Venomous

Prologue

The rain fell hard as everything around the city began to burn down to the ground, fighting to put out the fire. People running for cover as the military soldiers came marching in one by one, throwing gas bombs in every direction toward the masses, using gas masks to protect themselves from getting knocked out or even killed with the noxious gas. Pulling my hood over my head, I followed them in the darkness of the shadows, snatching a stray gas mask left behind on the ground.

I placed my hands in my pockets as I walked out into the street quickly picking up pace as I got closer to the soldiers. Hearing the gut curdling screams become progressively louder gave me shivers, my muscles tightening with every shrill shriek. With the air becoming foggy, the heat from the fire became more unbearable by the minute.

Breathe Ophelia, not too much further, I thought to myself. The soldiers began to speed up as they approached the only building that hadn’t yet been set on fire, it was an old rustic building that almost looked like a shed. I creeped over behind a tree just near the entrance hoping that I wasn't seen. The soldiers entered one by one, the final soldier shutting the door behind him on his way in. Adjusting the gas mask better on my face, I take a deep breath and I place my hand on the heart shaped locket around my neck. "This is for you." I whispered. I stepped out from behind the tree and jogged over to the door, placing my hand on the splintering surface and looking up as I tried to catch my breath, looking for the handle to open it.

I could hear the crackle of the fire around me as it burned the city to the ground. Population control my ass. They're destroying everything and anything that could keep anyone alive for that matter I thought, scornfully. There was a small window in the center of the door, and I had to stand on my toes to look through the window. It was a small, dusty room, dark and empty with no one in it. I took a step back, and within a few moments of looking around, I found a small but still sizable rock. I looked down at it before picking it up and sending it flying through the window. The window shattering was audible, and I paused to see if anyone had heard it. Pulling the sweater sleeve up over my hand, I pushed the rest of the glass out of the window’s frame and slid my arm in to unlock the door. Finally grasping the handle, I swing it open and step forward onto the broken glass.

Squinting to get a better grasp of my surroundings in the dark, among the emptiness I spotted a metal door. It was buried in the ground, like a trap door. Carefully, I pulled the door open to see a set of stairs drifting even deeper into the ground. Hesitantly I took a step forward, making my way down the stairs, coming to the end of the staircase to walk down a dimly lit tunnel. As I walked further, I adjusted my hoodie and the mask to avoid my face being anywhere near recognizable on potential cameras. The further I got down the tunnel, the louder the voices at the end of the hall became. I slipped to the side of the door. It was barely open, whoever entering last had done a poor job of closing it behind them. Doing my best to prevent the hinges from squealing, I pushed the door open further, however slight. I could see almost everything. Almost. The soldiers stood in the middle of the room, standing at attention and waiting for their further commands.

“I want the next batch of subjects brought in for further testing, let’s see how they react to the serum” a booming voice broke the brief silence in the room. Two of the soldiers nodded as they marched to the back of the room and through another door. My heartbeat intensified and my palms had begun to sweat. After a few dreadfully long minutes, only one of the soldiers returned, gripping a little girl by her arm and dragging her to one of the tables up at the front of the room. He strapped her down, the newfound restraints rendering her unable to move. I took a step back, feeling my heart race and hearing the beat in my ears. As I was backing up something hard and round poked me in the back. Turning around, it was one of the large military men standing behind me and aiming a gun towards me. My breathing became shallow and as rushed as my heart when he grabbed my upper arm and dragged me into the room, tossing me onto the floor. I landed hard, with an audible thud, grunting in pain.

“And who might this be?” That same commanding voice spoke, footsteps becoming louder as they approached me and the soldier.

“They were lurking outside the door,” the soldier responded, adjusting his gun back into his holster. 

“Put them on the table then, they can be given the honour of being one of our new test subjects” he ordered, walking around me. Through the gas mask I caught a glimpse of his face. Older and rugged, with a long scar splitting the flesh from his forehead to his chin. Two of his men grabbed me, picking me up and strapping me to the table.

I looked over at the little girl who was staring up at the roof with tears in her eyes. The man picked up a syringe from the silver tray at her tableside, the instrument filled with some kind of black liquid in it. Placing the needle in her arm, he injected that nasty-looking fluid into her veins. The girl was still for a few minutes while he backed away from her, but that stillness didn’t last long, her tiny body beginning to convulse violently. As the spasming begins to slow down, the same black liquid slowly starts to ooze from her nose.
She was just a little kid, she couldn’t handle it. I wanted to scream at them. That vile man walks over to me, looking me up and down, eyeing me like meat in a market. He reaches out his weathered hand, tearing the gasmask off my face. I caught a look at myself in a reflection from the shiny equipment. My long, black hair falling out of my hoodie, placing itself along my shoulders and my chest, my once bright eyes now a solid black without even the slightest hint of white. My face and body are covered with slowly spreading black veins popping out of  my skin. Looking back up at him, I let out a low groan. “It appears that you are already mutating… My name is Klaus,” he began to speak to me, smiling smugly.

“I know exactly who you are. You had one of your doctors administer those lethal shots to us. You know, telling everyone that it will save them. You killed my sister with that shot!” I hissed.

That smug smile left his lips, “Only the strong will survive to create the army I want.”
“So let me guess. while the world is falling apart, you plan to take over for ‘population control?’ My guess is that you didn’t fully think it through.” I sneered, tilting my head with what little space I had on the table.. I smirked, watching a scowl grow on his face. He looked me over and reached out his hand once again, grasping my locket and ripping it from my neck, the clasp snapping pathetically with the force. I gasped in shock, leaning forward to reach for my locket, yet unable to move to grab it back. He pried it open with his dirty fingers, taking a long look at the photo of me and my sister, and with a newfound smirk he turned around with my locket in hand, taking a gun out of a soldier's hands, tossing my necklace onto the table in front of him and smashing the butt of the gun onto it.

“What are you doing?” I screamed, fury tinging my words. I felt my blood boiling the angrier I got. Klaus whipped around, swinging the gun and pointing it at me.

“Give her another shot,” he barked as he motions one of the soldiers towards me. 
The soldier approached me, pulling another syringe off one of the many trays. Pushing my sleeve up, he slowly injects the serum into my arm. My blood, once boiling with anger, began to literally boil this time. A fierce burning sensation working its way through my veins, the scorching heat became horrible to the point that an agonized scream ripped from my throat. A blood curdling sound that could have echoed down that hall and probably out that door. If someone was around, they could have heard me. They could have come for me. My eyes started to feel heavy, I could barely keep my head up. “Don’t worry, this isn’t how it ends for you. I have big plans for you, as long as you wake up. If you don’t, then you're at least with the rest of the human filth that couldn’t survive… ” His voice trailed off, my eyes weighing down and my body became limp, feeling drained, everything became dark. Feeling my soul leaving my body. At least it didn’t burn anymore.