Page 38 of Master B-1901
“I let her in, and then what?”
“The Main Master will talk with you about this.”
“I can barely understand you. Relax your mouth.”
“I will call Elec.”
Braddock quickly snatched the phone from the counter where I’d set it down.
“He’s busy. Later. Right now, you have to tell me what you know. You said your mind isn’t the same. Did she make you forget too? Did she…What the hell did she do to us? You have to tell me.I have to know what’s happening!I thought it was me.I thought I was feeling like this because of the episode, but she caused it, didn’t she?Allison.”
Walking around the counter, my hands came out to hold the underside of his forearms.
“The Main Master will?—”
“Slave.”
“Listen to me!” At my explosive yell, we both stopped in surprise. I eased the tension in my jaw, gripping to him tighter. “Master, please. If I can tell you anything, it’s that as long as you put your trust in what I say, you’re okay. Believe my words. You’re okay now.”
“I’m not okay. Ally, I’m not. This…thinginside of me. This fuckingurge to hurt you,it grows. It won’t stop. I need.” His head shook. “I’m losing my mind. I feel like I will if I don’t?—"
“If you don’t what? Hurt me? Kill me?”
For a long moment he didn’t speak. My eyes went down as I began to go over what I could remember from the episode. Knocking had both of us looking towards the door.
“That has to be Nineteen.”
I gripped him tighter. “I’ll answer. Not you.Never you. It could kill us both. Do you understand?”
There was hesitation but he nodded. I let go, heading for the door at a fast pace. When I saw Nineteen through the peephole, I reached over, opening the barrier.
“You both ready?”
My Master’s stride was fast and determined. There was something alive behind his eyes that I hadn’t witnessed even in his worst moments of the episode. This was something more. Something far more dangerous than a muted, instinctual drive. What led him was consciously aware of what it wanted, and death was on the menu. Death…was coming.
Master B-1901
What was real? What was implanted? Was I even here right now, walking through some underground science lab, down a dim hall, into…this?
The room I was led inside had to have been the entire size of my first apartment. Cement walls led to cement floors, and there was a drain centered just below a nude, older male who was hanging from the ceiling and yelling into a black gag. With every thrash of his body, he swayed. Antiseptic lingered, making my nose crinkle as I headed forward.
“Can we bring him down and set him free?”
“No, Master. I’m sorry. He has to stay cuffed.”
The door shut behind me, but I barely heard as I approached the man. Not far away a file rested on a cart. On that cart was multiple weapons. More than I knew what to do with. I grabbed the manilla folder, opening it to see a colored photo. To the right and underneath it was the man’s information.
“Crow,” I breathed out, glancing over the typed stats. In truth, I didn’t need to know anything to kill him. I’d do thatbecause I wanted to face death where I could remember. I wanted to bleed out my own aggression any way I could, even if it was through carnage. But I took my time, reading, and adding fuel to the fire that was immersed within.
Melissa. Melissa.
Even saying her name in my head made me feel disoriented. I felt nauseous. Sick. Was it a side effect from a truth my brain refused to let me grasp completely? Was it a symptom of something more?
“Mmmph! Mmmmpph!”
I glanced up at the angry undertone, taking in his balding head on the top and the longer brown length on the sides. He sported a thicker mustache but there was a light growth on his cheeks indicating he’d been away from a razor for at least a day or two. Some random tattoos covered his skin. Nothing fancy. A few faded names. A cross. Something that looked like a logo I wasn’t familiar with. Although I saw it, I only saw her. I wanted her to hurt. To be destroyed.
“Mmph! Mph!”