Kings of Hell

Alyssa’s POV

Ice melts down all around me, and I’m wet and sticky.

I end up staring out at four familiar faces, looking in.

I’m completely disoriented and my memories feel a little foggy. I’m not sure how I got here. I’m in a pod, staring at a lab and the four faces looking in.

Sammy, Louis, Lucy and Zac watch me like an exhibit as I breathe tentatively.

I feel weak and can’t move. All I know is I’ve opened my eyes and I’m breathing.

Louis shines a light into my pupils, “All good,” he lowers the torch, while Sammy bites her nails, looking at Zac and Lucy, who stand on my other side.

“Alyssa,” Zac calls a name and I stare at him, as he snaps his fingers in front of my face, “Speak. Hello.”

This is the weird bit… I know their names but I don’t know who they are.

What relation they have with me...

I can comprehend Sammy looks like me but I don’t know why.

“Something’s gone wrong,” Lucy whispers, worried.

“No, mum,” Sammy shakes her head, “She’s okay, just a bit confused. Let her come to it.”

I watch as Lucy and Sammy take seats on stools at a high lab table.

Louis is staring at me a little coldly, before turning to walk toward a coffee maker.

Zac remains, holding his chin and offering me a hand.

When I don’t take it and just stare at him in confusion, he explains to me, or at me, “This is starting to concern me,” he murmurs, “Alyssa.”

I recognise it, but I’m not sure of the relation to me.

“Is that my name?” I ask, a bit awkwardly.

Zac’s eyes widen a little. Is he shocked?

“…there was a risk of brain damage…” Sammy whispers to Lucy.

“Say that again,” Zac calls out, “Louder.”

“Look, father,” Sammy snaps, like a bitchy spoilt brat, “There is a small chance of risk in any of these kind of operations. That’s why we’re melting her down first, so we don’t fuck up the rest if we ever need them. She’s expendable,” the mean bitch glares at me. What did I ever do to her?

“Hm,” Zac growls under his breath, clearly frustrated.

Louis walks back over with a cup of boiling water.

And casually throws it on me.

It splashes all over my arm and my body’s nerves all fire at once. Screaming in agony, I step out of the pod I was in and immediately fall to the ground. I was weak.

“You fucking psychopath!” Zac screams, as Louis shrugs and nudges me with his shoe.

“Better yet?” Louis asks, his boot too close to my head.

I’ve curled onto my side, as Zac and Lucy rush to help me.

Ice is wrapped up and put on my burns, while I look up to see Sammy sitting on her stool, unmoved, chin in her hand, staring down at me with irritation.

Louis stands behind her and rests his chin on the top of her head, as he just looks at me with absolutely no emotion.

They are dangerous to my life, those two.

“Can you take your psychotic husband out of here, please,” Zac snarls at Sammy, and I watch her shrug and stand. She takes Louis’ hand and they both exit the room. Zac hauls me up onto the table and keeps the ice packs on my stomach, while Lucy paces the room in distress, “Lock them out,” Zac snaps. Lucy nods and does that. While Zac looks me in the eye, “Alyssa. What do you remember?”

“Your names,” I say, “Zac. But I don’t know… what you are to me.”

“I’m your father,” Zac raises a brow, “You’re a clone of my daughter. Ring any bells?”

I wait for the bells to ring.

“No, do I have brain damage?” I ask.

“Hard to say for an Ultimate,” Zac looks at my forehead, “I’ll do some brain scans. You just need to relax. You’re in safe hands. And as far as our limits go… you won’t be leaving this lab anyway,” he sighs as he walks off to grab some equipment.

Lucy walks over now, to tentatively grab my hand.

“Breathe,” she suggests, “Would you like fresh clothes, like a lab coat?”

“Yes,” I nod.

She goes to retrieve me one. Getting my co-ordination back, I stand up off the table and strip off my old and cold wet clothes, then immediately put the spare coat on.

For some reason my nails cut through the material at the sleeves, and I’m shocked.

“What the fuck is wrong with my nails?” I gasp, “What the fuck?”

“…this is bad,” Zac mutters as he waves a device over me to check my vitals.

“Why?” Lucy asks for me.

“She is showing signs of a superficial memory. Possible permanent memory loss, but it’s highly unlikely unless she was tampered with and Sammy is… you know… like me… a possessive jealous fuckhead,” Zac rolls his eyes as he waits for results to show. After a while his expression drops. Zac shows me. I see my brain, with low activity,

“Those damaged areas look like they are healing quickly,” I say.

“Your Ultimate brain is healing,” Zac agrees, “But memories don’t heal – and someone fucked with your emotional memory. You’ll remember names, places… you won’t remember any prior feelings.”

“But I can still feel,” I counter.

“Yes, just not the past,” Zac throws the device aside, “Fuck me… this is… really bad,” he goes quiet. Until there is a sudden knocking at the door, “Fuck me,” Zac repeats, beating Lucy to it, he storms over and opens the door to a familiar face. This man is called Airen. Another familiar one.

I smile a little awkwardly as he walks in, holding my eye, ignoring Zac.

“How did she come around?” Airen enquires.

“She doesn’t know who you are,” Zac explains, “Hence why she is so calm.”

“That’s a shame,” Airen sounds sincere, as he walks right up to me and assesses my expression for himself.

“Hello,” I welcome him awkwardly, “I have no idea what’s going on.”

“I can see that,” Airen whispers, pleased, “Well… that’s a twist. I thought she’d be stark raving mad by now.”

“It’s permanent memory loss,” Zac says, “There is zero chance of recovering memory. It’s all new tissue that’s regenerated.”

“I understand, Zac,” Airen shakes his head at Zac, “You’re brilliant and I respect you, but please, don’t talk down to me like I don’t understand,” he chuckles and walks back around the table, “Right – so we’ll leave it at that then. No more experiments. That’s it. Don’t wake up anyone else. She’s harmless.”

“Understood,” Zac responds, harmlessly obedient with one word.

As the old man Airen nods and walks out, and as the door swings open briefly I see Sammy smirking on the other side, shutting the door for Airen.

I just blink through the strange interaction and turn back to Zac and Lucy.

“If I’m awaken and there is no… reason… who decided to wake me up?” I try to work it out logically.

“Louis,” Lucy answers me.

“Louis,” Zac repeats, sounding a little disgusted by the name.

“The man who threw hot boiling water on me,” I whisper, “What the fuck – but why would he – ?”

“No one knows,” Lucy shrugs, “But anything Louis wants, he can convince otherwise.”

“He mind-controlled Airen, even though it’s not allowed, he also convinced him to forget he mind-controls… it’s a dangerous game. I just like to believe he hasn’t used it on me… and I know why…” Zac looks at me, “Same reason he woke you up.”

“The reason,” I whisper, breathless, excited for this one fact.

“He’s bored,” Zac explains in a monotone.

“Oh, that doesn’t make any sense,” I add, “I –”

“I’m locking you in here, and keeping him out,” Zac chooses his words carefully, “I’ll teach you slowly what you need to know, but know this, Louis wants to hurt you and everyone… he’s unhinged – in every conceivable fucking way. And oh so charming when he wants to be.”

“Can’t I just run away from here to somewhere else,” I whisper.

Zac smiles, “Nowhere to run to. Your home. Our home. It’s decimated. We live in a monitored city now. Atlantis. This lab is one of the only places where we aren’t monitored. We can talk freely in here.”

I don’t know what any of his words mean, aside from Atlantis, which was a New World on the other side of the planet. It was impossible for me to be there.

Fuck, this is confusing.

But I am still curious to escape from this lab.

I just have a very basic instinct not to tell Zac that. Then, Zac answers a question I was just thinking about before, “Louis threw boiling water at you to test your reaction time and any fighting memory – you’re reaction time to the pain was immediate, your defence was nill and your attack afterwards was nill. Hopefully. Ironically. That means he’ll leave you alone. You’re… empty. That’s pretty boring to a psychopath.”

“I don’t feel empty,” I answer, “I feel kind of free from stress, I guess?”

“Blissful ignorance,” Zac smiles, “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“I’m your mother, by the way,” Lucy rolls her eyes and now leans over Zac’s arm, hugging him from behind, “I’ll protect you too.”

Zac murmurs, “I think I prefer this one to Sammy.”

“Don’t say that,” Lucy whispers through grit teeth.

“It’s like favouring a twin over another,” Zac says, “They’re like sisters.”

“Favouritism is bad regardless,” Lucy tries to argue.

“Why? You’re my favourite sl–” Zac bites his cheek and looks at me sideways, then back to a blushing Lucy, “Anyway, time for dinner?”

Lucy nods.

“Wait you’re leaving?” I blurt, staring around the vast expanse of the lab where they want to leave me.

“Yeah we have to go at…” Zac checks his watch, “Oh, right now.”

I watch as Zac and Lucy both lift their heads, turn and make their way to the door, suddenly turning into robots.

“Will you lock it…” I ask, quietly and confused.

But Zac and Lucy walk out without another word.

It’s like they go from freely in control of their words and actions… into mindless zombies. But I guess wanting dinner did that to some? Maybe? I try to rationalise it, but it’s hard to do so.

I’m very confused, as they open the door – my eyes bulge as I see Louis is waiting right there.

Zac and Lucy walk right past him, while Louis smiles and talks and waves them on.

Sammy isn’t out there, however.

It’s just Louis.

And now he’s holding the door… wide open.

My jaw drops.

Danger.

I immediately jump off the stool and my heart beat sky rockets as Louis walks in and shuts the door.

“Who are you and what do you want?” I ask, trying to get something to work with. Why did he throw boiling water at me? What Zac said made no sense.

I needed a defence. My nails were sharp? I look at them pointedly.

Louis laughs lightly, watching me panic.

“I have them too,” Louis stops by a bench and runs his finger through the benchtop, causing a horrible squeak and grind as it cuts through and leaves a long crack; it’s impossible, what I see, “So you have no hope in hell with me, Alyssa,” he voice lowers as he looks at me now, and my heart drops into my stomach.

“Please. I beg you. Just tell me what you want,” I sound hysterical but what else could I do?

Louis stalks toward me and I look around the room but I quickly work out I can’t outrun him.

So I stand stock still with my face up, as I start to tremble with adrenaline.

“I’m bored with what this world has become,” Louis has stopped right before me, and explains over my face, “So I’ve awoken you.”

“B-but m-my memory is –”

Louis clamps a hand down over my mouth.

“Alyssa,” he says my name with some emotion, “Would you like to fuck?” I shake my head into his hand. Why would I fuck him? Louis releases me and I stumble back away from him. “Disappointing,” he whispers, confused, “I thought maybe you would take the chance to get revenge on my wife, by sleeping with me,” he smirks, “Sammy hurt your brain, but you can hurt her just as easily by fucking with me.”

“Go fuck yourself,” I hiss, backing away, “Stay away from me.”

Louis considers my words carefully, “I asked nicely. Now – I’m not going to ask, you whore.”

Oh my fucking god.

I sprint across the room, my movements light and fast, as I look for any kind of weapon. If I can’t fight him off – I didn’t know what would happen next!

Where was Zac?

What could I do?

I was fucking helpless.

“STAY AWAY!” I try to scream so loud, someone else might hear outside the laboratory.

Louis hasn’t moved, but he’s let me put the maximum distance between us.

I observe his eyes, as I’m standing in a corner.

When he finally moves it’s the moves of a confident killer. I try not to whimper as I understand the look in his eye. Which isn’t mean. Or full of hatred. His eyes are full of nothing. Empty pits of nothing.

He had nothing to lose and nothing to gain from this.

He just wanted to chew me up and spit me out.