Arachna

Chapter 16: What in the Hell Happened to You?

Malcolm Landreau stumbled and fell at the sound of Eric's voice, a beaker crashing to the floor next to him.

Kaela's jaw hung as she stared at him. The way his body moved, it almost appeared... rotten. She would have gasped if her ribs weren't aching. Is this real? How hard did I hit my head?

"Can you imbeciles not see that I'm working?" Odd noises came from Malcolm's mouth as he crawled over the remnants of broken glass and swept them away. His mouth hung open, teeth rotted, eyes dark purple and empty of life. But as he looked at Eric, a smile crossed his face. "You."

Kaela expected Eric to smile back, but even he seemed to find the sight too much.

"Malcolm Landreau," he said, calmly looking him up and down. "What in the hell happened to you?"

The man laughed. "I think you know, my dear boy." He laughed again, a giggle almost. "I truly must thank you for what you did to me. Gruesome as it was, you proved my experiment a success. Oh, how I had been dying to see if it worked..." He paused in disposing of the broken glass then looked at Eric. "And I suppose I did."

"You were supposed to be buried," Eric said. His teeth clenched, and his eyes danced with fire.

"Oh, I was," Malcolm said. "I dug my way out. At this very church, in fact. I admit, it was clever of you to have my body brought all the way out here. After I survived, I had my brother Caleb send lab equipment so I could continue my research."

Something flashed in Eric's eyes, and his face fell for a flicker of a second. "So that's how he knew..."

"What experiments?" Derek asked.

Malcolm smiled with those rotten teeth then gestured at himself. "This experiment. The drug that can make a human into a superhuman." A tooth fell from his mouth. He frowned at it for a moment and added, "With some side effects, of course."

Silence hung in the air for longer than it should have, and after a few moments, Malcolm seemed to have lost interest and went back to working on something at his table.

Kaela narrowed her eyes. Why was he so willing to answer their questions?

"I don't understand," Derek said. "How does this drug work? Do you know about what happened to the police chief?"

"So many questions," Malcolm muttered rapidly, sounding like he was talking to himself. "The one in this city? Hmm, this city... 'Full of suckers,' my brother once said. Which one, I wonder? Perhaps both."

"Malcolm," Kaela said. "The question?"

"Ah, yes. Chief of police was unwilling at first. Claimed she knew her men better than anyone. Claimed they needed no drugs to make them better. But my brother convinced her." He giggled again. "Convinced, I say. That is the word my brother used. She found that herself and her men were much better off with the new medicine. Very few side effects. I was not so lucky." He was silent for a moment, staring at the ground as if in shock. He composed himself and continued, "Though I suppose that was because mine was a different strain. Regardless, this drug was a genius idea. My genius idea. My brothers helped. Caleb knew how to sell, how to convince. Daniel is much stronger, much tougher. Head of security, so he needed—"

"What does the drug do?" Eric asked with a frown twisted in an unnatural fashion, nearly resembling a toddler with his toys ripped away.

Perhaps it was the stench permeating the room.

"The drug," Malcolm repeated, "triggers bursts of adrenaline in controlled waves. Stronger, faster, quicker thinking. However, some have opposite effect. Mental fortitude plays large factor. Different strains may have different effects. Also aids immune system. Resistance to dozens of diseases and sicknesses. Miracle drug."