STRANGULATE | Markicest

47 | SCHNEEPLESTEIN

Eleven years ago.

"I cannot promise you it vill vork, sire. The procedure, it... it iz too bizarre, even for me."

There was a pause. A brief shifting of fine fabric.

"I have full confidence that you'll find a way."

Another pause.

"Vhen you say... electricity, Mr. Tear Stealer—are you... are you quite sure?"

Jack listened with bated breaths, his heartbeat pounding in his chest. It was dark, save for the warm light pooling from beneath the door. He could barely make out anything around him—just a few outlines of drawers and metal carts. But he could hear the two voices loud and clear.

"You told me your team redesigned the first experiment," said the lower voice, which Jack now identified as the Tear Stealer.

He didn't understand such a silly name. But—now that he thought about it, it sounded awfully familiar.

"Yes, zhey—zhey did," said the other voice, which Jack only knew as the doctor. "However—"

"He's a human," said the Tear Stealer. "Fresh off the streets. Clean blood, everything."

There was a sharp click of a footstep.

"He's ready."

Jack swallowed, his body shaking. The cold metal table beneath him didn't help matters, either—his bare arms pressed against it, but no matter how hard he tried to move away from the biting cold, his wrists met resistance.

There was another long, dreadful pause.

Jack shakily breathed in and out, the panic beginning to gnaw at his throat. He could sense it—danger. Something bad was about to happen.

"Very well," said the doctor, voice quiet. "I'll call ze team."

Jack swallowed, and when the door clicked open, his heart rate skyrocketed. Light pooled into the room he was in, but he quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He didn't think he could handle seeing his two captors—or whoever they were—at the moment.

With a metal clang, the entire room burst forth with white light.

The darkness beneath Jack's lids faded, and he squinted, the light burning. A series of claps rang throughout the air, and then fingers were snapping beside Jack's ear. He flinched, his face scrunching.

"Vakey, vakey!" called the doctor. "Time to get up, human!"

Jack began to hyperventilate.

He wearily opened his eyes, squinting at the light—it was so bright that it burned and sent pain through his head. He bared his teeth and groaned, eyes painfully adjusting to the light.

Human, he thought. They addressed him as human.

Now that his eyes focused, he took in his surroundings the best he could.

The room was enormous, arching up in a dome shape. Everything was pure white. Clinical.

Glass cabinets lined the walls, as well as silver metal carts, tables, and intravenous poles. Near the ceiling, there was a balcony, and on it stood a man clothed in pure black. He looked like a void against the stark white surroundings, but his eyes—so red, so bright...