Kismet

Chapter Six - Konrad

His eyes fluttered open, his eyes blurry as he looked up at the white-tiled ceiling, occasional beeping in the background. Konrad's breathing stabilized, his eyes wandering the room.

The pain was gone. He didn't feel the piercing bullet in his abdomen. Was he healed? He felt for the wound. It wasn't there, as if it hadn't ever happened.

Where was Raymond? Was he taken back? Did they kill him?

He turned his head stiffly to his left, seeing Ophelia hooked up to a breathing machine, being monitored by a nurse who was checking her vitals.

"Ophelia," Konrad murmured out, his voice raspy from lack of use.

No answer given, he raised his voice slightly. "Ophelia. . ."

Her eyes fluttered open at the call of her name, her head slowly turning to look at Konrad. "Konrad." She whispered, a smile tugging at her lips.

The nurse stood silent at the interaction between the two. Her heart pounded, this never happened before, subjects using real names.

Her heels clacked as she walked quickly out of the room, calling for a staff member who took care of the files. "I need two files, one about E-419, and O-948." She said, her voice nearly shaking.

The door slammed, the lock clicking as it turned. Konrad looked up, seeing Ophelia suddenly there, her breathing mask off.

"Ophelia?" He said again, weakly sitting up."Shh. They'll hear you." She whispered, putting her index finger to her mouth, signaling Konrad to stay quiet, or at least lower his voice.

"Who will hear me?" He asked, lowering his voice to reassure Ophelia.

"Them." She said, clear emphasis in her word.

"Who's them?" He asked, confusion in her tone.

"Konrad, please, don't do this right now!" She hissed out, annoyance and worry washing over her face.

"Ophelia, I'm not kidding around. Who is 'them'?" Konrad said back, annoyance too, washing over his tired face.

Ophelia glanced at the locked, shut door, as if she worried somebody would overhear their conversation. Fear was in her eyes, a type of fear that only came to her every once in a while.

"The. . .the men. You know them, Konrad, please don't lie to me and say that you don't. They took me and hurt me." She admits, blinking her tears away. Konrad's expression softened, worry washing over his own face.

"The men." He whispered, repeating her words. Ophelia nodded quickly, smiling slightly that Konrad understood her worries.

"The men aren't going to hurt you, Lia. I'll make sure of it." Konrad promised, grabbing Ophelia's hand, squeezing it gently to reassure her stress. Her expression softened, nodding gently as she squeezed his hand gently back.

A bang on the door, then another one.

Ophelia jolted, her breath hitching as she subconsciously tightened her grip on Konrad's hand. "They're here— they're here, Konrad, please, make it stop." She pleaded, yet knowing Konrad couldn't do anything in his power. She hoped something could help him do something, something to save her from his hellish episode.

"Lia, I don't know how—" Konrad said, his voice quickening as the door banged open off its hinges.

Ophelia's eyes brimmed with tears, as she let go of Konrad's hand and hid behind him, her heart pounding, and so did Konrad's.

"Freeze! Get down on the ground and put your hands where I can seem them!" A security officer for the lab yelled out, pointing a loaded gun at the two teenagers.

"Please— please, stop, don't hurt me! I didn't mean to, I didn't do anything wrong, I swear!" Ophelia begged, her voice truly terrified.

Konrad froze. He didn't know what to do, what could he do? On one hand he could use his abilities to help Ophelia, and himself.

His heart pounded, a bead of sweat sliding slowly down from his brow. Konrad felt something took over his mind, fogging his mind. He couldn't stop it, he didn't know how, he didn't know what was happening.

He felt the security officer's pulse rate, his blood flowing, the way he breathed. He could feel and hear everything, it overwhelmed him so much, too much. He wanted it to stop, to make it all go away, He wanted everything to be better, to go back to the way things had been. When he was happy and without worry.

That was long gone now, he couldn't turn back now, or ever.

Everything stopped. The thoughts stopped, the pulses stopped, the breathing stopped.

A collapse of a stiff body slammed onto the ground, blood pooling over it. Konrad's eyes focused onto the lifeless body, panic rising inside him.

I just killed a man. He thought, staring at it, zoning out on it before he felt Ophelia nudge him.

"Konrad?" She mumbled, her tone of voice calmer than just a few minutes ago. Ophelia gently squeezed his hand, silently pleading for him to answer.

He leaved his daze, blinking a few times before looking to Ophelia with concern? "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" He asked, his words rushed with worry. Ophelia shook her head.

"I'm okay, you didn't hurt me. Are you okay?" She asked, turning her worry to Konrad's well being.

He hesitated on his answer. He didn't even know how to answer, he had no idea what happened, or what he did to that man. He didn't lay a finger on him, but he killed him for sure.

He felt it happen.

"I'm okay." He lied, only saying it to erase Ophelia's worry.