Fallen Haven [Baneful] Book 1

A Ruthless Beginning

"Then put her to sleep. It should be easy enough for a scientist like you, right? I don't want to delay putting her under my control any longer. She is of more use to me as a marionette than a child with her own whims and will." Darren could barely grasp the severity of the situation. There was so much at risk, and William really didn't care.

"You'd be risking so much! If her body her blood rejects the serum, you risk killing her! Ending her life and jeopardizing your entire plan!"

"You think I care!? This world shall be mine! I already own all of Russia, this country, and you are ruled by me! With Nyx in hand, I can take over every goddamn continent! USE THE SERUM." Darren wanted to say something, anything to refute William's words, but he knew he didn't stand a chance of changing his mind. He looks down at Nicolette, who peers up at him with those innocent little eyes. Darren felt his heart breaking in two, realizing what he had to do.

He slowly stands up, carrying her in his arms. "Hey, Nicolette, we're gonna do a little game that, if you're brave, you'll get rewarded for."

"A game?" Her soft voice rings throughout his mind making this situation so much harder.

"Yeah, and in order to start the game, I need you to walk over to that large cylinder tube over there and stand inside after you put on this suit." Nicolette takes a suit made out of an odd black organic material.

"Why do I need the suit, Uncle Darren?" She asks, genuinely confused.

"Just for the fun of it," he says, hoping she won't ask any more questions. Nicolette changes into the suit, noticing 3 large holes in the back along her spine.

"Is that supposed to be there, Uncle Darren? Mommy used to sow up any holes in my clothes for me." Darren takes a deep breath holding himself together as he guides Nicolette to the large cylinder tube. As she steps inside, he slowly closes the glass door.

"Try not to freak out, ok hun? Just relax, and I promise it'll be over as fast as it started." Nicolette gives him a smile that nearly tears him apart. He forces himself to look away as he pulls one of the three levers, and a green liquid starts to fill the container. Before long, Nicolette is submerged in the green liquid holding her breath. She looks at Darren with trusting eyes, and he knows deep down this next part will be the most painful.

As Nicolette floats inside the cylinder container, Darren pulls the second lever, and three large tubes with rather large needles along the end stab into Nicolette's spinal area, one in each of the three holes carved into the suit, causing Nicolette to lose her breath as she cries out in pain choking on some of the liquid. Tears fall from Darren's eyes, his hand trembling. He places his hand on the outer glass in an attempt to comfort her.

"It's ok, Nicolette, you won't feel anything soon, I promise" he hesitantly pulls the third lever. A clear liquid flows through the tubes into her system. He watches as Nicolette grows tired, her eyes slowly shutting as her body begins to shut down. Eventually, her eyes are fully closed, and the red serum is injected through the tubes into her bloodstream. Darren stands by the container staring at the sleeping body of Nicolette as she floats in the green liquid.

"How long until she wakes up?" William shows no emotion, seemingly unaffected by the severe pain Nicolette just had to suffer through. Darren clenches his fists and speaks through a clenched jaw.

"Ten years, sir..." his voice holds both anger and defeat about the situation and how he was powerless to do anything but follow William's orders. He listens and waits for William to leave the lab before having a complete breakdown. Darren felt like he couldn't breathe as sweat beads formed and rolled down his face. He kept sobbing and curled up in a ball on his knees, clutching his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Nora... I'm so sorry, Nicolette.. neither of you deserved the pain you had to suffer through." He reaches up, placing his hand on the glass. "When you wake up, I'll try my best to ensure you never feel pain Little Flower." Darren thought back to what Nyx had said about her counterparts suffering and knew she was going to have to go through that yet again. If only Nicolette and Nyx were two separate people in their own bodies, then maybe Nicolette wouldn't have suffered as much.

Inside Nicolette's head was nothing but confusion. A thick pane of glass allowed her to see through but approach Nyx who stood on the other side. "What's going on?" Nicolette asks, a hint of fear in her voice.

"I don't think you want to know," Nyx says as she takes in Nicolette on the other side of the glass. Nicolette takes in Nyx's proper form, a shadow-like creature with red eyes and glowing red veins on one half of her face and body.

"W-why do you look like that?" She asks. Nyx sits down by the glass.

"Because of what they are doing to us. They are injecting a special yet dangerous serum into our body, and these are one of the many effects."

"A serum?" Nyx envied Nicolette's innocence, recalling when she used to be like that.

"Yeah... a mean nasty serum that even I can't protect us from... I'm sorry."

"Are we going to die?" Nyx stayed silent, figuring out how to best answer Nicolette's question.

"I wouldn't say we are going to die, but we definitely won't feel alive. We won't feel like ourselves but instead a fragment of ourselves. We'll be conscious but completely different unable to control half the things we do."

"So, a puppet?" Nyx nods, confirming Nicolette's words.

"Yeah, like a puppet." The two of them sat in silence, letting their fate sink in.

William, satisfied with the start of Nicolette and Nyx's injection, pours himself a glass of wine. "Soon, everything will go the way I want it to, and when that happens, I'll have everyone on their knees bowing before me." He stands, accidentally hitting his knees against the desk and knocking a book off the top. He leans down, picking it up, only to jump back as he sees Melody standing before him.

"Jesus Christ, woman, do you have to haunt so close to me!? Go haunt your son."

"Things aren't going to go your way, William. You may feel like you're on top of the world right now, and nothing can stop you, but it's only a matter of time before you realize just how wrong you are." William waves her off.

"I don't care about your 'ghostly warning,' Melody. I have bigger things to handle than to listen to you, the cheating bitch try and lecture me." Melody glares as he walks by her ignoring her presence.

"You are torturing a little girl in that lab, and you completely destroyed the happy life our son had. Are you satisfied with yourself, you son of a bitch!?" He starts to laugh.

"Oh my, how I missed our conversations, Melody. You always did have a sparking temper that I found amusing, but yes, I am satisfied with myself, and regardless of what you think, things will go my way. In fact, they are going my way as we speak." Melody tries to hit him, only to go through him as he stands there.

"I have half a nerve to drag you down six feet under to your grave, William Preveren Lyiora!" William grimaces as she says his full name.

"Don't you ever say that to me. And Melody, perhaps you haven't learned anything in your 10 years of being married to me, but" he leans in close to her. "I always, no matter what, get what I want, and there isn't a single thing that will get in my way."