The Haven Project

Chapter 16

        I don't remember passing out.  I also don't remember where I had been taken after they let Sydney go.  I slowly opened my eyes, but nothing changed when I did.  I was lying on my back, staring into  darkness.  I lifted my head to look around, but a leather bond held it in place.  I moved my arm to try and pull it off of my head, but it too was immobilized.  Panic and fear began to well up inside me.  I tried to calm myself down, but it was as if I had just consumed a block of caffene.  If I wasn't tied down, I would probably vibrate out of my socks.

        My eyes were suddenly blinded by white light.  I blinked and squinted until I could see my surroundings.  I was in a room I had not been in before.  I could hear a heart monitor beeping rhythmically, but that was about it.  The only other thing I noticed about the room was a giant metal circle in the ceiling.  It had a crack running down the middle; it looked to be some kind of door.

        I heard muffled voices, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.  I tried to turn my head towards them but it held fast.  I heard footsteps approaching.  An automatic door opened, and the footsteps got closer.  Dr. Spencers face appeared above me.  She had a mischevious grin on her face.  Something told me that bad things were about to happen.

        "I'm so glad you decided to cooperate with us Bryson.  It will make the final stage much easier."

        As she said this, she withdrew a long needle from within her pocket.  It was filled with black liquid that seemed to move on its own.  It was almost like whatever it was, it was alive.

        "This is it Bryson.  One shot and this will all be over.  You will have more power than you could ever imagine.  Well, we will.  We couldn't let you have complete control of your own mind, now could we?  That would be too dangerous; you might try and rebel.  This is a necessary sacrifice Bryson.  You will ensure the safety of millions of lives.  You will be remembered as a hero."

        Her words were bitter from the lies that within them.  I would be a mindless killer, sent to destroy civilizations and countries.  Billions of people would lose their lives, and there was nothing I could do.  She lowered the needle and pushed it into my skin.  The black liquid was searing fire coursng through my veins.  My entire body went rigid.  I had no control over any of my extremedies.  The door in the ceiling opened, and sunlight splashed over me.  The chair jerked, then began to rise towards the surface.  The restraints loosened and fell to the ground, the chair continued to rise, and I continued to try and gain control back.  They were in my head.  I could hear their voices, telling me where to go, what to do.  I could hear their whispers, telling me to kill.  I could feel thier hate inside me.  Beneath it all thogh, I could feel the despair.  I could hear the screams of innocent lives being wasted by my own hand.  I could feel the pain I was soon to inflict on the world.  And somewhere, somewhere deep within my subconscious, I could still hear Sydney.  I could see her face before me, fear and love within her eyes.  I knew I couldn't let these people win.  If they won, most of the world would be lost.  I was the world's armagedden, but also its only hope.

        The chair had stopped moving.  It began to lower, but I stayed suspended in the air.  I was forty feet off the ground, but I could still see the disgusting grin on Dr. Spencer's face.  I could still see the dark twinkle glimmering in her eye.  She knew she had won, but I knew different.

        I felt the pull of the voices in my head, instructing me to kill, but I stayed fast.  I began to shake, power and rage filling pumping through me.  My eyes burned red hot, my hand illuminated blue fire.  Before I knew it, I was engulfed in the blue flames of the power from within me.  I could feel my body struggling to handle it; my heart was failing, but it was too late to turn back.  I thought about my mom and dad, about Samuel, and about Jenny.  But most of all, I thought about Sydney.  I felt the love for each and every one of them, using it to fuel my power.  I felt the anguish of all those who had died in this hell hole, their past spirits whispering in my ear.  My entire body was trembeling, but I forced myself to lower back through the door.  I could see the fear in Dr. Spencer's eyes.  I could feel it in her soul.  My feet came to rest on the ground right in front of her.  She cried out as my flames engulfed her.  Just killing her would not be enough, though.  The others in the compound would rebuild what was lost, and I knew that I had to erradicate every last bit of it.  I looked wihtin my mind and found Sydney; she had everyone safe, but she was running back for me.  I willed her to stop, and her feet stuck to the ground.  I reached out to her in my mind, and she began to cry.  She knew what I was about to do, and I made sure she knew there was no other way.  I withdrew from her mind, but not before taking one last thing.  A parting gift, a last memory.  I took her memory of me.  I knew she wouldn't go on, but she had to.  I took every memory we shared, all the way back to the day we first met. I wrapped them inside me and held onto the warmth they brought with them.  Remembering all the good, all the love, everything that we did together, I took my final breath.  And with that breath, the compound around me was consumed in the fires of my soul, taking me with it to explore the world beyond.