Part Ten: That Night....

Every camera lens had been washed over in red, thickening until In-su could no longer see anything on the monitors. Damn it! He was so sure that something had happened after Jack had broken the cameras mounted at the ceiling. How had that wild beast of a man even known they were there anyway? Was it his enhanced human senses? Without warning the red monitors burst into squares of electronic snow. Each of his hidden cameras had just been destroyed.

 

 

“ '...Was that blood?'” In-su thought aloud. No! What had he missed? He gave a start at the pinch of a needle entering the back of his neck.

 

Who...! A gloved hand caught In-su by the back of his collar before he crashed face-first into a keyboard.

 

“ Easy, easy.” Shaye bound the surgeon to his wheeled chair with a bungee cord and pushed the man aside. He hummed to himself as he tapped on the keys and restored the monitors. The vivid light colored Shaye's blond hair blue.

 

“ Done!” He didn't say it until every file and scrap of data had been erased from the hard drives, and just to be thorough Shaye downloaded a virus that would scramble what was left. He detached a hard drive containing information as to other locations where In-su had copied and sent a batch of data. As a professional Shaye liked to be very thorough.

 

When In-su began to stir Shaye injected him with another dose of drugs. He dragged the surgeon out of his apartment in the wheeled chair, leaning on it during the ride down in the elevator. Shaye gave the chair a slight push to send it rolling down a ramp at the building's entrance. In-su was safely caught by a narrow Caucasian man in a casual suit and tie. Another leaned against a van and released a thin ribbon of smoke trail from the end of his cigarette.

 

“ It's not like you to work for no pay, Mr. Holmes.”

“ What can I say? I really owe the kid.”

 

***

 

 

Chris stared at his cell phone's monitor and the pixelated body flapping its arms and legs in a endless series of jumping jacks. Beneath a blob of yellow hair thin black lines formed a grin and smiley eyes. The cartoon-esque figure made him want to smile, but the message across its chest stopped his facial muscles cold.

 

 

“ What's that?” The high wind flapped against the hem of Jack's coat. He leaned over to peer at the tiny screen.

 

[To: Chris Bak

From: SH

Subject: Sorry!

-Of course, I realize that's completely insufficient for what I've done to you, but I can only say that I'm glad you're A-OK. Don't worry about Yoo In-su. I've taken care of him and made sure you won't be exposed. Nobody suspects a thing.-]

 

 

Nobody but the sender of the text, anyway.

 

 

“ Ah. Holmes,” said Jack. “ That's the mercenary who shot you, though I guess it could be called an accident. You shouldn't have gotten in the way like an idiot.”

 

 

Chris finally pulled his eyes away to glare up at Jack. “ You're just planning to have me live forever so you can tell me how stupid I am forever, aren't you?” he said. Jack grinned widely.

 

 

“ Oh, yeah,” he drawled. “ But don't worry, origin of mine. I'll be a good guide through hell.”

 

Chris responded to that by rolling his head and trying to work out a stiff muscle behind his shoulder. He had felt wonderfully energized after the body growth, but once he reverted to normal size and looks, Chris suddenly sympathized with crumpled old balloons. It wasn't something he was going to experience again just to feel that fleeting, wild sense of euphoria.

 

It had scared him afterwards. Partly dazed, Chris had let his blood spread along the floor and snake through the basement level of the hospital. The bodies of the draculas that Jack had killed were infected with his blood and converted into more of it, allowing Chris to manipulate them no differently than he could his own fingers...provided that their bodies were connected to his by blood. He was able to wash away any evidence that violence had taken place in the morgue by moving it...then drinking it. Jack had swallowed some too, but Chris had been so thirsty. He'd needed so much blood to adjust to his 'adult form'.

 

Luckily they hadn't been reduced to crunching bones in their teeth, as the bodies of draculas were turned to dust after being exposed to sunlight. Chris hadn't bothered hiding it and left the hospital staff to wonder about the sudden grime.

 

 

He looked down past his dangling feet at the dull gray street forty stories below. Chris had always hated heights and he still did, but it had become necessary to test out his body's new limits. He couldn't be smashing through the floor of his aunt and uncle's apartment by accident. Worse, what if he hurt his younger cousins without knowing how strong he really was? Chris was too scared to let that stay a question. He tried not to feel himself trembling as he stood up on the edge of the roof. The wind wouldn't stop ruffling his hair and the hood of his jacket.

 

“ I'm warning you, I need to be entertained,” said Jack. " That's the price you've got to pay for making me live." Chris looked back at him without a word. On a more somber note....

 

“ And unless someone chops off our heads, stories say that we could live forever.” It didn't feel like a good thing to either of them. Chris smiled thinly and allowed the metallic crimson to flood into the iris of one eye.

 

“ Don't worry. Nothing's scarier than normal human beings, right? I'm sure there'll be lots of nightmares to go through.”

 

 

***

 

 

“ 'Poor thing,'” the nurse crooned. The little girl looked so miserable and sullen, but who could blame her? She seemed to be the active sort of child and a fractured arm got in the way of that. “' May I have your little girl's name please?'” said the nurse.

 

 

“ 'Suna. Jo Suna.'”

“ 'Address?'”

 

 

A woman's eyes shone dry and bright.