Chapter 53
17 0 1
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

 Adam Hawk stared at Andrew, looking remorseful. Andrew didn’t need his remorse. The very thought that Adam could have stopped the tests made him sick.

“You knew?” It was a statement and a question, and both knew it.

“I tried to tell them that there were other ways of checking your immortality than…” Hawk made a pause, looking sick. “But I kept Erin away from the operational table.”

And that was a comfort for Andrew. Because, Erin didn’t have the luxury of being unconscious, and he would have felt every needle, every cut, every drip of whatever it was that they had dozed Andrew with.

“What did they do?” Andrew needed to know. Because, he needed to see the Office of Supernatural Affairs for what it was.

“They placed you in acid, the first day,” Andrew sucked in a breath. He looked at his skin. It looked fine. “Nothing happened to you. That was the gentlest they were with you.” 

“And what else?” Snapped Andrew. Surely, when they realized that hurting him indirectly didn’t work, they had pulled out the big guns?

“Bullets no longer pierce your skin. Well, silver ones do, but no others,” Andrew didn’t need to ask how Hawk knew that. He could guess.

“And?” Andrew clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them.

“You can still be cut,” Andrew nodded.

“With silver only?” He suggested, and agent Hawk nodded.

“Did they feed me something?” Because, Francesco had kept going out of the house at odd hours. He had always come back tired.

“The agency decided that it was time to get rid of all our necromancers. That got you a week free of testing. They feared that you wouldn’t be able to absorb the souls if they managed to kill you. No one knew for how long you digested them, but your bowel movements were very regular and, so, they took them as an indication,” expect, what he had pooped had been human flesh. Not souls. How stupid could these bastards get?

“And, no one could read your mind,” Andrew’s eyebrows rose. Had Erin been here, aiding the monsters in their attempt to use Andrew? “Agent Hudson was not here. And you will not inform him of what happened.”

“And why is that?” Asked Andrew. Why shouldn’t he tell Erin?

“Because then he will be strapped to an operational table. But he, unlike you, won’t survive it,” Andrew nodded. Of course, they would hold Erin’s life over him. What else could they use? Andrew ran a hand through his hair and exhaled.

“This is a right mess,” said agent Hawk, as if the trash can had broken in the middle of the road. As if Andrew had not been tortured.

“You are a downright bastard, you know that?” Andrew glared, and agent Hawk had the decency to look down at his hands.

“I am sorry,” he finally said. “One of the things that were done to you were attempts to have you infected with other non-human conditions. Vampire blood, werewolf saliva, ghoul blood, wendigo flesh.”

Adam rolled over his sleeve to show a place where the skin was pilled off. It looked an angry red color with just the slightest bit of crust.

“Did they manage to turn me into a bigger monster?” Andrew did not care that Adam had suffered either. He was angry.

“You purged your system of all impurities. Andrew, as your friend, I have to tell you something,” Andrew leaned over so that Adam can whisper in his ear. “Run, boy. Take Erin and Daphne and your millions and run. Fake your death, fake theirs. I will cover for you.”

Andrew chuckled. His chuckles grew in a guttural laugh. It was cute, in a way, for Adam to think that there was a way for Andrew to run. The agency knew he was immortal. Fake his death? They will never fall for it. No, here, as a test subject, he could protect Erin. If he ran, and they were caught, then Erin’s life would be forfeit.

“Adam, as your friend,” mocked Andrew leaning back into his chair. “I have to inform you that I have more than two brain cells to rub together. If they set you up to this…”

“Boy!” Snapped Adam, eyes a cat-like yellow. “This is not a joke. Most of the people we hunt are former agents that were in the same boat as you! If you don’t run, then they will drag you to the labs between cases. But, this time, you will be awake for it.”

“I know,” said Andrew in an even tone. It scared him, but he needed to protect Erin. “But I won’t run. You didn’t run when they tore a chunk off you. I can’t run now, either.”

Adam shook his head and went to retrieve a check from his bag that was on the bed.

“All the necromancers that you were force-fed counted to finished cases. And, you are also paid for the tests,” he was sneering, and the absurdity of the situation was not lost on Andrew, either.

“Good to know,” said Andrew, venom dripping off his tongue.

“When the next scientist comes around, you will be made to undergo more tests,” warned him Adam. Andrew nodded calmly.

“Adam, who is the boss of this freak show?” Asked Andrew. He had always wondered. Was it the President? Or, was it some no name pencil pusher?

“That is above your clearance level,” said Adam, and he handed Andrew the check. Andrew’s eyes widened.

“Just how many did they force down my gullet?” The ten millions stared back at him. They made him feel even more used.

“Most of that is for the tests. Seeing as they wrote you down as a volunteer for the records, you had to be paid extra,” Andrew glared at Adam.

“Your idea?” Adam snorted.

“My idea was to get you out in the swamp in a car trunk and then far away. But, I was caught,” Andrew blinked. Adam had tried to save him? “Why do you think I was the wendigo they took the flesh of? Just another way for them to add salt to the wound.”

Andrew supposed that was true. He folded the check neatly and placed it back on the bed, lacking anywhere else to put it.

“Please make sure Erin gets this,” Andrew nodded his head towards the small slip of paper.

“I will,” said Adam, and he collected it and his things and left. The first scientist for the day came in ten minutes later. With anesthesia and surgical tools.

1