Read Online Bloody Kisses by Virginia Nelson, Saranna DeWylde, Rebecca Royce, Alyssa Breck, Ripley Proserpina - Free Book Online
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was a rage in his unseeing eyes, something dark and unholy.
Fear knotted around her, and she found herself frozen to the spot.
This, what they’d made, it was wrong. “The phenobarbital,” she began.
“You have to understand, we need to study these specimens in real time. I thought you understood that now.”
“Goddamn it, Polidori.”
“I thought we agreed I didn’t need to read you any more nursey rhymes? Now, please. Do as I’ve asked. This one is stronger than we anticipated, and the manacles won’t hold him long.”
She pressed her lips together and looked between the escape and Polidori. “I won’t leave you alone with him.”
“Oh, my dear, I’m dead. He can’t hurt me. But you… he could hurt you very much. He’s obviously venomous, but I don’t know if he’s infectious. I don’t believe that’s how you imagined the end of your day.”
He was right. She did as he asked, trying not to think about what else he hadn’t told her or what other horrors awaited them. Elizabeth could do that later. Right now, she needed to get herself to safety, to the room beyond this containment unit.
They’d known what they’d done, what was going to happen. It was why the transport team had left so quickly. They’d dropped their parcels and evacuated the island like it was…
She got herself on the other side and, as soon as she was secure, Polidori released the thing.
He broke through the manacles as if they were nothing more than paper.
Jesus, it was strong. She wondered if the containment unit would be able to hold him. She ran back over all the exit routes from the installation, the safe houses and hiding places they’d shown her on the tour.
This was all supposed to be worst case scenario, something that happened due to forces beyond their control—not something they’d engineered on purpose.
She cringed at her own naiveté. Had she ever really believed such a thing? Deep down in the dark places of her heart where only truth could breathe?
No.
Now was the time for protocol.
She watched as it ignored Polidori, as if he was inconsequential to the thing. It followed in her steps, like a dog sniffing out her trail, and tracked her to the door. It dropped to all fours and licked the floor, venom and spittle pooling at the corners of its mouth. It gnawed on the doorframe with those horrible nightmare teeth. Not getting the result it wanted, it lifted its nose to the air, scenting.
Polidori eased his way around the room, edging toward the door. Waiting for it to explore some other avenue.
It seemed like hours they stood there, frozen. In reality, she knew it had only been seconds. Her fingernails had cut half-moon wounds into her palms and, when Polidori moved toward the exit, she held her breath.
His fingerprint opened the door and suddenly, the creature turned its head and darted for him, moving faster than she thought possible.
Her idea of what a reanimated corpse could do had been shaped by Hollywood, and this was a thousand times more awful. It seemed as if he was more sentient than she would’ve thought, with deductive reasoning.
The idea of a mindless hungry automaton was terrible, but put human cunning behind it with only a primal need to feed, and the possibilities were the stuff of nightmares.
It knew she was there. It still had no interest in Polidori, only that his fingerprint could open the door.
John made it into the decontamination sally port and, after he’d been rendered safe, he stepped through to the observation room where she waited.
With dawning horror, she watched as the creature put his finger up to the door as Polidori had, mimicking his actions to open the door. He splayed one hand on the window while he pressed the buttons with his other.
“He’s trying to talk!” John exclaimed.
Elizabeth fumbled with the controls on the comm and set it to record. This would all be transmitted back to the Bureau 7 mainframe for study and observation.
Proof, really.
His
Fear knotted around her, and she found herself frozen to the spot.
This, what they’d made, it was wrong. “The phenobarbital,” she began.
“You have to understand, we need to study these specimens in real time. I thought you understood that now.”
“Goddamn it, Polidori.”
“I thought we agreed I didn’t need to read you any more nursey rhymes? Now, please. Do as I’ve asked. This one is stronger than we anticipated, and the manacles won’t hold him long.”
She pressed her lips together and looked between the escape and Polidori. “I won’t leave you alone with him.”
“Oh, my dear, I’m dead. He can’t hurt me. But you… he could hurt you very much. He’s obviously venomous, but I don’t know if he’s infectious. I don’t believe that’s how you imagined the end of your day.”
He was right. She did as he asked, trying not to think about what else he hadn’t told her or what other horrors awaited them. Elizabeth could do that later. Right now, she needed to get herself to safety, to the room beyond this containment unit.
They’d known what they’d done, what was going to happen. It was why the transport team had left so quickly. They’d dropped their parcels and evacuated the island like it was…
She got herself on the other side and, as soon as she was secure, Polidori released the thing.
He broke through the manacles as if they were nothing more than paper.
Jesus, it was strong. She wondered if the containment unit would be able to hold him. She ran back over all the exit routes from the installation, the safe houses and hiding places they’d shown her on the tour.
This was all supposed to be worst case scenario, something that happened due to forces beyond their control—not something they’d engineered on purpose.
She cringed at her own naiveté. Had she ever really believed such a thing? Deep down in the dark places of her heart where only truth could breathe?
No.
Now was the time for protocol.
She watched as it ignored Polidori, as if he was inconsequential to the thing. It followed in her steps, like a dog sniffing out her trail, and tracked her to the door. It dropped to all fours and licked the floor, venom and spittle pooling at the corners of its mouth. It gnawed on the doorframe with those horrible nightmare teeth. Not getting the result it wanted, it lifted its nose to the air, scenting.
Polidori eased his way around the room, edging toward the door. Waiting for it to explore some other avenue.
It seemed like hours they stood there, frozen. In reality, she knew it had only been seconds. Her fingernails had cut half-moon wounds into her palms and, when Polidori moved toward the exit, she held her breath.
His fingerprint opened the door and suddenly, the creature turned its head and darted for him, moving faster than she thought possible.
Her idea of what a reanimated corpse could do had been shaped by Hollywood, and this was a thousand times more awful. It seemed as if he was more sentient than she would’ve thought, with deductive reasoning.
The idea of a mindless hungry automaton was terrible, but put human cunning behind it with only a primal need to feed, and the possibilities were the stuff of nightmares.
It knew she was there. It still had no interest in Polidori, only that his fingerprint could open the door.
John made it into the decontamination sally port and, after he’d been rendered safe, he stepped through to the observation room where she waited.
With dawning horror, she watched as the creature put his finger up to the door as Polidori had, mimicking his actions to open the door. He splayed one hand on the window while he pressed the buttons with his other.
“He’s trying to talk!” John exclaimed.
Elizabeth fumbled with the controls on the comm and set it to record. This would all be transmitted back to the Bureau 7 mainframe for study and observation.
Proof, really.
His
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