Project Genesis

CHAPTER TWELVE.

The man sitting on the bed smirked at her, a slight glint in his eyes. Orion jumped back, the sight of him causing her to step back towards the closed bathroom door.

"W-who are you?" Orion asked, her voice wavering slightly in fear. She was suddenly very aware that she was clothed only in a towel, wrapping it tighter around her body with her crossed arms.

"Who I am doesn't matter. Who you are, however, is very important." He pushed up from the bed and began to pace towards the door, hands linked behind his back.

"You see, Excel Corp are thieves Orion," he said, turning to meet her scared eyes with his malicious ones.

"And they have stolen something very important to me," he said, his voice low, almost growling.

"Look, I didn't know what they did. They gave us implant-"

"Oh, shut up," he cut her off, reaching his hand into his pocket. Orion tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it only grew larger.

"They stole my family. My wife. My children. All because of something that they created." Orion was immediately struck with intrigue; she wanted to ask him what he had meant but held her tongue. The man pulled his hand from his pocket, revealing with it a knife. The metal surface glinted in the light, and Orion could feel her heart palpitating in her chest.

She eyed her bag, still sitting on the desk where it had been left. It was a long shot, but she knew that it might be her only chance.

"Please, you don't have to do this," Orion pleaded desperately.

"But I do," the man said with a sadistic smirk.

"Because although your life is worthless to me, we don't need any more of your kind poisoning our society any longer."

And then he lunged at her with the knife.

Orion let out a scream as she dodged his advance, sending him stumbling past her. With his balance compromised, she turned and shoved him to the ground, making a dash for the bag. He was blocking the exit and she knew that her only hope was the gun that had at one time been at the bottom of her pack. She reached the bag and ripped it open, fumbling through the contents with trembling hands. The man did not stay on the ground long and had started to walk towards her, knife in hand.

In a sudden blur of movement, Orion felt the cold steel of the gun in her hand. She grasped it, pulling it out of the bag just as the man lunged again, his knife poised to strike Orion's chest. In a quick motion, she aimed the gun at the man and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Number Seven," a feminine voice radiated from the intercom on the wall. Orion stepped forwards, approaching the table in the centre of the room.

"As a part of your final testing, you must demonstrate mastery of both combat styles: armed and unarmed," the voice instructed. Orion assessed the table next to her, scanning the various firearms available for her use.

"Upon the successful completion of your final testing, you will have officially graduated your training and will move forward as a part of Project Genesis." Orion nodded her head slightly, reaching for the black handgun on the table. In a fluid motion, she clicked the magazine into place.

"Whenever you are ready, you may begin. Good luck."

Orion aimed the gun at her target, and without hesitation, pulled the trigger.

A couple of seconds passed, Orion's eyes were still squeezed shut. Her ears rang from the sound of the gunshot, and she heard the man gasp as he stumbled back.

"You- you shot me," his speech was garbled, and he struggled to get the words out. Slowly, Orion opened her eyes, horrified at the scene laid out in front of her. The man kneeled on the floor, blood seeping freely from the wound in his chest. There seemed to be blood everywhere, on every surface. She jumped as the man tried to move in front of her.

"Y-you are going to pay." The man moved to reach for his knife, but Orion quickly swept it away with her foot.

"Y-you will suffer. Jus- just like the rest," the man managed to say, before collapsing. A couple of seconds passed as Orion tried to take in what had just happened. Suddenly, she was struck by a sharp pain in her stomach. Her hand instinctively moved to grab at her stomach, but she quickly withdrew at the sensation of wetness, seeping from her stomach. She raised her hand, gasping in shock as she realized the man had managed to reach her before she had shot him. The towel wrapped around her was slashed, blood seeping through the once white material.

She felt almost in a daze as she tried to walk towards the door, stepping around the collapsed man on the floor. Her breaths were shallow and laboured, and she was beginning to see dark spots blurring her vision.

"Mom?" Orion was shocked by the sudden apparition of the woman before her. A brilliant white light shone behind the woman, illuminating the warm brown tones of her shoulder-length hair.

"Hello, my little star." Her voice was so sweet, so warm; Orion was transfixed.

"B-but, you died. I saw them shoot you. What's going on?" Orion was filled with questions. She looked down, expecting to see her wounded stomach, but her injury wasn't there.

"You have to come with me now," her mother said, extending her arm to Orion. The white light began to grow behind her, causing Orion to shield her eyes.

"Wait, what about Corvus? And the others? I can't leave them now," Orion's speech was panicked, as she turned around, looking for some sort of hint as to where she was. All she could see was the bright, blinding light.

"You must come now," her mother said, arm still extended in front of her.

"No, I can't. I can't leave them. Not yet." Her mother reached out and grabbed her arm, causing Orion to let out a yelp of pain.

"We must go," she said, her voice remaining calm and level as her vice-like grip tightened around Orion's forearm and she began to pull her away. In a quick motion, Orion yanked her arm away from her mother's grasp.

"I said no!" she yelled, the authority of her voice shocking her. Instantly she was knocked back to the ground, the light causing her to shield her eyes as she looked up at the woman. She recoiled in shock at what she saw.

"We must go," her mother said, only this time, there was a bullet wound scarring the middle of her forehead. The bloody gash stood in stark contrast to her pale flesh.

"No," Orion pleaded, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

"We must go!" her mother's voice had escalated into a shriek, her eyes going red. Blood began to seep from her forehead as she stared at Orion, her red eyes empty and devoid of emotion.

"No!" Orion screamed at the top of her lungs, squeezing her eyes shut. All of the sudden she was aware of what felt like water, beginning to pool around her. Tentatively she opened her eyes, horrified to see that blood had begun to seep up around her feet and ankles.

"Mom?" Orion tried to move, but her feet felt like they had been nailed to the floor. The blood kept rising, rapidly making its way up her legs and to her waist. Her mother was silent, staring through her as the blood raised higher. Orion began to thrash her arms through the blood as it reached her shoulders, creeping up around her neck. She tried with one last futile attempt to stop the relentless blood, consuming her body, but it was useless. She inhaled deeply as the blood reached her face, causing her to close her eyes tightly.

And then there was only darkness.