Project Twelve

Chapter Four

   The old building was flooded with people. Russel stood up on the small podium, Basil at his side. "Thank you everyone for coming. The ceremony will begin very shortly, so please be patient." Russel spoke into the microphone. The alter was decorated with roses, and the bright stained glass reflected from the sun shining through it. Two masked women marched up to the alter, carrying Eksusha by the arms. He struggled and fought against them, but to no avail. The women placed him onto the alter, tying down his arms to prevent him from escaping. "You bastards.. Where's my mom?!" He yelled out.

"This, everyone.. Is our new god." Basil announced to the crowd. Russel took the microphone from her. "What the hell are you saying, woman. Your son is no god." "You agreed to this, Russel. My son is our new god? Your creation was a.. Failure, you could say. He's too soft and young, far too small. Only one out of all your experiments on him were a success." Basil said. "Give it time! You're so damn impatient, all you do is push me and ask for more. You're ruining my company, so get out." Russel told her. "Get out? Fine. We'll see how well you do without me.

Eksusha stared at the bright stained glass window, his naked body covered in cuts and carvings. The latin phrases mainly contained religious references and bible verses, but other symbols included eyes and demonic sigils. The crowd of people had finally left him alone. He wondered where they all had went. Surely they wouldn't have left the lab, but where did they go? "Eksusha my dear, we're leaving." Basil said as she offered him a robe. Eksusha dressed himself in the white robe, and stepped off the alter. His legs were shaking and his entire body stung from the cuts. "Now. Come on." Basil took his hand and lead him away.

   Russel slammed his fist down on his desk, sending the papers with his designs for future experiments fluttering off onto the floor. Salem flinched, hopping off the desk to pick up the papers. "Good.. You've been very well behaved these past few days. But that's not good enough. I just lost my business partner, twelve. She left me." Russel told him. He lifted the child onto the desk, stripping him of his clothes and fitting him with a lab gown. It was too short and a faded light blue. It made him uncomfortable. "What are we doing today?" Salem asked, crossing his legs and letting them dangle over the side of the desk. "Today I show you off. You're going out to meet the public." Russel said, grabbing his son under his arms and lifting him up. He positioned him against his hip, taking him to the bright glass room.

   Russel sat the child on the alter, watching as the public approached him. He watched closely for his reaction with a frown. "Well aren't you a fine specimen. You look just like your mother. Where is she, anyways? It's been years since i've seen her." A man said from the crowd. He got closer, letting Salem see his full appearance. He was very tall, at least over six feet. His hair was black and white and he had red eyes to match his sister's. "My mother..?" Salem croaked out in a small voice. "Yes, Alice? You're her son, are you not? I'm Rolland, her brother." The man said. Russel pushed through the crowd, taking Rolland by the sleeve of his shirt. "You're.. Alice's brother." "That I am. So, where's my sister?" Rolland asked him. "Come with me, I will show you." He said, entwining his fingers with Rolland's. He looked down and reluctantly held the smaller man's hand, being led out of the room and into the dark hallway.

   Russel unlocked the door and slipped the skeleton key back into his front pocket. "Alice?" Rolland called out for his sister, entering the room. "No, Alice is long gone. Russel said, scratching the thick line of scar tissue across his nose. "You're a fucking monster. You forced her to do this.. And now you won't even accept her child? I mean, just who do you think you are? You need to learn basic respect. He laughed, cornering the smaller man against the wall. Rolland spoke confidently, placing his hands against Russel's prominent rib cage. Russel turned his body in protest, exhaling sharply from the pressure. With a quick squeeze and a horrible cracking noise, he was thrown to the floor.
  
Russel awoke to a man with bright red eyes and razor sharp teeth hovering in close to his face. He had dirty teal-ish hair and was far larger than Russel was. He couldn't help but scream. "Shh, relax.. I'm helping you, he did some damage to your chest. If you scream, you're going to damage your lungs further, do you understand? I was looking for a bathroom and I found you lying on the floor. Sorry for snooping, but I found all this medical supplies and saved your life. Im quite impressed with what you're running here, actually." The man seemed to ramble on for hours. Russel was barely conscious but he heard every word. He must have been given something for the pain. He felt drowsy, and the pain seemed to be more numb than hurt. "Who are you?" Russel asked in a tired voice. "My name is Atticus, sorry, I was distracted. I should've told you earlier. And just so you know, I snooped around more while you were out. Your technology, it's amazing. What are you calling it?" Atticus asked, leaning his body over the bed. "You're very.. Close.." Russel reached a hand out to press it against Atticus's forehead. "I'm calling the technology "Hy_tech" so far." Atticus looked up at Russel's hand, counting the number of marks and cuts along his fingers. "Interesting.. You're awfully beat up, you okay?" Atticus asked him, carefully grasping his wrist and moving his hand down to the bedrail. "What?" Russel asked, raising his hand up to inspect the line of fluids traveling into his bloodstream. "Oh, it's just for the pain. You're going to be in bed for a long time, you know that right?" Atticus asked him, twirling the iv tube around his pointer finger to expel the air bubbles. "Look, I appreciate everything and all, but I don't know you. I have a business to run, you don't understand." Russel said. "Oh, about that! I understand what you're doing completely. Let me take over for you." Atticus told him in response. "I'm so exhausted, I don't have a choice, do I? Someone has to keep the company in line.. I accept your offer, just don't touch my son." Russel said. "I have an idea that I think you'd like." Atticus said, smiling widely.

   Atticus placed his hand on the dusty old wooden desk. There were countless marks and deep scratches on it. He took a handful of papers from a stack on the desk, holding them close to his face. "Eternal life.. Hm.. Should've brought my glasses." He dropped the papers and let them scatter, taking a blank piece from the other side of the desk. He sat in the chair, grabbing a pen from the pen holder. He began to scribble down a circular outline. He continued to work for hours before falling asleep at the desk.

   "Excuse me." The voice woke Atticus up. He turned to see the child standing in his usual lab uniform. "Oh, hello.. You're his son, right?" Salem stood in the doorway, just staring at him. "Great. Come here, let me see you." Atticus said. Salem stepped toward him, continuing to stare. "Who are you. This isn't your desk." He said. "My name is Atticus, i'm filling in for your dad while he recovers." "Recovers?" Salem asked, using all of his strength to lift himself onto the desk. "Ope, just- Okay." Atticus reached over and adjusted the gown Salem wore. He tugged at the sleeve, reading what was imprinted on it. "Twelve? What does it mean? Is it your age?" Atticus asked. "No. It's my number. I don't know how old I am." Salem replied. "Your number? Wait, when you got on the desk your gown lifted. I saw your back a bit, what is it? And can I see more?" Atticus asked. Salem lifted his uniform and said nothing. "It's on your stomach too? It looks infected.. Your back. Let me see that." He carefully grabbed Salem by the arms and spun him around to face the wall. "God, you're tiny. What do they feed you?" Atticus continued to talk while gathering various tools from the drawers. Salem shrugged, placing his hands on the wall in front of him. "You really don't talk much. Ah! There it is. Your files." Atticus set the tools aside and gathered the papers from their manila envelope. "I don't think you should have that." Salem told him. "It's fine." Atticus said, spreading the papers out along the desk. "It says here you should be eleven. You're far too small to look the part though, i'd say you're like six." "That's an exaggeration." Salem said, moving his hands to pinch his sides. "Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself." Atticus told him, moving his hands back to the wall. "Keep them there please." Salem gave a small nod, adjusting the placement his hands ever so slightly. "Good, that's fine right there." Atticus said, picking up the tool he cast aside earlier. He lifted Salem's uniform and pushed the long end of the tool into the largest peg in his back. The peg lifted, allowing him access to the bright liquid inside. "What the hell are you.." Atticus murmured. "I'm an experiment. A failed, experiment. You can do whatever you'd like with me." Salem responded. "You know? Like, you're aware of what they're doing?" Atticus responded, filling up vials with the bright fluid from his back. "You're taking too much.." Salem murmured, slouching away from the wall. "Hey, stay with me. Shit, I killed him." Atticus said, taking Salem into his arms.
  
   "Russel, I think I killed your son." Atticus whispered to him. "Ah.. What..?" Russel croaked, squinting up at him." "I took the fluid from his back and he just, went out." Atticus told him. "He needs that to live, put it back." Russel said. "Can I keep just a little bit? Its really fascinating." Atticus asked. "Only a bit.." Russel said, his voice still hoarse. "Alright, i'm going to go fix this. You get some more rest, and hopefully you'll be able to get up tomorrow." Atticus said before leaving.

   "Experiment twelve, are you awake?" Atticus prodded the child with his pointer finger. He groaned, rubbing the spot on his forehead that Atticus touched. "You're awake, thank god." Atticus said. "God is false." Salem replied, sitting up on the desk. "Oh, alright then." Atticus said, awkwardly clearing his throat.

Russel entered the room, using the side of the door to support his weak frame. "Get away from my son, stranger." "Stranger? I saved your life." Atticus responded, getting up from the chair. "I didn't ask you to, I would have been fine on my own." Russel said. "You think? For the man that designed all this, you're not very smart." Atticus replied. Russel scoffed, crossing his arms in annoyance. "You're not the head of this company. But I can offer you a job. You're smart enough to understand what my goal is, no? You can work, and that you will do." Russel told him. "A job? Really? I accept your offer, but i'm getting payed a good sum of money for all this." Atticus replied.