章節 22: Ripping the Bandaid Off
It was eight in the evening. Stella was asleep on the couch. Jonas was laying in her lap fast asleep as well. Lucas sat on the other end of the couch. He had his knuckles pressed against his cheek. He was evaluating strategies to convince Janice that he was human.
Lucas almost began chuckling at the absurdity of his predicament. A blatant monster such as him trying to gaslight a biologist into thinking he was human.
Lucas squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't come up with anything good. When he opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of wings. The angel was standing in the middle of the room.
Lucas gasped. He jerked his head toward Stella and Jonas. Stella was a sleep, but Jonas had woken up by the sound of Lucas' gasp. Jonas stared at Lucas who was halfway off the couch. The angel was right there, completely exposed to Jonas. He was sure he would start wailing and Stella would wake up. Lucas would be exposed for the monster he is.
But Jonas didn't react. Lucas tried to get the angel to move. He tried pushing it, but his hands would go right through it as if it were not there.
Jonas began to smile and laugh. Lucas was confused. Why wasn't he scared? Perhaps he couldn't see it?
Lucas walked around the creature. Jonas followed Lucas with his eyes, not acknowledging its presence in the slightest. To Jonas, Lucas was just acting silly. Trying to move something that wasn't there.
Lucas was relieved. This was an interesting revelation.
(Lucas: "Follow me.")
He whispered to the angel, hoping it would somehow listen to him and understand his order. Lucas walked out of the entrance and closed the door softly. The angel walked right through the door, phasing through it in a ghostly manner. It was listening!
Lucas walked out of the housing district and into the labyrinth of hallways, the angel following right behind him. Lucas was ecstatic.
He threw his fist in the air. Typically, the angel would never listen to Lucas. Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Parts of the ceiling fell down right in front of Lucas. He looked up and saw a hole. He turned toward the angel.
(Lucas: "Why the hell did you do that?")
The angel had no answer. Lucas stared at the hole. That's when he finally realized something. It was so obvious. He threw a punch at another wall. A hole was subsequently opened with an invisible impact. Lucas grinned with pleasant surprise. He had a weapon. He thought it was just a creature that lumbered around in his general vicinity. If anything went wrong, he could use his angel. It was his failsafe.
Lucas made his way toward the lab. He was coming for her, Janice just knew it. She was staring blankly at the camera feed. She hadn't the slightest trace of fear or panic. She was calm.
From her point of view, she saw Lucas punch the air, and a hole would open in the walls. Her belief was confirmed. Lucas wasn't human, and he was coming to kill her. This would warrant some sort of reaction from her, but despite the foreboding circumstances, she didn't tremble.
Minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Janice approached it. She took her card, and put it to the terminal. Just beyond the fringe was a monster standing there. It was ready to kill her. The door opened slowly. Lucas stood there. They made eye contact.
Janice anticipated her death. She was ready to be punctured through the chest, but her death never came. Instead, Lucas spoke.
(Lucas: "Can we talk?")
Janice held the door open. She was standing there with one hand on the door and another on her hip. She exhaled.
(Janice: "Sure.")
She allowed Lucas to walk in. He walked slowly. He didn't know if what he was about to do was going to work.
He sat down at a desk adjacent to hers. He intertwined his hands. She sat down at her chair and turned toward him. She placed one leg over another and covered her stomach with her arms.
Lucas was nervous. If he said the wrong thing and she did something irrational, he'd have to use his failsafe. He didn't want to do that.
(Lucas: "Look, earlier, you and I both know I wasn't telling the truth.")
Janice crossed her arms.
(Lucas: "I'm sure you already know I'm not from California. I'm from Missouri. I didn't lie because of some nefarious scheme I was pulling. It's just… the truth was too suspicious for anyone to believe. Especially for you. I was somehow transported from Missouri to California. All I knew is that I was walking around outside my Unit, and then I was suddenly in the middle of a desert. It was actually the Pacific Ocean. I found my way to California. It was hard out there. Being near the coast is ruthless. You have all sorts of cities, which are where so many apostles are. It was a fight to survive everyday.")
Janice didn't seem convinced. She leaned forward.
(Janice: "Let me ask you a couple questions. If you are Missouri, how did you get 'transported' to California?")
(Lucas: "I have no idea. I don't remember a lot from that long ago. At some point, a lot of my memory disappeared.")
(Janice: "Do you remember how you survived those cities. Surely you must've had a source of food and water, right?")
(Lucas: "I don't remember.")
(Janice: "That's quite convenient, isn't it?")
(Lucas: "I get it, it's suspicious, that's why I lied about it. But you have to believe me.")
(Janice: "Did you have a weapon to defend yourself?")
(Lucas: "At some point I had a gun. A pistol. I don't know what happened to it, but I mostly used my knife.")
(Janice: "A knife? You survived the cities with just a knife?")
(Lucas: "Yes.")
(Janice: "Lucas, frankly, I find that hard to believe.")
This wasn't going well. She wasn't buying it. Lucas scratched his head. He brushed his blond hair with his hand, sweeping it to the left side of his head.
(Lucas: "I don't know what to tell you. That's the truth.")
(Janice: "Why are you telling me all this?")
(Lucas: "I don't know… I just… felt bad for lying I guess. I'm not a good liar, I think I've made that pretty obvious. I just wanted to rip the bandaid off and get this over with. That was the truth, what I told you.")
(Janice: "You wanted to rip the bandaid off?")
Lucas nodded. Janice rolled her chair forward, stopping inches away from Lucas. She grabbed Lucas' arm and pulled it forward. She inspected the pit of his arm. Right where she had taken his blood. There was no bandaid. There was no mark where she and implanted the needle. It was all gone. There was no evidence she had ever even taken his blood.
They both looked up at each other. Lucas' mouth was ajar. It was at this moment that he knew; he had been caught, once and for all.
Janice swiftly reached into her back pocket at plunges a knew needle into his arm. She injected a strange fluid into him.
Lucas jumped up and out of the seat. The needle was still in his arm. He felt dizzy.
(Lucas: "What did you do?!")
His throat was being constricted. He couldn't breathe. Foam began to form around his mouth. He was suffocating. He wrapped his hands around his throat and got on one knee, before falling on his side. He kicked his legs, trying to get away from Janice. She emerged before him, towering above. Lucas took one arm and made a fist. He pathetically thrusted his hand forward. He didn't know where the angel was. His failsafe wasn't working.
He whimpered on the floor. Janice was the last thing he saw before his consciousness slipped away from him.
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