Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“I don’t know.” The answer pops free, compelled from me like pumping water from a well.
He frowns, the white-gray skin around his eyes crinkling ever so slightly before reverting to perfection. “That’s an odd answer. Let’s see if we can’t get a better one.” His tone is almost friendly now.
I scream as he presses the knife into my stomach. Skin and tissue, the intestines beneath—he cuts through them with no effort.
He smiles, his fangs lengthening at the scent of my blood. “Don’t worry, Georgia. I’m a professional. I know how to bleed you without hitting any major organs. I’m a doctor just like you.” He pushes the blade deeper. “You see?” he calls over my wail. “I have all the training. But I need you to be forthcoming. It’s the only way this little office visit can be productive. You will tell me what I want to know.” The compulsion hits me harder, twisting through my brain like a tangle of snakes.
I fight against my restraints, the white-hot pain of the knife searing into my consciousness.
“Did you witness Theo Dragonis’s death?” he asks again.
“I don’t know.”
He twists the knife, smiling as he does it, smiling even bigger as I scream and scream and scream.
4
Recovered Journal of Dr. Georgia Clark
January 4, Year 1, Emergence Era
The world is changing. DC seems so far away, but Juno has made it possible, and with it, a whole new way to fight the plague. New lab. New chance at finding the answer. But it also means working with her new political partners. I don’t trust them, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why she seems to.
“Wake up, bitch,” someone hisses.
I groan and open my eyes. My throat is dry and scratchy. I try to ask where I am, but no sound comes out.
“Move!” Someone shoves at my side.
I scream as pain cuts through me, and I fall, landing hard on a floor.
“Oh my god, if you don’t shut up I’m going to strangle you with my bare hands!”
I roll onto my back and stare upward at a dark ceiling.
Someone peers down at me over the edge of a mattress. “Do you want them to come for you?”
“Who?” I croak.
“Idiot.” The dark eyes disappear.
I breathe in, past the pain, past the confusion. I’m alive. I have to start there.
The room is dark, but there’s enough light for me to get a decent look around. My neck hurts when I turn, so I just scan with my eyes. It’s a bedroom, the walls paneled in wood, the ceiling high. I’m lying halfway on a rug.
“Where am I?” My throat feels like I’ve been gargling glass.
The person doesn’t answer.
I lie there for several minutes, just breathing and trying to adjust to whatever the hell this is. It’s not the cell. I hold onto that thought. In the cell, I was dead. Here, maybe … Maybe I’ll live a little longer.
“Hello?”
“Shut—in the most direct of terms—the fuck up.” The bed shakes and settles.
I reach across my body and feel my left arm. It’s in a splint, the limb immobilized and wrapped neatly. I feel along my ribs. They ache, the soreness going so deep I gasp and settle back down.
“I didn’t agree to this.” The voice comes again. “I don’t want you here. You should be dead with all the rest of them.”
The bed shifts again.
“What?”
“Oh, shut up.” The eyes appear above me again. This time I notice dark hair cut short and pale skin.
“Are you one of them?” I whisper.
“Not yet.” He mumbles against the mattress.
“Please tell me where I am.”
The dark eyes roll. “I heard about you. You’re smart. Isn’t that right? A doctor or some shit. If you’re such a genius, figure it the fuck out.”
“Somewhere with the vampires?”
The eyes roll again.
“Do you know where the others are? The people from the White House. J-Juno?” I ask.
He snorts. “Dead. All dead.”
All the air rushes from my lungs. It’s as if he’s punched me, my entire being rocking back on its heels. “No.”
“Yes. High Lord Dragonis wiped out most of them.” He folds his arms beneath his head and rests his chin there. “Then his Specter finished the job. He’s quite thorough,” he smiles admiringly.
“Juno?” I ask again.
“I heard you came from the Black Cavern.” He ignores my question, his eyes smirking. “I’m sure you noticed the bodies, right? What do you think happened to Juno Clark?”
My eyes water.
“Serves her right, when you think about it. I mean, I know she was your sister and all, but she wasn’t a friend to her own kind. Then again, I hate humans, so I’m cool with it.” He shrugs.
“What?” I wipe at my tears and wince. My face is bruised, and I notice two of my fingers are splinted. “You aren’t human?”
“Oh, I didn’t say that. I just said I hate them.” He sighs. “I was waiting for the plague to kill them all, but now, the timetable is moved up. Good news for me.”