Greenly continued, “I want to show everyone something. We will worry about the cleanup afterward. Let’s go to my lab.”
Everyone stood except for Albert. Greenly started for the door, and one by one all of his angels followed. Kyle and Albert were the only two left in the room.
“Do you see that?” Albert asked.
“I saw something.”
“That’s how it’s been since he got here. They follow him, do anything he asks.”
“Why aren’t you doing the same thing?”
“I don’t know. I remember when he first arrived that he talked to everyone. He talked in such a way that it was like he was putting them in a trance. Like hypnosis.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he did it to me, too.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The door to the cafeteria opened and Ignacio’s head poked out. “Doctor Greenly is waiting for jou two. Les go. Vamanos.”
“I’ll be right there, Ignacio,” Albert said as the door closed and Ignacio disappeared.
“What happened?” Kyle said quickly as he knew their time was scarce.
“Nothing. I don’t know, I felt fine, but everyone else was just doing whatever he asked. How do you think he became the leader here?”
“Strange. What’s the thing with the whiteboard?” Kyle pointed behind Albert.
“Countdown.”
“Countdown to what?”
Albert shrugged. “Now do you see why we have to get the fuck out of here?”
“That’s another thing. Why would he just let me go so quickly?”
“Are you really that stupid?” Albert asked raising his voice. “He’s not going to let you go anywhere. He’s going to do that hypnosis shit the second you are alone with him. Why do you think I’m always around you two? He won’t do it unless you’re alone.”
“This just gets crazier every day,” Kyle said under his breath. “I just want to get to fucking California.”
“I’ll help you get there. But we have to leave tonight.”
“What about the Existing Dead?”
“I know as much about them as Greenly. Not the scientific shit, but I’ve been around them for a long time and survived.”
“Okay, we have to take Victor with us.”
“Forget about him.”
“No!” Kyle yelled.
The door opened again, this time it was Carter.
“Um … homos,” he said and smiled. “Hurry up you lovers, Greenly is getting impatient.”
Albert and Kyle looked at each other and began walking for the door.
“Good little fairies,” Carter added.
Without warning, Albert grabbed hold of Carter’s throat and dug his uncut nails into his Adam’s apple. “I am your superior. You show me respect. Don’t forget it.”
Carter turned red and forced out a quick, “Okay, okay, sorry!”
Albert let him go. Carter instantly grabbed his throat and fell into a coughing fit. Albert and Kyle walked out of the cafeteria as Carter composed himself.
The three of them walked the short distance to Greenly’s lab. The room was filled with people. Doctor Greenly stood next to a medical table with one of the Existing Dead strapped to it.
“I believe we are all here now,” he said. “This specimen is one of the more advanced creatures. For this experiment, we will call him, Frank. Destroying the brain no longer incapacitates him. Once the brain is destroyed, the cause overrides the nervous system and creates a small boil somewhere on the body. Why? I do not know, but what I do know is that once the boil is destroyed a pink substance is extracted from the body and the creature is no longer active. As you can see by the hole in Frank’s head, his brain has been destroyed and the boil can be seen here.” He pointed to the creature’s stomach. “It has been there for twenty four hours. Now watch this.” Greenly took a scalpel and cut the boil in half. The Existing Dead didn’t move, or even seem bothered by Greenly’s presence. No pink matter spewed from the wound.
“We know all of this,” Albert said.
“Yes, Albert but as you can see, we have someone in our group who is very intrigued.”
They all looked at Kyle.
Greenly continued, “What has happened here is that the cause found another way to cheat death. The heart has been resurrected and is now continuing its duties as it did in life. The heart is no longer pumping blood through Frank’s veins, but it is pumping the pink matter through the body. I believe this is what is keeping it active. Now this is all theory with minimal facts, but I suppose that since the brain had been previously destroyed, that we cannot see the cause’s full potential. I can only imagine what the cause would be capable of if it was inside a living host. Of course that would be a paradox, as the body must expire first, then be resurrected.
“Moving forward, once the creature has reached this state of being, simply destroying the heart will bring it down, hopefully for the final time.”
Kyle thought back to when he was escorted to The Embassy, the way the trio moved. How some of them needed to be shot through the heart, while others were shot through the head, then searched for the boil. He then remembered how most of them stayed out of the sunlight. Kyle spoke up. “What about the sunlight? Why do some avoid it while others don’t?”
“I believe it to be a phobia. They have many. For instance, the mustard plants. They didn’t want to be around the plants. I found out this morning that mustard plants no longer has the same effect as it once did. Perhaps they realized how silly that was. I have discovered one more very interesting thing. I learned this only a few hours ago. Let’s stand back.”
The group moved away from the Existing Dead strapped to the table. It didn’t move when Greenly began to undo its restraints.
“What are you doing?” Albert said reaching for the gun holstered at his side.
“Don’t worry, Albert. I know what I’m doing.”
Doctor Greenly removed the final restraint. The Existing Dead did nothing. It remained as still as a statue. It made no attempt to grab Doctor Greenly. It wasn’t until Kyle coughed that the creature sprang to life. It turned its head and looked at Kyle. Rolling off the table, the Existing Dead stood on its bare feet and slowly started for Kyle. Again, Frank made no attempt to attack Doctor Greenly despite him being within arm’s reach. Albert drew his pistol and held it firm in his hands. The group scattered like cockroaches, while Kyle remained still. His eyes locked onto the creature as it opened its mouth, revealing two very small fang-like teeth.
“What the fuck?” Kyle cursed.
When the creature was halfway to Kyle, Doctor Greenly took a mirror sitting facedown on the counter and held it in front of the creature. It only took half a second before the creature realized what it was looking at—its own reflection. Frank quickly recoiled and squinted as though the image were reflecting sunlight. Doctor Greenly walked closer to the creature as it backed into a corner. The doctor laughed as everyone in the room gasped.
“That’s something we haven’t seen before,” Albert said lowering his weapon.
“They don’t seem to like their reflection,” Greenly said.
Kyle walked closer to Frank. It snarled at him, but then recoiled as Greenly shoved the mirror in its face again. “No,” he said.
Kyle’s heart raced. The pieces were starting to fall into place. No one wanted to say what they thought, but Kyle wasn’t scared to admit it. Destroying the heart, sunlight, fangs, and now their reflections. “Vampires.”