Of Mutants and Men

[02]

Erik watched helplessly as the soldiers dragged her away.

"You should know, Erik," the mad scientist smiled at the young boy. "Emotions will strengthen you in unimaginable ways but also create an opening for your foes to stab you."

Schmidt left laughing, leaving the boy to fume in rage.

¨^¨^¨

"Say hello, my dear."

If not for guilt and shock, Angelika would have most certainly screamed her head off. A skeleton-like boy with a familiar face lied in the pristine white bed, an IV hooked to his meagre, brownish wrist.

Henryk. What have they done to you? What have I done?

The boy was barely recognisable. Even though Angelika could feel his heart steadily beating, his mind had grown extremely weak since the day they last saw each other. In other words, it was only a matter of time until he ceased to exist altogether.

"As you can see, Henryk is very ill and the doctors have run out of ways to help him," Schmidt stated, his voice almost sounding like he cared, "But since it would pain me to see my little Angel sad, I've come up with a solution."

"You don't care about me, or my well-being," Angelika spat, "You are scared that you'd lose control over me."

"Have care of how you speak. Henryk is a finger snap away from getting shot down." 

Schmidt shot her a hard glare and Angelika's lips clamped down tightly. With a wave of his hand, a guard brought in a young woman. She seemed clueless on why the brute had brought her to this rather well equipped medical centre. Maybe she was going to get treated for the headache she had been suffering from, she thought hopefully.

The young mutant felt utterly bitter about the other female's optimism.

"Do you recall our last training session? When you learned to transform kinetic energy into electricity and alimented a generator?" Frowning, she nodded. Schmidt beamed as he spoke, "You see, our body possesses bio-electricity due to the constant chemical reactions happening within it."

"And?"

"This my gift to you for being a good student. I'm giving you an opportunity to save Henryk by transferring the energy running through the girl's body into his."

If Angelika wasn't so terrified by the man, she would have dared to laugh at his hideous face. Infusing energy for healing purposes... it sounded like the beginning of a very bad attempt at voodoo.

The nameless woman's face contorted in pure confusion. From what she gathered from their conversation, she reached a conclusion that they were both loonies, and worried about her impeding fate. Death did not scare her, oh no, but it was the pain before it she was concerned about.

Her mind was put at ease when the butt of a gun came slamming down on the back of her head.

As the woman's body fell to the tiled floor with a loud 'thud', Schmidt beckoned her to begin, his arms folded across his chest. Angelika knelt down. Arms stretched out and palms facing the unconscious, she closed her eyes and concentrated.

Schmidt grinned as he watched the thread-like emerald energy shot from the tips of her fingers. While the girl spent a large portion of her time crying like the child she was, all he could see were her potentials begging to be unlocked. He himself manipulated kinetic energy and to be frank, he envied her colourful abilities.

"I-I don't feel anything," Angelika reported, "I can't detect it."

"Perhaps you require some motivation..." A cool, round piece of metal came pressing against her temple. Schmidt then added, "If you fail, everyone, you, Henryk and the wench, dies."

Mustering all the leftover scrapes of courage, she said, "You wouldn't dare to. You've said it yourself, you are not done with me."

"You're absolutely right, my dear. But it does not mean I will not wound you intentionally."

A shrill scream chorused with a loud bang through the hospital wing. A bullet had embedded itself in Angelika's left thigh. Sobbing and whimpering, she then became a blubbering mess.

"You have approximately 20 minutes before you bleed out."

The young mutant breathed heavily and watched the pair of excessively polished shoes leaving her line of vision. Pushing herself up, she angrily wiped the tears which stubbornly leaked from her bloodshot eyes.

One Saturday, in between drifting into sleep and pretending to be interested by the sermon, she caught the kohen talking of Eden's Garden, some sort of paradise in which Adam and Eve were permitted to live in before they sinned. The couple would have had their happy-ending had it not been for the sly snake who tempted them into eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.

Was Schmidt the sly snake? Was he tempting her into committing a sin which would torment her for the rest of her life? Truthfully, it wouldn't be the first time Angelika killed someone but it had never been for her personal gain. Even if the mad man proved to be right, what guaranteed Henryk would be the same person he was? Her mother had once read her a Chinese tale about a warrior who defeated Death numerous times, and this immunity led him down to the path of folly, causing him to roast his children and skin his wife. 

To cheat death came with a price.

Henryk would be disappointed to know she hesitated in sacrificing another person's life for him. He was a selfless person. Angelika pushed herself up, drawing the attention of the two guards. The men instantly pointed their firearms at the wounded girl. She paid no attention to them and sat next to her friend.

Blood and tears stained the dying boy's skin as she grabbed his hand and held it close to her chest.

"Goodbye, Henryk," she whispered, "I'm sorry for everything."

The guards frowned in confusion as they watched the mutant drape the bedsheet over the Jewish boy, covering his face. Their knuckles whitened over the weapon in anticipation.

"I'll see you soon."

With a flash of green, Henryk's heart stopped beating.