Inflorescence • Poison Ivy's Daughter

chapter twenty - thicker than water

Robin followed the doctor down the hall, making sure to stay a few steps behind as he led him along, passing doors on either side each marked with numbers, 023, 024.

'What is this place?' Robin mused, not realizing the question had left his lips.

'My palace, boy.' The doctor replied, 'My place of dreams. This is where I poured all my efforts and money into, the place of my experiments.'

'Each of these cells were filled with people?' Robin asked with disgust.

'Certainly,' the doctor grinned, 'At one stage we had over 60 subjects.' Robin bit back bile.

'However,' the doctor continues. 'Once Kora joined, we no longer needed as many so lots of these cells remained empty. Looking back it was fortunate, seeing what happened next.

Robin was about to question him further when he stopped, he looked out in front of him and noticed the scene had changed. Where there was once while walls and doors there was now thick consuming vines. They coated the floors and walls completely, crossing the space between so no one can pass through.

'What to make a wild guess on what happened here?' The doctor questioned.

It was obvious enough so Robin instead asked. 'What happened.'

The doctor made a small shrug, 'She lost it, went mental. Tried to free herself and the other inmates. However, she miscalculated. Forgivable seeing how she was hardly 9, yet it cost her and since she couldn't manage to free the others, she killed them.'

Robin caught the glimmer of smooth white structures woven through the plant life. He thought about how she had defended him at the warehouse, the despair in her voice when she thought about her mother, the hurt in her eyes when he called him a villain. 'I don't believe you,' he said. 'She wouldn't do this just to free herself.'

The doctored nodded in agreement, 'No, she wouldn't. But that doesn't change the fact she did kill 47 people that day, a massacre.

'Once she had got out she hid in the forest, I thought she would have died but apparently not. If I were to guess she had somehow found her mother and is now picking up her villainous ways.' He sighed with regret and Robin had to dig his nails into his fist to stop himself from striking him in the temple.

'Well,' the doctor said with a cheerful change in tone, 'She's probably well acquainted by now, let's see what the darling Kora's up to now shall we.'

Robin didn't think he had much of a choice in the matter so he turned and followed doctor Woodrue back through the hall.

They came to another door, different from the many ones before. This one was stainless steel and swung open with a push. The room held the same white as the other rooms before, it was very neat and organized a white desk housed a laptop and piles of research and folders, on stack appeared to house files of different children and their medical information. A metal table was in the center of the room, it was tilted up on an angle over a drain with cuffs placed where someone's wrists and ankles to go. Next to it was a table filled with all kinds of instruments; scalpels, forceps and bone saws. But the sight of the walls is what caused Robins mouth to fill with the taste of bile. They were lines in rows and rows of jars of various sizes, each with varying contents. He spotted teeth, eyes, feet and a variety of organs before he couldn't stand the sight of it anymore and turned his attention to Bella, who was strapped to the metal table. She looked for the most part, untouched. But she was paler than before, her eyes now rimmed with red were glowing eerily. A balding man in a lab coat stood to her side.

'Hello, Doctor Madison.' Doctor Woodrue greeted. 'You haven't started yet?'

'Just a quick warm-up sir, didn't want her to faint halfway through.'

Woodrue nodded in approval, 'I've brought our new guest here to educate him on Kora's, paculiariarites. Put on a good show will you.'

The other doctor nodded furiously turning his attention back to Robin.

'Well hello there.' He chimed, 'Lucky you, you get the rare chance to witness today's session. Let's give you a better view.'

He rushed to gather a chair from the corner placing it in front of him. Robin didn't think it'll be smart to decline so he sat down on the metal chair, that was when he noticed the straps. Madison went to tighten them around his wrists and ankles but Robin pushed him back. He felt a solid hand dig into his shoulder.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you.' Cut Doctor Woodrue, his voice so dark and threatening that Robin froze. Madison hesitated a quick moment longer before rushing once more to tighten the straps with shaky fingers. As he worked Robin made eye contact with Bella once more.

'I'm sorry,' he murmured, 'I'm sorry I couldn't help you.'

Bella shook her head slowly, 'You couldn't have done anything. But please, do me one thing. If you have any empathy for me at all, please. Don't watch this.'

The Doctor stepped away from Robin after testing the straps would hold and rubbed his gloved hands together, 'Let's get started then shall we.' He approached the table of apparatus and selected a clamp cutter.

'Pick a number between one to five.' He asked Robin.

'Why?'

'Just do it.'

Robin tried to catch Bella's eye for some indication of what to do but she was looking disinterestedly at the ground.

'5?' Robin answered slowly.

The doctor grinned, twirling the clamp in his hand, 'Pinkie finger it is.' He took a step towards Bella, holding her finger between the two dull blades. Before a sickening crack cut through the area along with Robins cry.

Bella bit down a scream as blood trickled from her hand, down her arms. The doctor disinterestedly scribbled some notes on a clipboard.

'One to four.' He asked without looking up.

Robin gagged in disgust. He had seen blood before without effect, he had seen tons of it. But the sight of Bella's dripping onto the white floor brought bile to his throat.

When he didn't answer the doctor sighed, 'Your right fingers are so mundane. Let's move onto something more... entertaining.' placing down the bloody clamp he picked up a small scalpel. 'You're skin's looking a little worn, Kora.' He placed the scalpel to the corner of her jaw, ' Let's replace it shall we.'

Robin fainted as the scalpels insition reached her collarbone.