Wild Witness

“Please don’t, I can’t take it again I can’t-” Molly gagged as her mouth was stuffed with the rubber grip and she was forced to bite down or suffer smashed teeth and gums as she had on previous occasions. Oh God it could not be happening again. She had been so good, not mentioned Callum or May in days, been attentive in therapy...tears of frustrated rage smarted her eyes and she willed them away. Nurse Granger shushed her and put a calloused hand to her forehead, a poor imitation of maternal kindness.

“Molly, it’s not a punishment, it’s a cure. Hush child, don’t fight it.”

Molly shook her head viciously and tried to kick out with her feet, since her arms were already being strapped down. Her ankle connected with a thick arm and she felt a hand clutch it before slamming it downwards with enough force to crack something inside her bare foot. The pain streaked up her leg and she tried to cry out but her tongue couldn’t move because of the rubber shoved between her teeth. Terror swamped her then, as she dimly heard the nurses argue above her, so many voices and hands tying her down. Helplessness spread through her, a vast weariness seeping into her bones as struggling became harder and harder against the restraints. She tried to catch a pair of eyes as faces passed above her head but they refused to make eye contact as they busied themselves with strapping her to the metal gurney she had woken upon. The antiseptic scent of the room was now tainted with traces of sweat and perfume as those present exerted themselves to subdue her.

Cool air scoured her skin as the hospital gown she despised was tugged aside to reveal her chest and she twisted her head away, hopelessness clogging her throat. Rough hands attached the electrodes to her skin, and she tensed as the gown was dragged up her thighs and the cold metallic discs attached to her legs just below her hips. Shame burned her, horror at the invasion churning in her stomach as fingers brushed her underwear. No, no, no, pounded through her head like a drum beat that threatened to burst through her skull. The hand got smacked away by another, and the arguing began again, but the words were indecipherable to her through the fog of panic and pain she was immersed in.

“She’ll never turn unless we trigger it.” The bubble about her burst and the words hit her hard like bullets.

“You keep your hands to yourself Clayton, or I will report you to the Committee.”

“If it works do you really think they’ll care? It’s been nearly four years. We need to up our game here, amp up the emotional stress levels, see if-”

“What you are talking about is abuse and torture. As long as I’m in charge of these sessions we do things right and I suggest you prepare for a disciplinary hearing.” Molly could feel the hostility in the room, it crackled along her exposed flesh, and she thrummed with warning. This wasn’t good. Each session was becoming a battle of wills and Clayton had started in on her between sessions, when Granger wasn’t around to prevent his cruelty. Maybe he was torturing her in the name of science, hoping to lay the groundwork for an emotional response. Molly was pretty certain he was just a grade a bastard.

“Granger, don’t be a bleeding heart. You know they are cutting funding for us, we need to push this, get some bloody results.” Hands were pressing on her shins, and Molly wondered if Clayton even realised he was leaning on a body not a table.

“Enough Clayton, if you want to propose new methods then do it through the correct channels, now is not the time.” Granger was annoyed but kept her composure. Molly twitched as the machine was switched on, sending a low level current through the attached wires. God it burned.

She would die here, she realised. They didn’t believe her to be human anymore, they were convinced she would turn, despite her protestations. Despite the fact that every attempt to cause her to turn had failed. How else could she explain the boy they demanded? How had she survived birthing a monster if not a monster herself? The Alliance would not let her go, she was their only link to him now. Thinking of her son caused her heart to race and her throat to ache, the longing she felt for him and for her sister, too much to bear. Better not to think of them at all.

“Christ almighty woman, you know our jobs are on the line. I’m not missing an opportunity we get barely once a month to get results.” Clayton was not backing down and the rest of the staff were getting anxious, and backing away from the gurney.

“Try to touch her inappropriately again and I will throw you out of this room.” Nurse Granger’s hands were still on Molly’s chest, as if getting ready to shield her from attack and Molly felt a wave of resentful gratitude toward the woman. Something was wrong, Clayton was more bullish in his demands and his tone was far too confident.

“She’s an animal Granger, and everyone here but you seems to know it and be willing to do what is necessary to prove it.”

Molly struggled harder, as the thick threat of violence permeated the air, and her skin rippled in response. She felt like she was about to gag, panic causing her automatic breathing through her nose to falter, and she had to concentrate on breathing just to make her body do the bare minimum to stay alive.

Nurse Granger didn’t back down, and for the first time in a long time, Molly felt a wave of grudging affection toward another creature. The steel haired, matronly Nurse had been a constant symbol of her entrapment, being the face she saw every single day, yet now, she was a secure presence in an unstable environment and Molly clung to that stern force.

“I’m going to allow you all to think very carefully about what you decide to do next in this room, because there will be consequences, one way or another.” Nurse Granger’s voice did not waver, nor did she tremble as Clayton leaned in, across Molly’s torso.

“That’s what we are counting on you soft bat.” Molly was screaming internally now, bucking against the restraints because this was beyond bad, this was as bad as it could get.

The first orderly to attack Nurse Granger, from behind, plunged a needle right into her neck. Molly watched the flash of the syringe arc through the air above her in horror. Granger lashed out and in one last defiant act sprawled forwards onto Molly and covered her body with her own. The weight of her frame landed square on Molly’s rib cage and the protective gesture was as dangerous to Molly’s health as the intentions of the staff hoping to turn her by force.

The room descended into chaos as the orderlies tried to drag the dead weight of Nurse Granger from Molly, and Clayton barked at them to hurry up, his hands gripping Molly’s shins in a vice-like manner. What did he intend to do? Fear consumed her as her head filled with violent images and horrifying thoughts of all Clayton could finally get away with now Granger was not in charge.

She tried to calm herself, talk herself down from the edge as her heart raced and sweat soaked her. She had to survive this. Had to. He was out there, Callum and May were both out there somewhere and she was going to see them again, she couldn’t die and leave them alone. Someone flipped the switch and lightning streaked through her veins, scorching her from within. Her body launched off the gurney, Granger still half draped over her chest.

Of-course you’ll see your son again, don’t you trust me Molly? Agent Kage’s voice drifted through her head like a ghost and pain bubbled up at the memory of his face, and his betrayal.

She closed her eyes and began to sing inside her head, unable to hum due to the plastic gag she was biting down on. Moon River, the song she and May had sung when they were small and awestruck by Showboat, desperate for a moment of calm in the mayhem of life with their father. Perhaps surviving him was why she had survived in this place Molly thought, the song ending abruptly, derailed by fear and sadness. Accept this, she told herself, as Clayton and his team finally removed Granger’s body. Accept it and survive it and move on.

“Increase the voltage, that bitch never set it above 8.” Clayton’s voice was decisive and cold, and a slither of something primal snaked down Molly’s spine as she heard him take charge. The gurney shook, as someone clambered up and over her again- now his face was directly over hers, and his pale features twisted into something truly ugly as the next surge of power shocked her limbs and raced along her veins.

“You aren’t getting out of here until I’ve dragged your monster from you, howling like the dog you are.”

Molly shuddered, holding tight to that core within her that she wouldn’t let them touch.

Couldn’t let them touch.

It was in that moment, that she felt her heart begin to ring like a church bell being peeled, reverberating heat through her entire frame.

Callum was here. Her son was somewhere in this facility.

Clayton swore as he watched her eyes flash with the power she had hidden for almost four years.

“Shit.”