Of Monsters and Humanity: The Genesis

Chapter 53 - Xander

Twelve days before....

One shock. I groaned.

Two shocks. I screamed out.

Three shocks. I threw up.

Four shocks.

Terra.

My world came back to how it was before the Pit renovations. Terra wasn't allowed to come back with me to the facility, and I didn't think that she left the guest bedroom. I would have rather ripped my own heart out than see her face after I said what I did. But I had to keep convincing myself that it was real, that I meant all of that and Terra was nothing to me.

Terra was nothing to me.

Terra was nothing to me.

Terra worked for Project X and she meant nothing to me.

She was an intern, working for Dr. Balcom. She meant nothing to me.

When they threw me back in the Pit, I was still shivering and shaking. My body laid on a smooth floor, and the lights seemed to be brighter than before. They had a blue tint, so different to the tint of the sun. The real sun. I found myself thinking of the sun and of the earth under my feet. I missed the trees and the fresh air. I missed windows and how easily accessible they were at Terra's house.

I missed Terra.

I woke up to burning.

I jumped up and looked around, scrambling around the sudden flaming thing eating away at my skin. I violently groaned and rubbed my eyes, the liquid fire touching my eyeballs. They were just burning sockets in my skull. I could feel blood start to drip from my nose as the liquid fire covered my body. Yelling out, I stumbled to the ground.

They turned on the acid in the Sprayers without even telling me.

I was still weak from the tests yesterday and in that moment I couldn't see. My eyes felt like they were melting out of my skull. All I could smell was acid as the liquid collected at the bottom of the Pit and started to fill up the room.

I tried my best to close my pores until it was over, but there was already acid in my body and the fire didn't stop until hours later when the acid drained. I was in complete agony. All I wanted to do was scream but I couldn't open my mouth under feet of acid. I couldn't see and shortly my senses started to cut off, so I waited. And waited. And waited.

I could feel again.

The water started falling from the Sprayers, and, like liquid heaven, the droplets hit my body and started to wash away the acid.

I dared to open my eyes. The surface under my face was a mixture of acid and water over a smooth grey floor. I watched as the water continued to fall and hit my back, trickling down my sides and washing the acid away under my face. I respired heavily, my lungs almost bursting from having been held for so long. The smell of acid was starting to dissipate. I took as much control over my pores as possible and dumped the acid out. I sighed out in relief, the contents of them dumping out onto the floor. I reached around my body and scratched my skin, the remaining acid slightly nipping at my skin. Oh, gods, the heaven.

I arched my back and faced the Sprayers. The white-blue-hued light helped me see the metal nozzles far above me, and how they were dripping down pure water. Nothing else. I opened my mouth and outstretched my arms. The water was slightly warm, which sort of stung my skin, but I healed quickly from the damage done by the acid.