Reawakened
#1 of Demi-Gods
The soft drone of computers filled the room, the occasional beep of a monitor breaking the otherwise peaceful hum. The door opened silently, gliding over the inset rails smoothly. The woman's high heels clicked against the cold floor as she entered, walking confidently to her chair at the main control console, glancing over at the only desk in the room, she scowled at the thing. It was of fine dark mahogany, and was where her companion in this project worked, when he came in.
She walked over to it, pulling the cushy leather desk chair out and frowning at the gym bag resting on the seat. He had come in earlier, before she had arrived, maybe even after she had left yesterday, and gotten changed in here, again. She despised him for it, hated how he just took over everything, and then left it an apparent mess, just like his desk. The woman shuffled through the papers scattered over the mahogany surface, unable to not smell the faint scent of the wood. Shivering she stared down at a scratch mark in the wood, where she had broken a nail while they had made love, on this very desk, in this very room, in front of him.
She smiled, dropping the papers and turning away from the desk, walking to the safety glass window, a figure floating serenely in the liquid behind it. She pressed up against the glass, sighing at the slightly warm feeling that emanated through. Trailing a finger down, she looked into the tank, trying to pick out the features she had become so familiar with over the eight years she had been caring for this child. She felt a tear run down her face; this wasn't just any child to her anymore. This was her child. A beautiful child. A child capable of saving the human race, or destroying it. And because of this, he had to be kept under careful watch. At least, this is what she believed.
But she didn't mind, she would remain here forever if she could, stay here close to him. A beep sounded in the background, making her open her eyes in surprise. It sounded again, then a third time, suddenly trilling at irregular intervals as she raced towards the console. Scrambling around it, she stared at the monitor, a window having popped up while she was pressed against the glass.
"No," she whispered, looking up to see the figure move, its arm rising slowly as it pulled back, curling its hand into a fist. She watched the liquid just ahead of the fist swirl, before the child swung its arm around weakly, tapping against the glass, which shook violently.
"Stop! Please, stop!" the woman shouted, racing towards the window as more alarms sounded, screens popping up on the main console, warning signs flashing across them.
The figure pulled its arm back again, the liquid seeming to swirl more violently as it swung at the glass once more, sending unnaturally powerful vibrations through the window. The woman slammed herself against it, pressing her body hard against the still warm glass.
"Stop it!" She screamed, staring at the glinting eyes, the eyes she had never seen clearly, the eyes hidden behind the air mask and helmet. "They'll kill you if you get out!"
The figure seemed to pause, crouched in the tank as it drew its fist back for another strike. Its head cocked to the side slightly, as if in confusion.
"Please," the female scientist sobbed, "I don't want you to die! Please, don't try to escape!"
The figure seemed to stare at her, then shook its head, pulling back its fist almost apologetically. The woman pressed herself tightly against the glass as the water just in front of the child's, her child's, fist swirled, forming into a spinning ball of energy. The fist slammed into the glass, the twisting orb just ahead of it sending powerful shockwaves through it, and through the scientist. She gasped, falling back as the vibrations pulsed through her body, making her moan loudly, though from pain or pleasure she could not tell.
"Main tank breach. Warning. Main tank break." An alarm said calmly, surprising the scientist.
"What, but the tank is fine! There aren't any..." the sound of cracking, then dripping cut her off. Turning slowly, she watched in amazement as the seals along the edges of the glass broke, the water pouring out and flooding the floor, pushing her back against the far wall. The figure stepped out of the tank, over the piece of glass, towards the mahogany desk, where it slid back the chair and picked up the gym bag. Turning to face the scientist, he undid the clasp of the oxygen mask, pulling the helmet off his head and dropping next to him. The woman stared at his face in amazement, her eyes filling with fresh tears as she stared at him.
"Thank you," she gasped, breaking down into loud, wrenching sobs, "Thank you for showing me your face!"
Samantha walked up the stairs slowly, as she always did when she had to wait for her mother in this damned office building. Sighing, she leant over the fire escape stairwell's handrail, checking how many more floors there were till she reached the roof. Smiling when she saw only three more landings, she prepared to launch herself up them.
The door just ahead of her creaked suddenly, which was weird, considering it was made of solid metal with only a small reinforced glass window in it. What was weirder was that it suddenly buckled, ripping off its hinges as a boy leapt against it, launching himself upwards as it hit the banister mere centimetres ahead of Samantha.
The sounds of people shouting suddenly filled her ears as guards piled out of the gaping doorway, one of them shouting at Samantha.
"What?" she asked, staring at the man in astonishment.
"Where did he go?" he shouted again, "Up or down?"
"Down," Samantha lied automatically, surprising herself as the guards raced down the stairs, some even jumping over the railings to the lower landings.
Samantha turned around as they shouted out to each other, running straight up to the roof.
Emilia Cartwel sat nervously in the antique chair, staring out of the window over the immaculately tidy antique desk. The man was standing just to the side of it, also looking out the window, though much more relaxed than Emilia.
"So, how's my favourite niece?" the man asked, turning suddenly, and sitting in his high backed executive chair.
"She's doing well, still getting excellent marks in all her subjects. She's such a dear to have around the house as well, always tidying up and so on." Emilia smiled, thinking of her daughter.
"Good to hear. And how's that brother of mine?" the man continued, his tone dropping.
"Brad's still fine, also. He has made some interesting finds these past few months." Emilia cringed at the look on his face as she said her husband's name, unconsciously defending him, "He said, he said that this last batch of samples he sent should help further your research greatly, maybe even complete some of your projects!"
"And that they have, my dear, that they have. He is lucky, you know? Having such a beautiful and well raised daughter, and such a loyal wife, who would defend his honour even when it is not needed." Emilia started as he said this, making him laugh, "Do not get me wrong, my dear. I do not like my brother. Not in the slightest. But I do respect him greatly, for both being such an excellent father and husband, and such an excellent scientist."
"I...thank you," Emilia stammered, surprised at his humble tone.
"Now, where, may I ask, is Samantha?" he asked, picking up the desk phone almost before it rang.
"Probably on the roof. She likes the view from up there."
Samantha was on the roof. But she wasn't looking at the view.
The boy stood half a foot taller than her, at about six foot three, she guessed, and looked about eighteen years old. His thick, dark brown hair was scruffy, sticking out a weird angles as if it had been dried hastily, and his clothes were slightly too large for him, the faded jeans, held up with a fancy silk tie, hanging over his ankles, and his bare feet sticking out almost comically from beneath the hems. He wore a black suit shirt, which hung open, showing off his lightly muscled chest and stomach, a series of small scars criss-crossing all over them. He was surprisingly handsome, with his strangely intense hazel brown eyes. Samantha stared in amazement at the long grey tail that swayed slowly behind him, the four foot long appendage gently lashing at the air.
The boy stared straight back at her, making her wonder what he was thinking about her. She knew what he could see, a five foot nine, sixteen year old girl, with her mother's long dark brown hair and build, and her father's inquisitive green eyes and good looks. Samantha watched the strange boy watching her, thoughts running through her head as she tried to decipher his mystery.
"What's your name?" she asked, thinking she might as well start somewhere, "Mine's Samantha."
"Name?" the boy stared at her, blinking and tilting his head slightly, replying carefully, as if he wasn't too sure of his answer, "Epsi...no, Grey."
"Well, nice to meet you Grey. I wonder if you wouldn't mind telling me why you're here." She smiled, skipping up to him and turning on her cute girl face, watching him with interest as he stared at her blankly.
"I...I suppose you could say I work here. Or used to, at least." He said, turning away, a look of anger flashing across his otherwise expressionless face.
"Oh, what did you do?" Samantha stared at him intensely, wondering what he was talking about, "I mean, you don't look older than seventeen, maybe eighteen, so what could you be doing here?"
"I am... I was...involved in Project Epsilon." Grey replied, hesitating as he spoke.
"Epsilon? What happened to Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta?" Samantha joked, turning away from him and looking out at the view of the city.
"I do not know, I've only met them once before."
"What?" Samantha spun around and stared at Grey, who was now staring at the open door, voices echoing up the stairwell.
"All we have to do is fetch the President's niece, what could be easier?" one of the voices said, a chuckle echoing up through the open door.
"Oh, probably just a couple of my uncle's body guards coming to fetch me." Samantha sighed, turning back to Grey, shouting in horror when she saw him, "What the hell are you doing?! Get away from there!"
Grey was climbing onto the edge of the building as Samantha grabbed is arm, pulling him back onto the roof, making him look at her in surprise. "I need to leave, they cannot find me here."
"Too late, boyo." A sinister voice cackled, making both teens turn to look at the pair who had emerged from the stairwell. The man who had spoken was smiling evilly, his gun pointed straight at Grey, while his comrade was aiming at Samantha. Both were wearing janitor uniforms, and their pistols had silencers attached; "Now then, little girl, you and your boyfriend are coming with us, or we may just have to shoot you where you stand."
Grey jumped onto the ledge, grabbing Samantha by the arm. Samantha shrieked as he pulled her up, catching her easily in mid-air, before leaping off the railing and into the air, straight over the heads of the two stunned men, landing lightly on the other side of the stairwell cover. Samantha gripped his shirt tightly as they landed silently, Grey bounding across the expansive roof, jumping behind a humming air conditioner unit.
"Who the hell are they?" Samantha whispered frantically, pulling out her cell phone and groaning, "No reception, they must have some kind of jammer!"
"I do not know them," Grey said, stepping out from behind the unit just as they rounded the corner, "Stay there. I will protect you."
"What are you...?" Samantha peeked out from behind the unit just as Grey crouched, drawing his fist back as if he was about to punch something, the air just in front of it seeming to gather and shimmer, like it was swirling and spinning in place. He threw his fist forwards, sending the strange rippling ball shooting towards the pair.
"What the fu..." the first man growled, stepping forwards, faltering as the ball of energy hit him square in the chest, punching a neat hole straight through, and spraying his horrified partner with blood. The other man didn't even have time to scream as Grey attacked again, sweeping his arm in front of him, the resulting slash slamming into his chest, slicing him in two.
Samantha screamed as the man exploded, his body falling limply to the ground. Clutching her hand over her mouth, she sobbed, shutting her eyes and trying to block out the image of his blood splattered face as he died, retching heavily as the wind carried the smell of their blood towards her.
A pair of arms wrapped around her carefully, lifting her gently and carrying her across the roof. The smell of blood grew stronger, and she could feel her gall rising. Praying she wouldn't throw up, Samantha buried her face in Grey's chest, inhaling his soft smell, feeling herself calm down slightly. Suddenly, the smell was almost gone, lingering only slightly as the wind blew it away from them, the pair having passed the two corpses.
Samantha felt herself being lowered to the ground, and sat gently on an air duct as Grey knelt in front of her, looking at her almost worryingly. His hand stroked her head softly, running his fingers through her thick hair. Grabbing his neck, she buried her face in his shoulder as she sobbed, clutching at his hair, heaving loudly as he gently held her. She wondered momentarily how she could feel so safe with someone she'd only met a few minutes earlier, and whom she had just seen kill two armed men without a glimmer of emotion, never mind without a gun.
"Get away from her!" The shout startled both Samantha and Grey, who immediately stood up, facing an older man and woman. The man lifted the pistol in his hand, and fired at Grey as he rose, startled by his sudden movement.
The shot rang out across the roof as body guards poured out of the small stairwell doorway, spreading out across the roof, some shouting as they discovered the two dead kidnappers, one staggering away to throw-up violently. Samantha stared up at Grey, who was holding his chest, just over his heart. She gasped as he turned, his face pale, his knees buckling as he collapsed to the ground, making her scream as she caught his head against her chest, drawing everyone's gaze towards them.
"G...Gam...ma...," Grey said, a slight smile on his lips, his head clutched to her chest as she sobbed over him, her tears falling onto his face. She screamed as he closed his eyes, shaking him violently.
"No! Don't die! Please! Don't die!"
"It's time to go," the gentle voice said in his ear, echoes whispering all around him.
"No,"
"But you must," the scythe ran along the side of his neck, the razor sharp blade barely millimetres from cutting off his head.
"No," Grey raised his fist, surprising the Shinigami as he slammed it into the corpse that had been his body, making it jerk.
"What the fuck! Don't do that!" she screamed, swinging her weapon at him, gasping as he caught it easily, a single bullet falling from his hand, landing with a loud clink.
"No, I will listen to her." Grey's soul flickered, pouring back into his body.
Samantha had screamed when Grey's body jerked in her arms, clutching his head desperately as it flailed about. Suddenly, it fell still, warm air brushing against her cheek. Shocked, she lifted her head, staring at Grey, who stared back, the blood that had poured from the bullet wound gone, the wound itself a small pink scar, barely visible amongst the others that covered his chest.
"Grey..." Samantha sobbed, hugging him tightly as he raised his arms, wrapping them gently around her, feeling a pair of hands grab his wrists and the cold pinch of handcuffs as they clicked noisily.
"What are you doing?!" Samantha screamed as two guards pulled Grey away from her, "Let him go!"
"I'm sorry my dear, but we cannot," her uncle said, blocking her view as he knelt in front of her, "He is a dangerous individual, whose actions we cannot predict and..."
"I listen to her."
"What?" the man blinked, standing suddenly as he stared at Grey, "What did you say?"
"I listen to her. She told me to not die, so I didn't."
"But... but that's impossible!" he shouted stepping forwards, his face going red.
"So am I." Grey replied, snapping his fists out, the handcuffs literally disintegrating as he struck the two guards chins, knocking both of them out instantly. He stepped forwards, seemingly oblivious to the other guards as they pointed their guns at him, walking straight past the astounded man, and kneeling in front of Samantha, who was still sitting on the air duct.
"I listen to you. I am yours to command." Grey said solemnly, bowing his head.
"Mine... mine to command?" Samantha stammered, staring at his lowered head. Smiling suddenly, she lifted it up, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly, "Well then, you don't need to be so respectful, just treat me like a friend!"
"A friend?" Grey replied, leaning back as she pushed forwards, falling into his lap, a slight smile spreading across his lips as he hugged her back, "Okay. A friend."