Oblivion 1 parts index

Chapter Eight

After several nights Catherine and Devin were well established in their pipe conversation, be it a little slow, and had made plans to explore more of the complex as soon as possible, either alone or together. Devin had gained access through the computer system to files that intrigued him with maps showing the tunnel system inside the mountain. And Catherine had taken to jogging around the perimeter fence every morning, in a bid to find a way into the wings that burrowed deep into the mountain itself.

It was on such a day that she was jogging beneath the early morning sunshine that she saw a woman approaching while keeping to the shadow of the trees. Catherine slowed to a walk and then halted, stepping behind a tree out of sight to observe this stranger. She was very petite and her movements cautious, cat-like. Sniffing the air in spasms as she moved.

Hardly daring to breath, Catherine watched silently. This was the first female she had seen on the complex in all the time she had been there, but it wasn't that which intrigued her, it was the woman's mannerisms, and her hair! Thick and golden, shielding her face, like a mane, a lion's mane, and as she stepped briefly into the sunlight Catherine gasped. It was so like Vincent's hair! Nervously Catherine stepped from her hiding place into full view of the woman, who hesitated when she saw Catherine, her eyes rolling wildly. Catherine called out a greeting to her, and the woman visibly jumped.

Shaking herself Catherine laughed gaily, whatever was she thinking of, as the woman came closer. Catherine chided herself for letting her imagination run wild with her, it was only another woman after all, and the shadows had played tricks on her, nothing more. The woman had a pretty face, a normal face, nothing out of the ordinary. Catherine relaxed, not realising that she had been so tense.

Eyeing one another keenly, Catherine felt that given the chance the woman would run away at any moment, so Catherine offered her hand and smiled reassuringly at her, happy when the woman visibly relaxed. It would be good to speak with another woman, anyone would be a pleasant change from the three scientists. Devin had told her that the other staff kept to themselves, no-one it seemed spent anytime with any other member of staff after work.

Standing there waiting as she approached, Catherine found once again that she was holding her breath, and then a strange thing occurred. The woman came close, and began to sniff around Catherine, whose body became rigid with this strange form of greeting. She sniffed Catherine's hair, her body, walking around her all the while sniffing. Catherine wanted to laugh at her, and then suddenly she saw the woman's hands! Allowing her gaze to travel down to the finger tips Catherine gasped when she saw that instead of finger nails, the woman had claws! Joy surged through Catherine, and the woman stepped back searching Catherine's face with her green eyes. Beautiful cat-like eyes. Seeing Catherine's friendliness the woman smiled broadly and physically draped herself around Catherine's body, much like a domestic cat would in greeting its owner. Strained laughter welled up and bubbled over from Catherine's lips, as she spoke to the woman, "Do you speak English?"

The woman stepped back once again and when she opened her mouth to speak, Catherine saw the glint of the same unmistakable fangs, English?" She echoed in a soft velvety voice that made Catherine's heart somersault, "A little" she told her and made the sign of an inch with her fingers.

"What is your name?" Catherine asked, while pointing to herself as the woman tilted her head trying to understand, "My name is Catherine." she told her gently, "Who are you?" she added pointing towards the woman.

The woman smiled as she understood, "Marie", she replied happily.

"Marie", Catherine repeated, "It suits you."

Marie had seldom seen other women, she was curious, yet she felt she could trust this person, there was something about her that re-kindled a spark inside her, yes there was a definite connection.

"Do you live here?" Catherine gestured with her hands, "Is this your home?"

Marie shook her head, "No home", she told Catherine sadly, Catherine noticed the unmistakable sorrow in her eyes and instinctively she hugged her.

Suddenly agitated Marie looked up at the trees. "No stay here." she whispered, and taking hold of Catherine's arm, she tugged her off the path, into the depths of pine trees. Allowing herself to be led in this manner Catherine found that Marie walked quickly, silently until she reached a density beneath the trees that appealed to her, whereupon she let go of Catherine's arm, and held a finger to her lips. Catherine hardly dared breath. Marie glanced around her, looking high into the trees and Catherine gasped when Marie squirreled up a tree, to pluck off a camera that Catherine had not even known was there, crush it in her hands and let the broken pieces fall to the floor, as deftly she dropped to the ground to land at Catherine's feet. In all her features Catherine visualised Vincent, and her excitement grew. This woman just had to be some relation to him.

There was so much that Catherine wanted to say, "Are you alone here?" she asked.

Recognising the word alone, Marie shook her head.

Catherine went on, "Who else?"

Marie wrestled with the words in her head, eventually answering; "My girl."

"You have child?" Catherine asked her excitedly.

Marie held up two fingers.

"You have two children? Here?" Catherine asked.

Marie shook her head and even through the depth of the shadows around them, Catherine could see sorrow cloud the bright eyes, as Mary raised only one finger.

Catherine's way of conversing was better than most, yet Marie struggled again to speak the language, for she only understood odd words, Marie chose her words carefully and began to unfold her story.

"They", she gestured towards the complex, "Took...him…away."

Catherine's mind was racing, 'A male child? Could it be?'

"When?" she asked breathlessly, "How long ago?" Her legs felt weak, like jelly, as Marie replied, "Long."

Understanding at once, Catherine put the few words into a sentence, "You had a male child and they took him away from you a long time ago?"

Marie nodded and picking Catherine's hand up in her own, she pulled up the fingers and flicked out her wrist in a gesture of counting in multiples of five. Catherine found herself speaking along, "Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty..." Marie stopped at thirty.

"Thirty years ago", Catherine spoke almost to herself, Marie nodded.

It had to be Vincent! He was about that age. Catherine looked at this pretty woman, with the golden mane so like Vincent's with the claws and the teeth, so like Vincent's, and slowly, incredulously Catherine realised. She was sitting alongside Vincent's own mother! And yet she was so tiny and Vincent was so large, it seemed impossible.

Suddenly Marie jumped to her feet startled, tilting her head to listen. Catherine had heard nothing, yet Marie looked agitated, then before Catherine could speak, Marie had gone, and Catherine did not even see where.

And though she searched all that day, there was no more sign of Marie, and the longing to find a telephone, call Peter and ask him to pass on the news to Vincent was overwhelming. Catherine was thrilled beyond belief. Returning to her villa finally late into the afternoon, Catherine found Devin waiting anxiously for her, "Where have you been Cathy, I have been so worried." he hugged her tightly. Catherine took the opportunity of his closeness to whisper into his ear, "Devin, I have found Vincent's mother, and he has a sister here too."

Devin held her away from him searching her face, the joy that radiated from her eyes told him all he needed to know, it was no joke.

"Its true Devin, they are both here." she whispered.

Delighted, he pulled her back against himself, kissing her full on the mouth, and swinging her around in his arms, "This is great Cathy", he exclaimed, "I can't wait to hear all about it."

"There is so much to tell you Devin, I think I will burst if I have to wait until nightfall."

"Cathy, we have to wait, we cannot risk using our method without the cover of darkness. Come on Cath cheer up, we've come this far, let's not ruin it now." He whispered in her ear, holding her so close he could feel the pounding of her heart, when suddenly her closeness engulfed him and he became aroused to such an embarrassing degree that he pulled away sharply, shocked anew as he saw recognition in her eyes.

"Cathy forgive me." he told her, turning away hurriedly, "I'll speak with you later."

Bewildered, Catherine watched him as he disappeared inside his villa.

Strasser had seen them. He had seen everything, and though he could not hear their words, the body language of Mr. Wells, told him all that he needed to know. It was not the way for a brother and sister to act. He became angry, very angry, they had fooled him again. Something else bothered him too, earlier he had seen Catherine confront Marie. She showed no fear, it was almost as if she had seen her before, yet that was impossible. It had troubled him all day.

A knock at the door, and the sound of it opening, startled him, Mich'ael Riedel stood there, "Ignatz, Marie is still out, what do you want us to do this time?"

"Leave her."

"Leave her? What outside, isn't that risky, she may try to escape."

"No, she would never leave Geraldine... in fact I believe it may be an idea to let Geraldine out too."

"Have you gone mad? There are people out there."

"Exactly. Sound the siren to bring all the employees into the complex, only make sure that Wells and Chandler do not join them. I want them left outside, and when you have done that come back and tell me, and I will go and free Geraldine myself."

"But why Ignatz, I thought you trusted them now?"

"Not anymore, today I have become convinced that they know what we have here, and I cannot take anymore chances, and besides it is time Geraldine was allowed another kill, she has become frustrated, wild, I cannot seem to handle her these days. A kill might calm her down. It will vent all her anger and we may be able to breed from her after all."

"I don't know about that Ignatz, I believe its the same with all animals in captivity, they just won't breed, until their environment is such that its as near as it can be in the wild. You could possible have results only if you set Geraldine free more often, she doesn't need to kill to become placid."

"But it would be a bonus huh? Come we are wasting time, it will be dark soon, and I would like to be able to see Geraldine stalk her victims. Though it promises to be a full moon, it will be like watching a show beneath spotlight, eh, Mich'ael?"

Mich'ael did not reply, could not trust himself to speak, he liked Wells and Chandler, and he would be sorry to see them killed.

Mich'ael left and Strasser unlocked a drawer at his desk, extracting a large blue folder, from which he pulled some yellowed papers. His own handwriting from fifty years ago, hadn't altered much. Old plans, old sketches lay before him. Once the dream meant so much to him, to produce a beast that could speak and think like a man, with the instincts of the wild. A beast that resembles a lion in every way, so that it could be set free onto the savannah and he could monitor its progress, and bring it back when needed to ask his questions. Yet his dream had never reached fruition and now because of the length of time involved, Strasser knew that he had to change his views, his tactics in order to achieve anything constructive from a lifetime of experimenting.

Once he had only wanted females to breed from, to strengthen the animal strain, and had made arrangements for any males to be sent to his colleague in the USA who was working on something similar. Only there had only ever been one male that had survived and he had been stolen without trace. Strasser had concluded that he had most probably died. The offspring were vulnerable at birth, Geraldine had almost died herself, and all the others had been still born.

So Strasser had aborted the original plan, and now concentrated on a much more sinister idea. The world was always at war in one country or another, and Strasser had convinced a few governments that what they needed in their armed forces was a different type of soldier. One without a conscience, one ferocious and frightening enough to strike terror into the minds of the enemy, just by the mere sight of him. A soldier who would bring certain victory for his country with his insatiable desire to kill.

Strasser knew he could achieve this, only if Geraldine would breed. Filled with bloodlust that shone from her menacing eyes constantly, she was a real wildcat in every sense of the word.

Strasser had marvelled at her ability to stalk, to sense a victim, to strike him before he was even aware of her presence. And whenever he'd allowed her to kill, Strasser found that it had incensed him, he felt as though he were a spectator in a Roman Circus, watching as the beast ripped apart its prey.

He found it stimulating, exciting, erotic.

As he heard the sirens go off, he flicked on the screens to show him around the complex. Funny! A lot of the camera's didn't seem to be working, maybe the siren had drained the generator needed to run them. Unconcerned, he returned the file to the drawer, locked it, and made his way silently towards the West Wing.

Darkness had just fallen as Catherine, unable to contain herself any longer tapped on the water pipes to contact Devin, just as the sirens went off. "What was that?" she tapped to him.

"Don't know," he tapped back, "Ignore it."

"No, I'm coming across."

Devin met her by the door of his villa, they listened to the siren and as their eyes became accustomed to the darkness, Devin took her arm, and they walked across to the perimeter fence, talking softly.

"Perhaps we should have stayed at the villa Devin."

"Perhaps. Not afraid of me, are you Cathy?"

"What of you?" she teased him lightly.

"So you did notice. I'm sorry Cathy, my feelings were only temporary. It is a long time since I have held a beautiful woman in my arms. I have to apologise for the way my body reacted before I was able to stop myself." He was grateful for the darkness, so she could not see how his face reddened.

"That's okay Devin, I forgive you. I know that you do not seriously think of me in that way."

He stopped, turning her to face him, "Oh don't underestimate me Catherine, I do find you physically appealing, but alas, if I want to keep living, I have to ignore what my heart tells me."

"The heart is treacherous Devin."

"Yes Cathy, and so is Vincent."

They both burst out laughing.

As the moon rose behind the mountains, they continued to walk in silence, it wasn't often that they allowed themselves this rare treat. On other occasions they had been sure they had been followed by the security guards with the dogs. Catherine took Devin's arm for support, the ground was uneven along by the fence, and she hoped that he did not mind the physical contact. As they walked along each with their own thoughts, wishing they were able to talk about Catherine's discovery, Catherine became aware of an attachment on her other arm, and stopped to look. Marie was there, holding on to her, and Catherine had not even heard her approach.

"Marie", Catherine exclaimed happily, pulling Devin around to meet her. Marie eyed him carefully, she had been watching these two for some time, and approached him cautiously. He stood still as Marie scrutinised him, sniffing him, liking the smell of him. Sensing another friend, she positively purred before him.

Devin smiled, "I see what you mean Catherine, she is so like Vincent. I can see the likeness, she has to be his mother."

"Vincent?" Marie queried.

Catherine nodded, "Your son." she relaxed. That Marie was with them assured her that there was no-one else around that may overhear their conversation. That Marie had sharp ears went without question.

"Vincent...my son?" Marie replied hopefully.

"The child they took from you Marie... we know him."

Marie took in the words carefully, jangling them around in her mind, to get the sense of them. She hardly dared believe what her mind was telling her.

Devin put his hand on Marie's arm, "Vincent's friends", he explained pointing to himself and Catherine.

Mystified, Marie shook her head.

Catherine tried again, "The child they took from you?"

Marie understood this she smiled and nodded, waiting expectantly.

"We," Catherine pointed to herself and Devin, "Know where he is."

They watched her face, their own radiating happiness, while her expression went from one of confusion to one of hope and then joy as the words sank in.

"My son!" She exclaimed excitedly, "With you?"

Catherine and Devin nodded, "Yes."

"Here?" Marie asked hopefully

. "No", Catherine shook her head, and as Marie's face fell, she hurried on, "Not here. Come we can take you to him."

"You take me?" she asked surprised "How?"

"We must leave here." Devin told her gently and as the moonlight picked out his expression Marie trusted his face, but she became downhearted.

"No", she told them sadly, "No leave here, my girl." and she looked wistfully back at the institute.

Catherine nodded, "Of course Devin she won't leave without her daughter, we shall have to find a way of getting her out also."

Marie looked from one to the other of them, she knew she could trust them, "I know a way." she told them seriously, "Come I show you."

Geraldine rested her forehead against the cold bars that stood between herself and freedom. How often she had stood there, tormented by the outside world, drinking in the smells of the night, with the longing to be one with them. This man made cave that had been her home for almost twenty-two years sickened her. Tunnelled into the mountainside and barred from the outside world, Geraldine loathed the restrictions of her home and torn between anger and despondency, she had watched life pass her by.

She had never been accepted as a human being, unlike her mother, because of her face. It showed the distinctive features of a Siberian tiger. And for that she had been used, abused and misused, all her life as every test conceivable had been tried out on her and she was so weary of it all, that her heart felt heavy and she wished only to die.

Marie, in comparison, with her placid nature had been allowed relative freedom of which Geraldine envied, and the pair of them had exchanged feelings as they conversed through the bars. If it hadn't of been for her mother bringing to her books that she had stolen from the villas, and returning them once Geraldine had read them. Geraldine knew that she would have gone mad. Many of those books were of language translation, and Geraldine had taught herself how to speak, English, French, German and an Austrian dialect, but she was never certain if she said the words correctly, having never heard it spoken.

Intellectually Geraldine's knowledge surpassed anything her creators felt her capable of, they thought of her simply as the beast, and Geraldine allowed them to think this, giving no indication of knowledge of speech or of human brain activity. She had found delight in the books that Marie had brought to her. Books about romance of courage and integrity and through them Geradline had recognised a need within herself, a woman's need. To love and be loved and looking at her hands as if touching them for the first time, she wanted to rip out the claws and the fangs and tear away all the features that made her look anything but a woman.

Geraldine hated her captors with a venom that shook her as they had experimented on her, pulling, probing, externally as well as internally, so that when she came round from the anaesthetic she was left writhing on the floor of her cell in agony. Only Marie knew what she really went through, and her heart ached to be allowed to go to her, to comfort her and rock her gently in her arms, but they were never permitted to be together.

Geraldine's hatred was such that she paced her cell throwing herself against the walls relentlessly, until exhausted she would sleep for days, and in the bliss of sleep she found her freedom, where she ran and climbed the mountains and drank deeply from the fresh spring water from crystal clear pools. She had a burning desire to lay upon the grass and feel the sun upon her skin, to soak up its warmth and only in her dreams was she able to do this blessed thing.

By nature Geraldine was not the ferocious beast that Strasser would have her to be, she had inherited her mother's sweet nature, who in turn had inherited it from an ancestor way back, for Ignatz Strasser was not a nice man, and fortunately neither Marie or Geraldine had inherited any of his wicked traits. From time to time Strasser had given Geraldine freedom at night, but usually it was to satisfy his own depraved yearnings, to stalk someone to frighten them, or on more than one occasion to trick her into killing them, and Geraldine regretted deeply the taking of innocent life. She would always remember the first time, Strasser had come to her and opened the door, and she believed he was giving her freedom. How wonderful it felt to be free, she had made such plans. There were places she would visit, things she would do. She would find her mother, and they two of them would see the world. Geraldine glorified in that freedom, believing it to be forever. She would always remember the glorious feel of the cool night air upon her back and ruffling her hair around her face, and the delightful sounds of the night all around her, until she suddenly heard a high pitched scream, which had for a moment been hard to distinguish, until Strasser had come running towards her shouting, "Geraldine there is someone hurting your mother, you must do something to stop him."

Geraldine had not stopped to think, she had rushed to the scene, and as her eyes beheld the man beating her mother with a large piece of wood, fury had leapt up and seized her like a cobra around her throat, and she flew at him in blind hatred, stunning him with one powerful blow to the head, and then swiping him over and over again, ripping him apart, until he had become a quivering fleshy mass at her feet. And as she had stood there, blood-soaked and breathing deeply, she had seen her mother fall and at the same time felt the pain of a tranquilliser dart in her own leg, and heard Strasser's voice clear and strong saying, "Well done Geraldine, well done, that's got rid of him."

And ever since that time when Strasser had seen how easy it was to trick her, knowing she would defend her mother, he had used the same tactic time and again, stopping her with a dart, before she had time to escape and she had always believed Strasser when he told her someone was hurting her mother, until the day she had overheard a heated argument between himself and Reidel.

"You can't keep doing this Ignatz, it is defeating the purpose. On the one hand you want Geraldine to be placid and gentle so that she is a willing candidate for conception, and on the other you are intent on keeping her savage to carry out your warped perversions. You have to make a choice here and stick to it."

"How can I make you see that our work here is of up-most importance, and when I receive a threat to the contrary, I am left with no other option. These people have to die, we just cannot take the risk that they will keep quiet, and after all Geraldine does it so thoroughly."

"Maybe, but I have seen you Ignatz, you enjoy every moment of it, sometimes your bloodlust frightens me, and I fear for you, for Johannes, for myself, that you are creating a monster in Geraldine."

"No, her future killings would be controlled, besides would not kill without provocation."

"How can you be so certain?"

"Because I always instigate the reason for her rage. Give her a reason to kill, in believing that she is protecting her mother. Whomever I wish to terminate, I tell them that Marie has got out, and that I would like them to bring her in for me. I tell them that Marie is docile but stubborn, and they will have to use force to get her moving, beat her if they have to into submission." he laughed wickedly.

"You do what! That's sick. You literally set them up, not to mention causing harm to Marie."

"So what, Marie is old, really I have no further use of her, and it is only for sentimental reasons that I let her go on living, you know flesh of my flesh and all that."

A fierceness like Geraldine had never known before rose into her chest, threatening to suffocate her as a deep menacing growl had issued from her throat. Her eyes had become beacons of fire, mere pinpricks of blazing heat, as raw hatred throbbed in every fibre of her being, and as she listened to his words, she vowed at that time that never again, never would she allow Strasser to trick her, and never again would she kill for him, only for herself. For she pledged that she would make one last kill, one in which she would derive immense pleasure, the slaying of Strasser himself.

Now recognising the sound of the siren, Geraldine knew what it held for her. Strasser turned on the siren prior to every kill he had expected of her, and she waited in expectation of his arrival. Pacing the floor of her cell she trembled with unleashed vengeance, as the swaying of beacon light announced his approach long before she heard the sound of his footsteps crunching down the gravel path towards her.

Listening for the familiar sounds of his keys as he pulled them from his pocket, she waited until his figure loomed before the backdrop of a moon drenched night, to stand outside the bars looking at her.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched him, an involuntary growl issuing from her throat and she felt a tingling in her hands as her claws detracted and retracted in frenzied anticipation.

Strasser eyed her nervously, and she watched him pull a gun from his pocket, unlock the door and pull it open.

Geraldine slid down to her haunches, if he expected her to flee into the night this time, he would be disappointed, she would make him come inside and get her. Balancing the flashlight on a ledge of rock, Strasser leaned against the door to hold it open with his back and aimed the gun at her, wishing he had brought a whip. The fact that she hadn't done as he expected un-nerved him, and he shouted at her "Get out, go, quickly someone is hurting your mother."

Her mind soaked up this information, she knew it was a trick, and did not move. Geraldine sensed his fear, heard his voice falter as he spoke again, "Come on girl... show me what you can do." and in that moment the words Reidel had spoken flooded to her mind, 'keeping her savage to carry out your warped perversions' and 'sometimes your bloodlust frightens me' and she knew in that instance that she would allow him to feel as well as see exactly what she could do.

Stealthily she rose and approached him, and he saw the foreboding glint of her eyes in the beam of the flashlight, and as she padded silently towards him, he noticed as if for the first time, just how tall she was, taller than her mother, taller than himself.

The aura of her presence hung in the air coupled with an ominous feeling of impending doom that engulfed his very soul, and Strasser found his body shook with a chill that seeped into his very bones and made his teeth chatter uncontrollably in his jaws.

Holding the gun in his outstretched arms gave him a merit of comfort, yet as she advanced and her eyes locked with his, he physically wet himself. Shamefully he dropped his gaze, and Geraldine took advantage of the chance.

Making no sound at all, she leapt upon him, throwing his body to the ground, forcing the breath from his lungs, he was powerless to stop her. He felt a sharp pain in the hand that held the gun, and then felt a warm trickle seep into the fabric of his jacket and placing his other hand to the wound, he recoiled in horror as he found a gaping hole where his arm had once joined his shoulder, then as his heart beat pounded in his head, he saw the blood spurt from the wound and cover Geraldine's face. Strasser tried desperately to scramble to his feet, but her weight was too much for him, and he never realised before just how strong she was. Taking his face between her hands, he saw the glint of fangs, and fear gripped his throat, his breath coming in ragged spasms. And then for the first time, he heard her speak, stunned in knowing that she could, "You!" she spat at him, "How I hate you. I am going to kill you. Kill you for all the things you have done to me. For all the things you have done to my mother. For taking her son away for creating us all like this. It is your destiny to die by the hands you created." Then before he had time for further thoughts, he saw her raise her arm, and watched in terror as it came hurtling towards his head. He felt the flesh rip, heard an immense sound of cracking bone in his ears, and the next thing he knew for split seconds as he expired was the ability to look back at his headless body and know that he was dead.

Geraldine looked down at the body. She kicked it. Still she hated him. Would always hate him. Yet she felt no satisfaction at his death, she had not enjoyed killing him, it was just something that needed to be done. She hoped now that his death would bring an end to all the senseless experiments that crossed a man with a beast, and that no-one would ever suffer again as she had done.

Yet he told her someone was hurting her mother. Were they really? This time she would not rush in until she was sure. Sniffing the air, she stepped over Strasser's body and made her way quietly along the perimeter fence.

Continued in Chapter Nine.