Infected

Chapter 17

"At least he knows how to decorate. I'll give him that." Ivy says as she studies the glowing paint on the floor, the black lights hanging everywhere, and the white lights strung up along the ceiling. "Music isn't half bad, either."

"If you're falling-"

"You finish that sentence, and I will leave you to solve this on your own." Ivy snaps with a glare, disgusted at how her brother could even suggest such a thing. "Let's play. Well, that's ominous."

"Everything's been ominous since we got here." Ethan says as he also reads the words over the door into the barn, and Ivy chuckles as she heads through it, finding a room covered in plastic wrap with a single TV and two chairs inside.

"If this doesn't scream trap and murder, I don't know what does." Ivy comments before she moves to sit in one of the chairs with Ethan taking the other. The TV turns on to show an up close and personal look of Lucas's face as he tries to set up the camera. "Whoa! Hello, Lucas. Nice teeth, truly. Yeah, you set that camera up! Woo!"

Ethan can hold in the laughter as Ivy continues to mockingly cheer Lucas on, the man not hearing her since there's only sound on Lucas's end, and Ivy knows this, which is why she keeps mockingly complimenting the deranged psychopath on the screen. She finds it utterly amusing, making her laugh hysterically as Ethan tries to get her to take the game more seriously, but that fails since he's laughing at her antics.

"Ethan, Ivy." Lucas tauntingly sings through the camera, making the laughter between the siblings slowly dial down, though a few chuckles bubble out every now and then. "Hold on, hold on, hold on. I got something for you."

Lucas turns to grab something next to his side before lifting up the head of a shriveled-up child, making Ivy's amusement turn into pure rage at the sight, and she wants nothing more than to start kicking doors down in order to kill the bastard.

"Looky, looky at what I got." Lucas says in amusement, laughing like a deranged lunatic. "You know what this is for? You know what Zoe wants to do with this?"

"Nope, but I'm sure you'll tell us." Ivy says sarcastically, focusing solely on Lucas and not on what's in his hand, especially as he laughs and waves it around like it's nothing special.

"She thinks this thing is special." Lucas snaps before shaking his head, humming as he puts the head down before bringing up a set of pliers. "No, guys, that ain't special. This, this right here, is special."

Lucas proceeds to rip off one of his nails, holding the bloody wound up to the camera for the two siblings to see, and Ivy gags as she shakes her head, Ethan grimacing at the sight.

"You see, guys, not everyone wants to turn back the clock." Lucas says, looking more and more deranged as he pulls another nail off his fingers, but then he whips around to face someone off the screen with a glare. "What?! What, Eveline?!"

Ivy's head perks up as she realizes that the girl must be speaking to him, and the two siblings share a look before turning back to the screen, watching as Lucas tosses the plier down angrily.

"I'm just trying to show them. I'm just trying to show them that not everyone wants to go back to how things were! I know Ivy's happy with her special abilities." Lucas snaps as he motions to the screen, making Ivy scoff in defense because she never once stated that she enjoyed being infected. "Zoe's a stupid bitch! She doesn't understand that I don't want to go back to the time before my father found y'all. Not everybody wants to turn back the clock."

"So," Lucas snaps as he turns back to the face the siblings, making them understand that Eveline must have walked away from him, "Ethan? Ivy? You both can, uh, crawl around under that filthy, rotting house all you want, but you're not going to find what you're looking for. Y'all wanna make that serum? Oh, baby. You're gonna have to come though me, you understand? Well, come on, guys. What do say?"