Chapter Nine
Dissected.
“A little birthday gift my prophet.” Inanis says in my head. I don’t understand what he means until I open my eyes. Above me is what I initially believe is the eyeless of my mother, but then my vision comes into focus and I see her face. “Mom!” My arms shoot up enveloping her in a hug. At first, she lets out a shocked gasp then returns my hug and I can hear her crying. “Oh, thank God! My baby is back.” It’s definitely my mothers voice. “I can hear you.” For a moment, I feel relief that is until I open my eyes again. All the other guards are still eyeless. Inanis speaks to me again. “I’m sorry. I had to prove it to you this way. Serve me well and I’ll make it permanent.” It doesn’t take me long to understand and I feel my mother shaking me. She pulls back to look me in the eyes and tries to speak. I don’t hear her. Tears run down my cheeks and I see her lips start to quaver. She understands what has happened. Well everything except the part involving Inanis. She helps me to my feet and we head to what I can only conclude I some kind of lab with medical personnel close behind. When we get there my mother is taken aside as the doctors put me into a hospital bed. They buzz about doing what doctors normally do. That is until they try to take my blood with a normal needle and it bends. Two of the doctors look at each other and one grabs a needle I haven’t seen before. It looks tougher, thicker, and has a more slanted tip. Probably to make it sharper. It takes a little effort, but it gets through and what I see is shocking. My blood is a darker shade of red and it looks like there’s tiny living things moving in it. The doctor tells me they need to do some invasive tests and I’m injected with a sedative. The last thing I see is my mother beating on the glass of the observation room.
When I wake up in incredible pain and I see doctors around me. I turn my head and see my reflection. Their dissecting me. Cutting me up piece by piece. Pain floods my consciousness and every moment is hell. Then they stop and my vision clears a bit. I see one doctor on the floor dead and another person in an orange jumpsuit next to them. I understand. I’ve died at least once which means this is at least the second time they’ve cut me open. Why can’t I remember? Must be the pain. I hear the heart monitor flatline and I smile. Every time they do this I get stronger and eventually I will kill them. One way or another. I’m not sure how many times they’ve killed me. The glass of the observation room has been shattered. How long ago was it broken? I’m not sure. I only get a few seconds each time of consciousness before I flatline. I hear Inanis and it sounds like it’s not the first time. “I can help all you have to do is ask.” I think to him. “Why have I not become strong enough to break free?” I hear him laugh. “This again? You ask every time and I tell you I will explain. You just have to get out first and for that you need my help.” I laugh or get as close as I can in my condition. “No. If I remembered every single time I might have said yes, but I don’t.” His laugh is deeper now and I can almost feel it in the operating room. “This is a first. So be it.” After that I did remember each dissection even the ones I had previously forgotten. I’m not sure exactly how many, but I figure I broke after a dozen. Inanis stopped asking halfway through and yet I felt him there waiting. “Okay.” It’s strange it feels like he moves his attention to me as if I had just spoke to someone who was reading a book or watching tv. “Okay? Okay what?” I can almost see the smug smile across his nonexistent face. “You’re really going to make me say the exact words?” Once again, he laughs. It’s an obnoxious sort of laugh that does nothing to help the situation. “Bloody hell! Fine! Please help me.” I get the feeling he’s very pleased with himself. Nothing happens until I flatline again, but this time all the doctors around me collapse. “Oh, and to answer your question. The physical strength you gain is minimal. You will understand the true strength you gain in a moment.”
It takes about an hour to heal all the way. I pilfer an outfit from one of the doctors and make my way outside. On the way, I see thirteen bodies in what I can only I think is the morgue. They are little more than bones and dry skin. It’s fascinating. So, this is what happens to the people who feed my rebirth. I shake my head. What the hell am I thinking and how the hell could I think it. These were people and I drained the life out of them. I don’t even know how painful if was for them. Perhaps the events of the last week or two have damaged me in some way. I look at the bodies and I know I should feel sympathy for them, but I don’t feel anything apart from curiosity. How did I do this to them? Could I do it whenever I wanted? I shake my head again. I need to get out of here. I’m leaving when something catches my eye. There’s another body I’ve missed until now. I walk over and remove the sheet that was covering the body. It’s one of the test subjects from before.
I gather the tools that the doctors were using on me. I wander what this test subject can reveal. Wait what am I doing. It feels like these ideas and thoughts are coming from me, but I know they’re not. I sit and focus on getting rid of these thoughts. Like fighting a hydra, I stop one and two more pop up. This goes on for awhile and I begin to lose hope until I hear a familiar voice in my head. I hear Inanis snicker. It’s only for a moment. For the briefest of seconds, I hear him. “What the fuck Inanis?” He laughs openly now and I feel those sickening thoughts fade away. “Don’t do that to me. It does nothing, but hurt your chances of making me a prophet.” He laughs for a moment longer, but eventually stops. “So, you’re considering it?” I push the surgical tools cart across the room hard enough send the tools flying on impact. “If you can get in my head like that? Then you bloody well know I’m not, but I swear to you if you do that again it will be at least a century before I do.” I can almost see him smile. For some reason, it feels almost like he’s proud. Although I’m not sure if he’s proud of himself or of me. After a moment of thought perhaps it’s both. “You’re happy with yourself, aren’t you?” I can feel the sense of pride deepen. “Of course I am. I’ve never done that so subtlety before and of course there’s you my son. You spotted it so quickly and even had the courage to call me out.” I’m not here to please Inanis. I focus on my surroundings trying to ignore him and I leave the building.
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