Contemplative Sensitivity

Dance with the Devil

"Erwin," Shadis exclaimed suddenly. "Check these boxes for me. Read me the questions and I'll answer them."

Erwin, who had been nodding off to sleep, quickly grabbed the clip board from his desk. He dared to look at his watch; it was almost 10:30pm. He grimaced and began reading the questions off of the paper.

It had been four months since that fateful party and the start of Cecily and Nile's relationship. Although they began holding hands and meeting up at each other's lockers, the two still call got into petty disagreements. But there were times that they would kiss each other's cheeks and stare into each other's eyes. Isabel affectionately referred to them as the 'Doe-Eyed' couple. 

However, every time Erwin saw them together, he started to feel strange. Seeing them so in love, left him feeling incomplete and unfulfilled. Seeing them ignited a strange curiosity. He wondered what his parent's relationship had been like. Was his mother and father as lovey dovey as his friends? He had never considered this before and learning that Cecily kept the memory of her mother alive, made Erwin feel less sure of himself. He hadn't even given a second thought about his origins or the intimacy that relationships bring.

"Erwin Smith? Are you there? You look like your thinking off somewhere in the distance!" Shadis barked. 

"Oh! I'm listening. Uh, what was the last thing you said again?" 

"Subject one," Shadis tapped the glass. Before them, stood three large sunflowers under a thick glass dome. One sunflower was still alive, the one in the middle was dead and the last one...there was something strange about it. "Subject one is alive and well. We've been feeding it carbon dioxide gas, water and we vacuum out the oxygen it expels."

"Subject one's levels are stable?" Erwin asked sleepily.

"Yes," Shadis said quietly. He was staring intensely at the plant. "It is stable." 

Shadis reached in his pocket for his tape recorder. "It's making its own food, using the process of photosynthesis. It is healthy, strong and it pretty enough to give a beautiful woman. Subject two, however, is dead. We have gassed it with carbon dioxide, but instead of water--we've been feeding it the blood of a bloated pig. It, like subject one, was exposed to sunlight for four hours a day...but it wasn't enough to keep it alive."

Erwin checked the "no" box and lazily waited for instruction. When two minutes passed, he looked up and saw Shadis with his hand pressed against the strange sunflower's container. He was staring at it intently. 

"Professor Shadis, what do you make of Subject Three?" Erwin yawned. "Please describe what you are seeing."

Shadis snapped his face in Erwin's direction, causing Erwin to startle. 

"No can do, Erwin Smith." Shadis said quietly. "You look like your about to fall out of your chair. Get out and go on home. Our work here is finished. As a matter of fact, I don't think I'll need you in the laboratory any longer. Your new task is to arrange my files and type up my tape recordings. All of them."

Erwin felt himself turn white. That man could talk a tape recorder until its batteries failed. And there were over a hundred files in the other office and seventy-five tape recordings (each over an hour and thirty minutes long). He'd be in this office until the wee hours of the day. Erwin suppressed his groan and walked out of the lab. 

As he was gathering his backpack and his own school papers, Erwin couldn't help but wonder what had caused Shadis to come to his decision.

"Professor Shadis," Erwin started tentatively. "I'm curious. Subject Three is odd. What is your analysis of it?"

Keith Shadis gave Erwin a distant smile. "The most dangerous game in the world can't be won, they said. But we're winning it...Go home. I'm sure your mother is waiting for you."

And she was indeed waiting--as Erwin pulled into the driveway, his mother's light turned off. He almost felt bad about accepting the internship--Martha always waited on him until he came home. 

He stealthily made his way up the steps to his mother's room. The door creaked softly but he was able to get in. Erwin saw Martha, covered in a huge blanket. Her breathing was steady; she had fallen asleep in an instant. Erwin kissed his mother's forehead and walked into his room. He was surprised to find that Levi was awake, reading an assigned book. When Levi saw him, he offered him a sly smile.

"Wuthering Heights isn't so bad after all," Levi smirked.

"You don't read unless you are worried about something," Erwin couldn't help but grin. "Are you worried about me?"

Levi quietly closed the massive book. "I am. No bullshit. You've been coming home later and later. If you think Martha is the only one that watches the clock, you're wrong. I wait on you too."

Erwin started taking off his socks. "I always thought you were sleeping when I came home. You're a very convincing actor."

Levi was quiet for a minute. He turned and stared in Erwin's direction. Erwin could feel the steely grey eyes on him; it made him shudder. He decided to ease Levi's worry.

"The work is demanding," Erwin said. "But it'll be worth it. I'm aiding Professor Shadis and Jaeger in a monumental project. I'm also learning a lot of things and I have an idea what I want to do when I'm older--I think a biology teacher. After my internship is over, though, neither of you will have to lose sleep because of me. It's only six more months."

Levi offered Erwin a small smile. Erwin hopped into his bed and started to stare up at the blank ceiling. 

"This project may be bigger than us all," Erwin said tiredly. 

"I just don't want anything to happen to you," Levi said quietly. "I don't want anything to happen to us." 

But Erwin had drifted to sleep, not having heard Levi one bit.