Octagon Project 3: Zachary McHall

~-11-~

Mel stepped into her room and grabbed the black hand gun she kept in her dresser. Quietly checking the magazine, she made her way slowly through the place, observing every room for anything out of place. Making her way down the small hall, she checked the bathroom. It was spotless. No signs of blood anywhere. Furrowing her brows, Mel turned to Zack's room, gently pushing open the door that was slightly ajar with the nozzle of her gun.

"Zack?" She asked cautiously as his room appeared empty until she rounded his bed in the middle of the room and found him sitting on the carpet floor with his back to the wall and arms resting on his knees and his head down. Raising a hand, Zack wiped his tired face as he sucked up a sharp breath.

"Go ahead. Do it." He grumbled, facing Mel with an empty expression. She gazed at him with steady curiosity as she observed his blank face. Mel slowly crouched down next him and continued to observe him quietly until noticing the black weapon on the ground next to him with eleven other bullets. Zack lowered his head again and clenched his jaw repetitively.

"Zack," Mel put a hand on his arm and he stiffened, "please just tell me what's going on?" She asked. Getting up with the gun in hand, Zack stood there with his back to her in front of his wooden dresser for a long moment before tossing a large golden envelope down on the ground next to her. He sat down on the end of his bed with his elbows on his knees as he kept the gun in a deathly grip in his left hand.

Looking at her housemate for a long moment, Mel sat down and put her gun in her lap as she tentatively opened the envelope and pulled out a thick file of papers. The first page in her hand read the words 'MISSING' in bold with the black and white picture of a little boy with longer black hair. She read the fine print on the bottom of the page.

Zachary Kai Leviathan.
Six year old boy, black hair, blue eyes, 3ft 9inches tall.
Last seen at Vancouver General Hospital at 9:30 pm.
Call local police if seen.

Mel covered her mouth with her hand as she soaked in the paper she held. Putting it on the ground next to her, she froze as she stared at a medical client database under Zack's name. On the far right of the paper were dates, and on the far left where reasons of checking in. She skimmed through them and for the first three pages, the check ins were all for Hemophilia treatment or check ups. Midway through the fourth page she froze as she read the full input.

June 3rd, 2002 | Zachary Kai Leviathan | ICU | reason for visit: attempted suicide

Mel stared at the last words for a long time before continuing to skim the other ten pages. Every page from then on had at least one to three attempted suicide notes aside from treatments he was receiving for Hemophilia. Running a hand through her hair, Mel took a deep breath as she began to feel herself come undone. The very last check in was ten years ago for poisoning. Shakily putting the pages down, she gazed at a file with the Octagon symbol etched on the front with the word CLASSIFIED stamped on it in red.

Progress Report: Subject Zackary Levi: age 10

Sniper-work: 10/10
Interrogation: 12/10
Physical: 6/10
Endurance: 11/10
Leadership: 9/10
Steele training: Endures well, high pain tolerance, emotional suppression, low emotional response, follows orders, successful interrogator, efficient methods, fast learner.
Octagon training: On time, listens to orders, high pain tolerance, perfect accuracy, good endurance, diligent leader, successful missions.
Weaknesses: unknown/undetected
Contacts: None

Mel shut the file then and pushed it off her lap, unable to read anymore. With shaky hands, Mel pulled her hair back and ran a hand over her mouth before turning to face Zack who only stared at the carpet under his feet and the gun in his hand.