Ascension

Indiana

We lost one more person before all the surgeries were over. Nine dead. It scares me just a little. At dinner Lorelei was showing off the third piece of metal in her skin. It was a small little piece but it was hard to miss.

"If anymore of you becomes metal than we might have to start calling you a robot." I laugh.

Lorelei gives me a look that says she's not amused but I can see she was holding back a grin.

"Thanks," She trailed off.

"My pleasure." I smile.

She rolls her eyes a little at me.

"Hey Lorelei are you sure you are feeling okay? I mean after what has happened to you a bullet wound doesn't matter much but it's still not just a scratch." I tell her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. But what about you, are you doing alright?" She asks me.

My breathing hitched. Did she know about the bug bite in my side? How could she know? I hadn't told anyone.

"I mean with the battle and stuff. It's some pretty traumatic thing to go through." She explained.

I sighed. I wasn't sure if I was ready to have Lorelei know I could very well be dying right now.

"Yeah, I'm doing all right." I tell her.

Even I can tell that she doesn't believe me one bit when I said that. Lorelei looked uneasy.

"I think I need to go now." I tell her.

She nods her head and looks at the ground as I walked away. When she thought I couldn't see her she looked up at me and stared. I had to get away. I could tell my bite was starting to ooze. When I got away from everyone I sighed and slumped against a tree.

I pulled off my shirt and looked at the insect bite. It looked awful. It had began oozing last night and the skin around the bite had turned black. I tenderly placed a finger around the bite and a sharp pain shot up my side.

Then I heard a crack of a branch.

"Who's there?" I ask out into the darkness.

"Indiana is that you?" Elijah asks.

"Elijah please go away right now." There was a wince of pain that I had tried to keep back.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

"I'll be fine." I tell him gritting my teeth.

"Doesn't sound like it." Elijah says jogging towards me.

Elijah rounded the corner and took me in. His eyes went wide when he saw my insect bite.

"Indiana, are you okay?"

I gave up trying to hide it. He has already seen the horrible thing in all its glory so I broke down.

"No I'm not okay. I got bitten by some stupid insect and then it turned black and I'm worried and I'm kind of freaked out." I rant to him.

Elijah stares at the bite. You can tell he is trying not to vomit at the sight of it.

"Have you told anyone?" He asks.

"No." I sighed miserably.

Then it felt like sharp knives tearing into my side. I screamed and then tried in vain to stifle it. I closed my eyes and grit my teeth.

"I'm going to get you medical attention." Elijah told me.

"No Elijah, don't." I called out.

But it was too late, Elijah was gone. I sat on the ground groaning and moaning in pain. Elijah better get back soon or I fear for what might happen next. I doze off delirious from pain. What seems like minutes or quite possibly hours Elijah comes back with the doctor.

I opened my eyes but its getting to blurry for me to focus. I can't even make out Elijah's face in the swarms of colors that flood my eyes. I pass out.

Familiar faces swarm my vision. I feel like I know these people that I'm looking at but I can't put a name to a face. They write words down onto their clipboards and whisper with one another. At first I think I am looking at the Transformed Brights but then I remember that they don't work as humans.

"Who in the heavens are you guys?" I whisper hoarsely.

My voice sounds so different to me. Five heads pop up from the clipboard and they stare at me.

"Ma'am he isn't supposed to be dead yet." One of the "scientists" whisper to the one clearly in charge.

"What is he doing out of the project?" She asks.

"I don't know ma'am."

"Where is the trot overseeing Project Beta?" She demands.

I stared at them in wonder. Where am I and what is Project Beta? A small looking man entered the room.

"What is wrong with my specimen?" The lady asks.

"He got stung by a Reaper."

"What in the hell is a reaper!" She demands.

"It's how we oversee them."

"Why is he still aware?" She thunders.

Then I am injected with a syringe and it all fades to black.

I woke up in a start. I almost punched Elijah in the face.

"Reapers!" I yelled.

"What?" Elijah asked me.

"I was stung by a reaper." I panted.

"Indiana you were delusional. You were dreaming a fever dream." Elijah said calmly.

It didn't feel like I was dreaming a fever dream. It felt so real.

"No you got it all wrong. That wasn't a dream." I tell him.

"Then describe it to me." Elijah told me.

"I was in a-a room with bodies. They looked dead." I stammered.

"What else?"

"I-I don't remember." I tell him in defeat.

Just like a dream that memory of what had happened slipped away from me.

"You had us worried for a while Indiana. You flatlined for three minutes." Elijah told me.

That sounds strange. Usually you can't resuscitate after three minutes.

"The doctor said he had seen nothing like it." Elijah continued.

"What about my insect sting?" I asked him.

"Listen the doctor got some of the venom poisoning your system out so hopefully we can make an anti-venom but you are just going to keep getting sicker." Elijah sighed.

"Oh."

"Yeah."