Infantile Obsessions

Untitled Part 3

"She's pregnant!" The words ripped themselves out of my throat. "What do you mean she's pregnant?" Dave shouted back his voice trembled. "I mean she has a... another thing inside her!" Pregnancy always terrified me. I couldn't control it-- this other human would grow as much as it liked, and when it got old enough, it would rebel. My perfectly controlled world could come crashing down. I took a deep breath to calm my pounding heart."I can't take her." My voice was even, and perfectly controlled. Dave was shaking and pale."She can't be. They aren't allowed... I don't understand - this shouldn't have happened!" He was shaking violently. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. My temper flared unexpectedly, and I kicked the convulsing man in the ribs. I called for my assistant and shoved the pregnant wretch into his hands. I grabbed Dave's collar and hauled him upright, straining the muscles in my shoulders. Slamming him up against the wall, I slapped him, I was trying to keep my temper under control but barely had a handle on it. I hit him again, and he groaned. I balled my fists in his shirt cutting my hand on his nameplate. I shook him, and his legs finally got their strength back. "You are taking her back.""Dr. Brunner, you already..." I cut him off with a sharp yell tossing him out of my path. Damn. I had already signed the paperwork... I stomped over to the girl and grabbed her chin. She flinched violently and squeezed her eyes shut. "Look at me." it came out more threatening than I intended. The girl peeled her eyes open and shook like a leaf. My hand was still firm on her chin, and I regarded her features. She was fairly average, but the terrified look on her face made me giddy with excitement. "Who did this to you?" She trembled harder and started to cry. I gripped her face harder. My thumb indented the smooth skin of her cheek. She let out a muffled yelp, and I repeated my question. She shook her head frantically, I gripped her face to stop the obnoxious movement and repeated the question one more time. "I can't," she replied, "he'll kill me." Her voice was soft, and I almost didn't hear the last part. When the words registered, I sniggered. The small snort of laughter soon turned into ugly peals that echoed off the nearby buildings. I howled in laughter - my sides ached, and my eye swam with tears. I actually had to rest my hands on my knees to catch my breath. "He'll kill you! Will he now, my doll?" I broke off as another fit of giggles consumed me. I caught a reflection of myself in the stainless steel door: my eyes were bright and wild, and a maniac grin filled my features. "You're looking death right in the face! If you don't tell me, I'll feed you and that fatherless baby to my darlings right now!" I was plagued with the giggles again, and the girl's legs went out from under her. She was sobbed uncontrollably, and my assistant strained under her weight. I finally managed to compose myself and cleared my throat. I stood back up and squared my shoulders.

"Seriously though?" Another giggle rose in my chest, and I cleared my throat again and ran my hands through my bangs, exposing my forehead to the light.

Dave and the pregnant girl gasped while my assistant politely adverted his eyes. "Who, my doll? I'm waiting..."

Tears streamed down her face, "S-stephen, t-the guy that you-you unlo-oaded me with."

The entire zoo grounds seemed to go silent. Then there was a horrid screech of metal as the gate opened and five of my assistants ran out covered in blood. They were screaming, wholly consumed with terror. All five rushed to tell me the details, but their words mashed together and spun over my head. I held a hand up to try and stop the infernal screeching. "One at a time. One at a time," I said with my hand still held in the air. The least gory of the five spoke up, "It escaped ma'am. The Acanthosquille, It's just gone.""That still doesn't explain why you are all soaked in blood." My hand flopped to my side."You know how you warned us to travel in threes when we went to feed the animals in the isolation ward? Well Mark- umm, he decided that he could do it himself and ditched us. We were trying to save him.""What was missing?""The Acanthosquille?" Her voice trailed off leaving the statement as more of a question."Yes, I heard you. My new prize is missing. What was missing on Mark?!" My temper flared again, how was my question unclear? "Nothing was missing, but he had lacerations everywhere, his throat was cut... he did have a few bite wounds on his legs, but all his extremities were attached." Her voice trembled, she was clearly holding back tears. Why on earth would you have feelings for someone who was in this line of work? The question still baffled me. I had asked my husband to address the same question, but he always shook his head and told me it was just because he loved me. Why was I thinking of him? This was not the time or the place. I had work that needed to be done. "Put the pregnant one in her own room. I will deal with this issue later," I told the assistant holding the girl. Turning to Dave, I snatched my papers out of his sweaty hand, "You can leave. I will file a report about this at a later time. Don't come back." I marched down the steps toward the Quarantine building; I passed a startled--looking girl and handed her the papers and office key, with an order to put them on my desk. "Did the Acanthosquille get out of the isolation ward or just out of its cage?" I had arrived at a supply closet and riffled through things it was poorly organized. "Just its cage, ma'am... I think." The girl stuttered back. I scrubbed my face with my hand. I pulled a net from the bowels of the dark supply closet, it was specially made. The typical rope netting had been replaced with sturdy wire, and the wooden handle had been reinforced and elongated. There was even an outlet if I wanted to hook it up to an electrical outlet as a type of stunning device. It was certainly heavy, but any changes to the material might cost the user their life. I tossed a few tranquilizer rifles to the surrounding girls.