Embers & Ice

Chapter Fifty

The barrier between reality and unconsciousness fell apart and Hunter broke through the surface. She wasn’t aware of the space she was in. She couldn’t feel anything, but she knew on some level that wherever she was, it was cold. Everywhere was dark and blurry, the shapes outlined in a thin glow as they bobbed around her. Suddenly, she was grateful not to feel pain.

Through the numbness, Hunter started hearing voices.

“Keep her under. Dr. Wolfe doesn’t want her gaining consciousness just yet.”

The voice was not familiar to her.

“I’m at fifty milligrams,” said another voice. This one sounded fuzzy.

“Add another ten. The cuts are deep. She lost a lot of blood.”

Help! Hunter begged in her mind for her tongue wouldn’t move. Help me… She was too sleepy and hazy to move at all. Even her mind started to drift again. What’s happening to me? What is Dr. Wolfe doing?

Hysteria surfaced inside her. The faint beep of a heart rate monitor increased and the shadows around her moved quicker, waving at each other as they tried to make the beeping cease. The sound was suddenly a scream. Was it her own? Make it stop… please…

She drifted, and then she woke again, and there was silence and darkness around her. She squirmed and felt her fingers clench.

A shriek of pain from a room nearby filled her ears. It was Will, she knew it. Her chest heaved as she thrashed on the bed Dr. Wolfe had her strapped into. There were tubes sticking into her arms that doused the fire and made Hunter remember the chair Joshua kept her in, the chair that fed ice into her bloodstream. No matter how she struggled, she couldn’t get away. Nor could she block the sound of Will yelling in agony.

You and William will listen to each other scream in pain and misery every day and every night until you take your very last breath…

Dr. Wolfe’s words were so loud in her mind that she suddenly believe he was standing right beside her, repeating them over and over. It had begun: The eternity of suffering he promised her.

No. Please no.

She tried to imagine the others reaching the outside world, finding their families and living their lives again. She searched her mind for their faces, but they no longer existed. Fear seized her in a grip so tight that at once, she was gasping for breath.

I’m alone, she thought. Forever and ever.

A faint light started to glow around her. Hunter opened her eyes wider, blinking. She saw the fire of her reflection standing over her, looking grim.

You’re not alone, she said. Not while I’m here.

Then, Hunter slept.

Dr. Wolfe stood over her. Hunter had never been more afraid of a man in her entire existence. Even her nightmares about Joshua and his pale eyes as he cackled over Eli’s dead body did not compare to the terror that slithered under her skin.

He said nothing – just watched her, just smiled with yellowed teeth. She wished she could get up and run or even close her eyes. But this time, she was wide awake.

“I like this much better Hunter,” he finally muttered. “Now I have you and Will and Jack together, and I don’t ever have to leave. The only thing that would make this ideal would be if Fearne was still with us. Oh, and Joshua of course.”

Hunter’s heart pounded like a drum. She was surprised at how much that thought pained her.

“I will find him soon, I promise.

“What will you do with me, with us?”

“Well, since I now have less test subjects in my Death Caves as I began with, Hunter, I am in desperate need of your assistance. You see… I have studied Will for sixteen years. And I have studied you enough to know exactly how your body works. I no longer need your DNA – I have plenty of samples. And there are no more demonstrations either. My next project is much bigger, and much more complex.” He grinned down at her. “I need you and William to be my new mutants along with those that survived the cave-in.”

For a moment, Hunter wasn’t afraid. Because in the doctor’s eyes she saw anger and disappointment, as if he had failed only himself. So much loss had occurred in his institution and he had no one else to blame.

But the satisfaction was momentary, for now he had a real reason to cause her pain and no desire to keep her alive. He got what he wanted and now it was time for revenge.

Perhaps she deserved it. She was stupid enough to separate herself from the group when she could have easily followed them out to safety. Instead, she had to play the hero and run blindly back to imprisonment.

But Will did not deserve this. Furious guilt swarmed inside her. It was because of her that he would suffer, and that was worse than any pain the doctor could imagine.