Can of Worms - Part 2

Here's part two! Thank you to everyone that helped me write this :) I had to change some stuff from my original plan, I hope you don't mind. No saving Hannah yet ^^;; Rather, this entry is meant to give more information about XL.

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SAMAEL

Light. Usually this is associated with holiness, salvation, or peace, but right now it's just a nuisance. The past few weeks I've been forced to travel at night. I don't remember the last time I saw the sun. Its radiance burned my eyes, and the placement of the windows has focused all of its rays in the convenient location of where I was sleeping. Unfortunately, I didn't have the convenience of being able to escape this heated deathbed due to the pain in my leg...wait, I’m in a bed?

A sudden wave of confusion hit me when I realized I wasn't in the wilderness that I passed out in. The room I was staying in had a familiar scent, meaning I know the person that has saved me. When I heard the door creak open, I forced my eyes open to try and observe my surroundings. The light that penetrated my eyes made my sight blurry and surreal. Before me came a lovely middle aged woman in a white lab coat. Her hair wasn't as bright as I remember it, but I still wanted to run my hands through it and feel all the soft strands. I wanted to smell the lavender shampoo she always used to use. When I saw her smile, I forgot all my pain, all my worries. She's here, and that's all I need. I reached out wanting to hold her hand, to feel her soft warm hands hold and caress mine, a feeling I’ve craved for so long. I pulled together my little strength to speak her name and to hold back my tears. "Hannah?"

My fantasy was shattered when the voice didn’t match my vision. “Wie fühlst du dich? How are you feeling?” the woman said. My hallucination disappeared with my sudden realization of the stranger before me. I quickly sprang from my bed, ready to defend myself, but I realized my equipment was gone, which included a knife. I put my fists up. XL scientists usually send in black coats for protection, but she’s alone. I could take her on…but then again there are some scientists that have been trained in combat. Ugh I don’t know what to do! I’m stuck in a dead end!

The fear in her eyes at my stance was clear, but her posture remained calm and she attempted to do the same for me. “Hör auf! Hör auf! Samael calm down! It’s me, Christina. Charlie Corners fiancé?” The burst of panic showed through as she struggled to find the right words in English, but the sound of Charlie’s name instantly appeased my nerves. “Oh God, it’s you.” I said, accidentally sounding rude. I quickly apologized for my actions. “You need to dump the lab coat, though. Don’t scare me like that.” She frowned, looking annoyed. “Dummkopf. Says the person who was just about to attack me.”

“I know you can fight, probably better than me.” I sighed and rubbed my head. “These past few months have been awful.”

She relaxed. “I understand. Sie sind sicher. You can take it easy while you’re here. Charlie has taken care of all the XL members in the area. You were lucky that there weren’t many black coats left when they started chasing you. They probably associated the recent attacks to you. We found you last night when Charlie was making the last of his rounds for that day.”

“Tch. I’ll have to thank Charlie for the welcome party. Where is he anyways?”

“Right now he’s downstairs waiting for you to wake up. Later tonight he’ll be finishing off the last of the XL members.”

The fact that Charlie’s been killing people left and right didn’t really bother me. They deserved it after all…after what they’ve done. However, I knew what Hannah would think. If she ever felt mad or malicious, she’d somehow find a way to feel bad about it afterwards. She’s never liked the idea of someone taking another person’s life. Sometimes I wish I could think like her. Be nice and forgiving. It’s hard though. I don’t know how she does it.

I tried shaking those thoughts from my head. If I think too much about Hannah I’ll probably end up breaking down into a sobbing mess. I tuned back into reality. Christina was waiting for me. “Do you need something to eat? Or some water?” I took a deep breath, trying to relax. “Yes, please; that’d be fantastic.”

Downstairs, I met with Charlie. “Long time no see.” He said with a friendly smile.

I was about to give him a high five, but I hesitated. “Hey, wait a minute I have a beef with you.” I grumbled. “Do you know how much I had to go through just find out where you were? I had already checked about three-fourths of the secret bases you guys have around the states by the time you decided to tell me you were in Germany. And even then, you told me to make a round trip again before meeting up.”

“Sorry about that. We need all the help we can get though.”

“Well you’re not getting much help. A lot of the MCC families in America were too…normal. I don’t think they could handle all of this XL stuff. They looked like those kinds of average people in movies that just freak out and make things worse.”

“Even so, you never know what they might do when they find out their kid or sibling is alive. We were able to get Tommy to help us out after all. Even if they can’t fight, having a group of people we can trust is vital. It’d be like Sherlock’s homeless network.”

“I don’t know man. It seems a bit risky. I still took record of where they live and other people part of the members’ extended families just in case we do need them though.”

I saw my backpack in the corner of the room and I rummaged through to find the folder with all of the information. I handed it to Charlie, and he skimmed through all the papers and photos.

“No problem. That’s all we need. Good work.”

“Thanks.”

I always appreciated my conversations with Charlie. We had a mutual favoritism for succinct and to the point sentences.

“Where’s MCC? You called them here to meet you, right?”

Charlie nodded. “Once I finish off the rest of the XL and it’s safe, they’ll all be coming over here.” He took a deep breath with an anxious expression. “I’ll have to explain everything.”

“Have fun with that.” I chuckled nervously. “I’ll stand by for moral support.”

“Actually, I have another job for yo—“

The sound of clanking dishes interrupted us. I quickly rushed to the kitchen, despite Charlie’s request for me to wait. When I looked in, my eyes widened with rage.

“WHAT’S THIS LITTLE SHIT DOING HERE.” I screamed, surprised by the volume of my voice.

The gallon of milk he was holding crashed to the floor as he squealed when I lunged towards him, but Charlie held me back.

“That’s Richard’s kid!” I sneered. “What the hell, Charlie?!”

“He’s helping us! Calm down!”

The kid hid behind the refrigerator, shaking with fear. If I weren’t so mad I would’ve laughed at the pathetic look of terror on his face.

“His dad started experimenting on him and he’s with us now!”

My anger redirected from Sam when I heard that. “Are you serious?” I thought the guy was evil enough. But he experimented on his son? His own son? What kind of sick person would do that? An unbearable sense of dread almost pushed me to tears. As a father I couldn’t imagine ever hurting Nodin like that.

Charlie’s grip loosened. “From my understanding, Hawkins has completely lost it. Kidnapping any more children than they already have is dangerous. From what Sam’s told me, he’s starting to spread his research to scientists too, and not just the disobedient ones.”

My sinking feeling deepened. Hannah is in danger. For all I know, she could already been tortured and experimented on. I grabbed my head, trying to control my emotions. What am I going to do? What can I do? She’s all alone, defenceless.

“Now snap out of it. We have work to do. I need you focused.”

Pulling out a map, he spread it across the kitchen table. Sam cautiously looked over Charlie’s shoulder to peek at what we were doing. “Christina snagged a map of the Virginia lab while she worked there.”

“Geez, does everyone work in Virginia?”

“Natürlich.” Christina said. “That’s the minor headquarters, the one before the major one in Canada. Every XL scientist must go through Virginia before being transferred to any of the other labs.”

“So wait, you what exactly do you plan on doing?” I said, confused, “You don’t seriously plan to take on Xeno HQ head on do you?”

“No, not yet. I don’t expect him to be there anyways.” He flashed me a grin. “We’re breaking Hannah out.”

Looking at the map, I struggled to remember the plan that Charlie had described to me. He made sure to label everything for me so I could easily refer back to it, but for some reason I couldn’t wrap my head around his instructions. Having him walk through the plan with me using the map made it seem easy to remember, but now that I’m by myself with the lab right in front of me, I guess my nerves are turning me stupid.

I’m surprised I made it this far. The lab’s surrounded by a three-mile radius, with its edge protected by an electrical fence. About two miles in, you have to trek through thick forest that’s tapped with hidden cameras and booby traps. Christina labeled several of these nuisances and showed me which route she and Charlie took when they escaped. The place is jammed packed with security, but if you know where everything is and which way the cameras are facing, you can slip through the blind spots. It took hours for me to get to the edge of the thicket, due to my constant double-checking of the map and my attempts to move slowly and silently, despite the lack of sound sensors. The last stretch was a completely open field with the lab smack dab in the center. At first I was confused on why they let themselves be so far out in the open, but then I realized it’d allow them to see everything around them. Not only that, but the majority of the lab was underground. The only problem was that Christina and Charlie didn’t include the field in the plan. Apparently, the labs were still concealed by forest when they escaped.

I analyzed the map once again, trying to visualize another plan to break in, since the other one relied on the cover of the trees. The buildings above ground were Cyrus’ original labs, which included Hannah’s. Surrounding them were enormous walls with a watchtower at each corner, accurately representing the prison-like environment that lay inside. The grass of the open field was tall enough that I could easily army crawl through it, but it could be covered with pressure plates, or, with my luck, mines. I didn’t want to risk finding out. One wrong move and I’ll be done for.

Though safely hidden in the shadows, the searchlights reached the edges of the field. Maybe I could throw a rock out and see if it’s safe to go...but wait if there’s mines it’ll blow up and if there any sensors any movement will set off an alarm. What if I just sprinted across the field? Those lights are slow...wait I’d have the same problem as before. Would the field even be filled with traps? They track everyone...and they wouldn’t expect anyone to try and break in...but what if I’m wrong?

I banged my head against the tree I was hiding behind, an action I usually do when I’m frustrated. Why can’t I come up with anything? I bit my bottom lip. I’m useless. I can’t even protect my own wife. I bit down harder when I realized tears were running down my face. I tried silencing my whimpering, but sometimes my quivering gasps forced themselves out. I almost laughed at how pathetic I probably looked like. Crumbling under my own weight, I slumped down, letting my emotions release. It sounded like I was screaming between my wheezing. I’ve never seen Hannah cry, not like this. She was always the strong one. She was always the one protecting me. When Nodin was taken she sent me to the hospital and went after him herself. She didn’t cry when she saw me, she took action. I’m useless, not just as a husband, but also as a father. I’m a disgrace. A sham. My tears became more violent as I broke down in the shadows. I want her warmth. I want her comfort. I miss her so much. I need her. I need her with me. But if I don’t do anything she’ll be dead. Maybe she is dead. She’s dead. She’s dead I know it.

I took deep breaths, attempting to calm myself. Stop it. I can’t think like that...I won’t. Despite being completely psychotic and sadistic, I knew Richard wasn’t going to hurt Hannah, but it still made me nauseous just thinking about him. Even though Hannah was completely oblivious, I saw the way he looked at her. He knew we were married, and he had a freakin’ wife and two kids.

My hatred helped my sadness subside. I slapped my face a few times to try and get my composure back. Running my hand through my hair, I started thinking clearer. Even though it killed me to admit it, I can’t do this by myself. One mistake and the whole plan goes down the drain. I can’t risk dying. I need to protect her. I need to keep her safe.

I took a few notes of the obstacles I ran into so Charlie could come up with another strategy, one that could be accomplished with the help of the MCC. If things are going according to plan, Charlie has already started to take out everyone’s tracking chips.

I took one last look at the Xenogenesis Lab before turning back. She’s just beyond those walls, waiting for us. I gritted my teeth and balled my hands into fists.

I’m sorry, Hannah.

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Part 2 done! I suggested the idea that the MCC's family members can help out like Tommy is, but I also had Samael shoot it down just incase no one wants to do it or if I'm not allowed to make that call. XD If you do decide to roll with it, be sure to check with our leaders :D Also Samael's suppose to be super average, and he really sucks at strategies.

Thank you for reading<3 Part three will be up...when I finish it. XD

End