The Lightbreakers of Orpheus [6]

A Sci-fi flash fiction.

Previously [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

[6]

“No, Anouk!” Derek ripped her out the patient’s embrace. Doc Benton and Derek ran into the ward after they heard strange noises. The sight of the patient’s muscled arms locking Anouk in a deadly grip made the hair rise on Derek’s back.

“Dad, I’m okay! Stop!” Anouk wheezed as Derek and Doc strapped the patient’s hands back to the hospital bed forcefully. He was still trying to reach out in search of her body, whining like a wounded beast.

“You promised, Anouk!” Derek barked at her.

“He wasn’t hurting me! He was alone and scared, Dad!”

“A couple more seconds, and he’d snap your neck!”

“No…” Anouk, sat on the floor crying.

“So much for trusting your girl,” Benton grunted, whilst checking the patient’s vitals. The tall soldier shook compulsively.

“What’s wrong with him?” Derek spat out.

“Physically he’s okay. I presume it’s some kind of a neurosis.”

“He’s crying!” Anouk yelled.

Doc filled up a syringe and made a quick injection into the patient’s arm.

“This should calm him down.”

He fell asleep almost instantly.

“You can’t put him asleep just because he’s upset!” Anouk protested.

Doc grinned at her.

“As a matter of fact, I can and I will, young lady. Me and your father just saved your life! How about you show us some gratitude, huh?!”

“He wasn’t…”

“Enough, Anouk!” Derek yelled at her. She didn’t get to answer. A nearby explosion with a massive light flash made the building shake violently.

“It’s getting worse out there. You’ll have to leave this place soon, Doc,” said Derek.

“Never! This doctor is nothing without his hospital. I’m the king of my castle,” Benton replied, with a rueful grin, “but you might have to move your Lightbreaker to a safer place. And soon. Or else you’ll be diggin’ both of our corpses out these ruins.”

***

The darkness was the same but the smells, and the weird noises Mark’s brain was able to perceive were completely different. He was tied up to another bed. And he wasn’t alone. Mark began wiggling and screaming after some minutes of wakefulness. He couldn’t stand this prison of his own body, he wanted out! Just to get out! To see something, to hear the wretched voice, to feel the touch of his enemy, something! Anything!

“Dad, look at him! He’s desperate! He needs help!” Anouk yelled in Derek’s face.

“He’s a cold-blooded killing machine. He’s been brainwashed since early childhood,” Derek objected.

“People change,” Derek’s wife Sophie said sternly. With no other options, Derek and Anouk had transported the patient to their house. “Untie him.”

Derek shook his head but didn’t object.

Sophie held a gun toward the patient’s head, while Anouk released his hands. Once again, she embraced him tightly. He calmed momentarily, taking deep breaths. Anouk whispered in his ear.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe with me, soldier. You’re safe. I wish you could hear me. I don’t even know your name…”

“Mark,” his hoarse voice blurted out. He had heard the words this voice said. The enemy saved him from the dark imprisonment of his own head. No matter what would happen next, Mark loved this voice, and he would forgive any torture that might follow.

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