Gray sat on the window seat of the library, her knees tucked tightly intoher chest. Her arms wrapped around her bare legs loosely, as she stared out of the window, admiring the world before her.
"Gray, what can you tell us about Boggs?" Harriet asked from the seat opposite. Dylan, who was no longer wearing office wear but some scruffy jeans and an old shirt, sat with a notebook, taking notes.
"Insatiable." She whispered, pressing her forehead to the glass. "He'll stop atnothing.
"Can you tell me about what he wanted for?" Harriet asked calmy. Gray paused for a more moment, squeezing her eyes shut as she twisted her head away from the two people staring at her.
"Research," she said. "He was fascinated, more like obsessed, with the human body, the brain. He wanted to be immortal. So when a stupid girl is dropped on his doorstep, why not use the opportunity to break down her body and see what's inside?"
The two people observing her looked at her intently. Harriet, who had a small notebook in her hand, had long stopped taking notes on what Gray was saying. Instead, she clicked her pen and set it down ontop of the notebook, and listened to the girl in front of her.
"Eliza, the...thing, that was with him, showed him that there was more to this world that meets the eye. Supernatural things," she whispered. "He wanted that, and so he opened me up, looked around, and then stitched me back up. But he wasn't done there." Gray moved closer to the window, and clenched her knuckles tightly. "Drowning. Electrical impulses through the veins. Stuff like that. Wanted to see how far the human body could be pushed."
"And then what happened?" Harriet asked. Gray looked at her, and then at Dylan. Her eyes filled with tears, and slowly covered her mouth with the sleeve of her jumper.
"That doesn't matter. We got her out and then at the current moment he's on his own." Dylan interrupted, sitting up from his slumped position. Gray shook her head, removing her hand from her face before sitting up.
"Locked me up," she croaked. "In the white room."
---
Boggs awoke, feeling like he had missed an eternity. When he woke, he was in bed, surrounded by warm blankets and pillows. How did he get here?
"I managed to drag you," Eliza said, followed by the sound of flowing water. "You managed to get all the debris off of you by the time you turned back."
"Turned back?" Boggs asked with a hoarse throat. "What do you mean?" He managed to sit up, and stared around the room. It was almost if he was in heaven; the curtains were made from a white satin, and the carpet was a peachy cream colour. The bed he was laid in was made from a dark mahogany, and the sheets were a sea green silk. At the foot of the bed, was Eliza, pouring water into a bowl on top of a counter.
Eliza sighed, and dropped the towel she was holding into the water. She glanced over at Boggs, before looking back at the dish. "A monster. A rage monster." She picked up the towel once more and walked over to Boggs, forcing him to gently lie down while she dabbed the wet cloth against his head.
"You've had a temperature ever since you turned back," Eliza muttered. Boggs winced when she removed the cold cloth from his face, only realising how warm he actually was. "I could barely lift you when you came out of it."
"So what am I, Eliza?" Boggs asked, slightly annoyed. Eliza sat on the edge of the bed and turned to him.
"A monster. You told me that the substance in the girls bloodstream wasn't poison, but you were wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"She is naturally born with CPH4 in her bloodstream, which starts around week 6 in pregnancy. Because, being the dimwit you more or less are, you saw how it made up her immune system and how incredibly powerful she was with it, you wanted it. So, you extracted some of the blood from her, thinking it was adrenaline. But you didn't test it properly, and it reacted differently to your blood." Eliza paused."It is poison, Boggs. To you it is."
"So your saying, this CPH4, I'm immune to it?" Boggs asked. The red-headed girl rolled her eyes and walked over to the window.
"Not immune. She is, your not. You'll die if you have any more. The dosage you had was enough to nearly kill you." Eliza explained. She picked up a pile of clothes and threw them at Boggs. As she began to leave the room, she paused at the doorframe. "Anyway, none of that matters now. We have a bigger problem. Meet me downstairs when your changed."
---
Boggs sat in a tall, leather chair that over looked a small glass table. On the table before him were photos of people from around the world, with several different people on them. Different ages, genders, nationalities. But the one thing they had in common was the huge vein that stuck out of their chest and tunnelled all the way to their heads. How tiny little veins covered their bodies. Their pale complexions riddled with squirms of redness. What was this?
"It'scalled Greyhound Disease, or 'Schizo-Syndrome' as the worlds calling it." Eliza spoke, appearing from behind Boggs. She floated round tothe opposite side of the table, and looked down at the photos."Caused by a gas-like substance of CPH4, which is mixed with chlorine and Sulfur. A concoction which, you created.
"It destroys the Frontal and Parietal lobe of the brain, and enhances the Limbic, meaning that all logical thinking and any resources are lost. The host, in this case, mankind, is only left with emotions and unhappy feelings, and doesn't have the facts to back up any thoughts. This happens over a period of 24 hours. It doesn't attack the brain straight away. In the early stages, such as hours 1 to 3, the host feels lost, sad, depressed. No matter what they try they can't seem to be happy. Then for the next hours they began to slowly lose it, thoughts of madness ruining them. At the end of that time, the host is left disorientated, confused, and even more lost than before. This causes symptons like Schizophrenia, but by the time they have to come to that state, the CPH4 has taken physical control of the body. The heart will not only slow down to around 15 beats per minute, but will increase in size, which explains why the vein on their bodies protrudes so much. The disease is airborne, which explains it's rapid spread across the globe." Eliza explained. "According to the news, it's just hit Russia."
Boggs was lost. All this had happened in the space of what, a week? He stared at the photos intently, staring at each person as he saw his creation spread before him.
"I did this?" He breathed, utterly shocked at the images before him.
"Yes." Eliza explained. "After your experiment went wrong, elements that you extracted from Gray's blood mixed with gas-like CPH4, causing the disease to manifest and then spread, like the common cold." Eliza, gently dropped to the floor from her floating position, and walked around the small room gracefully. "Some people are actually immune. I did a bit of studying and it turns out that magnesium can deflect the CPH4 levels, but most people can't."
Boggs couldn't think, or move. All he did was stare at the photos in shock,in horror. What had he created? Not only had he turned into a complete psycho monster, but he had created a virus that turned mankind into mad freaks.
"We also have another problem." Eliza said, pulling out a file from underneath the table. Boggs grabbed it cautiously, flipping the page over to reveal ECLIPSE written in large letters at the top. After scanning through the quick briefing, Boggs practically ripped the page over, which revealed a picture of the person he hated most.
Gray.
"She's back." Eliza said. Boggs read the article over and over. He couldn't believe it. In the space of 5 minutes, he had not only found out about a world-wide disease which he had created, but his enemy, the person who made all this happen, was back?
"How?!" Boggs shouted, bashing his fist against the table. Eliza stared athis fist, and then at his angered face.
"No idea. By the time you'd finished with her she was so far gone there was no hope for her. Guess they thought otherwise. She's been with ECLIPSE ever since the accident." Eliza explained, tapping her long fingernails against the surface of thetable. "She's been healing quite rapidly.
Boggs, who was now more shocked than ever, looked once more at Gray's photo. Long, flowing locks. Pale skin and grey eyes. She'd put on a lot of weight since the last time he saw her, and for a moment, he was relieved that she was getting better. But then the relief inside of him twisted into anger and hatred, and he crushed the sheet of paper between his hands. She's turned him into a monster
"It's obvious she's a threat. ECLIPSE have a team forming, some people with super powers or something. Extremes they're calling them. They're out to stop the virus spreading, and stopping anyone who is past the point of help." Eliza explained, coming up behind Boggs and leaning over his shoulder, whispering in his ear. "In my opinion, every superhero needs a villian. Why don't we give them one?"
Boggs hesitated. Starting a fight with ECLIPSE? Last time that had happened, he'd got attacked by the company and nearly died. It was a hopeless cause. But Eliza was right; Gray was a threat to him, because if she was alive, and is getting better, than her next move will be to take him down.
"We'd need a team," Boggs explained. "I don't have one."
"People will be willing to help." Eliza whispered once more. "ECLIPSE have a list of people they considered for the job, but realised their true potential and turned down their offer. People on the street, they don't want to be part of this madness, I bet they'd want in. Not only that, but if you are persuasive enough, I'm pretty sure the whole world would be willing to join your side. I mean, they have no logical thinking, so they don't know what's right or wrong."
Boggs hesitated. Nothing good came from war and fighting, he knew that. But what Boggs wanted more than anything was power, and to live forever. If he couldn't be immortal, why couldn't he have power instead?
"Fine." Boggs lips turned into a smirk. "Let the games begin."
---
PHOTO: Eliza
