Kill Me, Kiss Me

TWO

    THEO clenched his jaw and leaned back in his chair, tapping the plastic armrest. Again, he was here, opposite this ready-to-fade man in his empty office. It had already been absurd, and now, it was pressing his limits. Mr Setton glanced up and placed the documents on the coffee table with a light slap, all pages neatly arranged into a single pile.
   
"As I've told you over the phone, your body is in peak condition and meets the requirements for the Experience. I assume you've read the brochure?" He gives a small shake of his head, pale lips curving, "Never mind, let me give you an overview of the whole procedure. Once the apparatus has been set up, we'll connect you at 11am prompt. The whole Experience will last for eight hours until 7pm in the evening. At that time we will disconnect you from the system, and you'll be free to go. We'll monitor your heart-rate and blood pressure for the entirety of this time. Once you're in game you will have no sense of this world, it's an immersive experience, and that means you will hear, taste, smell, see and sense in game as you would normally." He paused as if waiting for some kind of acknowledgement.
   
Running his tongue over his teeth, Theo gave a curt nod.
   
"Would you like an overview of the game plot and characters?"
   
"No." He glanced at his watch, 10:45.
   
"Do you have any other queries?" Setton continued liberally.
   
"No. Let's just get this over with as soon as possible, shall we?"
   
Setton smiled again, and strangely, its curvature was so natural on his cold face that it sent a chill down Theo's spine, "There's no need to hurry, but I'll get the apparatus ready along with the staff. Please wait here."
   
He stood up and floated through the space like a white shadow. Theo was surprised the man could even open the heavy metal door with those almost non-existent arms of his. The man was just like a wraith, a figment of someone's frail imagination. To imagine someone like him could've forced him into this farce.
Theo laughed bitterly and shook his head.
   
Surveying the room more closely, he stood up and wandered to the empty table. It was a transparent thing made of plastic fixed to the white concrete floor using a glass rod. From a certain perspective, it looked almost as if it was floating off the ground. The only thing placed upon it was a brochure just like the one he threw in the bin.

Your one true love in eight hours!
   
He furrowed his brows, the logic didn't make the least bit of sense. How was eight hours enough to fall in love? Eight hours was enough to be acquainted with a stranger, he acknowledged that, but ultimate love? He didn't believe it unless... the time observed inside was different to the time outside, but if that was so—
   
Crash!
   
The smash of metal and glass against floor resounded through the door. He stilled, the chill sinking into his stomach.
   
BANG!
   
Another smash broke through the thick door. Theo set the booklet gently back onto the table and walked slowly towards the door. An eerie echo of silence radiated through his ears, but his fingers itched, and he opened the metal door with a click. The orange lit corridor outside was completely empty; the only movement was the nauseating crawl of white outside the glass walls.
   
"Setton?"
   
No one answered back.
   
He studied the unchanged passageway again and was about to withdraw back into the office when a faint murmur creased the still air.
   
"...help."
   
His hand twitched and the door swung close behind him with a mechanic chime. Cursing silently, he inched forwards towards the sound of the call.
   
"Who's there?"
   
"Help."
   
This time the strangled voice was as clear as if it was shouting right beside him. Theo turned to the white door beside him; it was coming from there. He clenched the door handle, hesitated for a second and threw it open.
   
"Are you ok?"
   
His eyes coursed around the room. It was a small white space with a standard hospital bed in the centre. The blue duvets were thrown off onto the floor in twisted stands, and an IV drip dribbled achingly onto the white-tiled floor.
   
Smash! A mug splintered into a thousand pieces on the wall beside his head.
   
He jerked backwards, "Fuck! What are you doing?!"
   
The girl crumpled into herself, hands shaking and running with crimson, "HELP!" She screamed, voice taut and breaking like a severing thread.
   
Her long brown hair dragged onto the floor, and she shook unstoppably, pushing herself into the metal frame of the bed as if trying to meld herself into the cold metal.
   
A strange taste unfurled in Theo's mouth, he took a quick step towards the girl but glanced behind him into the empty corridor, "Someone, help! There's a girl who needs aid."
   
"No, no, no, no, no, no," She shook her head, banging her skull into the frame, thud, thud, thud, "Don't kill me! PLEASE! STAY AWAY, DON'T COME NEAR ME!"
   
He stopped in his steps, "Are you ok? Where are you hurting?" The shaking in his hands became calmer, and he stooped down, lowering his voice, "Someone's coming, don't worry, you're safe."
   
She gasped, fighting for breath, angry red stains tearing down her pallid face, "Don't kill me, don't kill me, don't kill me, don't kill me, please, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't, I DON'T, I DON'T! AHHHHHHHHHHH!" She smashed her head into the bed frame, "DON'T!"
   
The taste of rust spread through his mouth, and he leapt forwards, restraining the girl's arms, "You're hurting yourself, calm down. Shhhh, calm down."
   
She jolted and pulled and thrashed and screamed and screamed and screamed, "STOP! NO! PLEASE!"
   
Theo squeezed and held her tight, the taste of blood permeating through his throat, to his chest, up his spine, into his mind.
   
"CALM DOWN!" He seethed, hands sparking white with the force of holding her back, "Someone, help! I need some help here!"
   
Footsteps thundered outside, and tens of nurses in white uniforms poured into the room. Strong hands tore the girl away from him, and he was squeezed to the very edge of the room.
   
"Hold her down."
   
"We need to sedate her."
   
"STOPPPP!"
   
He couldn't see beyond the stark white backs of the staff, everything was a blur of brown and white past that, but the girl's soul searing screams weakened and died down into a breath-filled silence. It was deafening, the silence.
   
And the pounding, the pounding, it was the beat of his heart in his ears, not the girl smashing her head into the bed. Not the girl.
   
A coldness brushed past his wrist, his stomach convulsed, and he slapped it away.
   
"Mr Harrow." Cold eyes and a cold face wavered before him.
   
"Ah." Theo swallowed, "My apologies, I'm still in shock."
   
The Ghost gave a seemingly sympathetic nod and led him into the corridor, closing the nurses and the girl out of his sight.
   
"I'm sorry that you had to experience that." His light voice coursed through his ear.
   
"Who," He took a shaky breath, "Who was that girl?"
   
Setton's pale eyes flickered to the closed white door, "I'm afraid I cannot disclose any information to you."
   
"But she," The crunch of her skull against metal sounded within his ears again, and he fought the urge to vomit, "She, why is she here?"
   
"I'm afraid that's confidential information," Setton shook his head, "I know you're concerned Mr Harrow, but I cannot give you the reason."
   
"She..." His vision blurred, and he held onto the wall.
   
Why was she here? Of all places, why here?
   
His eyes narrowed, and he jerked towards Setton's apathetic face, "Did she take part in the scheme? Was she a player too?"
   
Setton made no answer, only looked at the silver watch fixed upon his thin wrist. Beep. A small eclectic melody sounded from the device.
   
His lips curved synthetically, "It's time." He said, tone light.
   
"Wh—
   
A wave of dizziness assaulted his mind, black dots danced in his vision, and he slumped down the wall, hands scrabbling against the smooth glass. His eyelids descended against his control, and everything darkened into nothingness. Fuck.