Morden walked into “The Showers.” It was another underground part of this secret facility. The room was a shower room in a sense. It was meant for cleanup. It was the disposal facility for Morden’s operation. Metal tables, drains on the floors, movable water sprayers hanging on the ceiling and on the walls, and of course the industrial incinerator. This is where all the people who had once been plugged in ended up. The ones who did not survive experimentation were also brought here.
The surgeon, nurse, and various other lab techs and personnel stood along the wall in silence. The twins were brought in and laid on the tables. The doctor, nurse, and others stepped up and calmly went to work. They removed the network components from the twins’ heads and carefully freed the remaining wiring and circuitry from their brains. This was very rare and specialized equipment so anything that could be salvaged and recycled was treated with special care. The twins were then slid into the incinerator. The doctor keyed the start sequence as the rest cleaned the tables. Then they all went back to standing still along the wall. Morden cleared his throat and spoke.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you have all performed admirably and most effectively. It prides me to say I chose you all well for this project. Miss Leah is now fully integrated into the system.”
And pause for dramatic effect. Yes, he actually paused as if he was waiting for these people to applaud.
“The project has reached its final phase. Unfortunately this means we will no longer be requiring your services.”
More than one of those standing in silence had tears running down their faces and were trembling slightly. They knew their end was coming. They just didn’t know the specifics of that end. Morden continued with his monologue. He almost sounded genuinely remorseful.
“I know this is not what you had in mind for your lives but please take some comfort in knowing that you have served the greater good of this country, I suppose, and the good of humanity as a whole. I would rather not have to retire any of you, but the security and secrecy of this project must remain at all costs.”
The men who wheeled Leah into the control room now wheeled in a large silver box resembling a metal coffin. They stood up the box next to Morden and then took their places lined up along the wall. To the creeping, fearful dread they all felt, sheer terror and panic was added. Now they knew the specifics of their end. Death would not come painlessly or quickly for any of them.
“I would also prefer you all to be handled more... gently. But I have a colleague that needs to burn off a lot of steam. A lot. Your sacrifice will help me keep her... sated,” said Morden.
He turned to look at the box and sighed. Its surface was almost polished enough to see a reflection. Morden’s stare at it lingered for a few seconds, almost as if he questioned the necessity of bringing death to these people. But in the end he did what he thought must. Morden opened the box and a very disheveled Daytona stepped out. She had a faraway look in her eyes and her hair was a mess of flyaways and tangles. He gently moved the hair out of her eyes and whispered into her ear.
“You wanted blood. This is my gift to you. Some of them are even the ones you want to hurt. So remember, you can’t say I never did anything for you.”
Morden patted Daytona on her head like she was a pet. Then he took a small roll up pouch from his inside jacket pocket and placed it on the table next to Daytona. It was made of a sturdy plastic and was closed together with Velcro. On the table next to the pouch were a hairbrush and a mirror.
“Make it last. There won’t be any more freebies after this,” he told her.
He walked out of the room and closed and locked the door from the outside. The people along the walls were becoming visibly more distressed. Fighting hard to move, they accomplished little more than mild shaking. He had left Daytona another gift, a little command in the minds of the people in the room.
“Don’t move.”
That command locked their bodies in place. As much as they would try, they would never move again. Not that moving would have helped them. Daytona was too fast and too motivated to be stopped. And there was nowhere to run. Morden released Daytona’s mind when he was at a stairwell. Now free, she stretched her body, slowly savoring the freedom. While she was frozen in place, she was filled with panic and dread. But she never showed any signs of it. She would never show weakness if she could help it. And certainly she would never show weakness in front of her prey.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEWyPLYEVw
Finally, she said to herself.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5avefV8Pq
She picked up the mirror and looked at herself. Frowning, Daytona picked up the hairbrush and in a blur of motion, brought her hair back to its normal straightened shine. She examined the reflection in the mirror, smiled, and blew herself a kiss. Then she tossed the hairbrush and mirror over her shoulders. She looked down and the pouch and excitedly rubbed her hands together. She delicately opened the pouch like she was opening a Christmas present and didn’t want to damage the wrapping paper. Daytona slowly unrolled the pouch for effect, revealing various scalpels and knives within. Daytona admired the selection of polished blades as her eyes lingered on the sharp and shiny metal and she tapped her fingernails on the table.
“Decisions, decisions,” she said aloud.
She picked up a scalpel and examined it closely. In her eyes it sparkled as its edges caught and reflected the lights in the ceiling. This tool was of high quality and she appreciated its weight in her hand. Daytona then strutted slowly to the nurse she had been wanting to brutally murder for two years. Carol Sims was her name. I don’t know anything about the others, but I know a bit about Carol now. It was a few years before Daytona met her that Carol was offered this government job. It had better pay and benefits than anything she had seen as a surgical nurse. She also thought the secrecy meant something fascinating was happening. Morden selected her because she didn’t have any close family or many friends who would miss her. He trapped her mind when she showed up for the job interview.
At first Carol thought she had a migraine coming on and tried to reach for her head. The panic started when she could not speak or move. The dread increased when Morden explained that she no longer had any free will. He tried to soften the blow by assuring her that she was not going to be trafficked. But that did little to make Carol feel better. He sent her home to pack and she found herself on a plane the next day, bound for California. She didn’t even remember leaving the interview. She wanted to say something but found herself acting like nothing was wrong. She made it to her new workplace without a fuss and started her new career. Not long after she started at the facility, she found herself waking up in a hospital bed with bandages around her head, her hair shaved off, and unable to move. It was part of the experiments to “fix” people’s brains with implants and to keep the surgery team in practice. Nothing was inserted into her brain and Carol was spared the frontal lobe alterations. She was just used for practice. It’s something everyone at the facility had undergone at one point or another.
From the start, she fought relentlessly to break free of the control, especially when Morden had her assist with the other surgeries on the staff. Eventually Carol’s spirit was broken and her mind numbed itself to the daily goings on. She hoped one day she would be free and maybe all the pay would help her move on with her life. It’s what she tried to tell herself. That all changed with Daytona. She saw the hate and focus in the girl’s eyes. She knew this girl would end her life. Carol knew she was never going to leave this facility and one day Daytona would make her suffer. Today was that day.
“Hi, beautiful,” Daytona said with a sadistic smile.
She brought her hands up to the nurse’s face and lovingly kissed Carol on the lips. Daytona thought the nurse was actually quite pretty and enjoyed kissing her. She kissed her again, committing to memory the feeling of the soft, warm lips that would soon go cold. Carol shivered in fear and tears streamed from her eyes.
“I am going to get very intimate with your body and take my time getting to know every last bit of you,” she told Carol, tapping the tip of the nurse’s nose with the blunt edge of the scalpel.
Then she traced the tip of the scalpel across the scared woman’s cheek. Daytona slid her free hand around Carol’s waist and pulled the helpless nurse in close.
“I’m going to know you inside and out,” said Daytona.
She nuzzled against Carol’s neck and inhaled deeply through her nose.
“Mmmm,” came loudly from Daytona.
She thought Carol smelled good and her skin was soft.
“I smell your fear,” Daytona whispered tenderly into her ear.
Then she licked the tears from the nurse's cheek and stepped back.
“That tasted lovely. You are just too delicious. I’m definitely saving you for last,” said Daytona, giddy with excitement.
She pulled Carol forward and turned her to face the rest of the soon to be dead medical staff.
“You get to see what I’m going to do to you. It will make the fear even sweeter,” said the sadistic blonde.
In the blink of an eye, and a rush of air, Daytona was at the other end of the room. She grabbed the waistband of one of the male lab techs and pulled him forward. Then she turned him to face Carol. She smiled at Carol and kept eye contact as she began to slowly cut open his scrubs. Daytona acted like she was putting on a show for a lover. When she had stripped him completely, she embraced him, moaned with delight, and gave him a passionate kiss. Then she stepped back to appreciate the lab tech while he was still whole. She almost felt bad for what she was about to do to this guy. She thought that he was “pretty hot.” But Daytona had other needs that required satisfaction.
“You ready for me, baby?” she asked.
He would have begged for his life if he could.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said.
Daytona again stepped up to her first victim and whispered seductively into his ear, “Scream for me.”
The lab tech obeyed her command as Daytona went to work. He screamed as loud as his voice would allow because it was the only thing he was allowed to do. Morden had also placed a command in their heads to make them respond to Daytona’s orders. It was yet another little gift for his top killer. This wasn’t the first time Morden had done this. He periodically gave Daytona this kind of indulgence for jobs well done. Daytona went down the line, every time making sure her next victim was in full view of the terrified nurse. Each was stripped bare before their slaughter. Each kill became sweeter for Daytona as their fear grew with each brutal kill. The murders could have been over in an instant but Daytona wanted to savor the experience of giving Carol Sims a show. When she was done drawing out the deaths of the staff, she would then savor the slow agony of the nurse who applied to the wrong job.
Far down the hall, and up the stairwell, you could hear the screams and cries for help. No help would come. This place was too far removed and too isolated for anyone to notice. And even if they did, they had been commanded not to notice. Daytona dragged out their pain for as long as possible. This was her fun. Her favorite game. Her ultimate pleasure. It’s the only time she would be patient. And with Carol, she slowed down to normal time, taking hours to enjoy herself. This is the monster that was Daytona.
No, I did not see the horror. I refuse to look. But I can hear the screams echo in my mind.
I will not stay in this memory any longer and I’ll never come back to it.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbP9lUTVrH
