooler. I'll be okay, you need not worry, Tallulah."

He smiles softly upon me, eyes trained on my own.
"I know you are exhausted. Sleep. If you begin to experience any waves of discomfort, wake me okay?"
Silentness envelopes the chamber as man looks upon me intently.
"You have this innocence about you you know? This unique purity that makes me want to protect you from everything and everyone."

I brush the wet hairs from his forehead, press soft kisses upon his mouth and upon his forehead. Something peculiar clings to my heart and I nearly weep.
"I killed, Noe. I hold no purity, no innocence."
He lifts off of me entirely, turns to gaze upon me. His vision searches my face for a thing I do not know.

He looks to me, just looks, then cracks a subtle smile as though to comfort my aching.
"You did what you had to out of necessity and not because you wanted to kill those people. You wanted freedom after having being kept prisoner all your life. What were they expecting? No more self-blame or self-hate. No more of that, Tallulah, okay?"

Though he speaks softly to me, soothingly, though his palm is tenderly upon my cheek, there's still a sprinkle of anger to his tone. And the man gazes upon me once more before he leans in to me -his lips now to my cheeks and to my forehead and to my my mouth repetitively in chaste little kisses...

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