Free Ultraxenopia (Project W. A. R. Book 1) by M. A. Phipps Page B

revealing the hidden room on
the other side. A number of doctors stare back at me, shell-shocked and
unmoving.
    As if in response, all
sense of sound is instantly lost to me. I’m unable to hear anything, as if I’ve
somehow become separated from the room around me—like I’m trapped in a
soundproof bubble where nothing and no one can touch me.
    My gaze latches onto the
woman, and I can feel the energy around us pulsating like a beating heart. I
notice her fingers slacken almost at once, dropping the syringe to the floor.
My lips twitch. She grabs her head and begins to scream, but I can’t hear her.
Her body curls in on itself as she falls to her knees.
    My breaths are ragged, and
despite my deafness, I can hear every one like a chorus in my head. My pulse
throbs in every vein, adding to the chaos.
    I stare at the woman as she
writhes in agony on the floor. Oddly enough, I feel nothing. A strange, inhuman
detachment has taken hold of me, and at this moment, all I can feel is
pleasure in her pain.
    Dr. Richter rushes to the
woman’s side. He looks so confused—so helpless . So incapable of helping
her. His mouth shapes words, shouting at me.
    I don’t hear them either.
    In. Out. In. Out. My lungs
work at double speed, trying to get my erratic breathing under control. I blink
several times, but that horrible pressure returns, rushing through my body.
Crushing me with its inexplicable power.
    I squeeze my eyes shut and
stumble backward. Out of the blue, my hearing returns, pulling me out of my daze
and throwing me back into the room.
    The woman’s screams seem to
dissipate the second I open my eyes. All trace of color dissolves from her
skin, and she goes limp in Dr. Richter’s arms. Several moments pass. However,
the worst is far from over.
    We both stare in horror as
blood slowly begins to stream from every orifice on her body.
    Dr. Richter pushes her
away, distancing himself from the growing puddle of red. After a long moment,
he finally looks up at me.
    “What have you done to
her?” he breathes.
    His lips tremble, but the
glint of excitement in his eyes reveals his true, unnerving emotions. I glance
between him and the unconscious figure before us. Did I do that to her? Could I do that to her? I shake my head in a desperate attempt to regain myself.
    I feel dizzy. Nauseous. I
try to look around me, but everything is obscured and hazy. For a while, I
don’t move and neither does Dr. Richter. It’s only after I remind myself of my
intention to escape that I even remotely regain the energy to do so.
    Shifting forward, I raise
the shard of glass within an inch of his throat.
    “Take off your coat.”
    He looks up at me,
bewildered by my words.
    “Do it!” I bark,
threatening him again.
    He shies away from me,
lifting his hands in an uncharacteristic gesture of surrender. Lowering his
arms, he removes his white coat and thrusts it in my direction—watching me in
amazement the entire time. I’m not an idiot, though. I know this piece of
broken mirror doesn’t scare him.
    But I do, and that’s
all that matters right now.
    I snatch the coat from his
outstretched hand and wrap it around my body as I move toward the open door.
Suddenly, freedom actually seems within reach. Inhaling deeply, I hungrily
embrace it, ready to run to the ends of the Earth to escape this hell.
    However, something holds me
back the instant I step through the doorway. A question burning in the back of
my brain, feeding a desperate curiosity. I’m unwilling and unable to ignore it.
    Stopping in my tracks, I
cast a reluctant glance back over my shoulder at Dr. Richter. “Why do you want
me to find him?” I ask. I watch him carefully, but he doesn’t turn to look at
me.
    “I want to end what you saw
before it has the chance to begin,” he mutters, his voice so soft I can only
just hear it.
    “And you think that man
will be the cause of it all?”
    Silence.
    The seconds roll by.
Realizing that the clock is ticking, I abandon my need