The Darkest Horizon (On Hold)

Chapter 6

--    T H E  D A R KE S T  H O R I Z O N    --

Saying that the experimentation session was painless would be an understatement. Twelve years of pain and torture, of swollen limbs and throbbing aches and experiences mutilated beyond comprehension, had toughened Flynn to the core. There was nothing more painful than what he had already experienced, and when Flynn finally realised this, he welcomed the new experimenters willingly.

He sat patiently as Dr Jacobs and his assistant Kate Isabelle inserted needles into his arms and removed phial after phial of blood. He didn’t even flinch any time they would accidently jab the needle a little too deep, and he listened attentively to everything the doctor had to say to him.

“And you can just imagine their surprise when they discovered that you hadn’t died like the others!” Dr Jacobs was telling Flynn of how Sector Five had assumed he had died when his heart beat stopped for almost a minute before it started up again. He made it sound like a fascinating story, like Flynn was just another ingredient in their pantry that they could play about with, add a bit of this, splash in a bit of that, and voila! A boy with magic blood! Flynn scoffed at the idea.

 Apparently, the scientists had changed the formula of the drug slightly before they had injected it in him that night. They kept tweaking it a bit with every new experiment, and Flynn had been the lucky survivor. The miraculous and unexplainable thing in his case however, was that anyone the same drug was tested on after Flynn had not survived.

“It’s going to be a really difficult task is this.” Dr Jacobs sighed as he swirled around a test tube in his hand. It contained a small amount of Flynn’s blood, and he kept adding a few drops of some chemical before recording the results.

“If they had called us in sooner, it would have made life a whole lot darn easier.” He put the test tube in the rack with some force before turning back to Flynn with a smile, and extracting more blood for the next one. “The most likely reason the drug didn’t kill you is because it reacted with something that was already in your blood.” He explained. “This could either be some natural chemical that is unique to you alone, or it could be something left behind from another drug you were tested with previously. It could even be a combination of chemicals, which just makes this all the more difficult” his forehead creased and he rubbed his temples as he held the test tube up to the light, dissatisfied with whatever result he was getting.

He had already told Flynn that the reason his recent memories of Sector Five were so weak was because he had been in a coma for the past two weeks. When the Sector Five scientists had realised he had survived the trial but had entered a coma, they believed that the drug was just working slower and eventually Flynn would die. They did not bother to check the composition of his blood. By the time it was obvious that something was different, any previous chemical that may have been in Flynn’s blood during the trial had left his system.

The clock on the wall in front of him told Flynn that his experimentation session was almost over. He repositioned himself in the seat, moving his legs about because they had become numb after sitting in the same position for almost an hour.

He kept stealing glances at Kate as she worked. Every now and then they would make eye contact, but she kept her expression plane. As pretty as she was, Flynn quickly realised that her personality was cold. There was no remorse in her eyes whatsoever at what she was doing. Just like everyone else at the facility, she looked at Flynn as though he was another expendable lab rat. This saddened him just a bit.

“I know you must be eager to leave son,” Dr Jacobs started, “so I’ll try ‘n fill you in on what to expect in your coming sessions.” He took one last draw of blood from Flynn’s arm before wiping the small hole with an antiseptic wipe and rolling down his sleeve.

“Now obviously we can’t be taking your blood every day otherwise we’d drain you by the end of the week.” He laughed, though Flynn found none of this funny. “But we’ll have to test the effects of different chemicals in your body itself” He put his hand on the back of Flynn’s chair, moving a little closer.

“That means we need you in tip top shape. A strong body means a strong immune system, and we need you strong so that we can get to the bottom of this as soon as possible, yes?” He asked.

Flynn nodded, understanding that the doctor meant he would need to start exercising.

“Brilliant.” Dr Jacobs beamed, moving aside so that Flynn could get off of the seat.

Flynn watched as the man handed the last test tube to Kate, who was now sitting at a small table wearing protective goggles and gloves. She was adding some dangerous looking ingredients to the other tubes of his blood and she glanced up when she noticed him watching.

“Kate is trying to explore the properties of the blood.” Dr Jacobs explained, thinking Flynn was curious of what she was doing. He wasn’t. He was only trying to look at her. She really was pretty. Most of the other female scientists he had seen were all old or unfeminine looking. That’s why he wished that she would look at him with even a bit of emotion. Maybe just a scrunch of the eyes, or the smallest of smiles, just to show that there was still someone inside of her, and that the Facility hadn’t completely won her over. But she didn’t break composure. She turned back to her work like it wasn’t worth her time to even look at an experiment.

With a final small glance over his shoulder, Flynn walked over to the door where Dr Jacobs was already standing, holding it open for him with an unwavering smile on his face.

“You’ve been brilliant, lad. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He winked, as Flynn waved a small goodbye as he left.

He didn’t expect to suddenly form any kind of relationship with Kate, but he hoped that over time she would start to become at least a little friendlier towards him. He really needed that. Dr Jacobs had been great, even if his overly-enthusiastic laughs and jokes had seemed just a little forced.

 Flynn had never really experienced any kind of friendly emotion from the members of the Facility before, and it would make things a whole lot better if Kate could act less stoic towards him. For the first time since he had been kidnapped, he had actually been treated as almost-human. And that made him happy.  Happy enough to smile one more time.

--    T H E  D A R KE S T  H O R I Z O N    --

--------

 PLEASE VOTE VOTE VOTE if you liked this chapter =D

& comment letting me know what you thought, and how I can improve it 

Thank you for reading!