floriography [ stories five ]

braindead || mad scientist thingy

[ this is a nightmare i can feel it

song: living dead girl by rob zombie

⚠️- language, dead bodies, mad scientist shit, necrophilia jokes

stay safe,
lew. ]

———————

He really didn't expect it to work.

No normal logic could explain why the dead girl could be brought back to life, but Ezra didn't care about normal logic. He just cared about what he was able to do, how he could change the natural laws of the world.

She'd only been dead for an hour or two, while he'd gotten his improvements installed and powered up. A replacement heart and lungs, manufactured and tried on a few other 'patients' before he chose this one, and a few other special components.

He stitched her back up, then hit the button to kick start his monstrosity. It took a few moments, but finally, she coughed and sat up, arm instinctively crossing over her bare chest, barely missing the sutures and staples in the center. Slowly and stiffly, her head turned towards Ezra, her cloudy eyes taking a few moments to focus on him.

He switched from morbid curiosity to feigned concern. "Are you okay? I found you laying out in an alley, and brought you inside." He laughed a little, then added, "I almost thought you were dead."

There was no alarm on her face, just a puzzled look as she attempted to speak. Her mouth moved wordlessly for a few moments before she managed to whisper, "Hurts."

"I'll find you some painkillers. Do you want to put some clothes on first?"

When she nodded, he dug out a set of clothes he'd oh-so-innocently taken from the girl's apartment when he'd picked her for his experiment. He had more of her belongings back at his actual house, hidden away from any prying eyes.

He chose a long sleeve shirt for her, ridiculously oversized to better cover her up without aggravating the wounds from his surgery attempts too badly. He'd have to see if her body could still heal itself over time...

She moved incredibly slow, and again, Ezra was glad he'd had the forethought to leave her shorts on. It was bad enough helping her with the shirt.

Then, he brought her a few ibuprofen tablets and a bottle of water. She seemed to have difficulty swallowing, but eventually, she got the pills down.

Here came the real test, though. "Do you remember anything before you woke up here?"

She shook her head, a slight frown tugging at her lips. He had to keep himself from grinning, so he kept up his little charade. Taking hold of her hand, he noted the skin was uncomfortably cold, but he could probably eventually fix that. "You can stay with my husband and I until you remember. You'll be safe, I promise."

All she could offer in way of a response was a shrug. He decided to take that as a yes, not that he was going to accept a different answer anyway. So he helped her get up, slip on a pair of shoes, and go out to his car.

He explained that the warehouse type place they'd just been in was where he was working, and it was the closest place he could get her to. She didn't show any reaction, other than wincing and lightly touching over the wound on her chest when she put her seatbelt on.

Ezra's phone, which he'd left in the car throughout this, started ringing again as soon as he got in and buckled up. He apologized, but put it on speakerphone so he could go ahead and start home.

It was Ronnie, his husband, who sounded more than a bit unsettled. "I tried calling four times. You didn't pick up. Where are you?"

"I left my phone in the car, honey. I'll explain when I get home, don't freak out. I love you, see you soon."

After the call ended, Ezra glanced over at his passenger, who was staring out the window. "Does it still hurt?"

She shrugged yet again. "Not really."

That was a good thing, though. At least she seemed to be able to talk. "I never introduced myself. I'm Ezra. And you are?"

"Can't remember." She paused, then finally muttered, "Think it starts with 'C'."

Ezra didn't really care, but he already knew her name, or at least what her ID card said. "Maybe... Cassie?"

When he glanced over again, the look on her face read as disgusted. Like she really hated that name. "Not that one," she said. "But it doesn't matter. Whatever works."

"We can call you C until you remember," he said, focusing back on the road.

"No. I'll figure it out."

Right as he pulled the car into his driveway, she mumbled, "Chase. I think that's it."

——

Ronnie really wasn't happy when Ezra came home three hours late with a ragged-looking girl that smelled like a corpse.

But, since his husband's moods could be unpredictable, he just smiled and asked, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

He pulled Ezra aside, and surprisingly, he started explaining right away. "I think she overdosed on something and hit her head pretty hard, or she was attacked or something. She's got a nasty wound on her chest, and she can't remember anything. I felt sorry for her. She's going to stay with us until she can remember where she lives."

One phrase felt like a red flag. Ezra didn't really 'feel sorry' for people. Ronnie decided to just be suspicious for now, and if any other flags came up, he'd find somewhere for the girl to stay. "That's fine. If you would've given me more warning, I would've made sure there was a room ready."

Ezra pulled him close and kissed his temple. "Can you find some different clothes for her? We can go shopping tomorrow, but I'm sure she'd appreciate getting cleaned up tonight."

"Of course." Ronnie gave him a quick kiss, then cautiously had the girl follow him.

This was going to be so fucking weird.

——

Elsewhere in the city, a young man dialed the familiar number for the twentieth time. When it rang out, with no answer, he threw the device across the room, tears falling from his eyes.

The woman with him gently rubbed circles on his back, pressing a tissue into his shaking hands. "She probably forgot her phone at work, baby. She'll be okay."

"She never forgets her phone. Something's wrong, June." He sobbed, turning to hug his girlfriend close. "I'm scared."

"It's all right, Bailey. C'mon. Deep breath," she prompted, rocking him a bit. "It's Chase. She's always fine in the end, right?"

He didn't answer, more focused on steadying his breathing than Juniper's words. Eventually, he mumbled, "She was supposed to be home when we got back. Someone broke the lock. But the police didn't care when I called."

"Tomorrow, we'll go looking for her. We'll find her, I promise, honey."

—————————

[ here's to hoping i continue this bc next part would have:
-ronnie taking the living dead girl shopping
-bailey handing out 'missing' posters
-ezra continually lying
-chase vaguely starting to remember/be alarmed by shit