Read Online Ann Marie's Asylum (Master and Apprentice Book 1) by Christopher Rankin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Christopher Rankin
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vital signs and brain waves were within the safe limits, so the computer unlocked the latch on the top of the tank. It was strange, she thought, that the only safety feature on the machine trapped Dade inside. She wondered what he was protecting the world from.
He floated up to the top, where Ann Marie climbed the small staircase to meet him. His body was trembling and he mumbled something strange. She couldn’t tell if it was even English.
She draped his soaked right arm over her shoulder. Her legs nearly buckled under the weight of his body. “I got you,” she said as she helped him stumble across the lab to the table. “Don’t worry. I got you.” When he was all the way on the table, she took his grey robe with the corporate logo and laid it over his body to keep him warm.
He closed his eyes and seemed to fall asleep for a few moments. Then he started to mumble again. “I’m bleeding so much,” he whispered. He grabbed at the old scar on his chest over his heart. “Am I dying, Bernard? Did she kill me?”
“Who is Bernard?”
“Did she kill me?” Dade asked in his trance. “What am I, Bernard? Please tell me what I am. What’s happening to me, Bernard?”
“Please be OK, Dade,” she whispered as she reached over to lay her palm on his cheek. “I mean Dr. Harkenrider.” She let her hand rest against his cheek and studied his face. “Is there anything I can do to help you? Just tell me.”
He slowly opened his eyes and saw her standing beside him. “Thank you,” he told her, sounding much more like usual. “It’s nice not to wake up bleeding on the floor for a change.”
“See what good can happen if you just let someone help you,” she said . A beaming smile started to break out on her face. “You were just talking about the strangest things. Do you remember?”
“No. Not at all.”
“You were saying something about bleeding and some guy called ‘Bernard.’ It was really weird.”
“That happens sometimes,” he said, sitting up from the table.
“Now that I’m helping,” she said, as she went across the lab to get him a glass of water, “maybe you can tell me what these experiments are all about.” She sat down in a rolling desk chair across from the table and waited for him to say something.
“Kid, it’s hard to explain.”
“Again, I’m not an idiot. Try.”
“There’s an invisible world around us,” he told her. “In fact, there are many invisible worlds. The drugs are a way to move and communicate between them. These worlds surround us all the time but they’re hidden in the noise. The tank forces your mind to see what the drugs are trying to show you.”
“What’s it like to experience?”
“Depends,” he explained. “Different formulas, different effects and different knowledge. Sometimes it’s exciting and sometimes it’s more horrible than anything you can imagine.”
...
Later that night, when Ann Marie pulled up to the garage of her apartment building, her mom was lugging a bag of trash out to the dumpster. The chore had always belonged to Ann Marie because her mom’s self-diagnosed allergy to trash.
“Taking the trash out for once,” Ann Marie shouted out of the car window. “Is it my birthday again already?”
When the headlights cast a beam over Lori’s face, Ann Marie knew immediately something was wrong. She put the car in park, got out with the engine running and went over to check. Instead of answering, Lori tried even harder to get the trash bag in the dumpster. She attempted to get it swinging and heave it into the bin. Her odd behavior had Ann Marie’s heart beginning to race.
“What the hell is wrong, mom? What are you doing?” She got a good look at her mom’s face in the headlight beams. She didn’t recognize the expression. It looked like tremendous anxiety blended with guilt, like Lori was getting rid of important evidence.
“You worked all day,” She finally answered, almost breathless with her voice
He floated up to the top, where Ann Marie climbed the small staircase to meet him. His body was trembling and he mumbled something strange. She couldn’t tell if it was even English.
She draped his soaked right arm over her shoulder. Her legs nearly buckled under the weight of his body. “I got you,” she said as she helped him stumble across the lab to the table. “Don’t worry. I got you.” When he was all the way on the table, she took his grey robe with the corporate logo and laid it over his body to keep him warm.
He closed his eyes and seemed to fall asleep for a few moments. Then he started to mumble again. “I’m bleeding so much,” he whispered. He grabbed at the old scar on his chest over his heart. “Am I dying, Bernard? Did she kill me?”
“Who is Bernard?”
“Did she kill me?” Dade asked in his trance. “What am I, Bernard? Please tell me what I am. What’s happening to me, Bernard?”
“Please be OK, Dade,” she whispered as she reached over to lay her palm on his cheek. “I mean Dr. Harkenrider.” She let her hand rest against his cheek and studied his face. “Is there anything I can do to help you? Just tell me.”
He slowly opened his eyes and saw her standing beside him. “Thank you,” he told her, sounding much more like usual. “It’s nice not to wake up bleeding on the floor for a change.”
“See what good can happen if you just let someone help you,” she said . A beaming smile started to break out on her face. “You were just talking about the strangest things. Do you remember?”
“No. Not at all.”
“You were saying something about bleeding and some guy called ‘Bernard.’ It was really weird.”
“That happens sometimes,” he said, sitting up from the table.
“Now that I’m helping,” she said, as she went across the lab to get him a glass of water, “maybe you can tell me what these experiments are all about.” She sat down in a rolling desk chair across from the table and waited for him to say something.
“Kid, it’s hard to explain.”
“Again, I’m not an idiot. Try.”
“There’s an invisible world around us,” he told her. “In fact, there are many invisible worlds. The drugs are a way to move and communicate between them. These worlds surround us all the time but they’re hidden in the noise. The tank forces your mind to see what the drugs are trying to show you.”
“What’s it like to experience?”
“Depends,” he explained. “Different formulas, different effects and different knowledge. Sometimes it’s exciting and sometimes it’s more horrible than anything you can imagine.”
...
Later that night, when Ann Marie pulled up to the garage of her apartment building, her mom was lugging a bag of trash out to the dumpster. The chore had always belonged to Ann Marie because her mom’s self-diagnosed allergy to trash.
“Taking the trash out for once,” Ann Marie shouted out of the car window. “Is it my birthday again already?”
When the headlights cast a beam over Lori’s face, Ann Marie knew immediately something was wrong. She put the car in park, got out with the engine running and went over to check. Instead of answering, Lori tried even harder to get the trash bag in the dumpster. She attempted to get it swinging and heave it into the bin. Her odd behavior had Ann Marie’s heart beginning to race.
“What the hell is wrong, mom? What are you doing?” She got a good look at her mom’s face in the headlight beams. She didn’t recognize the expression. It looked like tremendous anxiety blended with guilt, like Lori was getting rid of important evidence.
“You worked all day,” She finally answered, almost breathless with her voice
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