Unleashed Chaos : Unleashed Chaos by scongrove |
Prologue Berkeley California, thirty-six years ago… Lisa Wellington drew the blanket snuggly around the tiny infant and cradled it close, huddling in the dark. In the middle of a wooded field, she hid behind a thick pine. Looking up, she stared at the cloudless and star-filled sky. The night air was chilly, wiping away the warm sunny afternoon. Her escape had been a miracle. An explosion had damaged the cell where she’d been held captive. She’d managed to get out before the guards could find her through all the wreckage. Severely weakened by all she’d been forced to endure, Lisa had also just given birth to twins only a week ago. After it had been leaked out about her special gift of healing, an underground group of government military officials comprised of unethical scientist’s, took Lisa against her will. Treated like some magic wand they waved at a wound or an illness, they expected her to make it all disappear. The most ghastly experiment she’d undergone was when the German scientist, Dr. Hans Autenburg forced her to heal a patient with mental illness. For days Lisa had known what it truly was to be insane. She even thought of killing herself, but her pregnancy kept her from going through with the act. And then a ruthless physician named Dr. Hubert Crane, who served as her pediatrician, wanted to experiment on her babies after they were born. Dr. Crane was without humanity—the kind of monster that would skin an animal alive just to see how much pain it could endure before its death. He oddly resembled the evil leader of the German Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler. He even shared the same trademark hairstyle, mustache, and stern mannerism. She hated them for using other’s that had similar unique gifts as they’d used her. Not only did they kidnap humans, but they took Breedline against their will, forcing them to change into their wolf. They endured painful cellular modifications, mutated into a hybrid species. To them, they were just objects to provide them with knowledge and power. But now Lisa had run out of options. She was lucky to have been able to get out alive with her baby girl, regretting having to leave her son behind. When she escaped, she managed to get to the nursery only to find Tessa. Someone had taken her little boy, Steven. Closing her eyes, she was exhausted by the weight of responsibility, sorrow, and regret. Trying to figure out her next plan of action was proving difficult. How was she going to provide for a baby alone at seventeen? She couldn’t go back home to her family. That would put them in danger. She knew her abductors were probably already searching for her, and she had no other choice but to stay on the run. That was no life for a child. She missed her sister, Wanda. She was eight years older and took on the role of a mother for Lisa after their parents had passed away. And then her thoughts drifted to her beloved Kenneth, the father of her twins. After Lisa’s abduction, she severed the telepathic link between them to keep him safe. Her worst fear was that it was permanent, and she’d never get it back. Not having Kenneth was like living forever in the freezing cold without the sun. In a way, she supposed it was for the best. If she tried to go back to her loved ones, they’d never be able to live a normal life, and she was determined to keep them out of harm’s way. The sound of a soft coo brought her back to reality. As she looked down into her daughter’s angelic face, silent tears slid down Lisa’s cheeks. She reached up and wiped them away, refusing to fall apart. Lisa was stronger than this, and she’d be strong again. She just needed to find a safe place for her daughter. Lisa froze when she heard a distant noise. She went so still that even her breath sounded like an echo drifting in the silence. Quietly, Lisa snuggled the baby against her chest and gently rocked, trying to keep her soothed. She would never be able to live with herself if they took Tessa away. As she waited in silence, ghosts invaded her mind. Lisa wondered if her sanity had been sacrificed, and worried she’d suffered through one too many experiments. Then she heard another sound, getting closer and closer. There was a man nearby, speaking in low tones. Fear was her first instinct because she could barely hear his voice. “Lisa… where are you?” The voice was quiet in the dark, barely above a whisper. He moved closer, and when he did, she could see his face. It was David, one of the guards that brought meals to her every day. As time had passed during her captivity, they’d secretly become friends. He’d promised he would find a way to get her and her babies away from her confinement and to a safe place. She inhaled through her nose and then whispered back, “I’m over here.” As David followed her voice and got closer, she noticed he held an automatic rifle, and though he shifted, so he was standing next to her, his gaze was still trained on the distance, watching, never once looking down at her. “Lisa, we need to get out of here now,” he murmured. “Guards are everywhere looking for you, and they’re not far away. Are you strong enough to walk?” With all her strength, she fought through the ghosts battling for control and got to her feet. Holding onto Tessa, she looked at him, her eyes filled with despair and said, “Where’s Steven?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Lisa,” he said quietly, placing his hand on her arm. “I couldn’t get to him. Dr. Autenburg’s men had got to him before I did. I don’t know where they took him.” “After I get Tessa to a safe place, promise me you’ll bring me back… to get my son.” There was a fierce edge to her voice that reflected strength her body didn’t have. But with determination, she would find it. She would take the risk of getting captured again if that’s what it took to reunite with her son. She had to make sure Steven had a chance for a normal life and not one filled with endless, painful experiments. David nodded. “Then we need to leave now. I’ve got a vehicle hidden not far from here,” he explained. “Where do you want to go?” She glanced down at Tessa, and a burst of hope warmed her insides. This young in her arms was a miracle... a precious living, breathing gift from God. Lisa didn’t want to let her go, but she knew she had to do what was best for her daughter. If she stayed in her life, it would be one on the run and Tessa deserved a chance to have a normal childhood, away from danger lurking in the shadows. “Take me to Midway, Kentucky… to my sister, Wanda.” He nodded with his lips in a thin line, worry edged in his expression. “Let’s go,” he said in a quiet, firm voice. Ten yards away, David helped Lisa get to a jeep he had hidden behind an old barn. Opening the door for her, Lisa noticed two car seats in the back and a bag sitting beside it, apparently full of baby things. When she turned toward him, his grayish-lavender eyes softened, mesmerizing for the odd shade. “I’m sorry…” he paused, shaking his head. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to Steven in time.” She looked down at Tessa as sadness crept through her chest. Lifting her chin back up, she said, “It’s not your fault, David. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us.” As they drove away, he was on edge, keeping a constant look out the rearview mirror until his neck ached from all the back and forth. Focusing on the backseat, he was relieved Tessa was sound asleep, happily snuggled in the car seat appearing content. Looking away, he glanced at Lisa and said, “Is Wanda your twin sister?” Lisa stiffened against the seat belt. When she thought about his question, it brought back memories of her childhood. Her twin sister had died in childbirth, leaving Lisa feeling empty and hollow on the inside as she grew up without her. Breedline twins were born with an unbreakable bond. She let out a deep breath, and her shoulders drooped from fatigue and weariness. “No. She’s my older sister,” she replied, turning in David’s direction. “My twin sister died at birth.” His eyes softened, and his lips tightened. “I’m sorry, Lisa.” “Thanks,” she said, swallowing hard. “Wanda practically raised me after our parents passed away.” David frowned. “What happened to your parents?” Lisa looked down and shrugged. “They died in a car accident, but I don’t think it was accidental,” she said, raising haunted eyes to his, hurt brimming in her liquid gaze. “I think their death had something to do with the people who took me.” David blew out his breath. It went against his grain to ever put a woman or child in danger. Guilt swamped his eyes as he thought of being part of the monsters that had taken Lisa. Hired as a guard, David he had no idea this organization was involved in illegal activity. He opened his mouth to speak but then fell silent. His gaze riveted to Lisa as she looked away and stared out the window. Her demeanor told him she was holding back tears. Feeling her pain, he changed the topic and said, “How did you hide your abilities from others?” Lisa shifted her stare from the window at the passing scenery and directed it toward David again. “I just didn’t use them,” she said. “My parents drummed into me from as early as I can remember to keep it a secret. No one outside our family was ever to know.” David’s brow arched. “That shows remarkable restraint. Does… Tessa and Steven’s father know?” Lisa shook her head. “No. I thought it would be best if he didn’t know.” She stopped and hesitated briefly. “Kenneth’s mother was human, and she became very ill, and there was a chance she wouldn’t survive. Her illness completely devastated him. So I secretly healed her… for him.” David smiled. “You’re special, Lisa. And I don’t mean because of your abilities. I think you’re the kindest person I’ve ever met. You deserve a happy life.” “Thank you, David.” She smiled a little. “Thank you for being so kind to me.” She said nothing more because if she did, she would break down and fall apart. Just for the moment, she didn’t want to think of a future—an impossible future—she couldn’t have. After three days on the road, they finally arrived in Midway, Kentucky. Lisa must have dozed off because she awoke when David gently nudged her shoulder. “We’re here Lisa. You’ll need to give me directions to your sister’s place. How much farther is it?” She sat up, wiping her tired eyes, and then studied the roadway in front of them. “Not far,” she said, yawning, “just a few more miles.” He nodded. “Okay. Do you think your sister will be home?” Her chest tightened, constricting her airway. Her hands trembled, and she willed herself not to freak out. Deep breaths, she thought. Take deep breaths. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep her response calm and focused so David wouldn’t know she was apprehensive. “I hope so,” she said, releasing a sigh. After giving him directions, she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer Wanda would be home when they arrived. A half hour later, Lisa’s pulse raced out of control until she could feel it at her temples as they drove down a long country road that led to her sister’s farmhouse. David noticed her nervousness and put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re doing the right thing,” he said, his eyes expressing sympathy. Gradually the anxiety drifted away, and Lisa found her focus. It was if her mind was a knotted rope that was uncoiling and loosening and finding its way free. She brought back the image of her sister’s face to the center of her focus and let everything else fall away. Subconsciously, she could hear Wanda’s soft voice, and how it always made her feel safe and loved. Her sister’s husband John was a gentle and kindhearted man. She had no doubt he would be an excellent father figure for Tessa. The road leading down to her sister’s farm was narrow and dusty. The moon shimmered as Lisa looked at the dark sky, reminding her of home. In other circumstances, she’d be thrilled to be home, but this was not the occasion to be happy. She had no other choice but to ask her sister and John to raise Tessa. As they parked in front of a beautiful two-story house, Lisa sat in silence and stared out the car window. After a long moment of building up the courage, she turned to meet David’s gaze. “Please wait here,” she said, her voice laced with tears. “I won’t be long.” David quickly got out, reached in the back seat for Tessa and handed her to Lisa. With Tessa in her arms, she slowly walked to the front door, her heart pounding in her chest. Before Lisa reached up to knock, she looked down at her daughter, knowing this might be the last time she’d see her again and whispered, “Never forget… Mommy will always love you.” She kissed Tessa on the cheek as tears streamed down her face. Thirty minutes later, David saw Lisa come out of the house alone. She’d been forced to do the unthinkable… give up her own flesh and blood. When Lisa got into the jeep, she sat staring ahead in silence, completely broken. Lisa and her babies were innocent in all this. David understood the sacrifice she’d made. Her children deserved a chance to grow up in a traditional home without the fears of being kept in a cage like a lab rat. Keeping her eyes forward, she wiped her tears and muttered, “Let’s go find my son.” Her voice cracked as emotion and pain knotted her throat. David reached for Lisa’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He waited a moment as though to allow her to gather her emotions and then turned on the ignition. “I promise I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you—and your son—safe.” She stared up at him in awe, so shocked by his reassuring words that she couldn’t even begin to know how to respond. What could she say to that? It comforted her that he was so resolute and that he now included Steven in his vow to protect. But he was just one man, and this was not his fight. And yet she needed him. He was the only person she would allow herself to trust. As they drove through the night, fog hovered low to the ground, making the visibility impossible on the road ahead. When David and Lisa arrived back to the compound to search for her son, the trap had already sprung. Dread filled Lisa’s stomach and rose to her throat, tightening until it was hard to breathe as the jeep came to a screeching halt. Dr. Autenburg and Dr. Crane’s men had blocked the front entrance with weapons aimed in their direction. David kept his hands on the steering wheel, and Lisa flinched when several guards approached her door. At the same time, David’s door flew open and more guards surrounded their vehicle, motioning for them to get out. When Lisa looked at David, he whispered, “Don’t run, Lisa. Just do what they say.” In surrender with their hands up, they slowly stepped out of the jeep. Lisa screamed when a shot fired, and David dropped to the ground. When she tried to run for him, strong fingers curled around her wrist and jerked her back. Lisa twisted free from the tight grip and flew to David, throwing herself over his body. “No, David!” she said, her voice pleading as she shook his shoulders. “Please!” But he wasn’t moving. David’s glassy eyes stared out with an empty gaze. Lisa could see a thick trickle of blood down the side of his face. “Get up!” a seething voice came from behind her. Recognizing the hateful tone, laced with a German accent, Lisa froze. When she felt a tight grip on her arm, she flinched, snapping back to reality. With all her strength, she tried to pry herself free. There was a distinct sound of ripping fabric as Lisa felt herself being yanked backward—as Dr. Crane’s sleeve came off in her hand. And in that heart-stopping instant, she saw something else. On his forearm, he had a tattoo of a snake and a sword. She suddenly realized—even as she felt trapped in a strong embrace and fought to get free—the design on his skin was perfectly clear. It was a snake with its tail in its mouth, coiled around a long dagger. Staring up at him in horror, she was vaguely aware of a sharp stick piercing her arm. Lisa was narcotized and smuggled out of California to a prison laboratory near Munich, Germany, where all the horrific experimentations began. Subjected to endless and painful tests, Lisa suffered years of isolation. Refusing was not an option. Dr. Crane used her son as a threat. If Lisa refused to comply with their physical torture, they systematically tormented her with insinuations of Steven’s death. In the end, Lisa was bound to an operating table and mutated into a new specimen they called Lilith. Even though her heart froze, never to beat again, and most of her memories erased, she was still alive, her age froze in time. They transformed Lisa into something which went against the laws of nature... an abomination created by power and greed. A glow seemed to emanate from her skin making it transparent, no longer a solid figure, but instead a glowing ghost. Her eyes were glimmering lights, like two brilliant, sparkling diamonds. But all the memories of her endless torture still burned in her mind like a blazing fire. Blinded by their scientific craving, Dr. Hubert Crane had made a fatal mistake. He’d created his worst nightmare. Already born with the gift to heal, Lilith’s abilities developed and grew, changing with each experiment. With the power to manipulate the mind, Lilith used her new skills on all of Dr. Crane’s men. One by one, they slaughtered each other, including some of the scientists except for Dr. Hubert Crane and Dr. Hans Autenburg, who managed to escape with Steven. In a heated rage of fury, Lilith burnt the laboratory to the ground and cursed her revenge. As she watched everything burn, a clear memory of the past went through her like a knife. Lilith caught a vague remembrance of two babies lying side by side in a crib, each with emerald green eyes. In her subconscious, she heard the words to a lullaby. Hearing the melody in her head, she gasped as it all shifted into a nightmare. Helplessness and frustration swamped her as cries from a baby rang deep into her conscious. As images of two infants torn from their mother’s arms came to her in a flash, Lilith covered her face with both hands and dropped to her knees. “Please...” the words painfully broke from her throat, “don’t take my babies!” Overwhelmed by raw emotions, Lilith slowly lowered her hands and looked up at the sky, ready to surrender the last threads of her sanity. None of this made sense. Why did she scream out just a moment ago? Was she losing her mind? Were the images real or not? Lilith closed her eyes, unable to bear the memory no more. It was more than she could withstand. All of it seemed like a dream, moments drawn out of real life as if they belonged to someone else. And then they were gone. Scrubbed from her memory, Tessa and Steven faded into nothing, leaving behind a blank slate. It was if the images had never existed at all. Opening her eyes, she took a quick, shallow breath and watched everything around her turn to ash. **** Both physicians went quiet for years, as though they disappeared from the face of the earth. Years later, police discovered Dr. Autenburg’s mutilated body back in Berkeley, California. Dr. Hubert Crane sought new backing, billionaire clients with a hunger for research, and hired more men to hunt down Steven—who was now an adult—after he managed to escape his colleague, Dr. Hans Autenburg. To be continued...
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