Dark Explorations Ch. 09-12

Chapter 9

It was uncomfortable to force myself forward in the confined space into the open air. It was a difficult abdominal hold and I scolded myself for ignoring every gym teacher and foster parent for never going to the gym. It seems that Alice continues to be correct and in my vision, not more than thirty meters to my right, was the playground. Despite the dark night, I could easily find Sofia and her opponent. Mulch flew in the air as they traded blows. I watched as Sofia jumped backwards, away from my direction, after dodging an attack by the woman who seemed to be attacking on all fours like a rabid dog.

Sofia had barely touched the ground before she jumped forward at her quadruped opponent who seemed to be caught by surprise by the sudden movement. Her speed was unlike anything I had ever seen. Both moved in flashes that made my vision question its validity from the darkness affecting it. With no doubt though, these two were highly skilled and if either wanted me dead, I would be before I can register the necessity of fleeing. Sofia used her left hand to stab her but she leaned back towards a more advantageous bipedal position for defense. Sofia left herself open though, with the long steel claws, her opponent reached forward and stabbed into her left side, a direct hit into her intestinal region.

I nearly yelled out. It is a natural human reaction to feel shock when seeing a person you know be stabbed. My logical ability luckily came to save me. 'If you yell, her opponent will make you next', it told me. But with Sofia being injured, how can I get to her bike and get a weapon to defend myself. As I was calculating mentally whether I had the athletic ability to jump down, cross twenty meters, jump the fence, grab the gun, all before this rabid creature chased me down and made me next. Doubtlessly this wolf woman would devour my flesh, like the wild animal she behaved like. Alice spoke before I could make a decision.

"D-Don't worry about Sofia. She's not in t-trouble."

I was physically shook by this answer and nearly turned my head towards the phone just to stare at it confused. Blades the length of my fingers just entered Sofia's side and she was currently leaking large amounts of blood on the mulch and I could hear wet sounds as chunks of flesh were cut like scissors on paper. If it were brighter, I probably could have seen thin tubes of intestines slowly falling from Sofia's gut. It was a few seconds before either Sofia or her opponent moved. I was expecting Sofia to scream at any moment. Instead, the sound that escaped her is not something I had expected to hear.

"Uhhhhhh!"

She moaned. The high pitch pornographic sound could only be described as such due to no other appropriate nouns existing in the human language. It felt as though a third of it was a scream purely due to its volume and absurd pitch, a stereotypical feminine sound from an otherwise hard and tough character that was Sofia. Another third was definitely a moan of pleasure, the same sound you hear from a plastic surgery-covered unnatural beauty found in pornography and its overly male-oriented audience's expectations. The final third held that mystery, another note of pleasure but something else which made the noise almost scary to hear.

Sofia looked up from the wound and was now facing the bitch which dared to stab her. She was smiling. Not the sly or amused smiles which I usually saw from her tonight. Instead, it was most similar to the one I saw when I told her I found Roxane. It was unnatural and held this terrifying presence which told you that not all was right in her mind. I was not 100% due to the darkness, but I swear she was blushing a red hue that her pale skin easily let through. I watched dumbstruck the entire time. My mouth was slack jawed and a fly could've easily mistook it for a cave due to how far it dropped. Alice luckily was quick enough to not leave me confused this time. I heard her snicker something unintelligible first though, surely laughing at me.

"Sofia can't feel pain. Her c-contract makes all pain feel like p-pleasure. She might as well be getting f-fucked when she was s-stabbed!"

Oh yeah that makes sense. The fuck do you mean her contract!? What attorney was able to whip up a contract that could make something so obviously impossible happen. Was it the devil she made a deal with? Don't answer that. Actually, please do. I'm confused.

The predatorial creature tried to reel in its hand which was lodged in Sofia's guts, but found herself unable to. Sofia was flexing her unnaturally strong core and was able to hold the blades inside of her. With a sadistic glint in her eye and a masochistic curl to her smile, she pulled back her right hand into a fist. The force which came down on the girl's face must have been equivalent to that of a carcrash. She was sent flying ten meters through the air before landing outside of the soft mulch onto the dark dead dirt. It was a display of strength that I had only ever seen in movies and comics. The girl was punched closer to my location, but she wasn't rising immediately. Foolishly, I assumed that such a strike must have surely killed the bitch.

I pulled myself out the tiny vent and managed to jump down on the ground. The dirt was soft enough to cushion the impact. I looked briefly to my right where both Sofia and her target were. Sofia was walkingly uncomfortably towards the girl who was now trying to stand up. I didn't bother to see whether she could, I simply started running towards the fence. I wasn't holding the flip phone on my shoulder anymore and moved it into my right hand. I had closed it when dropping down. It was difficult to maneuver with it remaining there, so I pocketed it.

Thirty meters is not long. It is roughly the distance of a standard basketball court. A majority of humanity can make that distance in less than ten seconds. My assumption was that I could easily outrun that length and scale the fence before she could begin to pursue, assuming Sofia allowed her to. My start was strong and the dirt lacked any slippery grass or other plants. By the time I was halfway there, I began to hear a panting noise behind me and partly turned my head to see what could be happening. I would assume that she was regaining her strength and was possibly beginning chase or restarting combat with Sofia now that she was injured despite an increased strength that came from the wound thanks to her 'contract'. To either answer, the conclusion would be that I need to stop looking behind me and hurry.

What I was not expecting was to see the white of her eyes. She was mid-lunge with a single claw swiping towards my face. She never left her quadrupedal position and began to chase from it. No human being could move more effectively on all fours as opposed to their two legs. Humanity has spent multiple millenia evolving to optimize this build for the purpose of replacing the animalistic form she had chosen to undertake. Despite this scientific impossibility, this bitch had managed to outrun my full sprint from a prone position while on all fours. She was now less than a foot from my face with a long iron claw about to reach me. For a microsecond, my brain proposed that this was not a human being but instead a tiger which had simply evolved to appear like its prey so that it could more easily hunt. For the purposes of my fate, whether she was a human or tiger was irrelevant to the physical fact of the sharped blade aiming at me.

Right as the bitch was about to make contact, she was suddenly pulled back. Sofia had managed to grab onto her leg and pull her back before she got too close. I saw as her widened pupils narrowed at the realization. She was no longer gonna land her attack cleanly. I never stopped running and with her losing ground she was frozen as I escaped her range. She brought her claw down hoping to do as much as possible before I could leave. I felt it move right past my eye and land on my right cheek. It was not a deep cut and at the moment I was not aware that she had even cut me. I only could thank my luck and Sofia for protecting me.

She landed on the ground and turned around to strike at Sofia. She still held her leg though and managed to force the bitch into an ineffective game of continuously reaching as Sofia forced her away from the fence and me. I finally reached the gate and was able to force myself over. Any previous struggles with fencehopping were suddenly no longer an issue as it became a matter of life and death to scale quickly. I landed on the other side and quickly dashed towards the parked bike and the neutralized car.

Chapter 10

The bike's carrying section was small but loaded with multiple items. Luckily for me, there was a space where two handguns could easily be stored. One was already missing and a few magazines were loosely littered around the space. I grabbed the remaining Glock 19 and loaded the magazine in. I was not inexperienced in the use of firearms. I grew up in West Virginia, a shooting range was a frequent hangout for disreputable youths like myself. That being said, I had never owned my own handgun and always borrowed one and had never shot at another person. Despite that, any misgiving I had towards disobeying the lord's sixth commandment were overwritten by my natural instinct towards survival.

I immediately aimed the gun at the bitch who was still fighting with Sofia. She managed to escape Sofia's grip and was now trying to overwhelm Sofia. Sofia for her part, despite having a humongous wound at her side, was managing to easily stay equal with her opponent. It was clear she was favoring her right side despite feeling no pain, she was still unable to move as comfortably as before due to the blood loss and torn muscle. They were moving too much and with the fence in the way I had no good way of aiming.

It was not a good idea and in retrospect I would not have done it. It was far too dangerous and the consequences which followed were not worth repaying Sofia for saving me. Logically, it would have been better for me to let her die from blood loss while I cut my losses and ran. Sadly, I am not as logical as I wish I could be. When dealing directly with people, maybe I am too emotional. I'll work on that in the future. But now, I hopped the fence again.

I landed with a thud and luckily neither had seemed to notice me, they were too engrossed in their battle. I took a deep breath like my old days at the range. I steadied my shaking body and tried to focus on my target. She was on all fours still but was moving hecticly, it was a difficult shot. The longer I waited, the sooner she'd realize I was now armed and would refocus on me. I had no time to waste. She landed after attempting a jumping slash with her claws and I took my chance. She wouldn't be able to dodge as well after landing, even if she was inhumanly fast.

Bang

The shot caught both of their attention as they faced towards me shocked. I don't think either of them were expecting me to return with a weapon. Sofia was perpendicular to my shot and luckily out of any possible misfire range. I saw in the corner of my eye a smirk from her. The bitch moved as quickly as possible, not to get out of the way, but to block. She raised a singular claw in an upward motion, the same kind which she used to deflect the shots by Sofia. She was fast and I was aware of the likelihood that this could happen. What this did provide us was an opening. Sofia readjusted and moved to stab with her knife. This bitch would have to choose, dodge my shots or stop Sofia's blade.

This tactic may not kill, but it would injure her and we could then capture her. Sofia and Alice's boss wanted Roxane alive to be interrogated. Surely her ally would also be a solid addition. What I had not expected nor even started to consider was the possibility of ricochet. As she raised her claws, the first shot made contact with the steel and subsequently deflected behind her. The odds of the shot hitting anything other than the ground or the hard brick walls of the school were negligible. Negligible was not guaranteed.

"Ah! Fuck!"

A fourth voice entered the fray. Everyone turned to the face behind the fighting at the opened gymnasium door. I recognized it immediately from a few moments prior. Leaning against the gymnasium door clutching her right shoulder was Roxane. She had been carrying her own Glock 19 from earlier which was scattered away from her towards the playground. There was at least a second where no one moved. We all watched as Roxane stumbled backwards after being shot and was looking around in the darkness for where the firearm could've gone. I looked back towards the rapid dog woman and she immediately looked towards me.

Sofia took the opportunity to go for a stab. She lunged towards her but she was able to quickly push backwards on all fours. Sofia was now in between the bitch and I. Roxane seemed to realize her own dangerous position and began back away towards the door. I had no way to know what her own physical strength was. She seemed to be as reliant on her firearms as I was. If our goal is to capture Roxane, then the easiest way would be to attack when she was unarmed. I turned to aim towards Roxane.

The quadruped noticed my movement. She immediately dashed in between us. I fired two shots which she managed to block. Roxane walked back inside and was no longer in my range. It was just this bitch vs Sofia and I. Her eyes darted between us. She was able to fight Sofia but couldn't if I remained. She couldn't attack me if Sofia was still standing. Despite her grievous wound, she showed no signs of slowing down and was even biting her lip from the pleasure coursing through her as bits of her lower intestine threatened to fall out of her. She slowly stood up from the ground. Her wild rapid eyes seemed to return towards a human expression of mild amusement and disgust. I heard her speak for the first time.

"Fine, it's a draw. I'll let you live and leave."

She never turned around as she began to walk backwards towards the door. I looked towards Sofia who didn't move. She held the same insane lust-filled expression as her opponent walked away. Sofia called out.

"Nah Vikky~ You'll be the ones running."

She seemed to coyly say the name, Vikky. Like it was some inside joke between the two killers. Vikky seemed to be annoyed by the name. She didn't speak up though. She turned her upper lip upwards in disgust but opened the door and entered. I finally lowered the gun and let out a breath I had been unknowingly holding since Roxane got shot. Sofia seemed to similarly let out shaky breaths as her shoulders relaxed. She looked towards me with that same insane grin. Her face was red from the pleasure and I looked down at her side to see how much blood was leaking. It completely covered her outfit and didn't seem to stop bleeding anytime soon. I looked back up at her, my shocked expression must have been ridiculous, because she started laughing and held her side as she did, preventing any organs from falling out. I spoke dumbly as I was catching my breath.

"Do we pursue?"

Sofia shook her head and tried to stretch her arms out but stopped as she felt something move in her stomach.

"Nah, they're too far in enemy territory. They're going to steal a car and run. If I chased, I think I'd lose a lot of water weight!"

She laughed at her own joke and I couldn't help but feel mortified as her organs shook. I asked the obvious part next.

"What now?"

Chapter 11

The motorcycle was still as uncomfortable as before, but this time I wasn't able to focus on how close Sofia's body was to mine. In fact, I could only focus on keeping her body in one piece. She luckily had just enough gauze and bandages in her motorcycle's storage compartment to wrap around her waist to cover the wound. Her organs weren't in any immediate danger of spilling out. The bleeding though, there was nothing we could do to stop it.

Right as I began to insist we head to an emergency room, the vibrating flip phone in my pocket cut me off. Sofia and I were sitting by her bike desperately trying to manage her injury. She couldn't feel pain but I was terrified she would eventually pass out from the blood loss. She was definitely already in near fatal amounts. My plan was to call an ambulance if she did pass out. I didn't want to be left a defenseless target if Roxane and Vikky decided to return. I still had the gun and I could use the Bowie knife that Sofia had. The problem was, my ammo was limited and my skills were crap.

When the phone rang, I pulled it out and Sofia snatched it away from me. Her face was still bright red from the pleasure coursing through her. Alice described it as if she was getting fucked constantly by something as big as that wound. I failed to see the pleasure in it but I didn't question mysterious contract logic. Whatever it did, the pleasure it gave Sofia seemed to make her nicer. She was constantly smiling, even if it were a creepy one, and treated me less as a burden or tool but as a friend. Accordingly, as she answered the phone she had this coy attitude that seems to not be able to understand the severity of her wound.

"Heyyy Alice!... yeah they got away. Even gave me this nice scar too! I know... I know... yeah I'll go to Doc. Where is she?... Okayyy!"

Apparently, Alice and Sofia had another 'colleague' who was a doctor and could help Sofia. 'Doc', as Sofia called them, was at an address nearby in Lynchburg in preparation for Sofia getting injured. This was apparently common enough for them to plan around it.

This is how I found myself at the back of the bike. Sofia refused to abandon her bike or let me drive it. She was gonna drive it there despite her condition. I was behind her desperately holding onto her body. Even then I was anxiously holding by her ribcage in case the bandages tore or let some intestines loose. There was likely a trail of blood on the road behind us that we couldn't see due to the night sky. It didn't help that she never changed her driving style and still drove at the same reckless speeds. If a police car had pulled us over, I would have no idea how to explain the situation.

The address provided was not too far. It was a ten minute drive at Sofia's reckless pace. It didn't take long for us to arrive at the front gates. It was surrounded by an early twentieth century style iron gate which had been long rusted. It seemed to be an older building and long abandoned. Its front was like that of an old college building, made of bricks with the entrance having white columns. It was extremely overgrown with Kudzu climbing all the way to its third floor. The gate seemed to have had a lock on it at some point but was now broken and in front of the entrance a white van was parked. The van had a Red Cross on its side, long ago painted on but now fading.

Sofia pulled in without hesitation. I watched as the front double doors opened as we approached. Exiting at a brisk walk was a woman with a more mature tone to her. She wore a very plain and comfortable outfit, a red cardigan over a conservative white undershirt. She had a pair of square wire spectacles on her face and her auburn hair had been tied into a bun. She gave the impression of being a young librarian rather than any significant medical figure. Sofia recognized her and called out with a wave as she slowed down the motorcycle.

"Hey Doc! You won't believe this one!"

We stopped in front of the entrance and she met us there. I quickly hopped off of the bike and out of her way as she immediately grabbed Sofia by the helmet and yanked her off the bike. It was a bit violent and I was worried she'd tear the wound open further, she didn't seem to care and immediately began looking at the wound while yelling at Sofia.

"You can never stay healthy can you? I put you together one day and the very next you try to shove a blender up your anus. Jesus Christ, did you have a fight with a lawnmower? This is going to be hell to stitch!"

Sofia looked over to me with a cheeky grin. She reminded me of a toddler who had been caught stealing candy but had already eaten it all. Both of these people's approach to injury was not something I would ever recommend to mimic. Once the doctor was done analyzing the situation, she grabbed Sofia by the shoulder and began to walk her into the abandoned building. I was never even addressed as they began to walk away. Without much better to do, I followed.

Chapter 12

Sofia was laid down on a metal table. I don't know exactly what use it had at the asylum, but I could imagine the amount of patients who were forced into unnecessary treatments here. Sofia didn't last long. As soon as the Doctor put on surgical gloves and unwrapped her bandages and began to use her odd ensemble of equipment, she passed out. She still breathed slowly and whatever the doctor was doing was working.

I sat on a chair and watched from afar. It felt like being at the dentist's office and watching as the other kids were victimized to the mad scientist. The doctor didn't even seem to notice me as she worked. All I could do was watch as she sowed a pale 'something' over the wound and slowly closed the holes that exposed Sofia's intestines.

It was oddly mesmerizing to watch her work. I had no idea what she was doing and in my entire adult life I had never seen this method of closing wounds. I didn't realize that I was staring. She spoke up after a long moment.

"It's rude to not introduce yourself."

I blinked a few times to center myself. It took me a second to realize she was speaking to me. I had grown used to being ignored as she worked. Her voice was calm and stern and seemed to carry a maturity to it that a young adult like myself would look towards for advice.

"I-i'm sorry."

My voice was comparably weak to hers. This was really my first time to sit down and breathe in a few hours. The setting prevented me from getting any meaningful rest but I still could finally relax. My voice wasn't ready to participate and came out weak and sheltered. I coughed a little bit afterwards and she waited until I finished before speaking again.

"So, who are you? Alice didn't tell me much."

She never stopped her work as she spoke. Her hands moved so smoothly that it was like watching a fluent speaker switch between two languages with ease. I finally managed to answer her original question, a comparably pathetic result to her own dexterity.

"My name is Alan. Alan Anthony."

"Hmm... Alan Anthony."

She spoke the words like a crow inspecting a jewel. The phonemes rolled down her tongue in a hypnotic way that left you uncomfortable only because she made every syllable seem intimate. I shifted in my seat, trying to regain a sense of comfort that she seemed to speak away.

"Tell me Alan, are you some young genius detective?"

I shook my head knowing full well that she could not see my movement.

"Not really, I just make True Crime content online."

This time she shook her head. She didn't look at me and remained focused on Sofia's wounds as she did it. She knew I could see though.

"You're far more talented than some internet talking head. Why are you not using your skills for something useful to society?"

I found myself looking down at the ground. It felt like I was being chastised by a school counselor. I remember being told that it's not good to be so obsessed with such dark subjects. I should do something good with my mind.

"I tried, but I wasn't made for college."

Suddenly I didn't feel like talking anymore. I didn't appreciate this psychoanalysis from the Doctor. I decided to change the subject.

"Well, it's your turn. Introduce yourself."

She paused for a moment. She turned her head just enough to look at me from the corner of her eye. I think this was the first time she had looked at me yet. Her eyes were red. Not bloodshot, but a cold blood red pupil sat in the middle of a snow white sphere. Her stare felt prolonged, but it didn't last more than a few seconds before she turned back around and continued with her work.

"My name is Doctor Maria Marusic. You may call me Doctor Marusic."

I recognized her name. It was my sophomore year of college that I read the news articles. The young Doctor Marusic had been arrested for killing a patient. She worked at a Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem and was part of the hospital's cancer wing. She was found using insulin to poison a patient who had a meltdown at her earlier that day. She supposedly committed suicide while detained. Afterwards, she was tied to thirty-one other sudden deaths in the hospital using similar methods. It was a massive controversy at the time and questions were raised in the state about how people like her could be given medical licenses. Before I could ask for confirmation, she answered my question.

"Yes, I am that Doctor Marusic. No, I did not have sex with the kids. Yes, it was because I simply liked seeing them in pain."

I nodded as she spoke. There was a large amount of conjecture in True Crime forums about her possible motive. She never gained financially from their deaths like other Angels of Death. The two theories were that she was either a Pedophile or she was using the kid's deaths as stress relief for her own personal tragedies. Six kids died the same week her mother died for example. It could be coincidence but many showed possible insulin poisoning after being exhumed and autopsied.

"I thought so. Your history didn't seem to match the requirements in creating a pedophile, from what could be publicly accessed anyway. You did show signs of possible sociopathy though."

Telling a child-killer that she showed clear signs of sociopathy is not something one should ever do. I admit I was caught up in remembering her case and spoke without thinking. Luckily for me, she didn't show any signs of disagreement or dissatisfaction with my statement. She simply continued working.