Haunting of Superior

Chapter 9 (SUICIDE WARNING)

Jamie woke up with a headache the next day. She groaned in annoyance and pressed her palm against her forehead as if she could physically push the pain away. Immediately she noticed that it was a bit too warm, and she wondered if she was sick. Her eyes were as dry as a desert; her cheeks were crusty from tears that had fallen over night. Jamie must have been crying in her sleep which wasn't that surprising. She had been reliving William and Cathy's deaths, her brain reimagning their lifeless bodies bleeding out onto the cold concrete of the Death Room. She stretched her arms, worried about how shaky she felt. Despite knowing she was a bit too hot, she felt cold and brought her blanket closer to her face. It was too thin to her liking, but she would have to make do with it. She stared up at the ceiling, deciding to count the number of dots decorating the tiles. Sleep was not preferable at the moment. She wondered what time it was.

The door to the room opened, and someone came inside. Jack sat down on his bed; he had just come back from a new test. He looked like he was about to be sick.

"What's wrong?" Jamie asked. Her voice was hoarse, and just speaking hurt her throat. She was definitely sick. Great.

"They didn't take them out," Jack whispered. His eyes were unfocused as he retreated into his own private bubble.

How disrespectful! In her anger, Jamie sat up too quickly. Her head throbbed in agony, and she winced, lying back down again.

"Is it really that surprising, though?" she muttered to herself. Her hand clenched her blanket angrily. "He's so sick, I'm shocked he didn't throw them into the trash."

Jack was unresponsive. He was fidgeting something in his pocket, and Jamie looked at it curiously. She didn't say anything, though, since Jack didn't seem to want to talk. Her brother suddenly pointed at the table which was currently empty.

"I saved your breakfast for you," he said. He got up and went to the small drawer in the room. He pulled out a cup of yogurt. Jamie raised an eyebrow upon seeing how tiny it was. Was Antonio trying to starve them again?

Jamie accepted the cup from her brother and put a spoonful into her mouth. It was too liquidy and tasteless. Jamie made a face and wished there was a microwave in their room. Thankfully she wasn't too hungry. Jack had gone back into his own world and was sitting on his bed staring at the blank walls.

Jamie had barely finished her breakfast when the doorknob rattled. In came Antonio looking like he was about to kill the first person he came across. Jamie nervously glanced at Jack, hoping he wasn't going to get tested on again. Then Antonio looked directly at Jamie. Oh, no.

"You. Follow me. Now," Antonio ordered briskly. He went back out of the room, not even checking if Jamie had obeyed him.

Dismayed at the thought of moving while she was sick, Jamie abandoned her precious bed of comfort with great reluctance. She waved a goodbye to Jack, but before she could get out of the door, Jack ran up and hugged her tightly. Jamie wasn't sure why he was hugging her, but she didn't mind. She hugged him back, patting his head like she always did. Jack gave her a half-smile.

"I love you, Jamie," he said, sounding a bit sad. "Please be okay."

Alarm was steadily increasing. Something was wrong. He sounded too sad. Like he had a feeling something bad was going to happen to either of them. Jamie almost considered disobeying Antonio and staying in the room with Jack, but he would definitely kill them for sure if she did that. Instead of showing her concern, Jamie gave Jack one last rub on his head.

"I love you, too, Jack," she said in response. "And I will be okay, so don't worry! I'll be back soon!"

She hurried out of the door, hoping Antonio had suddenly changed his mood to a patient one. Jack stared after her forlornly, tears springing to his. He closed the door and leaned his back against it. A huge sigh escaped him, and he sank to the ground. He reached into his pocket and felt the sharp tip of a thing he had stolen from an employee earlier. It was time to escape.

***

Antonio brought Jamie to his office. Memories of her previous visit here flashed in her mind, and she froze halfway through the door. Taking a deep breath, she told herself she wouldn't die and managed to get enough courage together to go inside. Antonio began to pace around the room instead of sitting down. He was breathing fast; he was definitely angry. Jamie wondered if she should sit down in a chair, but she had a feeling moving without Antonio's permission would be a death sentence. So she waited.

At last he calmed himself enough to be civilized and faced Jamie directly. His eyes were like steel, cold and hard. Jamie instinctively took a step back, bumping into a chair behind her.

"I've been told that William took a great interest in taking things to you and your brother," he began. "Someone has told me that they suspect he was giving messages to you. Is that true?"

Oh, no. Had someone seen William read her note? Jamie's legs started to shake. Her nerves were rising. Antonio didn't blink as he maintained eye contact with her. It was very intimidating, and Jamie glanced at the door.

"Were you conspiraing with William?" Antonio asked harshly.

"I didn't know about the fire," Jamie mumbled nervously.

"But you were still communicating with him?"

"Well why wouldn't I?" Jamie snapped, anger and annoyance rising inside of her. For a second she forgot that this man could have killed instantly, but the accusing note in his voice brought up all of the anger she'd been stifling. "You keep me and my brother locked up as your lab rats and make us fear for our lives everyday! Why wouldn't we want to escape? Why wouldn't we just want to go home and have a life?"

"'Have a life?'" Antonio echoed. "Who cares about your life? I'm actually making it useful, you stupid girl. I'm making the world better." He crossed his arms, looking like an insulted teenager. "But your rebelliousness must be punished." An evil look flashed in his eyes. "I have no use for you or your brother anymore."

Absolute terror came over Jamie. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Adrenaline suddenly pumped into her veins, and her hands and legs shook like something was shocking them. Her heartbeat was too loud, and she felt like she was going to vomit all of her insides out. They couldn't die. She didn't want to die!

Antonio turned the intercom in the building on and requested for multiple people to come to his office as if they were a bunch of students and he was the principal. He was distracted. Jamie looked at the door. She was reckless with fear and darted to the door. It thudded on the wall, and Jamie rushed out of the room as fast as her quivering legs could move. Antonio let out an angry cry, and the sound of someone running came behind her. Jamie sped up, urging her body to move faster. She had to get back to Jack and hide both of them. It was the only way to survive.

She knocked a table over, momentarily stopping Antonio. He skirted around the table, but it had been enough for Jamie to shake him off. As she sprinted down the halls, she heard some of the other employees start to run after her, but she ignored it. They weren't there. She wouldn't get caught.

She reached her room and slammed the door open, relieved that it was unlocked. She shoved it shut with a loud bang and pulled a chair in front of it. The lights were off, but enough light came on from the halls which meant Jamie could properly adjust the chair to block the door handle. She panted in exhaustion, her legs feeling like jelly. Her side's burned, and she took several moments to slow her heartbeat. She sank to the floor and put her head in her hands.

"Jack. We need to get out," she said to her brother, who was still inside. "Get anything you need. We're escaping today."

There was no reply. Nothing moved.

"Jack?" Jamie repeated. When he didn't speak again, she looked over her shoulder at his bed. He was sitting there, but the light from outside didn't reach that far. She couldn't tell if he was asleep or pretending to be asleep. He seemed oddly still. She got up off the floor and walked over to him.

Her foot touched something wet. She drew back immediately. Something was spilled on the floor. Confused, Jamie looked down on the floor, and her blood chilled. There was a tiny drop on the floor, too dark to be water. Jamie laughed nervously.

"Did you spill something, Jack?" He didn't move. "Okay, olay, I guess you're asleep. Well, I'll pack up your things and-" she broke off, watching Jack carefully. He was still motionless. Jamie was starting to get very worried.

Nobody had tried to break through the door yet, so Jamie went over to the light switch. Hopefully the chase had been put off long enough for her and Jack to get out. She flipped the switch and turned around to start packing.

Her heart dropped to her stomach. Her mind went flying in all directions. Her body became numb, and Jamie could no longer hold herself up. A loud gasp, almost verging on a scream, forced its way out of her throat, but she barely heard it.

Jack was not asleep, but he also wasn't awake. His eyes were closed, and Jamie could see a dried tear on his cheek. Blood soaked the area where his heart was, staining his green shirt. A knife was resting in his left hand, and it was covered in blood. The tip was angled at a point to where the blood could drip off onto the floor. Jamie realized through the fog in her mind that blood was what she had stepped in. Something in her was trying to tell her to look away, but she couldn't.

"Jack?" she whispered. It was weak, and she almost expected him to respond. He had to. He couldn't be...

She managed to shakily walk over to her brother. Feeling like she would fall over at any moment, she reached out and took his wrist in her hands. He was still warm. Maybe...?

She found the place where his pulse was supposed to be and waited to feel something, to feel anything. But there was no pulse, her brain told her. There couldn't be one because his heart had been stabbed. Jamie refused to acknowledge it. She sat for an agonizingly long time, forcing herself to wait for some sign of life in her brother.

Soon the reality settled in, and she dropped Jack's wrist. She just stared at his body, not understanding why he was dead. Had Antonio ordered for him to be killed while he talked to Jamie? No, he wouldn't do that. He had mentioned he had planned a way for Jamie and Jack to die. That left two options. Either someone murdered Jack without Antonio's permission or he killed himself. Unfortunately, it was obvious which had happened.

Jamie's eyes blurred as tears rushed out. "Why," she murmured absently. "Why would you do that, Jack?" She turned away, shaking like a scared puppy. "Why?" she repeated, anger fueled by grief rising inside her. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and kicked the table between their beds. She collapsed to the floor and screamed, letting all her fear, sadness, and anger out through the sound.

Her brother was dead. Her little brother, the only family she had left, was dead. She was all alone. She had lost the most important person to her. Her eyes stung and her nose was starting to get runny, but she continued to cry as her whole being was consumed by grief.

***

Nobody came to the door, despite her loud and anguished screams. Jamie absentmindedly stared at the door, half-wishing Antonio or someone else would come storming in to bring her to whatever fate Antonio had wanted to subject her to. She was lying curled up on her bed; her knees were wet with tears. She was breathing too fast, and her body still felt like it was made out of lead. She had turned off the lights a while ago, not wanting to see the lifeless body across from her.

"I want to go home," she whispered to herself, although there was no going home. She didn't know how to get to her house. Were her parents still there, or had they moved out? Were they still searching for Jamie and Jack? More tears sprung to her eyes, and she weakly wiped them away. Her eyes were irritated and bloodshot, and she didn't want them to hurt worse. Her spirit was already too damaged.

The doorknob wiggled, unable to open because of the chair Jamie had put below it. Oh. She had forgotten it was there. The door shook as someone pounded on it. An angry shout came from behind as someone kicked the door. Jamie closed her eyes and buried her face in her sheets, deciding that she wasn't going to deal with whoever was on the other side.

The other person, or people, did not share her resolve. They managed to put enough force into their final push that the chair broke and fell to the ground. The door swung open and banged against the wall, and Antonio and a couple of others stood imposingly in the doorway. Antonio opened his mouth to yell at Jamie when he spotted the corpse on Jack's bed.

"Uuuuuuh." Antonio stared with his jaw dropped for far too long. His face was pale with shock. The normally composed evil scientist was flustered, trying to comprehend this sudden situation. "Um. Tha-that's unexpected." He looked at Jamie, his anger dissolving. "Did you kill him?"

Too tired from grief to be angry, Jamie shook her head. Another set of tears forced it's way out of her irritated eyes, and she turned her head to look at the wall, not wanting those monsters to see her cry.

"What a shame," Antonio said, walking over to the body and giving it a disrespectful budge. "He would have made an excellent meal for Claudia." He examined the wound and picked up the knife in the hand. He drew the tip across his first finger to make a small cut. He watched with morbid fascination as a drop of blood welled up. He wiped it on his pants and nodded to his fellows. "Take the body to Claudia," he ordered. "We can still put him to use."

Upon hearing that, Jamie somehow found the strength to move her body again. She scrambled off the bed and rushed to her brother's body. She pushed in front of Antonio and blocked him from Jack, holding her arms out to make a barrier.

"You're not taking my brother," she snapped. She eyed the knife in Antonio's hand. It was just within grabbing distance.

"Get out of the way, or I'll feed you to Claudia, too," Antonio said flatly. He reached out to grab her arm.

Jamie snatched the knife from his hand before he could touch her and stabbed it into his arm. He yelled in pain and backed away, pulling the knife out of his arm. It's blade was stained with fresh blood which stood out against the dried blood from Jack. Normally if Jamie hurt someone, she would apologize over and over again, but as she watched Antonio grab her bed sheets to wrap his arm, any guilt was swamped by hatred for the man who had taken everything from her.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" one of the minions asked Antonio. Both stayed where they were, not wanting to come near Jamie in fear of getting stabbed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Antonio muttered. He looked at Jamie, but there was no anger on his face. He just looked... amazed. Jamie kept the knife pointing at him. Now that she had successfully hurt him, a voice in her head was telling her to kill him, to avenge her brother. After all, it was Antonio who had made Jack suffer.

"Go away," Jamie said quietly. "Or I'll kill you."

A small smirk formed on Antonio's face. "Try," he dared. Jamie raised an eyebrow. Obviously she wasn't actually going to kill him, but she didn't want him to know that.

"Leave," she snapped. Her voice did not waver, and it was filled with anger.

Antonio pushed his minions away from him, muttering that he was fine. He gave Jamie a last curious look before walking out. His followers scrambled after him, getting as far away from Jamie as possible. Once they were gone, Jamie let the knife drop out of her fingers. She dropped to the floor, starting to cry again.

Nothing would be the same again.

***

And it wasn't. Things suddenly changed drastically after Jack died, but not in the way Jamie thought they would. She had thought Antonio would go through with his idea of feeding Jamie to the poor girl who got turned into a monster. For some reason, though, it never happened. A couple days passed and then a week. At that point Jamie was convinced that Antonio wasn't actually going to kill her as she kept on getting papers to go through. Still, a part of her was tense, waiting for Antonio to barge in one day and drag her off to die.

But after a month, something strange happened. Something Jamie never expected to happen.

She was going through all the burnt and damaged files in the file room, wrinkling her nose at the smell of burnt paper. This was her job after Jack died since there was little new research being done after the fire. Most of their time was spent cleaning that room. She picked up a particularly charred sheet, and it crumbled away in her hands.

"Definitely not salvageable," she muttered, reaching for another one.

A knock sounded in the open doorway. Jamie paused, looking up to see a perplexed woman standing there.

"What?" she grumbled. Jamie had been very hostile towards everyone in the building after her brother died, but fortunately they just ignored her so she wasn't punished for attitude.

"Antonio wants to see you," the woman said. She looked like someone had told her the craziest thing ever. Jamie sighed in annoyance and coughed as the smell of burnt paper hit her like a ball.

She followed the woman reluctantly, wondering if Antonio was going to kill her today. It seemed life was in this never ending cycle of Antonio wanting to see her and her thinking that she would die only to not. When would it end? The woman stopped at a door to one of the labs, giving Jamie a weird look. She gestured inside, non-verbally telling her to go in.

Jamie went inside and stopped, eyes widening in confusion.

The lab was no longer a lab. It was a room. A bed nestled in the left corner; it was covered in pale blue sheets. There was a couch and a TV. There was even a set of drawers. The tile floor had been replaced by a slightly scratch carpet. It was like someone had attempted to make the room comfortable but not too comfortable.

"What the heck?" she whispered to herself, going over to the bed. The cover was a bit rough, but it was better than the one in her cell.

"Ah, there you are, Jamie."

She jumped as Antonio strolled inside the room. He sat down on the couch. It creaked which meant it was a bad couch. Jamie did not like bad couches. They were too noisy.

"What's this for?" Jamie asked him a bit rudely. "Is this your room? So you don't have to leave your precious work?"

"No, it's yours," Antonio corrected.

Jamie blinked and rubbed her ears. Did she hear him correctly? Did he just say that this room was hers? No, that was impossible. Why would he give her a better room? He had never tried to provide any of his kid prisoners with comfort, so why would he start doing that now?

"Th-thanks?" she managed to get out in her shock. She truly was befuddled.

Antonio didn't say anything, only giving a tiny nod before leaving. Jamie understood now why the woman who had gotten her had looked so confused. She was, too. Antonio was the cruelest person on Earth. There had to be some kind of catch to this. Was he making her comfortable only to kill her in the cruelest way possible? She wasn't sure. It was slowly becoming clear that Antonio wasn't going to kill her any time soon. And so she laid down on the bed, knowing that she should sleep but wouldn't because every time she did, she dreamed about Jack. She probably had eye bags, but of course she wouldn't know. She hadn't been around a reflective surface for a while. Eventually though, she did managed to fall into a light, dreamless sleep.

But the room was not the last time Antonio did something absolutely bizarre. Two years passed without much happening, aside from Claudia- was that her name?- escaping and killing two employees. Jamie had never met them; they worked at Antonio's other lab. Their names were Isaiah and Lydia, but she assumed they were like any other employee of Antonio's. It was not very long after their deaths that Antonio surprised everyone in the Canada lab, as they liked to call the building.

He gave Jamie a job. Like an actual job. Jamie couldn't believe it. She stared down at the note in her hand. She was fifteen now and had managed to only slightly recover from Jack's death in those two years. They had passed by in a hazy blur. She had not known what to do with herself during that time, only having unachieveable dreams of burning this place down along with Antonio.

But as she looked down at the note in her hands, a spark lit inside her. This was how she'd get rid of Antonio. This note was confirmation that she wasn't going to die anytime soon, which meant she could sit back and wait. Wait for the moment to stop Antonio. She would learn all she could about his plans, and when the time came, she would bring him down. She would figure out the specifics later.

And so more years went by four or five years, to be specific. She dyed her hair red to remember her brother and the reason why Antonio had to be stopped. She secretly messed with experiments to get them to fail. Then the moment came. She discovered that Alexei, Isaac, and Victoria were still around and trying to defeat Antonio, though they were more active about it. Over the years she had learned that Antonio was planning to turn the whole world into creatures created by the substance he called oscuro. He had managed to find the solution that matched it and spread it all throughout the city he lived in. The kids that had tried to stop him were being held prisoner in the mayor's house.

Jamie was now hurrying down the hall towards that very room, her hand tightly clutching the key to the door. She was moving as fast as she could, aware that time was running out like sand in an hourglass for them. Antonio was never merciful to his prisoners. The mayor's house was empty, silence filling the grand spaces. It was a nice house, with marble tile and soft carpet. It was a shame Antonio was violating it with his mere presence. Jamie's steps slowed as she approached a door to her right. Voices were talking inside. She could tell it was the kids. She stopped in front and put her key in the doorknob. She took a deep breath, knowing they thought she was an enemy. She had had to act like she supported everything Antonio did so he wouldn't catch her and kill her. She twisted the key and opened the door. One of the kids, a girl with black hair, leapt out from behind the door, but Jamie held up a hand to stop her. She calmed herself, feeling her nerves spark with fear inside of her.

"Calm down," she said to the girl. "My name is Jamie, and I'm here to get you out of here."