Raiola Hall

Chapter Two

Kell stood in her workshop with her leather apron draped over the front of her body. She had her goggles strapped on her head and her gloves covered her hands, and she had been standing in front of Jameson's body for a good few minutes, trying to figure out what to do. Jameson had been hanging on the wall in Kell's workshop for around three days because Kell hadn't known what to do with him. She'd left him sitting on the rack as she tried her hardest to scoop up and collect as much of the policeman's blood from as she could. After storing the tiniest and most pathetic jug of blood in the fridge, Kell had fought to get Jameson's body on the wall without any of the organs in his chest falling onto her. She'd struggled by herself, cussing at the dead man and slapping him around. Kell had never felt so relieved when she'd managed to do up each of the shackles and had taken a nap on the rack. When she'd woken up, Kell had left her workshop and didn't come back for a couple of days, until she was ready.

Peeling the gloves off her hands, Kell turned her back to Jameson and threw the gloves at him. She wandered around the side of the island counter where she had the last remnants of what she had made up two years ago stretched out. Kell looked at the equipment, sloshing around the base of the serum she'd made that hadn't had any blood added to it. She'd feared that it'd thicken and dry up, but it had stayed as a liquid in the back of her fridge. Kell wrapped her hand about the handle of the jug with Jameson's blood and sloshed it around, then grabbing a small test tube. She filled it up and then reached behind her, snatching up the separating agent and pouring most of it into the blood. Putting her finger over it, Kell gave it a shake, staring at her door, bored and unimpressed. She'd gone through the same process so many times before, and she'd been let down so many times by the results.

Spinning the test tube around still, Kell went through the same procedure that she'd gone through with Ivy and picked up a pen, getting herself ready to note the blood type of the sample. She froze for a moment when she didn't recognise the blood type. She parted her lips, standing up straight and making a noise in the back of her throat. Confused and unsure on what to do, Kell dumped the blood sample into the rest of the serum and stirred it. She bent over the counter, glancing at the body hanging on her wall. Kell watched as the blood turned the clear liquid to a deep crimson that had no consistency. She looked at it, grabbing at syringe and filling the chamber full of the serum and turning her attention to Jameson's dead body.

Kell took a deep breath in deeply and stood in front of Jameson's body, letting her eyes flicker between Jameson and the syringe. She swallowed heavily, lowering her goggles from the top of her head and flicking down the lenses that brought out Jameson's veins. Nearly all of them had dried out and shrivelled up, but Kell grabbed his arm and stuck the needle into his skin. She pushed the plunger slowly and yanked the syringe away from him when she quickly recalled how her last tests had ended up. Kell dived backwards, jumping over her rack and waiting for Jameson's body to explode. She glared at his body expectantly, flipping the lenses of her goggles up and furrowing her brow.

Jameson's body didn't seem to move or do anything, and there were no signs that the serum had negatively affected him. He still looked dead, so Kell moved away from the wall, creeping along the floor expecting something bad to happen. She stood up to her full height and arched a single brow, slapping Jameson in the face as the cop didn't respond to her.

For a good few minutes, Kell stood in front of Jameson, letting her eyes run up and down his body. She took a step closer, ripping open Jameson's already ruined shirt and pushing her hand flat against his chest to feel his heart. Kell turned her head to the side, taking her hand away and staring down at Jameson's somewhat hairy chest.

"What's happening?"

Kell mumbled to herself, confused. She didn't know what to do, unaware of what route to take and what to do to check if what she'd done was correct. Kell relaxed her shoulders, taking a step closer to Jameson again and pressing her ear against his chest. She stayed still for a few seconds, just listening, gasping when she thought she heard a heartbeat. Kell jumped backwards and held out her hands, watching Jameson with a somewhat pained expression. She stared at his face and drew closer when she was sure he wasn't moving, pressing two fingertips against his throat and letting her mouth fall open when she realised that Jameson had a pulse. Kell choked on her own breath and smiled to herself, keeping her fingers pressed against Jameson's throat as his pulse got stronger. She felt tears burn her eyes as she realised what she'd done and what she'd finally achieved, and the empty space in her chest seemed to ache and crave the serum she'd made.