Chapter 57: Laura [2]
Come on people I had thought we would reach the 200 mark today but sadly that doesn't seem feasible.
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Niklaus walked into the room where Laura sat, her small frame alert, yet unsure.
Though she didn't give the same adverse reaction she gave Ashley as she probably remembered my smell.
She had been through hell and back, and now, after waking up in a world so foreign to her, she looked more like a cornered animal than a young girl.
He paused for a moment, watching her.
She was a perfect specimen—designed to be a weapon, but still very much human.
Much more than him at times it seems.
Niklaus stepped forward and extended his hand.
"Hello there," he said calmly, trying to appear non-threatening.
"I'm Niklaus. Nice to meet you."
Laura, sitting at the edge of the bed, stared at his hand, tilting her head in confusion, much like a curious, but wary animal.
Her brow furrowed, clearly not understanding the gesture.
The way she moved her head resembled a cat trying to decipher something unfamiliar.
Niklaus let out a small sigh and smiled slightly, realizing she had no idea what a handshake was.
He kept his voice gentle as he explained, "This is how people greet each other. You shake my hand, like this..." He extended his arm again, but didn't push her.
"It means we're on the same side. Friends."
Laura blinked, her eyes still filled with suspicion.
She looked at his hand again, processing his words.
After a moment, she tentatively lifted her hand and placed it in his, though not with much confidence and whispered a small " Friends "
It was stiff, awkward, and unsure.
Niklaus closed his hand around hers gently.
"There you go. No need to be afraid. You're safe."
Niklaus realized that Laura, despite her abilities and strength, was a product of her environment—cold, brutal, and lacking basic human experiences.
Her eyes darted around the room, as though she were still caged in some invisible prison.
It was clear she had never been taught the simplest things, the smallest nuances of what it meant to live normally.
He found it almost amusing.
Someone so lethal, yet so unaware of the most basic aspects of the world.
"You're probably not used to... normal life, are you?" Niklaus asked, watching her carefully.
Laura gave a small shake of her head, her gaze sharp but confused, as if unsure whether to trust what he was saying.
"Alright then," Niklaus said, a smile creeping onto his face. "Let's start with the basics."
Over the next few hours, he began to show her the things most people took for granted.
How to use everyday items, like a toothbrush or a microwave.
He showed her how to open a door without instinctively expecting it to be locked, how to ask for something instead of taking it, and how to use utensils properly when eating.
At first, Laura's reactions were guarded.
She watched him closely, her movements cautious, like an animal.
But over time, her wariness gave way to curiosity.
She would mimic his actions, slowly picking up on things that once seemed foreign to her.
Niklaus would laugh when she awkwardly fumbled with something like turning on a TV remote, finding her sharp focus on such mundane tasks surprisingly endearing.
"What is this?" Laura asked , holding a spoon as if it were some alien tool.
Niklaus grinned. "It's a spoon. You use it to eat things like soup, or cereal." He demonstrated, scooping imaginary food into his mouth.
"You don't have to stab everything with a fork."
Laura blinked, watching him with a mix of confusion and intrigue before mimicking his actions.
She held the spoon awkwardly at first, but slowly, she started to understand.
"See? Not everything is a weapon," Niklaus chuckled, shaking his head. "Although I'm sure you could make that one lethal if you tried."
The girl said nothing, but there was a spark of understanding in her eyes.
As the hours went by, Niklaus found himself growing more attached to his new pupil.
Teaching Laura the most basic parts of life became something of an amusement for him, a break from the usual.
But it was more than that—he felt a strange sense of responsibility toward her, like he was guiding someone through their first steps out of the dark.
It kinda felt good.
After one day passed
The next evening, as Laura was practicing how to open a jar, her frustration visible on her face, Niklaus leaned back and crossed his arms, watching her.
"You know," he said with a smirk, "you're doing pretty well. You might even pass for a regular kid soon."
Laura finally managed to pop the lid off the jar, her brows furrowing in concentration.
She looked at Niklaus, her expression still blank, but there was something softer in her demeanor.
"I'm not a kid", She said in a monotonic tone.
"What's next?" she asked.
Though Niklaus could only disappoint her as he shook his head and said
"I can't do much today anymore, but we'll see some great things tomorrow"
---
The next morning, Niklaus decided it was time to show Laura more of the outside world.
He could tell that despite the progress she had made indoors, she still didn't fully grasp what life outside a lab could be.
She had spent her life in cold, sterile rooms, never seeing the real world for what it was.
So, after breakfast, he took her to Central Park.
As they stepped into the park, Laura's eyes widened, her default guarded expression giving way to something entirely new—wonder.
Her gaze darted from the tall trees to the bright sky, the sprawling grass, and the people walking their dogs or jogging along the pathways.
It was as if she couldn't take it all in fast enough.
She walked slowly at first, her head tilting in that same curious way she had when she first met Niklaus, her eyes scanning everything like a wild animal in an unfamiliar habitat.
But instead of fear, there was something childlike in the way she moved now—hesitant yet excited, trying to understand the vastness of what she was seeing.
Niklaus walked beside her, keeping a watchful eye. "It's called Central Park," he explained, though he wasn't sure how much she would understand.
"People come here to relax, to get away from the noise of the city."
Laura blinked completely ignoring his words , her gaze fixated on the grass. "It's... soft," she muttered, crouching down to run her fingers through the blades of grass, as if she had never touched anything like it before.
"Yeah," Niklaus smiled. "Not like concrete or metal, huh?"
She nodded her head, her eyes still wide as she looked around.
There was a small fountain nearby, and she slowly made her way toward it, watching the water spout up and fall back down with fascination.
Her fingers brushed the surface of the water, and she smiled—an actual smile, not the tense expression of someone on alert.
"Do people... live here?" she asked, her voice small but filled with curiosity.
"No, not here," Niklaus said, watching her with amusement and sympathy.
"But they come here to feel... free. To enjoy life."
Laura stood up, staring at the families walking by, kids laughing as they played catch or rode their bikes.
It was a world she had never imagined existed.
She seemed to take it all in, her eyes lingering on each person she passed, trying to remember them.
As they continued walking, Laura spoke more, though still in short sentences.
"Why do people laugh?" she asked at one point, watching a group of children giggling as they chased after a ball.
"Because they're happy," Niklaus explained, chuckling a little.
"Sometimes, when you're having fun, it just happens."
She nodded slowly, still processing the idea of happiness. "Fun..." she repeated, as though the word itself was foreign to her.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Laura started asking questions, not just about the park but about everything.
She asked why the sky was blue, why the leaves were green, why people walked their dogs, and why some people sat on benches instead of running around.
Her voice was still soft, her sentences brief, but the more they walked, the more frequently she spoke.
The rigid, quiet girl who barely said a word when they first met was now becoming someone else—someone curious, someone alive at a rapid pace.
At one point, they passed by a small pond, and Laura paused, watching the ducks swimming lazily across the surface.
"They're free," she said quietly, almost to herself.
There was a hint of longing in her voice, as if she were still trying to understand what that freedom meant, both for the ducks and for herself.
Niklaus watched her, sensing the transformation that was slowly taking place.
He knew she had a long way to go, but seeing her take these small steps into the world was something remarkable to him.
She was learning, growing, and in her own way, she was healing.
"Come on," he said, nodding toward the path ahead. "There's a lot more to see."
Laura glanced back at the ducks one more time before following him, her curiosity now guiding her steps more than her caution.
She was beginning to understand that the world outside her cage was much bigger, and maybe, just maybe, there was a place in it for her.
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