Never lie to the person you love. It's not worth it and they don't deserve it
~ Unknown
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Really what I wanted to do on my Friday night was talk with Dad, give him my idea, then watch Netflix until I couldn't stay awake. That perfect plan was thrown to the curb. At least I'm hanging out with Dad.
"Why are we going now? I mean, I had nothing better to do, but season three of The Office is waiting for me." I tell Dad as I look over at him.
"Because this is very important, and I need you to help me." Dad said. "And you might be onto something with your plan."
"D'aw! Thanks!" I tilted my head jokingly. "Wait, help you? With the plan?"
"You'll see when we get there." Dad smiled.
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When we arrived at the building, I got out of the car to have Dad take me by the arm and jog to the side of the building. He took me into an alley on the left side, and built down in the ground was a staircase. As we stepped down, I saw a door in front of us. Dad unlocked it and we stepped in. Entering after him, I gasped at the site. The door lead to his lab, I remembered how the machines fascinated me, and it reminded me how much I wanted to be like Dad.
The lights we off, but a few machines blinked patterns on their panels.
"Okay... So could you explain why you need me?" I asked as I followed him through the whole room. Dad was walking out double doors on the other side of the lab that I never saw when I visited. They were on the left side and we came in by the right side, where the elevators and stairs from the lobby were.
"I told you, it's very important, and I need your help." Dad says, looking back at me.
"That doesn't answer my question. Why is it so important? What are we doing? And where are you taking me?" I asked as we broke through the double doors and entered a large white hallway.
Dad turned to me and took both my hands. "If your idea to take away radiation with radiation and reverse it works on what we're about to do, you might see me more often. I could be at home all the time. We would see each other everyday, and I wouldn't have to worry about you being lonely. Just you and me, Babe."
"Wait... Wait," I say, processing everything he said. "If whatever we're about to do works out, then you'll be at home all the time?"
"You could possibly see me every single day." Dad smiles. My lips happily shake into a smile. The thumping in my chest gave me hope this was going to happen.
"I'd like that a lot." I tell him. Dad smiled as he gestured me to follow.
I jogged up to his side, smiling all the way. Though, I couldn't get my hopes up too much, there was a chance this plan may not work. But the way Dad smiled and the hope in his eyes that he knew this was going to work made me believe it was.
Finally, we came to a stop at a white door. Dad pulled out a small silver rod from his pocket, and started picking the lock. It surprised me to see a gentle, kind guy like him break in. I have to admit, he's better than me.
"I thought I'd never see this place again." Dad said as he finally opened the door. The room was huge with the walls aligned with metal. A few computers and microscopes sat in one side on the left, while glasses and tubes were set up on the right side. In the middle of the whole room was this big white cage-like contraption. It was like a top, but upside down; the top was pointy and sharp. Glass windows were placed around on every side to see the whole inside. In the inside of the 'cage' was this weird looking chair. It had a platform, and on the side connected to the chair was a control panel.
"What's this?" I asked, pointing to the large white cage.
"It contains radiation," Dad smiled. "I'm going to be in that chair, you'll be at the control panel here," — he pointed to a large metal control panel a few feet from the cage — "and you'll be setting it to a high level, and — "
"What the hell are you thinking?!" I yelled at him. Dad looked over at me, a bit surprised by the curse word escaping my lips.
"We're going to reverse it, remember? It was your idea — "
"Yeah, but my idea didn't have you in the chair! Where's the serum? Why can't we put that in, why do you have to be in the chair? It's not like you have radiation in... Your... Body..." I stop myself.
The answer clicks in my mind. At least it's what I think is the answer. It could be the only reason that Dad is going to sit in the chair.
"Oh my God..." I say, looking at Dad. Tears come in my eyes, and I'm scared to say what it is. "You have the serum injected in you."
Dad's brown eyes look to the ground. He paused, and I couldn't see his facial expression, but he then sighed. "Kerry..."
"Those cells... They were yours... They were your blood cells..." I say as started backing away from him. Oh my God... Oh my God...
"Kerry," Dad says once more, trying to get me to listen. Oh my God... Could I be infected with radiation? What if I am? Have I had it in me my whole life? My heart beats fast, my breath quickens, and I become light headed.
My chest starts to hurt, and so does my head. It almost feels like vertigo, except I'm not throwing up. I grab my shirt tightly, thinking that'll stop the pain. Dad starts saying my name, and tries to calm me down. My vision fades to clear and blurry over and over. Once I start breathing right again, I could see everything clear, and the pain in my chest disappears.
"Keep breathing, you're okay now." Dad pulls me in for a hug, and I start shedding tears once more.
"Am... Am I infected with it?" I ask pulling away from him. Dad shook his head. "But it's contagious, it spreads." Dad shook his head. I then became angry at him, though it couldn't have been his fault. "Yes it does!"
"Kerry, calm down. Just calm down..." Dad says, gently pulling me into one more hug.
I didn't know why I had become so angry. I wanted him to get angry back and I didn't know why. Of course I was irritated that he now tells me he's got radiation sickness, but why did I want a fight? Why did I want to yell and fight?
I finally put my arms around him, and burry my head in his chest. "Are you going to die?"
I had to ask.
Dad shook his head. "No. Even if I tried I couldn't, and... I would never." I nodded with my head still on his chest. I then remembered the late nights when I was seven and younger as he held me in his arms, and rocked slowly on his feet. He used to sing Christmas songs to put me to sleep, and I realized it was because he never knew any lullabies.
"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; oh what fun it is to ride on a one horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle all the way; oh what fun it is to ride on a one horse open sleigh..." He'd tiredly sing to me. Dad was always the one to fall asleep first, but then wake up and remember he had a young ecstatic child to try and put to sleep.
"Okay, Babe, now I need you over here," Dad said with his arm around me, leading me to the big metal control panel. Now, before I strap myself in, I'm going to tell you what you need to do. See all these buttons?" I nodded while wiping my eyes. "Well, they control the time the radiation starts in that box up there." He pointed to a gray box that hung on the ceiling inside of the cage. "I need you to press the yellow button, then the blue one, crank this to 30 seconds, and crank that to 100, and watch. I'll reverse it with the control panel in there." I nodded in understanding.
Dad needed me to also help him cuff himself in the chair. As I stood next to the chair, strapping in his right hand, he said, "Oh, and Kerry," He had looked me straight in the eyes. "Whatever happens, don't come in and help, okay?" I swallowed and nodded one last time. What can that mean? Does he think something so wrong could happen? What if I do have to help?
Just as I finished strapping in his ankles and other hand, I walked to the door to exit the cage. "Hey," I turned around as I stopped in the cage'a doorway. Dad turned his head my way, almost making me laugh since his head was strapped. "Be careful."
He smiled. "'Kay, Babe," I smiled as I closed the door, but Dad gestured towards it, wanting me to lock it. It looked confusing, but I finally got it. It locked and Dad gave me a thumbs up. I couldn't take him seriously with that big strap on his head. The control panel was over his lap in front of him, and his hands were laying lifeless on it. He pointed to my control panel in front of me. As I pointed to the yellow button, he nodded.
I pressed the yellow button, and looked back at him, to see him nodding again. I then pressed the blue one, and turned the first nob to thirty seconds, then the second to one hundred. I looked back at Dad once more. He winked at me, which made me smile.
A noise came out from the cage, just as a gray box lowered itself from the ceiling. The gray box was almost a foot long, and it had a ten inch scope stick out from the front. All of a sudden, Dad's chair tipped back almost all the way, and start to turn. Just to make him laugh, I got up on the platform and jogged around the whole cage, following Dad's chair as it moved. It seemed to be warming up, so it stopped to where I was before. Dad was in a position to where I saw his feet, but then the chair started to move up just a little bit, so I saw a little bit of his face. I saw a green light shine out from the scope, and it seemed to be aiming somewhere around his eyes.
Nothing else was going on in the cage for the few seconds that the green was on. But a blinking red light on the control panel caught my eye. Over the nob to where I cranked it to one hundred, was a small little light. In big white letters, it had the worst word that could be used if this went wrong: DANGER. Dad's words were the only thing on my mind that made me worry.
'Whatever happens, don't come and help, ok?'
Was something about to happen? Did he accidentally set off too much radiation? Had he taken it away yet? Reversed it?
The green light stops shining, but then quickly kicks back up, only going to the left now. "Come on... Do it all ready..." I muttered to myself with gritted teeth. The DANGER light was now blinking rapidly, the control panels rumbled in a bad way, and now loud beeping fills the room. I felt like I was in an army base, and intruders were attacking.
My heart began to pound just as red lights began to flash, and the beeping siren got louder. The headache and short breathes came back, and when it couldn't get worse, the pain in my chest joined in.
I whipped my head around to the cage to see what looked like a scene from The Exorcist. Dad was thrashing around in the chair, slamming his back up and down, and trying to get free. He groaned to what seemed like he was in pain, then he started yelling like he was angry. Dad kept slamming his head up and down on the head rest, until he had broke free of the head strap.
"Oh my God..." I whispered to myself in shock. My feet began to move towards the cage door, and I was soon at Dad's side, helping him get free. As I was unstrapping his left hand first, he started thrashing towards me like he was fighting me off.
He was groaning words that I couldn't understand as he tried to fight me. I had a disadvantage with how long my hair was; tiny strands stuck to my face thanks to the sweat building up as I fought my father. A small section of hair was over my right shoulder, and all of a sudden Dad pulled that section, but instantly let go after I shrieked. He then slammed his fist down on the arm rest, and grunted. His breathing increased heavily, and he started hitting his head on the head rest once more.
"Dad!" I cried, pushing the control panel out of the way to unstrap his other hand. "Are you okay? What's going on? What happened — " Dad gripped my right arm so hard it started to throb. He started groaning again like he was in pain. "Dad! Dad — let go! Dad — " I looked at my father with wide eyes, and dropped jaw. His once brown eyes were a bright, unnatural green, he stared into my eyes so cold I thought he was going to kill me.
"Kerry..." He groaned with his voice cracking. In pain he closed his eyes, and growled up at the ceiling.
"Dad?" My voice was quiet and it shook with fear. He was acting like an animal trapped in a cage that was stuck in the dark.
Dad growled once more, and this time it really sounded like an animal. He grit his teeth, and tightened his grip even tighter on my arm. I tried to pull away from his grip, but after two tries, he pulled me close to his face. His teeth were gritted, and veins in his neck were staring to pop out. Dad's light skin started to turn a light shade of a color I couldn't make out. "Kerry..." He groaned one last time. His now green eyes opened, and with a raspy cracked voice, he whispered, "... Run." He let go of my arm, and I fell back on the glass windows. As I pulled myself back up, I watched as Dad's chest puffed out, having his shirt to rip, and his chest... Green. His skin was starting to turn a light shade of green.
I watched in horror seeing him turn into an animal. His ankles broke free from the cuffs, which surprised me, until I saw that his feet and legs were starting to turn the same shade of green, and they began to grow larger and rip his shoes and pants. "DAD?!" I cried, as I ran to him. I held my arms out, thinking I could hold him down, hoping whatever was happening would stop. As I touched his shoulder, his now large green hand grabbed my right arm once more, and he pushed me back so hard I went flying back into the glass windows. The windows shattered, and I rolled on the floor until stopping in a small pile of glass.
Pain shot up my arm and shoulder, traveling it's way to my back. My head was throbbing with a high level of pain I never knew existed; my back and hips were burning with agony, and I couldn't move for the few seconds as I lay on the floor. Amazingly, no glass had gotten stuck in my skin, to which I gave a thanks to the hoodie I was wearing. I stayed on the ground, in shock and terror. My mind was going rapid fire on what had just happened. It was hard to process that Dad was turning a sickly color, and it frightened me. Dad was different, he was changing into something horrific. It was like he was becoming a crazed animal injected with steroids.
As I gathered the strength I had magically gained, I stood up shakily, gently rubbing my right arm, feeling it bruise already. Turning back around to the white top cage, I gasped. It had started smoking from the inside only, and it was so thick, I couldn't see Dad. "Holy shit..." The sirens cried louder, and the flashing red lights weren't helping at all. "Dad!" I screamed, just before I was about to run. From the inside of the cage, something started sparking, and it didn't look good. "DAD!"
All of a sudden, something broke through the roof, having more sparks and smoke emanate from the cage. The sirens stopped, but the red lights were still flashing. Smoke was starting to fill up the whole room fast. I was breathing heavily into my sweatshirt, with my heart pounding like a million fireworks popping into the sky at once. "Dad?" My voice cracked as I tried to yell. The smoke was covering the whole cage, and I couldn't see anything or anyone inside. I was terrified as I thought once the smoke cleared, a dead body would be in the chair, and I'd be alone. Again. That idea started taking over my mind quickly, which made me shake and start to hyperventilate.
He's not dead... He's not dead...
But then, a shadow appeared in the smoke, a silhouette of a man. "Dad!" I took one step, and heard a low growl from the cage. It sounded like a cross between an animal and human. "Dad?" I called out, slowly stepping towards the cage. I tried my best to dodge large shards of glass and the little ones too. My feet began making not-so-satisfying crunching sounds. This time, an angry grunt came from the cage. The shadow was getting larger, larger than any man I've ever seen. A creaking noise came from the shadow man pushing something out of the way. I took another step forward, hoping that it was Dad, and if he was okay.
Seeing what exited from the cage had me fall back on the ground, in horrific shock. I was backing up, terrified at the scene. He was big, extremely strong, and very green. I didn't know any man who could be as tall as him. The anger in his bright green eyes made me shudder. He looked at me like I was a threat. I carefully scooted back on the small pieces of glass that surrounded me. The creature glared and grit his teeth at me. He was angry and I was terrified. The strength he seemed to have could pound me in the ground, and leave a human outline like the ones in cartoons.
I didn't know where Dad had went. I didn't know what to think. Dad was gone, and this monster was here to replace him. An angry monster with extreme strength, who seemed to want me dead. There had to be a reason Dad was gone, and it had to be that I wasn't looking at him, but the monster that had just taken over him. Dad was the monster.
I was shaking like a leaf on a tree. My heart pounded, and my breath started to quicken once more. The aching in my chest and head returned one last time. I stayed where I was: in the tiny pieces of shattered glass, hoping the monster wouldn't come any closer. I was wrong. As he glared at me, he started charging my way. I screamed so loud my vocal chords started to burn. Even though it could kill me, I ran. I hid behind the big control panels with my back against the cold metal. The green beast roared, having the ground to almost shake. He sounded really angry. Looking over the control panels, I saw that he staggered back, and held onto the cage as support.
He shook his head, then held a hand to it. The monster had Dad's brown curls and facial features. He also had his body structure, but extremely more muscular. His head looked my way, and I could see his eyes narrow at me. Quickly, I ducked and scattered on the ground, moving towards a long brown table that lay next to the wall. I hid under there just in time before the Beast had come over.
He started beating the control panel with his gigantic green fists. Sparks flew, buttons and wires popped out until the panel was no more. I watched, to afraid to move, to speak. As he raised his left fist in the air, I saw no blood. My heart began to hurt as it pounded faster. It's indestructible.
The Beast was still beating the living daylights out of what was left of the control panel. He then took the flattened metal, and angrily flung it across the room, hitting monitors and computers while so. As the Beast was distracted by the sparking of the monitors, I moved out from underneath the table, and stood. The Beast was now tearing apart computers, and flinging tables to his side.
Quietly, I began edging my way to the door. After two steps, my phone rang. Levi was calling me. How did I know this? Because my ringtone for him is American Idiot by Green Day.
The Beast turned his head in the direction of the music. My knees locked, and I couldn't move. He charged at me, roaring like a lion. The ground shook with each step he took, on his way to beat me to a pulp. I screamed as I fell to the ground, and pushed myself against the wall. My arms went over my head, covering the top of my skull. I kept my hands flat on my head where I held onto my grey beanie. The Beast growled and punched the wall that I was up against. The vibration that shook the inside of the wall made me topple over on the ground.
I clenched my eyes tight, having tears well up. I was waiting for the punch to flatten me like a pancake. Nothing happened. I didn't feel my insides rip out from my body, or my bones shatter.
Looking up at the Beast, I saw that he had his hands at his head, and he grunted in anger — at least I think it was anger. He was fumbling over his giant green feet. I saw that he had torn khaki pants on — the same pants Dad had on before all this went to hell. The Beast balanced up on his feet again, then glared at me with his bright, unnatural green eyes. I completely froze in that moment. The Beast had come closer, raising his left arm, getting ready to backhand me.
I was breathing extremely hard, and I began to shiver. My teeth were chattering in fear, and my arms covered more of my head. As the Beast held his hand up, ready to swat at me, I shook my head and a sob escaped. "Don't... Please..." My voice was cracked and dry. The monster's green eyes locked onto mine.
And something happened. He softened a bit. The bulging muscles relaxed, and so did a little bit of the anger on his face. The Beast moved back away from me, grunting, trying to find somewhere else in the room to tear apart. He kept looking back at me, and besides the anger he was filled with, I saw sympathy. When he looked back it was like he was checking up on me, as if we were close. After looking back at me for the third time, I carefully and quietly got to my feet. The door was just ten feet away, and I knew I could make it if I moved fast. With my body up against the wall, I slowly made my way towards the door. I had moved less than two feet when my phone went off. Again.
It was Jax who was now calling me. His ringtone for me is Trouble by Neon Jungle. The Beast's sympathy was then replaced with his full on anger once again. He then charged once more my way. A broken table was lying in his path, but he took care of that by picking it up, and hurling at the wall I had my back to. Luckily, I had jumped out of the way before it made contact with the wall. Right as I hit the ground, I bounced to my feet and made a sprint to the door. The Beast then slammed his fists into the ground, having the floor to shake, and make me trip as I exited out of the room.
I caught myself before hitting the ground. My left shoulder made contact with the white walls of the hallway. I used the wall to push off and run down the hall. My chest was aching like it never had before, and my head was gaining a humongous headache. Breathing was hard to do at the moment, as I kept thinking the Beast was going to run after me. The long white hallway looked as if it would never end. That was until I broke through the grey door at the very end, and found myself in an alley. I was unsteady due to the lack of air reaching my brain. Purple stars danced in front of my face, having me to trip over my own two feet, and land in a huge puddle, that had made my white hoodie not white.
I scrambled out of the huge puddle, and ran onto the sidewalk, where I was about to fall again, until I made it to another alley down the way. A dumpster lay there, and I'm not a big fan of smelly things, but my heart and lungs felt like they were about to give out. I fell on the ground, right next to the side that hid in the alley.
My feet, lungs, and chest ached, but it was my heart that was on fire. I could hear it thumping throughout my line of hearing. It clogged my ear drums with its sound until I could breathe. All of a sudden, everything went black, then light, and finally I could breathe once more.
I was yearning for water, but that wasn't my main problem. The problem was whatever that monster was back in the lab had taken over Dad. He was gone.
Dad is gone.
I didn't want to believe it, but he wasn't there with me in the lab. He was a Beast, and that wasn't the Dad I knew. Dad wouldn't want me dead, but yet the monster didn't kill me. The Beast looked sympathetic as he had looked over to me. Was that Dad? Was that my Dad? A noise like someone kicking a can made me jump and run out of the alley for dear life.
As I ran all the way home, I couldn't help but think that the monster was behind me. I always took quick breaks, scared to think the Beast was around every corner. I kept trying to wake up, maybe this was actually a nightmare, and I got sick by those pizza pockets. But my sweat was real, the monster was real, and my fear was real. The only thing I didn't want to believe was real was that Dad was not gone, but I still felt as if that was the truth.
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( this is gonna be a looooooong chapter 😂)