The Breaking Wheel

Chapter 65: Kill Two Humans with One Stone

Almost before the announcement could even start the power went out again and the lights went dark. But it didn't take a genius to realize what had destroyed the generator. Lawrence groaned and shook his head in frustration.

Suddenly something slammed into him from behind and he was pinned to the ground. His wrists and legs were bound together and a gag was tied around his mouth.

Scaly coils wrapped around him and stuffed him into a cabinet, which was locked shut.

Dr. Collingwood's luck got even worse this time.

She'd heard a commotion nearby and hid in an empty room. It took all of ten seconds for Naga to find her.

Something slashed the back of her calves, forcing her to her knees.

He coiled around her, but didn't try to constrict her. Still, there was no escape.

"Well, we meet again, old friend."

She could practically hear the venom dripping from Naga's voice. And his fangs.

"'Old friend', huh?" she snapped back.

Naga's eyes drifted off into the distance, as if focusing on something else.

"I wonder what your father would think of you and your job right now..."

Her body tensed. Ever since she'd first come to work at the Foundation she'd fought herself on what her father would think. Yes, she was an adult and self-sufficient now, but before she'd met Lawrence, her father had and still meant everything to her.

He wouldn't have approved. So many times she had, morally speaking, been forced between a rock and a hard place. So many times she had to go against her conscience and turn a blind eye to horrible things.

She said nothing, but her expression said it all.

Naga cackled as he watched her reaction to his question.

"Your father, he was so terrified when he saw me and screamed prayers to his god."

Her limbs felt like they had turned to lead. She didn't even have the strength to cover her ears or speak.

"The look of sheer terror on his face, oh, was it delightful. He was, quite honestly, so f^cking pathetic."

Normally she would've exploded at that, but she only felt hollow. 

Naga continued to describe every second of her father's death in excruciating (and possibly exaggerated) detail, everything down to his screams, all the while mocking both her and her poor father, taunting her that she'd lost Lawrence's love, twisting the knife with every word. She kept her head down to hide her tears, but a sob slipped out every now and then.

Naga grinned. Finally, years later, he had what he wanted.

"St-stop..." she sobbed weakly.

"You are a failure! You are unfit to be the keeper of secrets such as your own! Look at the pain you have caused to your father, to your friends, to your love. The world would be better off without you!"

Dr. Collingwood looked back up at the serpent, at his cruel smile, at those horrid eyes that glowed with sadistic glee. As she watched Naga raised his tail and unsheathed the bone blade hidden within.

She let her head fall to her chest as the blade whistled through the air, coming ever closer. She didn't try to stop it or dodge or even make one last defiant proclamation to the foul snake. There was no point.

There was nothing left for her.