Death's Exception

Chapter Fifty

My lungs shrink, trying desperately to find air as I stagger out the door and to Dr. Finley's office. I hold the gun behind my back as I walk, slowly, but intentionally. I weave through only three scientists. The halls are no longer bustling with people with overwhelming enthusiasm as seeing me. Now, the few that there are, avert their eyes. The disgusting monster is too terrible for them to rest their eyes on. In addition to my pale, rough skin, the scar writhing through my face, and the jagged body I have, my eyes are now sinking into my face, they are hallow, and puffy from crying. Anger is everything but beautiful. No, I am not angry. I am mad. I am have been driven mad. I breathe shallowly, tripping over my own feet every few steps. Finally, I reach the doorway, and I lean my whole body weight against it before trying to open the door. I slam my head against the doorframe, and I bite my lip, trying to come to grips with what I am about to do. I allow myself to get madder. No, I allow myself to get maddest. I remember all of the things that this man has done to me. This demon. I try my best to steady my breathing, and I stand straight. Letting the madness reflect in my eyes. Finally coming to accept the monster I am. A deep breath.

The door swings open. There he sits, his head buried in a book, undoubtedly one of his own, in a large leather chair, that makes him look like he thinks himself the most important business man in the world. His spectacles, which I have never seen before, are moved to the tip of his crooked nose. He looks up at me, and I hold out the gun, inching towards him. His eyes flash with fear. I lock my elbow, and hold my arm in place. He puts the book down, and stands, his hands above his head.

"Don't move." My voice is coarse, and shaky. I swallow. Just breathe. I close my eyes for two seconds, focusing on my breathing.

"Aurora, darling, you don't want to do this." I press my lips together, and flick my eyebrows up.

"Hm, yeah. I think I do. I really think I do." His ancient face looks at the ground. He sneers.

"I saw this coming. I wondered how long it would take you to snap." I keep my arms steady, and harden my face towards him, not sure how long I should wait before shooting him. Not knowing what to do.

"I didn't snap. I accepted." He laughs, which makes me frustrated.

"Same thing, huh?"

"Do you want a bullet in your head?!" I bark at him. He flinches. "Tell me. Why?" For the first time, I see fear written all over his face. His eyes widen, and look at the ground. He swallows. "Go on!"

"I- I," He stutters, "Just because I am evil. An old evil man, Aurora." I shake my head fiercely.

"No. Evil isn't born. It is created." His eyes flash up, and lock with mine. "You chose me. Before I died. How? Why me?"

"Because you're my daughter." The air around me stills. Silence takes over, and I am doing all I can to continue breathing. I waver, but still manage to keep the gun pointed at his head. "When Millie left me for another man, I didn't know what to do. So I lost myself in the study of cryonics, and when you got cancer, well, I was convinced that I was going to bring you back to life. It took me fifteen years to figure everything out. I was smart enough to try it on people before you. Just because I wanted you to be perfect." I grit my teeth, struggling to keep my arms straight. The gun becomes so much heavier.

"Why- why didn't you tell me about my past?!" I shout, my voice aching.

"Because I was a terrible dad. I wanted to start over."

"So, you decided to do THIS to me?" I am not shouting anymore, I am just tired. Tired of not knowing.

"Turns out it just hurt. It just hurt to have you alive. It was like a constant reminder that I failed you. So I hated you." A tear falls down the tip of my nose. "But let me try again. I can be a good father." His voice shakes with emotion, and it takes all of my willpower to continue pointing the gun at him.

"So you can continue hating your own daughter? No, you have created me to be a monster. And a monster you got." My eyes are flaming. The anger rekindles, and I straighten.

"You aren't a monster. You are my daughter. The daughter I failed. I am the monster. Please, Aurora." Another tear falls.

"Why did you do that to mom?" Guilt leaks onto his face.

"She remembered. She wasn't suppose to remember me. She wasn't even supposed to live in the first place. She was just a corpse I was practicing on. When she remembered me, I was terrified that she would tell you the truth. So I isolated her." I breathe through my teeth, and stumble backwards, he starts to rush to my rescue, but I cock the gun. "She loved calling you Rory, and I hated it. When that was the only thing you remembered, I was hurt. I am so sorry."

"This is a show. You aren't like this. You are insane! You expect me to forgive you after all of this?! No!" I step closer to him. My lungs start to reject me, and I feel my body starting to shut down.

"You need medical attention." He says frantically. I shake my head over and over.

"If you move, you get a bullet in your brain." He stands back, his eyes sad. I can't believe this. It was this quick for him to go from a demon, to a tormented human that just wants his daughter back. I refuse to believe he is being sincere. I cough, and sputter, but I continue to stare him down.

"So are you going to kill me?" I sneer.

"Why should I let you die, when you didn't allow me to do so?" His eyes widen in fear.

"No. I am going to shoot you, and Sarah is going to take you to the lab. Where she is going to put you in a simulation, fooling your tissue into believing you are still alive, and then she is going to fill your bloodstream with cryprotectant, and she is going to freeze you. She is going to freeze you, and perhaps, if you are good enough, in fifteen years, she will resurrect you. And you will live as a monster. Just like me." I spit the last three words out, for some reason, knowing that those would be my last. I stop breathing, but I stay standing just long enough for him to say; 

"Looks like I won." 

And I pull the trigger.